The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Noverber 12, 2007 - 5B MAIZE GAUGE . The Michigan Dail9football writers break down the weekend's stats that don't show up in the box- score. The defense-o-meter measures the intensity of the defense, the Carr-o-meter judges Lloyd Carr's demeanor following the game and the hypemeter measures the fans' game performance. DEFENSE-0-METER Hmm. All season long, people talked about Michigan's 1/4 problems against the spread. But now it looks like the f traditional offenses are causing much more trouble. Crables For the second week ina row, Michigan looked help- less against the run. And with Badger quarterback Tyler Donovan eluding pressure, the Wolverines looked even worse against the pass. Not a good combination. 2 Carr didn't seem too crushed by the loss. Perhaps he knew it didn't matter in the bigger scheme oftthings, or maybe he's 4 seen enough this season (think Appalachian State) so that a Lloyd loss to Wisconsin doesn't really faze him. Whatever the reason, Carrs Saturday's postgame press conference was uneventful, and it didn't give us much of an insight into how he was taking the loss. HYPEMETER 34/We know11 a.m. is a little earlyfor Badgerfans.-But we're sure that those students who showed up late could have 4 ,passed on that12th beer and arrived at the stadium on time. Big Houses But other than that the Wisconsin students came through with a pretty awesome performance, especially when they made the press box shake during"Jump Around." ASSOCIATED . SO Kansas keeps rolling while every other team around the Jayhawks con- tinue to falter. The latest casualty - Ohio State. The Buckeyes lost a stunner in the Horseshoe to Illinois, a team that hasn't beaten a No.1 team since the mid-1950s. THE MICHIGAN DAILY TOP 10 POLL 6. WEST VIRGINIA: The Mountaineer defense has been key in West Virginia's resurgence after its b s spg n p , pearly-season loss to South Florida. But Pat White ev i ds .e sa sdtrpandthe offense provedthey could still carry their share of the load in 38-31winover Louisville. L' 1.OREGON (2): Despite havingthree fewer first- place votes than Louisiana State, the Ducks take T. ARIZONA STATE: It looks like the Sun Des our top spot because two writers had the Tigers playing for a Rose Bowl berth. If Oregnins out fifth and sixth. Is Oregonreally good enough to and goes to the BCS title game, it leave a spot p? wina National Championship? Ask Michigan. for Ari in tGrand y of Them Ael. 8. GEORGIA: Black jerseys? Rushingthe field after touchdowns?Mark Richt is on a missioncto motivate the aBulldogs, and it's working.After alackluster start, Gteorgia is incontention for an SEC Title. 3. KANSAS(2): The same two writers who dissed Louisiana State gave Kansas its No. Svotes. Do the Jayhawks deserve such high accolades? Why not? After beating Oklahoma State on the road, they proved they're men! They're10-0! TEAM 1. Louisiana State 2. Oregon 3. Oklahoma 4. Kansas S. West Virginia 6. Missouri 7. Ohio State 8. Georgia 9. Arizona State 10. Virginia Tech 11. Southern Cal 12. Texas 13. Hawaii 14. Florida 15. Clemson 16. Virginia LAST WEEK beat Louisiana Tech 58-10 idle beat Savior 52-21 beat Oklahoma State 43-28 beat Louisville 38-31 beat Texas A&M40-26 lost to Illinois 28-21 beat Auburn 45-20 beat UCLA 24-20 beat Florida State 40-21 beat California 24-17 beat Texas Tech 59-43 beat Fresno State 37-30 beat South Caro- lina 51-31 beat Wake For- est 44-10 beat Miawi 48-0 THIS WEEK at Mississippi at Arizona at Texas Tech Iowa State Cincinnati at Kansas State at Michigan Kentucky Southern Cal Miami idle idle at Nevada Florida Atlantic Boston College idle 10. VIRGINIA TECH: Take awaythe greatest two minutes of Matt Ryan's career, and the Iokies are undefeated in ACC play. Even with that mishap, Virginia Tech still can clinch an ACC Coastal Division crown. S. MISSOURI: The Tigers' win overtIllinois is suddenly a quatitywin afterthe lliniookdown Ohio Statein Columbus. Their