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Another week has passed, and the jumbled mess that is the Ohio MAC teams is a bit more clear. Wins by Toledo and Ohio have both teams playing stronger ball than any other Ohio MAC schools and thus the Rockets and Bobcats both jump 3 spots. Losses by BG, Akron and Kent State drop all 3 schools as inconsistency across the MAC has made these weekly ranking as difficult as ever. Big games this week include Miami vs. Buffalo as the winner will likely represent the MAC East in the MAC Football Championship Game, and Akron @ Bowling Green on Friday night. Both the Zips and Falcons are struggling, but one team has to win this game, right?

1 - Ohio State - 9-0 - The Buckeyes continue to roll as they had no problem taking care of #25 Penn State @ Happy Valley. This team appears poised for yet another BCS Championship appearance as they continue to be #1 in the AP, USA Today and BCS rankings. Next up for the Buckeyes is #21 Wisconsin who travels to Columbus for a Saturday match-up.

2 - Cincinnati - 6-2 - A week off after 2 straight losses may be just what the doctor ordered for the Bearcats as they look to get back on track. However, next up for UC will travel to play @ #18 South Florida, a team who has also dropped 2 straight.

3 - Miami - 4-5 - Miami traveled to Vanderbilt and lost 24-13 on Saturday, but gave the Commodores a solid game. Now it’s back to MAC play for the RedHawks in a very important game against Buffalo. The Bulls are rolling, and Miami has lost 2 straight, but expect a good game in Oxford this Saturday.

4 - Toledo - 4-5 - Toledo jumps 3 spots from #7 to #4 thanks to losses by BG, Akron and Kent State and the Rockets’ 70-21 win over Northern Illinois. Next up for Toledo is a Saturday match-up with the up-and-coming Eagles of Eastern Michigan.

5 - Ohio - 4-5 - Despite a midseason drop-off by the Bobcats, Frank Solich has his team playing much better on offense as the Bobcats won @ Bowling Green 38-27 on Saturday. As a result, the Bobcats leapfrog Kent State, Akron and BG into the #5 spot. Ohio hosts surprising Temple on Friday night as they look to get back to .500 on the season.

6 - Bowling Green - 4-4 - The Falcons drop 2 spots after losing at home to Ohio as they watch their MAC East Championship hopes fade away. After a promising start to the season, BG has now dropped 3 of 4 games and looks to get back on the winning side of the ball as they host Akron on Friday night.

7 - Akron - 3-5 - The Zips fall 2 spots thanks to a loss @ Buffalo and wins by both Toledo and ohio. A win in a tough road contest @ Bowling Green on Friday night could vault the Zips up a spot of two.

8 - Kent State - 3-6 - The Golden Flashes lost their 4th straight game and fall 2 more spots with a 41-32 home loss to Central Michigan on Saturday. Kent will have time to think about their recent cold streak as they next play November 10th @ MAC West cellar-dweller Northern Illinois.

9 - Dayton - 8-1 - Dayton continues to get W’s each week as the Flyers picked up their 4th straight and 8th of the season with a 35-16 win over San Diego this past weekend. With the win the Flyers sit atop the Pioneer League in a 1st place tie with a 4-1 conference record. Next up for Dayton is a Saturday contest with Butler.

10 - Youngstown State - 5-3 - Once thought to be at the same level as Ohio’s MAC schools by their fans, Youngstown State has been a real disappointment of late. now 5-4 overall and 1-3 in conference play, YSU will look to pickup their 6th win of the season @ Indiana State on Saturday.

Remember that if you are looking for Ohio State hats, Ohio Bobcats merchandise & gear, and other college apparel, be sure to look to DFN Sports sites.

Past Ohio college football rankings:

• Ohio college football rankings after Week #8
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #7
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #6
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #5
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #4
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #3
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #2
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #1
• Preseason Ohio college football rankings

The #1 and #2 spots in our weekly Ohio college football rankings remain consistent, but  the #3-8 spots remain up for grabs as none of the MAC teams in Ohio seem to be stepping it up. With the Miami RedHawks loss to Temple on Saturday, the RedHawks have opened the door for the #3 spot to be seized by another team, but the real question is does anyone else want it? Here’s the Ohio College Football Rankings after Week #8:

1 - Ohio State - 8-0- The Buckeyes faced their toughest test to date in a 7-point victory over Michigan State on Saturday. Despite completely dominating the stat sheet, MSU’s 3rd Quarter INT and fumble returns, both for TDs, made the game interesting. The Buckeyes will face their best opponent to date as they play @ #25 Penn State on Saturday night.

2 - Cincinnati - 6-2- After 6 straight wins to begin the season, the Bearcats have come back to reality with consecutive losses in to Louisville and Pitt in Big East play. It does not get any easier for UC as they face ranked opponents in the next 3 games beginning with a game @ #10 South Florida on November 3rd.

