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“Show me a good loser, and I’ll show you an idiot.”

-Leo Durocher

Known by many as “Leo the Lip,” Leo Durocher played and managed for the Brooklyn Dodgers.  So in honor of the beginning of post-season baseball and the Dodgers being there, I’ve decided to use this quote from him.  (Also of note, he died this very day back in 1991.)

The dude knew what he was talking about.  Sore losers are one thing, but people who let a loss roll off their back really get to me.  If you don’t care about losing, then clearly you don’t really care about winning.

The remaining teams definitely care about winning, especially when they have to play each other.

Despite the fact that I made some bad picks and failed to read a calendar properly (that Missouri/Nebraska game I predicted a winner for doesn’t happen until tomorrow night), I was correct in my guess that there would be 13 undefeated teams left (11%).  Thanks to the scheduling gods, we can know with certainty that a week from Friday there will only be, at the most, 11 left.  (Or, if you believe in absolute disaster, there will thankfully be at least 2 left.)

Saturday will bring us an SEC showdown of #1 Florida and #4 LSU.  This deserves its own section, so I will give it one at the end.  But first, my rankings of the undefeated teams from worst to first, along with my predictions of their games.  (Currently I stand at 22-8).

#13 South Florida:  The Bulls first two offense plays ended in fumbles.  Not to be outdone, Syracuse coughed the ball up before and after those fumbles, with a pick in between for good measure.  South Florida finished with 3 turnovers, which sounds bad until you realize that the Orangemen had SEVEN, including 5 picks by their QB, former Duke basketball player Greg Paulus, who perhaps could be excused if throwing the ball directly to members of the opposing team was a method used on the court.

Point is, Syracuse is still very bad, and beating them by 14 points is not impressive.  In fact, it’s a caution flag, especially considering Florida State’s continuous decline.

The Bulls have over a week to prepare for next Thursday night’s Big East showdown against Cincinnati.  I’d suggest they use it to break Tony Pike’s hand, but that doesn’t seem to slow him down.

#12 Missouri:  Sophomore QB Blaine Gabbert has surpassed expectations, easy to do, since there weren’t any outside of the state.  He’s thrown 11 touchdowns and no interceptions.  But look at the competition: Illinois, Bowling Green, Furman, and Nevada.  It is impressive Illinois didn’t get a pick.  You’d think they’d be pretty experienced practicing against Juice Williams all the time.

Tomorrow night they face off against Nebraska team that’s one 4-minute Tyrod Taylor scramble away from being undefeated.  Virginia Tech managed to hold the Huskers to only 5 field goals, and I doubt the Tigers’ defense can do the same.

Winner: Nebraska.

#11 Iowa:  So much for getting better every week.  On the one hand, their 24-21 win over Arkansas State looks worse than it was because the Hawkeyes were leading 21-7 early in the third quarter.  On the other hand, they let the Red Wolves back into the game, and that doesn’t bode well for a defense that’s about to face Tate Forcier and his fancy feet that can’t be beat (except in overtime).

But the thing about Iowa is…they are totally unpredictable.  Everything I’ve seen of gameplay of them and Michigan inclines me to pick the Wolverines, but the Hawkeyes just have that special something that helps them pull wins out of their butt.  They’re the LSU of the Big 10.

Winner: Iowa

#10 Kansas:  Flat describes a lot of things.  The state of Kansas.  The state of most of Jayhawks’ competition.  The performance of Southern Miss, Kansas’ only good opponent thus far, against UAB.  There’s no reason to write them off, but there’s currently no reason to write about them at all.

And that won’t change this week because they play Iowa State, the same Iowa State team that has existed since 1892.

Winner: Kansas

#9 Wisconsin: Maybe it’s good for the Badgers that they aren’t ranked in the AP poll despite being 5-0.  This week they face Ohio State, so the fact that they aren’t getting any respect might give them something to prove.

They have a good enough offense to hang with the Buckeyes, depending on how Pryor plays.  Half of that means how his performance is and half means what types of plays he’s allowed to run.

The Buckeyes are sure to lose another game this year, but it’s likely going to be during that three game stretch at the end.

