Numbers Never Lie

So Alabama and Texas Tech are the two best college football teams in America right now?

I'll take "Things I Don't Believe" for a thousand, Alex.

Texas Tech has the number one passing offense in the country and the 70th-best rushing offense, the average of which works out to #2 in total offense and #3 in scoring offense. Fine.

They're also 54th in the nation in total defense, which actually places them at the head of the class in the Big 12. And with a conference filled with explosive offenses -- Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas are all in the top 10 nationally -- I'm willing to grant them some leniency. You have to play the teams in your conference, and Texas Tech has defended them better than anyone else in the Big 12. Okay.

The win against Texas this week was awesome. However, two of the Red Raiders' wins this season were against I-AA opponents (Eastern Washington and UMass, who combined to score 38 against them, by the way), and three more were against Nevada, SMU, and Kansas State -- a combined record there of 9-17. That's how Texas Tech got to 5-0 to start the season.

From there, they needed overtime to beat a very average Nebraska team. They allowed 25 points to a sub-.500 Texas A&M. That leaves two wins that I would consider convincing: 63 points against Kansas, and the aforementioned thriller against Texas.

No knock on the Red Raiders, but does that resume' merit the #2 slot in the BCS? Put it this way -- would you take Texas Tech over Southern Cal on a neutral field tomorrow?

Alabama, on the other hand, can boast quality wins over Arkansas and Georgia to go along with unnervingly close wins over Kentucky and Ole Miss, plus pounding on dreck like Clemson, Tennessee, and Arkansas State. The Tide are ranked 61st in total offense (102nd of 119 in passing offense), 18th in rushing, and top-6 in rushing defense, scoring defense, and total defense. They are a 9-0 team predicated on the concept that "if the other guys can't score, they can't win" -- the statistical yin to Texas Tech's yang. Is that the number one team in the nation?

Alabama versus Oklahoma, neutral field, tomorrow. Who wins? What about Alabama - Florida? We'll probably find out on December 6th in Atlanta.

By the way: Florida has allowed only two teams (Ole Miss and LSU) to score more than 10 points against them this season, and they've beaten their last four opponents by an average score of 50-10 -- all in the vaunted SEC, and all since getting beat at home by Ole Miss. Southern Cal has gone on a similar tear since their lone loss to Oregon State: five games, average score of 43-4, three shutouts. I might include Oklahoma into this conversation, but they give up too many points (an average of 31 points allowed per game since their 45-35 loss to Texas on October 11th).

To me, the two teams that are playing the best at this moment are Florida and Southern Cal. However, the team that has the best statistical balance across the board is undoubtably Penn State: 11th or better in every major statistical category except passing offense, where they're still a respectable 39th in the nation and 4th in the Big Ten. I use the NCAA's football database site for just about everything I work on here at Sun Sports, and believe me when I tell you that Penn State's numbers are unique. You rarely see a team that shows up in or near the top 10 nationally in so many diverse categories -- hell, they even lead the nation in kickoff returns.

So my BCS Standings? Penn State at 1, with Florida and Southern Cal at 2a and 2b. Simply put, they're playing the best right this minute. But thanks to Ole Miss and Oregon State, the Gators and Trojans face an uphill battle.