3 - Miami - 4-4- What happened to the RedHawks on Saturday @ Temple? A week after a 47-14 thrashing of Bowling Green, Miami dropped the ball against Temple to pick up their first loss in the MAC East. The RedHawks still control their destiny in the MAC East if they can beat Buffalo, Ohio and Akron, but first they visit Vanderbilt on Saturday with a chance to regain their momentum.

4 - Bowling Green - 4-3 - The Falcons returned to their winning ways with a 31-20 win @ Kent on Saturday in a game that was incredibly close on the stat sheet. Kent actually edged BG 382-381 in total yards and 30:44 to 29:16 in time of possession. With the win, BG improves to 2-1 against MAC East teams and next hosts Ohio on Saturday night at 6 pm with a chance to knock the Bobcats completely out of the MAC Championship picture.

5 - Akron - 3-4 - The Zips got a week off and didn’t move in the rankings as they occupy the #5 spot again this week. With Buffalo, the lone team that is undefeated against MAC East play, up next, Akron can make their statement as a solid MAC East title contender on Saturday.

6 - Kent State - 3-5- The Golden Flashes had their sites set on a MAC Championship coming into 2007 and seemed to be well on their way with a win over a BCS team in Week #1. But inconsistency early has evolved into consistent struggles of late as Kent has now lost 4 of 5 games and has fallen to 1-3 against MAC East teams. Up next for the Golden Flashes they host Central Michigan on Saturday.

7 - Toledo - 3-5 - The Rockets offense has not been the question this season despite the team’s struggles, and Saturday night the offense bailed Toledo out yet again. Despite allowing 560 total yards and 40 points to an average Ohio offense, the Rockets held on for a last-second FG and 43-40 win at the Glass Bowl. As a result, the Rockets jump the Bobcats for the #7 spot in our weekly Ohio college football rankings. Toledo looks to build momentum as they host Northern Illinois on Saturday @ 7 pm.

8 - Ohio - 3-5 - Coming off a win against Eastern Michigan a week before, the Bobcats looked to be in good shape with a 14-6 halftime lead @ Toledo on Saturday night. But Ohio’s defense let them down yet again in allowing 37 second half points to the Toledo offense, and the offense did nothing to help with 7 turnovers. The defending MAC East Champs are not out of the 2007 MAC East race yet, but they need to win out to have any chance at making the MAC Championship. A win @ Bowling Green on Saturday is a must for Ohio.

9 - Youngstown State - 5-3 - A few weeks ago we added Youngstown State due to a few Penguin fans claiming they were better than many of the teams on this list. At the time YSU was 3-1 and looked pretty solid. With 2 losses in their last 3 games and a close call against a bad team in the other, YSU has shown us nothing that deems them worthy of anything higher that #9 in the state of Ohio this season.

10 - Dayton - 7-1- Despite the better record, we’re not convinced that the Flyers are a better team than the Penguins.

Remember that if you are looking for Ohio State merchandise, Kent State hats, other sports hats and sports merchandise, be sure to look to DFN Sports sites.

Past Ohio college football rankings:

• Ohio college football rankings after Week #7
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #6
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #5
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #4
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #3
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #2
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #1
• Preseason Ohio college football rankings

Just a reminder as Game 7 has started and that we originally picked Cleveland to beat Boston in 7 games. Go Tribe!

We’ve reached the 8th inning of game 5 and the Cleveland Indians have dug themselves a hole thanks to C.C. Sabathia’s inability to stay out of trouble. Sabathia allowed all 4 runs in 6 plus innings but the two runs allowed in the top of the 7th really took thr crowd out of the game.

The Tribe will look for a big inning from the top of the order in the bottom of the 8th as Grady Sizemore leads off the bottom of the inning.

We’ve completed 1 inning here Jacobs Field and the Indians and Red Sox have traded runs. Kevin Youkilis started the scoring with a solo homer for Boston while Travis Hafner double play ball brought home Grady Sizemore for the Indians’ lone run.

Jacobs Field is everything I expected it to be tonight; in a word, electric. Fans have packed the local bars and restaurants surrounding the ballpark, and the seats are 80 percent full just 15 minutes before the first pitch.

It’s time for C.C. Sabathia to step it up. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying he has not been a leader on the 2007 Cleveland Indians team or that he hasn’t been stepping it up all season. But this is the playoffs; the second season. Sabathia is 1-1 with a 10.61 ERA in two postseason starts in 2007; a far cry from his 19-7, 3.21 regular season numbers.

Just over a year from now we will be talking about C.C. the pending free agent and the over $20 million/years that he will command. At that point it is likely that only Boston, the Yankees & Mets and maybe a couple of other teams will be able to afford Sabathia and fellow 2008 free agent Johan Santana. You see, the Indians are not a team that will pay a player $20 million, nor should they. It is against their entire philosophy and their farm system is too damn good to think that they would need to pay C.C. that much money. While C.C. is going to command a ton of $$$ no matter what he does in the 2007 postseason, if he really wants to bring home a tremendous payday he can start by stepping it up in the playoffs. Thursday night is his chance. Close out Boston; don’t let the series head back to Fenway. Be the leader and shut the door. Carry your team to victory C.C. and bring the fans home a World Series title!

