College football took a bit of a breather last week. After a frenetic two weeks, the favorites held serve over the weekend, leading to very few changes in the polls. The Select 17 held steady with a few exceptions – most notably South Carolina falling from 3rd to 8th to Unranked in a matter of three weeks. With Cocky‘s fall Texas Tech and (future Razorback head coach?) Tommy Tubberville find their way into the poll. And while the Top Four didn’t change this week, it’s worth noting how the voting has tightened. Oregon is no longer a consensus Number Two with now only 5 poll points separating the Ducks, Kansas State, and Florida.

The coming weekend promises to shake things up a bit, though, especially in the SEC. Mississippi State visits Tuscaloosa in a surprise battle for SEC West supremacy. The winner of that game will completely control its own destiny. Florida heads to the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party this weekend in Jacksonville to take on Georgia. The winner of this game will be in the driver’s seat for the SEC East title. Does anyone else think we’ll see at least one very controversial call in each game that benefits the Tide and the Gators?

As for Arkansas, the Razorbacks take on Mississippi this weekend. The Hogs hope a week off helped heal some of the walking wounded without sacrificing the momentum they gained the past two weeks on both sides of the ball. We’re still a month away from seeing Arkansas back in the rankings, but stranger things have happened. By mid-afternoon Saturday we’ll have a pretty good sense of whether or not this team has finally found its stride.

To the rankings!

Others Receiving Votes: South Carolina 22, Boise St 2, Louisiana Tech 1