So call me crazy, but I want to buy a large countdown clock, like an obnoxious clock that could take up an entire parking lot, and have the seconds, minutes, hours and days count down until football Armageddon -- LSU vs Alabama! (As I write this blog late into the Tuesday night, the timer is at 10 days, 19 hours, 5 minutes and 32...31...30...29...yeah, I'll stop).

So the two best defenses in the nation will matchup against each other in T-town.  As the saying goes, defense wins championships, I wonder if the Big 12 conference got the message?  I'm only writing this because I came across some interesting numbers the other day.

Not a single Big 12 school is ranked in the Top 25 in total defense -- Kansas State (29) and Texas (30) sneak inside the Top 30 in the nation.  And with Oklahoma's upset loss to Texas Tech over the weekend, the conference's best chance to make the BCS Championship, Oklahoma State, ranks 103rd -- there's 120 teams in the FBS.

But, are the defenses bad, because the offenses are so good?  A possibility...five of the top seven teams nationally in total offense comes out of the Big 12 [Baylor (2), Oklahoma St. (3), Oklahoma (4), Texas Tech (5), Texas A&M (7)].

I still believe you need a solid defense to win a national title....so is there, like, a toll free number I can call to buy that huge countdown clock!

1. LSU (Last week: 1)

2. Stanford (2)

3. Boise St. (5)

4. Alabama (6)

5. Oregon (7)

6. Oklahoma St. (8)

7. Clemson (9)

8. Oklahoma (2)

9. Arkansas (10)

10. Wisconsin (4)

Dropped Out: None

On The Rise: Michigan St