The Cleveland Indians are just one win away from the World Series as they defeated the Boston Red Sox tonight by a score of 7-3.  A 7-run 5th inning provided all of the runs as Casey Blake led the inning off with a homerun and Jhonny Perralta added a 3-run homer to lead the Indians to victory. While the Reds Sox added 3 consecutiove homers in the 6th, the Tribe bullpen was able to shut the Red Sox down in the final 3 innings to secure the 3-1 series lead.

Game 5 will be at Jacobs Field in Cleveland on Thursday night as the Indians look to secure a place in the World Series against the Colorado Rockies.

The Cleveland Indians were not supposed to make it past the 1st round. The mighty Yankees were the first to fall to Cleveland, and the Boston Red Sox now find themselves down 2-1 to the Indians with two more games remaining in Cleveland before Games 6 & 7 in Boston (if necessary).

Game 3’s heroes included Kenny Lofton who hit a 2-run HR in the 2nd to put the Tribe on top and Jake Westbrook who started and allowed just 2 runs in 6 and 2/3 innings to pick up the win. Asdrubal Cabrera and Travis Hafner had the other two RBI for the Indians and Lewis, Betancourt and Borowski shut out the BoSox as Borowski picked up the save.

Game 4 between the Indians and Red Sox will be Tuesday night @ 8 pm ET in Cleveland before the two teams have Wednesday night off. Game 5 will be in Cleveland on Thursday night @ 8 pm.

The #1 and #2 spots in our weekly Ohio college football rankings are solid and unwaivering, but we finally have more calrity to the #3 spot as the Miami RedHawks are picking up steam and rolling through their MAC opponents. Spots #4-6 are very much up for grabs as Akron, Kent State and Ohio all remain inconsistent. Here’s the Ohio College Football Rankings after Week #7:

1 - Ohio State - 7-0 - The Buckeyes rolled over in-state foe Kent State 48-3 behind a 28-point 2nd Quarter that featured both a INT return for a TD and a punt return TD. Ohio State returns to Big Ten action with a home match-up with Michigan State on Saturday.

2 - Cincinnati - 6-1- Despite their first loss of the season, it will take a lot for UC to fall from the #2 spot thanks to the Bearcats’ 47-10 dismantling of Miami in September. UC is @ Pitt on Saturday as they look to bounce back from a 28-24 loss to Louisville this past weekend.

3 - Miami - 4-3- We admit it. We screwed up on ranking Miami the past few weeks. The RedHawks are clearly the 3rd best team in Ohio thus far as they clobbered Bowling Green 47-14 this past weekend and defeated Kent State the weekend before. Up next for the RedHawks is a game @ Temple, a team that has won consecutive games over MAC opponents.

4 - Bowling Green - 3-3- Apparently there’s a big gap between #3 and #4 as BG was never even in the game @ Miami. The Falcons defense has now allowed 102 points in two weeks facing Boston College and Miami. BG’s schedule remains difficult as they travel to Kent to face the Golden Flashes this weekend.

5 - Akron - 3-4 - The #5-7 spots are up for grabs as none of these 3 teams seems to want it thanks to inconsistent play. The Zips fell at home to Temple 24-20 this past weekend in what was quite a disappointment as Akron came in a 10-point favorite. Akron travels to Buffalo to face the Bulls on October 27th as UB looks for their 3rd straight win over a MAC opponent.

6 - Kent State - 3-4 - After Akron’s bad loss to Temple, Kent State got a lot of consideration to move past the Zips. But Akron’s September 22nd win over Kent keeps them ahead of their rivals, and Kent’s September 29 win @ Ohio keeps them ahead of the Bobcats. Kent State hosts Bowling Green on Saturday in a game neither team can afford to lose.

7 - Ohio - 3-4 - Ohio got back into the “W” column with a 48-42 win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday. Ohio’s defense continues to struggle as they allowed 177 rushing yards and 5 TD passes to EMU. The Bobcats look to keep their momentum as they face Toledo in the Glass Bowl on Saturday.

8 - Toledo - 2-4- The Rockets dug themselves a hole as they allowed 28 1st Quarter points @ Buffalo en route to a 43-33 loss to the Bulls. The Rockets do not seem to be able to stop the run, and their Saturday opponent, Ohio, will be happy to run the ball with Kalvin McRae 25-30+ times against the Toledo defense.

9 - Youngstown State - 5-2 - A week after falling to Southern Illinois, YSU barely slipped by a 0-7 Southern Utah team with a 4th Quarter TD to win 23-22. Talk all you like YSU fans, but your computer rankings mean nothing to our staff. Your team’s play in the past two weeks, however, speaks volumes.

With another week behind us you can rest assured that if you are looking for OSU hats, Cincinnati Bearcats apparel, Ohio Bobcat merchandise and Akron Zips apparel & hats from DFN Sports sites.

Past Ohio college football rankings:

• Ohio college football rankings after Week #6
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #5
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #4
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #3
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #2
• Ohio college football rankings after Week #1
• Preseason Ohio college football rankings