Center of the Sports Universe

You know what’s coming – bring on the week 5 drama! I’ve got a couple Top 5 lists to celebrate week 5 of the 2009 college football season.

Best 5 teams flying under the radar
1. Wisconsin – This offense is hard to keep up with (Avg. 36 pts per game). They’ve got some work to do, but they know it and won’t want to tarnish their 4-0 record any time soon. Quarterback Scott Tolzien has been impressive and kept his turnovers low.
2. Auburn – They have played good football consistently for 4 games, winning none by less than 11 points.
3. UCLA – This team’s 3-0 record actually has some substance to it, with convincing wins over Tennessee and KSU.
4. UConn – Their one loss comes from a last-minute holding call to give UNC a safety to win the game. A shot in the foot, but their level of effort makes them a team to watch out for. Nice win at Baylor, and a 50+ point show vs. URI.
5. NC State – Rusty in their home-opener against a team that would go on to defeat Ole Miss, NC State has handed powerful Pitt a loss and put up 45 and 65 against 2 FCS’s, like you’re supposed to.

Don’t buy these 5 teams… yet
1. Stanford – Like the other 4 teams on this list, I like Stanford, but have a few things keeping me from totally buying into them… yet. I love Stanford’s running game but am not impressed with their schedule (Wins vs Wash, Wash St, SJ State, and a loss to WF)
2. Iowa State – They say this team is turning around. They are 3-1 now and haven’t scored less than 31 points in a game, but as with Stanford, I want to see a win against an at least moderately competitive opponent.
3. Miami FL – They have started out hot and have earned alot of respect over the past few weeks. But after the surprise-factor runs out, you see they were literally an arms’ length away from a loss at Florida State, and looked sloppy vs. Va. Tech. They dont get another conference game until 10/24 and who knows how much they’ll be able to keep the fire going at that point.
4. Cal – We know based on the first 3 games what Cal is capable of. Last game, they lost to Oregon 42-3. We’re not sure which Cal team will show up from week to week here on out.
5. South Carolina -  Sure you beat NC State in the season opener, 7-3, and beat an arguably over-rated Ole Miss team, but I want to see 2 solid, convincing wins the next two weeks before I let the polls tell me yet another SEC team deserves ranked status because of performance, and not SEC bias.

5 Games to watch this week
1. Wisconsin @ Minnesota – Based on what I’ve written above, these teams will either make me look like a genius, or make me eat my words if Minnesota exposes Wisconsin’s offense as an illusion. Wisconsin’s defense needs to improve, because Minn will take advantage if given the chance. Could be a high-scoring game.
2. South Florida @ Syracuse – Congratulations to each of these teams for, by their own standards, good seasons so far. Syracuse – You’re heading into Big East play with 2 good wins behind you. Can you pull off the upset and introduce the world to a new Cuse? South Florida – Your win at Florida State was no fluke, but this game is being flagged even by ESPN’s analysts as an upset alert due to your habit of slacking for these trap games. Who is out to make the bigger statement.
3. LSU @ Georgia – This game is interesting for it’s ranking implications. A 4th ranked LSU boosted it’s ranking with a close win over Mississippi State (funny how one inch can be the difference between 4th and say, 24th). If they play like they did at Miss State, Georgia will win, and the cycle of confusing rankings continues.
4. UCLA @ Stanford – Two teams in the Pac-10 discussion this year meet up. Yet again another opportunity for me to either have made tons of sense, or be searching for some excuse as to why I think UCLA is under the radar, and Stanford is as of yet unconvincing.
5. Nebraska @ Mizzou – Nebraska’s one loss came against a very good Virginia Tech team. Conference play begins this week @ Missouri, who is 4-0. Both teams are looking to re-introduce themselves to conference-title discussion.