Penn State is No. 5, Iowa is No. 31

You can have your AP, USA Today and Harris college footbal rankings. The only one you can trust is the Las Vegas Sports Consultants poll.

Las Vegas Sports Consultants Inc., has no agendas. It simply looks at things honestly and objectively and tells you what's what. It says Penn State isn't as good as the other pollsters tell you it is, and it gives Iowa a little credit for being a competitive ballclub. The Hawkeyes got zero votes in any of the aforementioned polls, nor should they with a 5-4 record.

LVSC, however, goes strictly by a team's strength, not its record. That's why it says USC is No. 1, and didn't leap Texas Tech ahead of Texas despite the Red Raiders' great escape over the Longhorns Saturday in Lubbock.

Penn State is No. 5 in the LVSC rankings, which seems about right. Texas Tech is sixth, Alabama seventh. They are Nos. 3, 2 and 1, respectively, in the AP poll because they're undefeated. But they aren't the three best teams in America.

I agree with LVSC's top three, though not with the order in which they're listed. They say it's USC, Florida, Texas. I say it's Florida, Texas, USC. Penn State could not beat any of those three teams. If the Nittany Lions get past Iowa, Indiana and Michigan State to finish 12-0 and go to the national-title game, bet on Penn State's opponent there to win it.

Iowa is 31st in the LVSC list. Illinois, 5-4 just like Iowa, is 27th. Minnesota and Northwestern, both 7-2 overall, aren't in the LVSC Top 40. Here is the entire list with the power ranking and last week's rank after the name of the teams: