The Señior's Top 25: Week 9

With Alabama, Florida and LSU living in the top 10 for most of the season, it would seem like this is another year of SEC domination; and while The Señior isn't about to downplay the Southern domination of the college football universe, let's not downplay what could be the true defining story of the season: the mid-majors.

Yes, I know they don't like that connotation. It's like saying "midget" of "small person," "dorm" instead of "residence hall" or "full of [insert expletive]" instead of "fecally plenary." So to be politically correct, this may be the year of the "non-automatic qualifiers.:"

TCU and Boise State are both in the latest top 10, while Houston is 15th and Utah is 19th. As much as that large number of non-BCS teams should be impressive enough, it alone doesn't do it justice. Look at the teams that these non-AQ's have beaten: TCU beat Clemson and BYU; Boise State beat Oregon and Houston beat Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Mississippi State.
But impressive as these resumes may be, the sad part is that only one of these teams can play in a BCS bowl. When you look at the top 10, is there any teams outside of the two that will play in the national title game that truly deserve an at-large bid over TCU and Boise State? There's USC, which at this point beat a somewhat down Ohio State squad and Cal, which isn't anything near what we expected it would be. There's Cincinnati, which has one win over a Top 25 team (though it could face a ranked Pitt later this year). There's Iowa, which is winning by the skin of its teeth and there's LSU, which has no resemblance of an offense and whose most impressive win is against unranked Georgia and Auburn.
If there was a season in which multiple non-AQ teams deserved to make it to the promised land, it would be this one.
Now, on to the rankings:

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. USC
5. Cincinnati
6. Iowa
7. TCU
8. Boise State
9. LSU
10. Georgia Tech
11. Oregon
12. Penn State
13. Oklahoma State
14. Virginia Tech
15. Houston
16. Pitt
17. Ohio State
18. Miami (Fla.)
19. Utah
20. West Virginia
21. Arizona
22. South Carolina
23. Oklahoma
24. Ole Miss
25. Notre Dame