Well a final blowout to end the “playoffs” wrapped up a utterly boring 2018 season. Meanwhile the FCS ranks had a playoff filled with exciting games including a 14 point title game that had flashes of: “holy crap Eastern Washington is going to come all the way back?!” Anyway, let’s rank the teams.
Real AP Poll:
- Clemson (61)
- Alabama
- Ohio State – Based on how those defenses looked in the natty, it’s a shame the best quarterback in the nation didn’t get his shot. Moronic “playoffs.”
- Oklahoma
- Notre Dame
- LSU
- Florida
Georgia – I mean this has to have been done deliberately just to piss off Dawg Nation, right? - South Alabama – Kidding, there was a tie at 7th
- Texas – Congrats, you beat a team suffering from a bad case of zero interest itis.
- Washington State
- UCF – Banged up and still almost beat an SEC power. Damn.
- Kentucky – That was an impressive stand against Penn State’s insane comeback.
- Washington
- Michigan – Michigan looked really elite against Florida, didn’t they?
- Syracuse
- Texas A&M
- Penn State
- Fresno State
- Army – They beat a team so badly they fired their coach and had a billionaire steal West Virginia’s coach. That’s impressive.
- West Virginia
- Northwestern
- Utah State
- Boise State
- Cincinnati – The American East is going to be fun next year!
- Iowa – Called it!
Dropped: Mississippi State (18), Utah (20), Missouri (24), Iowa State (25)
Receiving Votes: Appalachian State, Stanford, Mississippi State, Utah, UAB, Iowa State, Auburn, Oregon, Missouri, Troy, Georgia Southern, Oklahoma State, NC State, Wisconsin
Josh’s Top 25:
- Clemson
- Ohio State – This. Is. Why. You. Need. At. Least. Eight. Teams.
- Alabama
- Oklahoma
- Notre Dame
- UCF
- Washington State
- Texas
- Georgia – Obviously UGA didn’t want to be there and obviously Texas took advantage of that BUT, a loss is still a loss. I can only rank based on the data I see, not psychoanalyzing the interests (or lack there of) of teams.
- Florida
- LSU
- Army – Can you imagine where this team would be ranked if they had pulled off that Oklahoma win? What a magical season.
- Washington
- Syracuse
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Penn State
- Texas A&M
- Fresno State
- Boise State
- -25. 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 teams the final spot(s) all willy nilly. I had a reader say that this section wasn’t very clear so I’ll try to state the process more clearly. Since many leagues will have a ton of teams on my radar, I only take one team from each league to start with. On rare exceptions, I’ll take more than one team but for the most part, I really try and weed out within leagues first. Then I see if my final selections have played any FCS teams or have had a bad game (bad games could be narrow wins over bad opponents, a blowout loss, or a stunning upset). After those first two criteria, I take the remaining teams and examine their best win, worst win, best loss, and worst loss to make the final selections.
American Athletic Conference
Temple had been my nominee the last few weeks without getting in but Duke demolished them in their bowl so no chance of sneaking into the final poll. Speaking about getting demolished, Army just scored again on Houston. Zero shot the Cougs’ eight wins would have been enough with that no-show in the bowl. Memphis didn’t get humiliated but losing to Wake close won’t be enough to slip into the final poll. That leaves just one obvious team, Cincinnati. UC ended with more wins than all those teams and won their bowl. Sure the 11 wins weren’t against the most impressive of clubs and they did lose to Temple and UCF but double-digit wins is always nice. Special shout-out to Tulane who closed the season 4-1 to make a bowl at 6-6 and then took down Louisiana to win their first bowl since 2002.
AAC Nominee: Cincinnati
Atlantic Coast Conference
NC State won nine games and got back on my radar a bit but they never beat anybody! They were just 3-4 against teams that made bowl games and that includes their own 52-13 debacle in the Gator Bowl. The intriguing team is Virginia. They finished an ugly 1-3 but their eight wins were hard to come by as UVA took on eight bowl clubs and went 4-4 in those games. Among those wins is something NC State failed to do, win their bowl. Virginia had one of the most impressive bowl wins as they smoked South Carolina, 28-0.
ACC Nominee: Virginia
Big 12 Conference
I had West Virginia ranked 17th before the bowls but they were trending down and then got doubled up in their bowl by Syracuse. Sure no one bothered to play in that game and there was mounting talk about Dana Holgerson leaving but the end result was a loss and it dropped the Mountaineers to 8-4. They went just 3-4 against bowl teams and two of those wins were Baylor and TCU, a double-dip of who cares. Iowa State lost their bowl, too. They did it in much more impressive fashion against a good Washington State team and a game that was much more exciting and closer (28-26). ISU also beat WVU so I’m inclined to keep the Clones around but is it fair to also drop WVU all the way out from 17th? It isn’t out of the question but I need to at least compare them nationally first so both will move on.
