Mississippi schools are a 1-2 punch in Times’ Super-16 rankings

Rankman has been waiting years to start his countdown with this countdown: One Mississippi … two Mississippi (State). Thank you Rebels and Bulldogs for winning last weekend so we could stack you like potato pancakes on top of the ugliness at Florida State. Oregon’s Ducks are back in the hunt after offensive tackle Jake Fisher returned from a sprained knee. With Fisher back, a line that had given up 12 sacks in the previous two games held UCLA to none. Based on that, maybe Fisher should win the Heisman Trophy.

1; Mississippi 6-0; Committee member A. Manning must leave room whenever panel discusses Siege of Vicksburg. (3)

2; Mississippi State 6-0; Don’t let it get out that two of three top-10 wins came against teams no longer in the top 20. (11)

3; Florida State 6-0; Tallahassee PD says a Cover (up) 2 defense should work this week against Notre Dame. (2)

4; Baylor 6-0; Whew! Everything turned out OK after shootout with Texas Christian at the Waco Corral. (4)

5; Notre Dame 6-0; Man to Kelly on “Airplane” to Florida State: “Good luck, we’re all counting on you.” (6)

6; Oregon 5-1; Ducks have 10 consecutive wins over Washington, and covered the spread in each. (9)

7; Georgia 5-1; Two news-hogging Mississippi teams overshadowed impressive beatdown of Missouri Tigers. (13)

8; Auburn; 4-1; Nothing wrong that can’t be cured by another 109-yard miracle touchdown in late November. (1)

9; Alabama 5-1; Coaches voting in USA Today poll say this might be the worst Nick Saban team they have still ranked No. 7. (7)

10; Oklahoma 5-1; First-name K-State advance: Trevor has to play better for Bob against Bill’s team in Norman. (10)

11; Michigan State 5-1; Good timing: heads to Bloomington just as Indiana loses its blooming quarterback. (11)

12; Texas Christian 4-1; Postgame pep talk: “We didn’t lose to Baylor, we just ran out of scoreboard.” (8)

13; Arizona 5-1; Team nicknamed Wildcats uses motto “Bear Down” inspired by former student named Salmon. (12)

14; Utah 4-1; Forecast for Corvallis on Thursday is “Cloudy with a chance of footballs.” (14)

15; Ohio State 4-1; Monday was full work day at Michigan, which does not observe Columbus Day. (NR)

16; Arizona State 4-1; Being ranked No. 100 in total defense is totally not acceptable. (NR)

Dropped out: UCLA (15), Texas A&M (16).

Moved in: Ohio State, Arizona State.

First four out: Kansas State, Stanford, Oklahoma State, East Carolina.