Ranking top teams is no easy task after eventful week

Hmm. I'm not sure "Separation Saturday" accomplished its stated goal. If you're capable of discerning separation among the top six teams on this list, you clearly have better eyesight than I (which would be quite impressive considering, thanks to LASIK, I'm 20-15).

While the bonanza of meaningful games last weekend did create some sense of hierarchy in the rankings, distinguishing among the teams at the top is still quite difficult. Is a 7-3 victory in the SEC (Auburn over LSU) more or less impressive than a 28-10 victory out West (USC over Nebraska)? Was Michigan that good or Notre Dame that bad? And does a 31-7 victory over Miami validate Louisville's greatness or Miami's ineptness? It's all in the eyes of the beholder.

Fortunately, I feel pretty good about my eyes.

NCAA Football Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 1 Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0) All aboard the James Laurinaitis bandwagon. The Buckeyes' budding star followed up his Texas performance with a game-high nine tackles, a sack and an interception against Cincinnati. If he keeps this up, he'll be a Butkus candidate -- with a name that's just as hard to spell as Posluszny. Next game: Saturday vs. Penn State. 2 4 Auburn Tigers (3-0) Holding LSU (the same team that put up 40 on Miami in the Peach Bowl and 45 in its first two games) to three points was one of the more impressive defensive displays in recent memory. If anyone can run the table in this year's insanely tough SEC, it's Kenny Irons and that Tigers D. Next game: Saturday vs. Buffalo. 3 3 USC Trojans (2-0) The Trojans have set the bar so high in the past few years that after beating a top 20 team (Nebraska) 28-10, my reaction was, "Eh -- I expected more." Not that LB Rey Maualuga didn't do his part; the sophomore star-in-the-making notched a game-high 11 tackles in his first start. Next game: Saturday at Arizona. 4 9 Michigan Wolverines (3-0) Following the Notre Dame win, a TV reporter presumptively asked LB Shawn Crable how it felt to finally make it out of September undefeated (something the Wolverines haven't done since 1999). Hey, I think they'll beat Wisconsin and Minnesota too, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Next game: Saturday vs. Wisconsin. 5 5 West Virginia Mountaineers (3-0) Hope you got to see the Steve Slaton show against Maryland the other night (or at least the first quarter), because I have a feeling he and his team are about to disappear from the limelight for a while. WVU's next four games: East Carolina, Mississippi State, Syracuse and Connecticut. Next game: Saturday at East Carolina. 6 8 Florida Gators (3-0) Tailback DeShawn Wynn chose quite the occasion to break out with a 22-carry, 104-yard night. "We found a tailback," declared Gators coach Urban Meyer. Between Wynn, Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin, Florida's offense suddenly has a lot more weapons than it did this time a year ago. Next game: Saturday vs. Kentucky. 7 7 Texas Longhorns (2-1) The Longhorns ran the ball early and often (43 carries, 330 yards) in their 52-7 rout of Rice, presumably because they could. But wouldn't you think they'd want to take advantage of what was essentially a glorified scrimmage to give QB Colt McCoy more than eight pass attempts? Next game: Saturday vs. Iowa State. 8 6 LSU Tigers (2-1) As well as Auburn played defensively Saturday, LSU played better. The Bayou Bengals, led by ferocious DT Glenn Dorsey, allowed only 182 total yards, including just 2.8 yards a carry to star RB Kenny Irons. They still got the L, but I was impressed enough to keep them in the top 10. Next game: Saturday vs. Tulane. 9 10 Oregon Ducks (3-0) It's hard to believe now that QB Dennis Dixon was considered a question mark coming into the season. Dixon, who went 26 of 41 for 341 yards, two TDs and two INTs against Oklahoma, is still more mistake-prone than Kellen Clemens, but his running ability (six carries for 34 yards and a touchdown on Saturday) makes him more dangerous. Next game: Sept. 30 at Arizona State. 10 11 Georgia Bulldogs (3-0) Georgia's defense has already posted consecutive shutouts (against South Carolina and UAB) for the first time in 26 years. Saturday it faces an 0-3 Colorado team that's averaging 7.7 points per game. Make it three? "I don't see a weakness," UAB coach Watson Brown said of the Dawgs' D. Next game: Saturday vs. Colorado.

Read on for teams 11-20 ...