Top 5 round-up: Nehlen ranks Stanford No. 4

Alabama remained atop the Scripps Legends Poll this week after taking care of business at Florida. And another SEC West, LSU, team came in just behind the Tide at No. 2.

On Monday’s teleconference, we asked Don Nehlen to justify his rankings (which match the overall poll’s top 3).

Nehlen: Of my Top 3, Alabama, LSU and Oklahoma, you know it’s very difficult to know which one is one and which one is two.  But I think Alabama, looking at those guys, they just seem like they’re the most solid football team of all of them.  They make the fewest mistakes, they’re as physical as the devil, and they’re just a heck of a football team in my opinion.

Moderator: What would you say about LSU?

Nehlen: Don’t misunderstand me, I think LSU is a heck of a football team, too, and I think Oklahoma…but I’m not sure Oklahoma has as good a running game as those other two and I’m not sure LSU, I think they make more mistakes than Alabama.  So, I put Alabama No. 1, LSU 2 and Oklahoma 3.

Moderator: What’s another team in your top 5 that impresses you?

Nehlen: I like Stanford a lot.  They’re hard-nosed, run the football well, their quarterback can make all the throws and I just think they’re very, very solid.  I’m surprised to have them as high as four this year, but that’s where I put them.

And I wasn’t a fan of Wisconsin (who Nehlen ranked fifth), but the more I look at them, the better I like them.  And I think Wisconsin, this quarterback, has moved them up into the elite teams in the country.  He can beat you with his arm; he can beat you with his feet.  Their defense has gotten better.  I thought Nebraska was a pretty good football team going in there and they dismantled them pretty darn well.

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