Big 12 Nominees: Iowa State, West Virginia
Big Ten Conference
I bounced Northwestern after their loss in the title game but knew that banged-up Utah was a great opportunity to notch a ninth win and get back on the radar, so NU will move on. I picked Iowa to beat Mississippi State and they did, also moving them to the nine win mark. The Hawks might be a little more problematic when compared nationally but for now they will get that look. The really tough team is Wisconsin. They dominated disinterested Miami again to win an eighth game but their 2-4 record against bowl teams prior to the bowl is tough to ignore. Badgers fall just short.
Big 10 Nominees: Iowa, Northwestern
Conference USA
A trio of clubs won bowls to get to a sexy win total: Marshall, FIU, and UAB. Marshall owned South Florida to get to nine victories, FIU slipped passed Toledo to also get to nine wins, and UAB dominated MAC champion Northern Illinois to get to 11 wins. Not only did UAB end up with the most wins, but they were also league champs while Marshall and FIU failed to win the C-USA east.
C-USA Nominee: UAB
Pac 12 Conference
Stanford and Oregon each won bowl games in hilarious fashion. The Cardinal triumphed 14-13 over offensively challenged Pitt and the Ducks won 7-6 over offensively inept Michigan State. Each team got to nine wins thanks to those bowls. Here’s the problem with their resumes: Utah. The Utes beat both of them so any conversation about getting Stanford or Oregon ranked will be hallow without mentioning the banged up boys from Salt Lake. Utah came up short in a nail-biter to Washington in the Pac 12 title game and lost to Northwestern in the bowl but they were no slouch, winning nine games as well and being ranked 15th in my last poll. The easiest and most logical thing would be to move them all along.
Pac 12 Nominees: Oregon, Stanford, Utah
Southeastern Conference
Three teams with eight wins that all sport different resumes. Missouri finished red hot but lost to Oklahoma State in the bowl. Mississippi State was consistent on defense and won throughout the season but were sloppy in a loss to Iowa. Auburn played by far the worst in the regular season but smoked Purdue in the bowl. AU has the weakest claim as they could beat just two bowl teams in the regular season AND lost to Mississippi State. The other two are a toss up. Both beat four bowl teams, both lost to Kentucky, and both lost to Alabama. MSU has a great defense, Mizzou has a great quarterback. To me the difference was Florida. State lost to them but Missouri destroyed them.
SEC Nominee: Missouri
Sun Belt Conference
How can this league be this tight even after the year? Three clubs all had remarkable seasons. App State won their bowl to get to 11 victories. Troy won their bowl to hit the 10 win mark. Finally Georgia Southern optioned their way to a bowl win and 10 wins, too. Worse is the round-robin. App beat Troy, Troy beat GSU, GSU beat App. Awesome. The Mountaineers do have the league chip in their pocket and arguably had a harder bowl (C-USA’s Middle Tennessee vs two MAC clubs) and have the longest winning streak. Look, I wouldn’t want Iowa to play any of these teams but the league title tips the scales ever so much.
Sun Belt Nominee: Appalachian State
Elimination Time:
The above twelve teams join Utah State to form a master list of 13 teams trying to get into the best poll the internet has. The first criteria I will look at is who has played FCS teams and then look at any bad games.
FCS Much?…It is tough for eight win clubs to get ranked when they play a FCS team but Virginia was an easy pass once you factor in beating Liberty, Louisville, and North Carolina. Yikes. Those lovable Cyclones also drop off here. They were 7-4 before a make up for one missed FCS game was filled with another FCS team. At least West Virginia’s FCS victory can be counterbalanced by a power-five non conference win. Iowa State has no such luxury.
Bad Game(s)…Some losses really stand out when I do this poll and Oregon’s dozy to Arizona is one. There is no reason for a ranked team to lose 44-15 to Arizona. Factor in Oregon failing to beat that injured Utah team, hang with Washington State, or avoid a major choke against Stanford and you have a good but not top-25 club. Staying in the Pac 12, this is where Stanford also bows out. It isn’t so much a series of bad games or a singular blowout but it is just bad outcomes. Since the Oregon victory in game four, Stanford went 1-4 against bowl teams and that lone win was against Arizona State. For the most part the games were close but it just demonstrates that Stanford is good, but not elite.
