Top 10, Week 5

1. Alabama (5-0) Impressive first half against Florida carried them through an underwhelming offensive showing in the second half. This year's defense is bending a lot more than last year's, but so far, they've not broken when it's mattered. They are playing with confidence and forcing poor decisions. Watch for next week's game against South Carolina to be more similar to the Arkansas game than the Florida one.
2. Ohio State (5-0) Playing on the road is rarely easy, particularly when you're a team that's supposed to put opponents away without trouble. Good job by the Buckeyes holding on and not letting it be any closer than it was. Their road to the BCS Championship is still perilous.
3. Oregon (5-0) The Ducks continue to succeed in the second half, especially on defense. After getting down in the first half to Stanford, they pulled together and finished in distinctive fashion. Their path, like Alabama's and Ohio State's, is still a minefield.
4. Boise State (4-0) Big win in New Mexico, but their strength of schedule starts falling like a Black Diamond ski slope. They are not any less talented, but with college football's regular season often being one of attrition, I think they are going to need other teams to falter in order for them to have a chance to finish on top.
5. Auburn (5-0) This seems to be a much different 5-0 Auburn squad than last year's 5-0 team at this point in the season. They easily took care of Louisiana-Monroe as they should have and continued to build Cam Newton's confidence. They hit the road for the first time in three weeks with a game at Kentucky, which is followed by home games against Arkansas and LSU. The Wildcats shouldn't pose too much of a threat, but it might be a bit of a trap game for the Tigers.
6. TCU (5-0) Not very convincing wins the past two weeks drops them down a bit. Future dates against Air Force and Utah might jump them back up near Boise State, though.
7. Nebraska (4-0) I'm sure some Husker fans were saddened by the Longhorns loss to Oklahoma yesterday, as it somewhat diminishes their year-long plan for the showdown in Lincoln. Though they have not played too rough a schedule and have at times looked non-elite, I'd still take them over Oklahoma right now and look for the two teams to meet in the Big XII Championship. 
8. Oklahoma (5-0) They took care of business against a Texas team that's having to find and establish its identity (much like an alligator-related team in the South). I'm not convinced that they are an elite group, but wins have a way of building confidence, no matter how they come.
9. Arkansas (3-1) They know who they are and I think their loss to Alabama will free them from the pressure of having to be perfect, which should allow them to play looser and with more focus. After a big game against Texas A&M this Saturday, they head to Auburn for what should be a great shoot-out on the Plains.
10. Florida (4-1) As much as I'd enjoy dropping them from the Top 10, I think they'll still be around by the end of the season. For all the talk about this game being circled on the Gators' schedule in the way Alabama had done with the SEC Championship Game the previous season, I didn't think there was really enough time yet for that to really provide the focus needed to walk into a hostile environment and take away a win. For all that the Gators did wrong, they also showed they could stop Alabama's offense, their punter is amazing, they can move the ball with some ease, and, for some stretches, their offensive line can dominate. The turnovers will skew how this game is viewed, but the mistakes that were made are correctable and the Gators can still find their way to Atlanta in December.

Moving on:
Wisconsin (4-1) Having to play on the road against a team whose coach was laid up in a hospital bed due to a heart-attack and blood clot was quite the hurdle placed before the Badgers by the football gods. Or, it was just due them after the crazy escape from the Arizona State game with a win.