Here we are Week 9 and it just seems like yesterday the season was getting started. Before I get to my poll… I want to give a shout out to Kirk for his new book…Out of the Pocket: Football, Fatherhood, and College Gameday Saturdays.
The book was written by ESPN’s Gene Wojciechowski and is a very readable book which goes beyond the scope of college football. If I were to describe the book I’d say it’s more of a book about Kirk’s relationships with his mom and dad. Of how the three of them came to terms with the divorce which took place when Kirk was eight years of age. Of how the divorce cratered Kirk’s confidence growing up and how he eventually reconciled with his parents.
It’s a relationship book written within the realm of Kirk somehow evolving into the face of college football even though as a young person he had a morbid fear of getting in front of his classmates and giving a speech. It’s a story of life, journey, and human resilence.
His relationship with his father is the part of the book which tugged at me. Nice book…not a Pulitzer winner, but a nice read given the times we live in.
My Top 12 Poll–Week 9
The committee’s first poll comes out next week. My major concern at this point is if the committee gives Alabama and Ohio State a free pass given each has already lost a game. This is why we need a twelve team tournament in my view. Don’t think for a second I would give OU a free pass, because I wouldn’t. It’s step up time for OU or else I would leave them out of my top four when that time comes. But for me it’s tough to do that right now given OU has the longest winning streak in the country while playing in a Power Five conference.
I don’t write this from an OU point of view because I’m not a homer, but I write it because the sport of college football would be enchanced if we see more than the same four or five teams in the playoff every season.
Hence…my twelve team poll with my three teams on the bubble.
1 Georgia
2 Cincy
3 Michigan
4 Oklahoma
5 Michigan State
6 Alabama
7 Oregon
8 Ohio State
9 Ole Miss
10 Kentucky
11 Oklahoma State
12 Notre Dame
On my bubble
13 Auburn
14 Iowa State
15 Texas A&M