Oh the polls, how much I disagree with you. How does one 42-3 win measure up against a 59-17 win? Who knows but it matters to some. Here’s how I stack ’em up, hypocritical and all.
Real AP Poll:
- Alabama (56)
- Florida State (4)
- Ohio State
- Michigan (1)
- Clemson
- Houston
- Stanford
- Washington
- Wisconsin
- Louisville
- Texas
- Michigan State
- Iowa – This is the team that won 42-3 over Iowa State
- Oklahoma – This is the team that won 59-17, yet Iowa jumped three spots. I don’t get the voters.
- Tennessee
- Georgia – A win over UNC has them skyrocket but a tight win over Nicholls State results in a drop of seven spots.
- Texas A&M
- Notre Dame
- Ole Miss
- LSU
- Baylor
- Oregon
- Florida
- Arkansas
- Miami
My Top 25:
- Alabama
- Clemson – I’m not crazy about dinging a team for tight wins, especially this early on. What if Troy ends up winning the Sun Belt?
- Florida State
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- Stanford
- Tennessee
- Washington
- Houston
- Oklahoma
- Michigan State
- Iowa
- Georgia
- Louisville – Fantastic start and if they beat FSU they’ll sky rocket. If they keep it close, I’ll be inclined to bump even in a loss, but everyone ahead of them either won or was idle outside of TCU. Plus, are we that impressed with beating Charlotte? Relax and give it time UL fans, it will all work out.
- Wisconsin
- Texas
- Texas A&M
- Notre Dame
- Ole Miss
- LSU
- Baylor
- Oregon
- Arkansas
- TCU – Keeping them in because they put up a lot of points and had that great comeback. There are issues, yes, but to give up on a Patterson coached team after an overtime loss to a talented SEC team makes zero sense.
- SEE BELOW – Final Verdict
See Below – What the hell is that?
This is the most prestigious rankings on the internet, I can’t just give a team the final spot all willy nilly. As always I start with weeding out within conferences with multiple nominees first.
American Athletic Conference
The American is at it again with Cincinnati, East Carolina, Navy, and USF all 2-0. All four knocked off FCS teams in their openers but UC took down Purdue on the road in week two, ECU dropped NC State, Navy sunk UConn (pun very much intended), and the Bulls gored Northern Illinois. I’ll stop now. USF has had the largest margin of victory, has looked extremely sharp, and I gave them the nod last week but the Pirates have the best victory of the bunch, taking down an ACC bowl team of a year ago.
AAC Nominee: East Carolina
Atlantic Coast Conference
Georgia Tech, Miami, Pitt, and Wake – yes Wake Forest -all moved to 2-0 last week. Wake is the only team in this group to not play a FCS club, a very strong statement, but their 7-3 stinker against Tulane leaves me doubting them for a little longer. Tech played woeful Boston College as well as that FCS club so bouncing them too. The Penn State win is more impressive than either of Miami’s wins so I’ll advance the Panthers this week.
ACC Nominee: Pittsburgh
Big 12
So how far do I drop Oklahoma State after their wild loss? It was a crazy finish but OSU didn’t look like a top 25 team for the other 60 minutes. For more reaction to that game, check out the pod I’m on! Out of fairness to the other 1-1 team from this league, I gave Texas Tech a glance but not enough defense there. Easy call to keep West Virginia around with their undefeated mark.
Big 12 Nominee: West Virginia
Big Ten
Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, and Nebraska have joined the ranks of 2-0 teams. Unfortunately the Terps and Gophers have played FCS teams so they don’t stick around long. Nebraska’s two wins (Fresno and Wyoming) are just a tad better than Indiana’s (at FIU and Ball State) so for the second straight week I’ll keep the Huskers around.
Big Ten Nominee: Nebraska
Mid American Conference
Central Michigan, Toledo, and Western Michigan all got to 2-0. Of this group the Rockets are the only one without a victory over a power five team. Sadly, the Broncos’ win over Northwestern took a hit when NU lost 9-7 to a FCS club. Controversy be damned, Chips advance!
MAC Nominee: Central Michigan
Mountain West Conference
Guess what – Air Force, Boise State, and SDSU are all 2-0 – this conference is going to be an absolute delight just like it always is. Boise is the only one to not play a FCS team and already has a road trip under their belt. Broncos advance.
MW Nominee: Boise State
Pacific 12 Conference
Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah join several conference members at 2-0 but Sparky’s defense was torched by Tech in a win and Utah barely survived BYU. The Buffaloes on the other hand have given up just 14 points all year and have scored an even hundred. They might not win at Michigan but CU is clearly improved.
Pac 12 Nominee: Colorado
Elimination Time
These seven clubs join Army, Florida, Georgia Southern, and Southern Mississippi. Let’s knock some of these 11 out.
FCS Much?…Central Michigan, Colorado, East Carolina, Geo Southern, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia should feel great about a hot start but all played a FCS team. I’m aware that Southern Miss did too now but because I ranked them last week, I’m going to let them hang for the time being.
Bad Game(s)…This may be splitting hairs but Boise State’s win over Washington State wasn’t a thing of beauty. They gave up a late rally and Rypien threw three picks.
Final Four
This is where I like to do the Best Win / Worst Win / Best Loss / Worst Loss comparison to finalize things.
- Army
- BW: at Temple
- WW: Rice
- BL: N/A
- WL: N/A
- Florida
- BW: Kentucky
- WW: UMass
- BL: N/A
- WL: N/A
- Nebraska
- BW: Wyoming
- WW: Fresno State
- BL: N/A
- WL: N/A
- Southern Miss
- BW: at Kentucky
- WW: FCS
- BL: N/A
- WL: N/A
First thing that I picked up on was Southern Miss’s win over Kentucky lost a lot of shine after Florida manhandled them. Plus that FCS game is glaring now. Despite being my 25th ranked team last week I’m dropping them now.
On the flip side, if I’m going to ding USM for their Kentucky win losing its luster than certainly that impacts Florida. Factoring in the Minutemen being awful, I think I have to eliminate UF, too.
Army does have the best win between them and Nebraska and it was a road game, quite impressive. So why am I leaning towards the Huskers? Well Army has outscored their opponents 59-27 while NU is on fire outscoring their two opponents 95-27.
FINAL VERDICT:
25. Nebraska
League Breakdown:
7 – SEC
6 – Big Ten
4 – Big 12
3 – ACC, Pac 12
1 – American, Independent
Big Ten and Counting 