Top 11 College rankings

Here are my first rankings for the 2012 college football season. I normally do the top 10, but since there are 11 undefeated teams that are eligible for the bowl games, I’ll include all of them. Ohio State is 7-0 but they do not get a slot in my pole based on there ineligibility status. I’m not sure where they would go in my rankings, but they would be in the bottom half of the 12 undefeated teams. As per past year, I look at out-of-conference games (which teams can control more then in-conference) a lot more favorable than some others and rank more on results then potential. For example, if you look like you have a great team, but thus far have played a weak schedule, you’ll probably be lower then a team that doesn’t “look” as good. This does mean, however, as the season moves on, my top 10 won’t be static since it isn’t based on predictions.

  1. Notre Dame (6-0): I know many are not believers yet, but they have three wins over teams that were in the AP top 20 at the time (including one on the road). They have two really tough road games coming up though. At Oklahoma (Oct 27) and at USC (Nov 24).
  2. Oregon State: Two wins over top 20 AP teams including a win out-of-conference against then AP #13 Wisconsin. That win puts them above in-state rival Oregon in my pole.
  3. Florida (6-0): Another cream puff schedule from an “elite” SEC team. They will have one tough out of conference game though, but that isn’t until November 24 against Florida State. Good wins on the road against Texas A&M and LSU puts them ahead of Alabama.
  4. Kansas State (6-0): They blew out Miami in an out-of-conference game and beat (then #6) Oklahoma on the road. The Miami win would be better of the U was better this season, but still at least they were willing to schedule them.
  5. Rutgers (6-0): Rutgers gets the top ranking of the Big East undefeated based on there out-of-conference road win at Arkansas. Next week they are at Temple which is an underrated team but Rutgers should still be able to beat them. If they do, they have a good chance of going into their November 17 road game against Cincinnati with a 9-0 record
  6. Cincinnati (6-0). I considered putting them above Rutgers with there 27-24 win in D.C. Against Virginia Tech, but decided that overall Rutgers has had the tougher schedule thus far. A win ar Louisville next week may have them jump the Scarlet Knights, however.
  7. Alabama (6-0): I know the pundits love them, but they haven’t had any real tough away games yet. Actually, they only have one all season (LSU) although Arkansas should have been better early on (I think Arkansas has talent, but we will see as the season moves on if the ship can be righted). Still, ‘Bama gets credit for the win on a neutral site over Michigan and because they haven’t let anyone come even close to beating them. They will move up in my rankings if they keep winning though as they have some tougher games like the aforementioned one at LSU latter in the season<./li>
  8. Louisville (6-0) Good out-of-conference wins against Kentucky and North Carolina but both games were at home. In two weeks Cincinnati comes in for a visit. That should be a great game.
  9. Ohio (7-0): The only 7 win team in my rankings gets into the top 10 with season-opening a road victory at Penn State.
  10. Oregon (6-0): Arkansas State, Fresno State, Tennessee Tech? I guess they don’t like to be challenged out of conference. Only one road game at 2-5 Washington State so far. Really need to see more from them but their schedule is back-heavy so they have a chance to move up.
  11. Mississippi State (6-0): Best win so far was at Kentucky or maybe home against Tennessee. Out of conference games include Jackson State, Troy, South Alabama, and Middle Tennessee. Consider me unimpressed. We won’t have a clue on how good they are until Oct 27 when the go on the road against Alabama.

First Top 10 of the 2011 College Football Season

Here is my top 10. As a reminder, my top 10 is based on performance not “predictions” of the future. This is why I don’t start the pole until October. I also add weight for the portion of schedule the school can control (out of conference). Scheduling cupcakes is not looked on favorably in my pole.

  1. LSU (6-0). Normally I ping the SEC teams for their out of conference schedules. Well, LSU stepped it up and played Oregon (neutral field, but more home than away) and West Virginia, so kudos for them. They get the #1 vote for the first week of my standings this year.
  2. Boise State (5-0). Once again Boise State opens on the road against a “big time team” and shows it can play with anyone. Boise State haters, why don’t you schedule a game up in Idaho against them in November and prove they can’t beat you?
  3. Oklahoma (5-0). They had a few out of conference cupcakes but going on the road to play what many thought was a top 5 Florida State team shows me something. The impressive Texas win counter-acts the Missouri game where I don’t think they looked as good.
  4. Clemson (6-0). Nice road win at Auburn out of conference followed by good in-conference wins against Florida State and Virginia Tech puts Clemson in my top 5.
  5. Kansas State (5-0). I now the Florida schools haven’t been impressive these year, but K-State gets credit for an out of conference win at Miami (FL) and good conference wins at home against Baylor and Missouri.
  6. Alabama (6-0). Beating Penn State at Penn State is a good win even if Penn State isn’t that good. The other out of conference games were against cream puffs though. Good in conference wins against Florida and Arkansas help them a bit in my rankings.
  7. Illinois (6-0). Didn’t really know where to put the Illini. The victory against Arizona State who is 3-0 in the PAC-10 was impressive but the rest of the schedule is lacking. Once they play a few of the better Big-10 teams they will probably fall out of my top 10, but my picks are based on what they did so far, not based on my predictions of the future.
  8. Oklahoma State (5-0). Despite putting up 70 against conference foe Kansas, I am not sold on the Cowboys. Toughest out of conference game was Arizona who is 1-5. A few props to the victory over Tulsa though as at least it is an in-state match-up.
  9. Michigan (6-0). Nice out of conference win against Notre Dame. Notre Dame might not be the most impressive team but they only have one other loss (to South Florida). Rest of out of conference schedule could use some work.
  10. Georgia Tech (6-0). Only out of conference game even worth speaking about was at Kansas. Beating Kansas in a basketball game is impressive, in football not so much. Still, at least they went on the road once against another BCS school out of conference. Should be interesting if they remain undefeated going onto the Oct 29 matchup with Clemson.