Final Nine
For this I try to just look at a couple of games: each team’s best win, worst win, best loss (i.e. a moral victory), and worst loss.
- Appalachian State
- BW: Troy or MTSU
- WW: FCS
- BL: at Penn State (by 7 in OT)
- WL: at Georgia Southern (by 20)
- Cincinnati
- BW: Virginia Tech or Tulane
- WW: FCS or UConn
- BL: at Temple (by 7)
- WL: at UCF (by 25)
- Iowa
- BW: Mississippi State, Iowa State, or Minnesota
- WW: FCS
- BL: at Penn State (by 6)
- WL: at Purdue (by 2)
- Missouri
- BW: at Florida
- WW: FCS
- BL: Kentucky (by 1)
- WL: at Alabama (by 29)
- Northwestern
- BW: Utah, Wisconsin, at Iowa
- WW: at Rutgers
- BL: Michigan (by 3)
- WL: Akron (by 5)
- UAB
- BW: Northern Illinois or MTSU
- WW: FCS
- BL: None
- WL: at Coastal Carolina (by 23)
- Utah
- BW: at Stanford or Oregon
- WW: FCS
- BL: at Washington State (by 4) or Pac 12 title game (by 7)
- WL: at Arizona State (by 18)
- Utah State
- BW: at BYU or at Hawaii
- WW: FCS
- BL: at Michigan State (by 7)
- WL: at Boise State (by 9)
- West Virginia
- BW: at Texas
- WW: FCS
- BL: Oklahoma (by 3)
- WL: at Iowa State (by 16)
The first thing that caught my eye was Utah State’s lack of pop. Sure 11 wins is awesome but they were heavily favored in their bowl and then North Texas’s best player got hurt. I’m not sure roughing up North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl is enough to push them into the poll when these other teams have multiple big wins, beat ranked teams, or won their conference. I loved the Aggie’s O this year and would love to have them ranked but they just didn’t play anybody so I can’t say definitively if they are a good enough team to be in my poll.
The next thing that came to my attention was having two eight win teams. I can live with one but two? No, that doesn’t make sense with so many good clubs out there. I decided to focus more on WVU and Mizzou to drop one. WVU played six bowl teams, Missouri had eight. WVU went 1-1 against teams in the final poll, Missouri went 1-3. Each played a FCS team. Each lost to Oklahoma State. WVU had a game canceled. So maybe WVU smoked NC State or fills that game in with some patsy to be sitting at 9-4 right now and its no question. Maybe Missouri matched WVU’s eight wins with a tougher schedule. I don’t deal with maybes, I can only go with what is in front of me and that is with all of WVU’s players actually playing: do they win that game and I say the answer is yes. Missouri’s defense was too erratic to go against Will Grier. I sadly bid adios to Missouri.
That gets us down to seven teams for five spots. I think it is safe to say that Iowa and Northwestern should be in without me being called a homer. Both racked up nine wins and from the BW/WW/BL/WL data point racked up three marquee wins. They are safe.
That leaves five clubs for three spots. Sadly I think UAB has come as far as they can. They were 0-1 against their lone power-five team (Texas A&M) and it wasn’t pretty, losing by 21. The Blazers were a phenomenal story and have a memorable C-USA title to look back on from now until the end of time but they don’t look as good as App State or UC for lower conference teams still trying to get ranked by me.
I’ve eliminated enough teams that I feel good about keeping WVU and Utah in my poll after bad bowl losses. It is just hard to go from the teens all the way out, especially with the seasons they each had. That leaves UC and App State. I’ve been hard on Cincy’s schedule all year but they got a gift of a bowl: Virginia Tech. It puts UC at 2-0 against power-five teams while App went 0-1. I also believe the American is a better conference than people give them credit for. Tulane winning a bowl (UC beat them) is an example of that. Banged up UCF going toe to toe with LSU is evidence of that. Lastly, UC beat Ohio, a club that dominated their bowl over a Mountain West team. The Bearcats had some wins that I dismissed earlier in the year that grew as the season went on. Awesome year by both teams, I just lean towards UC ever so much.
Final Verdict:
21. Northwestern
22. Iowa
23. Utah
24. West Virginia
25. Cincinnati
League Breakdown:
6 – SEC
5 – Big Ten
3 – Big 12, Pac 12
2 – ACC, American, Independent, Mountain West
Big Ten and Counting 