Hlas' AP ballot: Okla. State No. 3

We Associated Press Top 25 voters had to earn our money this weekend.

Oh wait, we don't get paid. Why do we do this again?

(AP photo)

We had to stay up until 12:30 a.m. Sunday just to get the final result of Texas Tech-Oklahoma. Lightning struck repeatedly in Norman. Then the game started after a lengthy delay. And figurative lightning struck in the form of the Red Raiders' 41-38 upset that wasn't as close as the score indicates. That was after Michigan State's Hail Mary was a prayer answered by the replay booth, which correctly gave the Spartans the 37-31 victory over Wisconsin.

Every time we think we have things figured out (the inevitable BCS title game between the winners of the Alabama-LSU and Oklahoma-Oklahoma State games), a college football pulls itself away and we're left on our back after we have kicked at thin air. Like that sad-sack comic strip character who had the dog that danced on a piano every Christmas.

So who's No. 3 with Oklahoma's demise? I wrestled with Oklahoma State, Stanford, Clemson and Kansas State. K-State, if you must know, won at Texas Tech the weekend before this one. And it won at Miami, which Ohio State and Georgia Tech couldn't do. And it beat a good Baylor team.

Clemson is unbeaten and has defeated Auburn, Florida State, Virginia Tech and North Carolina.

Stanford hasn't played a great schedule, but hasn't had a game closer than 26 points. And the Washington team it annihilated Saturday had been 5-1 with its lone loss at Nebraska.

Oklahoma State has won at Texas A&M, Texas and Missouri. I take the Cowboys No. 3. On with the rest of it:

1. LSU (8-0). Suspend half the team, crush Auburn.

2. Alabama (8-0). Don't show up until the third quarter, crush Tennessee.

3. Oklahoma State (7-0). Oklahoma's best team.

4. Stanford (7-0). Why isn't Andrew Luck's name Andrew Skill?

5. Clemson (8-0). The Tigers find another gear in fourth-quarters.

6. Kansas State (7-0). A friend told me Bill Snyder is the Steve Jobs of college football. A wild exaggeration, but a good line.

7. Boise State (7-0). Needs a couple more Saturdays like this one, with other unbeatens stepping on banana peels.

8. Oregon (6-1). Won at Colorado, 45-2. That's way more insulting than 45-0 for some reason.

9. Michigan State (6-1). Just had the Play of the Year (for sure) and the Game of the Year (so far).

10. Wisconsin (6-1). If Badgers and Spartans meet in Indy, I'll pick Wisconsin by 10 points. I think both teams lose this week, at Ohio State and Nebraska.

11. Nebraska (6-1). Softened up Minnesota for Iowa. Not that the Gophers weren't pretty fluffy beforehand.

12. Arkansas (6-1). There's a dropoff after No. 10. Nebraska got clubbed at Wisconsin, and Arkansas was drubbed at Alabama.

13. Oklahoma (6-1). Ranked above Texas Tech? Well, it's a body-of-work deal. But I still don't feel good about it.

14. Texas A&M (5-2). Lost to Oklahoma State and Arkansas by a combined five points.

15. South Carolina (6-1). Steve Spurrier. What a concept.

16. Michigan (6-1). Tough week for Blue. The Wolverines didn't play, so they got to watch Michigan State on TV. And didn't like it.

17. USC (6-1). Pete Carroll, I understood. But now Lane Kiffin is beating Notre Dame.

18. Texas Tech (5-2). Only 2-2 at home. Pretty darn good in Norman, Okla., however.

19. Virginia Tech (7-1). Held Boston College to fewer points (14) than the Rangers held the Cardinals Saturday night (16).

20. Arizona State (5-2). Skip Bayless of ESPN has called for Oklahoma to fire Bob Stoops. We in mass communications aren't all like that, America.

21. Georgia (5-2). A 5-game winning streak, which is two wins fewer than ...

22. Houston (7-0).

23. Penn State (7-1). The Nittany Lions are alone atop the Big Ten's Leaders Division. Didn't see that coming.

24. Southern Mississippi (6-1). This would have been a good week for a Top 23.

25. Baylor (4-2). The Big 12 is a wild, crazy, cuckoo conference.