Winner: Ohio State

#8 TCU: Sure, they only played SMU.  But I’m not going to criticize a team where a player can deliver a hit like this…WITHOUT A HELMET.  I don’t know whether that’s rock-hard baddassness or reckless devotion to a coach, but if all the players have either of those traits, this team can beat a lot of people, including Air Force, whom they play Saturday.

Winner: TCU

#7 Boise State: I can understand the Broncos slipping in the polls after playing the likes of UC Davis, but they were jumped by Virginia Tech, who only beat Duke by 8 points.  I guess Boise State is going to have to destroy every team in order to have even a faint chance at a national championship.  They need to be really impressive next Wednesday night when they play Tulsa.

#6 Cincinnati: Does Tony Pike have a chance at the Heisman Trophy?  He’s got the numbers, and his team is undefeated.  He doesn’t have the publicity, but that could change when the Bearcats take on South Florida next Thursday night.

#5 LSU: I’m not going to blame LSU’s victory on the BS celebration penalty thrown on Georgia’s A. J. Greene or on the blown tackles when Charles Scott ran for the winning touchdown.  No, the real culprit here is the devil, who still feels obligated to help out the Tigers despite the fact that his deal with Les Miles ended after the BCS Championship.  I guess he just likes to screw with people.

More on their game at the end.

#4 Auburn:  Tennessee slowed them down, but even if you manage to slow down a cheetah, it still has claws and fangs to use on you.  The Tigers will face some other good defenses, but you could argue that they won’t face one better.

The bigger concern is Auburn’s defense, which pulled the biggest magic trick of the year by making it appear as if the Volunteers had an offense.  This doesn’t bode well for the actual offenses they will play, starting with Ryan Mallet and the high-flying Razorbacks.

But given that Georgia and Arkansas had about a bajillion point game, I expect this one to go in a similar direction.  And right now I’m giving the edge to the team with the momentum.

Winner: Auburn

#3 Texas: The only difference between the Longhorns’ bye week and their game against Colorado this week is Colt McCoy had a bigger chance of sustaining a major injury last weekend while he was off throwing footballs at boats or hunting varmints or whatever else he does.

Winner: Texas

#2 Florida: Last night I thought I had found a college football show that did mention Tebow’s concussion once, but it turned out I was on HBO watching The Express.

More on their game in a moment.

#1 Alabama: The Tide is somehow both exciting and methodical, like a serial killer who uses kitchen appliances.  I have no doubt they will play good, hard football against Ole Miss.  The question is, how will Ole Miss play?  The game of their life?  Flop five minutes into the first quarter?  Get a lead and then lose it?  Give up a bunch of points and then come storming back but falling just short?  I’m curious as to how exactly the Rebels will lose this one.

Winner: Alabama

Florida vs. LSU

Back in 2007, Florida was coming off a(nother) upset to Auburn going into their showdown with LSU, yet I was still pumped up beyond belief.  And the game did not disappoint.  This year, both teams remain undefeated, yet I’m nowhere near as excited.  Probably because I feel that LSU doesn’t stand a chance.

Make no mistake about it, this is Florida’s game to lose.  Their best case scenarios and worst case scenarios for this game go far beyond winning or losing, even by substantial margins.  Play without Tebow and win, and they establish themselves as a team to be reckoned with.  Play without Tebow and lose, and everyone will ask “what if?”  Play with Tebow and win, a legend grows somehow greater.  Play with Tebow and lose, and everyone will ask “what if?”  And finally, the absolutely worse, play with Tebow and him get hurt again, and everyone will question everyone involved for the rest of eternity.

As much as I love watching Tebow play and would love for him to get the win in Baton Rogue that eluded him last time, it’s probably best if he stays on the sidelines.  LSU’s offense has barely shown any signs of life, and Florida’s defense has ruthlessly killed everything in its path, doubling-back to put another bullet in still writhing bodies.

The bottom line is, LSU can’t afford to lose this game, but Florida can.  They can lose the rest of their games and still play in the SEC Championship.  Then they’d either face a team that beat LSU (problem solved) or LSU again.  And given Florida’s popularity and the fact that they’d be beating them with higher stakes involved, they’d get the national championship bid if it’s going to an SEC team.  (Perhaps not fair, but definitely true.)

This will fall somewhere between the Florida beatdown of last year and the epic game of two years ago.

Winner: Florida