regular-season finale with Kansas will decide the Bigl12 North crown and a spot inthe conferencectitle game. Staff Picks recap: Enduring criticism week after week, it looks like Jack Herman is intent on proving his detractors wrong. Tying Daniel Bromwich and Scott Bell for the weekly lead, Herman surged past the celebrities this week. Just a few more wins, and he'll top Kevin Wright for third place. If he keeps study- ing hard, even Bromwich and Bell could be in his sights. Unfortunately, we'll have to wish LSA senior Matt Devine good luck as he moseys over to his horse Fri- day and hits the 'ol dusty trail. Nice work, pardner, but unfortunately, you couldn't beat more than two writers this week. As always, e-mail the football beat at footballbeat07@umich.edu to get in the pool of potential participants if our next cowhand falters. 17. Boise State beat Utah State 52-0 Idaho 18. Boston College lostto Maryland 42-35 at Clemson 19. Tennessee beatArkansas 34-13 at Vanderbilt 20. Illinois beatOhioState28-21 Northwestern 21. Cincinnati beet Connecticut 27-3 West Virginia 22. Kentucky beat Vanderbilt 27-20 at Georgia 23. Michigan lost to Wiscon- Ohio State sin 37-21 24. Wisconsin beat Michigan 37-21 at Minnesota 25.Connecticut lost toCincinnati 27-3 Syracuse Games updated through Nov,11 STAFF PJCKS Three Daily football writers tied for the best record of the week, and the guest is gone. As always, the picks are against the spread. No.13 Michigan (-2.5) vs. WISCONSIN No.1 OHIO STATE (-15.5) vs. Illinois No. 2 LOUISIANA STATE (-36.5) vs. La Tech No. 4 OKLAHOMA (-38) vs. Baylor No.SKansas (-6) vs. OKLAHOMA STATE No.8 WEST VItGINIA (-18.5) vs. Louisville No. 7 MISSOUtI (-19.5) ns. TexasA&M No. 8 Boston College (-6) vs. MARYLAND No 9 Arizona State (-7) vs. UCLA No. 10GEORGIA (-2) vs. No. 18 Auburn No. 11 VIRGINIA TECH (-6) nvs Florida State No.12 Southern Cal (-4) vs. No. 24 CAL No. 14 HAWAII (175) vs. Fresno State No.15 TEXAS (-6.5) vs. Texas Tech No.16Connecticut (+6) vs. CINCINNATI No.17 Florida (-8.5) vs. SOUTH CAROLINA No. 19 Boise State (-24) ns. UTAH STATE No. 20 CLEMSON (-9) vs. wake Forest No. 21 Alabama (-5.5) no. MISSISSIPPI STATE No.22 TENNESSEE (even) vs. Arkansas No. 23 Virginia (+3.5) vs. MIAMI No. 24 Kentucky (-3.5) vs. VANDERBILT IOWA (-14.5) vs. Minnesota Penn State (-24) vs. TEMPLE Indiana (-2) vs. NORTHWESTERN Michigan State (+4) vs. PURDUE Best Bet tecord This Week Overall tecord Scott Laniel Bell Bromwich Herman Wright Michigan Illinois Louisiana Tech Oklahoma Kansas Louisville Missouri Maryland UCLA Georgia Florida State Southern Cal Fresno State Texas Tech Connecticut Florida Boise State Clemson Mississippi State Arkansas Miami Vanderbilt Minnesota Penn State Indiana Purdue Penn State 14-120(-0) 127-109-9 (5-5) Michigan Ohio State Louisiana State Baylor Oklahoma State West Virginia Missouri Boston College Arizona State Georgia Virginia Tech Southern Cal Fresno State Texas Tech Cincinnati Florida Boise State Wake Forest Alabama Arkansas Virginia Kentucky Minnesota Penn State Northwestern Purdue Michigan 14-12(0-1) 124-112-9 (6-3-1) Michigan Ohio State Louisiana State Baylor Oklahoma State West Virginia Missouri Maryland UCLA Auburn Virginia Tech Southern Cal Hawaii Texas Connecticut Florida Utah State Clemson Alabama Arkansas Virginia Kentucky Minnesota Penn State Indiana Michigan State Michigan 14-12(0-1) 118-120-9 (2-8) Michigan Illinois Louisiana State Oklahoma Oklahoma State Louisville Missouri Boston College Arizona State Georgia Florida State Calitornia Fresno State Texas Tech Cincinnati South Carolina Utah State WakebForest Alabama Tennessee Miami Kentucky Iowa Penn State Indiana Purdue Georgia 9-1701-0) 120-118-9 (8-4) Michigan Ohio State Louisiana State Oklahoma Kansas Louisville Missouri Boston College Arizona State Auburn Florida State Calitornia Hawaii Texas Cincinnati Florida Boise State Clemson Alabama Arkansas Virginia Kentucky Iowa Penn State Northwestern Purdue Michigan 12-14 (0-1) 115-121-9 (2-7-1) I