Yep, I am the contrarian. The standard stance is to keep last year’s champion at No. 1 (provided that they are decent at all) and then wait until they lose a game.

But instead of lose a game, how about we go with should have lost a game.

Arkansas played Alabama even through most of the day on Saturday and had the lead.

Without a few ill-advised throws by Ryan Mallett, we would be talking about Ohio State at No. 1 in the country anyway.

If you look at the AP poll from last week to this week, you will notice that with the close loss, voters actually move their votes to Alabama and away from Ohio State.

Apparently 72 points is something to sneeze at.

When Alabama beat down San Jose State and Duke, it wasn’t surprising. That is what they were expected to do.

But now a 24-3 win over Penn State, a game where it seemed like Alabama dominated even if the score didn’t show it, seems less shiny after the Nittany Lions barely escaped Temple.

The Owls may have come a long way since their days as the laughing stock of the Big East, but they shouldn’t be threatening Penn State. Especially not when they almost lost to Villanova at the beginning of the season.

So while Alabama now has two “who cares” wins, one “woah, that was close” and one win that makes you go hmmm now, Ohio State has taken care of business.

They may be sloppy, slow starters, but the Buckeyes have put every team away on offense and defense. The Miami win which showcased their dominance on both sides of the ball looks better and better each week as the Hurricanes emerge as the team to beat in the ACC (and the only team worth anything in that conference).

Right now, they just look like the better team on the field.

Yes, I am using the all-important eye test, because the numbers between the two teams are a wash.

And maybe I am a little biased, but even my computer thinks that Ohio State is better than Alabama right now. That may change as we get deeper into the Big Ten season and the competition isn’t as great as in the SEC, but for now, I am sticking with THE Ohio State.

Rank	Team	Record	Points
1	Alabama (3)	4-0	99
2	Ohio State (1)	4-0	96
3	Oregon	4-0	90
4	Boise State	3-0	89
5	Nebraska	4-0	85
6	TCU	4-0	79
7 (tie)	Florida	4-0	70
7 (tie)	Oklahoma	4-0	70
9	Wisconsin	4-0	69
10	Stanford	4-0	68
11	Auburn	4-0	61
12	Utah	4-0	54
13	Arizona	4-0	53
14	LSU	4-0	47
15	Arkansas	3-1	41
16	Michigan	4-0	39
17	USC	4-0	36
18	Iowa	3-1	32
19	South Carolina	3-1	31
20 (tie)	North Carolina State	4-0	16
20 (tie)	Penn State	3-1	16
22	Michigan State	4-0	14
23	Texas	3-1	13
24	Nevada	4-0	10
25	Oklahoma State	3-0	9
Others receiving votes: Miami (FL) 7, Missouri (6)