Major College athletic conference reallignment

With Syracuse and Pitt most likely headed to the ACC and the Big 12 falling apart, I think a few more teams will leave the Big East. I don’t think any of them will go to the ACC though, or they would be going with Syracuse & Pitt. I predict Rutgers will be one of the teams that leaves and they will go to the Big 10. Possibly with UCONN and 2 Big 12 teams (Missouri? Kansas? Iowa State?) to make the Big 10 have 16 teams.

West Virginia will end up in the SEC with Texas A&M and maybe another Big 12 team (Missouri?)

I think Kansas and K-State may both end up in the ACC with Syracuse and Pitt — assuming Kansas doesn’t end up in the Big 10. K-State will probably not go to the ACC unless they are brought in with Kansas. Texas is also a possibility if the ACC lets them keep their Longhorn Network.

Texas, Texas Tech, OK, OK-State all to the PAC-16.

The Big East will pick up the best teams left and will still be in good shape. Big 12 will be history.

Still don’t see Notre Dame joining a conference in football. BYU would fit in the PAC-12, but the PAC-12 won’t take them because of the religious affiliation.

I don’t see anyone from the ACC, PAC-12, SEC, or Big 10 swapping conference – although if Florida State or someone else from the ACC jumps to the SEC I wouldn’t be shocked. Likewise, Maryland to the Big10 wouldn’t total shock me but it will cost each of those teams $20m to bail out so I doubt it will happen. But really, who knows.

The real moral of this story is the Big 12 really messed up by not adding teams when Colorado and Nebraska left. Sticking with 10 left them ripe for picking.

College Football Top 10

Here is my top 10 going into today’s action; again without comment….

Here is my top ten following the action from the week ending on November 7. Boise is still my number one although I was very tempted to put TCU on top after their impressive victory at Utah. I did move TCU up one, however. A lot of shakeup in the bottom half this week with some highly ranked teams losing this week. BTW: Don’t tell me that the SEC plays such a tough schedule. Chattanooga, out of conference in the middle of the season? LSU-Monroe? Really?

  1. Boise State (8-0; Prev 1)
  2. TCU (10-0; Prev 3)
  3. Oregon (9-0; Prev 2)
  4. Auburn (10-0; Prev 5)
  5. Stanford (8-1; Prev Unranked)
  6. Nebraska (8-1; Prev 10)
  7. Wisconsin (8-1; Prev 6)
  8. Michigan State (9-1; Prev Unranked)
  9. LSU (8-1; Prev Unranked)
  10. Oklahoma State (8-1; Prev Unranked)

College Football Top 10

I made a college football top ten week early last week, but I never got around to annotating it because I was away at a conference. So before today’s action here is my last with out comment:

1. Boise State (6-0; Prev 1) (now 7-0 after winning Tuesday)
2. Oregon (7-0; Prev 2)
3. TCU (8-0; Prev 4)
4. Missouri (7-0; Prev 6)
5. Utah (7-0; Prev 5)
6. Auburn (8-0; Prev 7)
7. Michigan State (8-0; Prev 9)
8. Oklahoma (6-1; Prev 3)
9. Arizona (6-1; Prev Unranked)
10. Wisconsin (7-1, Prev Unranked)

College Football Top 10

Welcome to the first installment of my college football top 10 for 2010. As a reminder, my rankings are based on what you did on the field. Not if you can beat X. If you think you can beat X schedule them and beat them, and I’ll rank you higher. This does mean though that my early top 10 rankings are unlikely to look very similar at the end of the season. Top concern is wins, followed by whom you played with an emphasis on out-of-conference games because that is what you can control. Until the SEC lets all teams join the SEC and share revenue equally, I don’t want to hear how you beat each other up in conference. It is your choice to be in there and your collective choice to keep other teams out. This is especially when you have teams that lose at home to Jacksonville State. That is not to say in-conference games don’t matter, but I am more impressed when you go on the road out of conference to play a tough team instead of playing teams that aren’t even in a FBS conference. However if you play good teams out of conference, if your conference is stronger than someone else’s, you’ll rate favorably. Without further ado, here is my first top 10.

  1. Boise State (4-0). Virginia Tech’s lost to James Madison has me questioning how good of a win this was, but since VaTech has won three straight after that, including 2 ACC games, I think the James Madison loss was a hangover from losing the Boise State game, so I’ll give the Broncos credit for playing what was basically a road game against an AP-top 10 ranked team to start the season. They also followed it up with an impressive win over the Pac-10’s Oregon State University.
  2. Alabama (4-0). I’m not impressed with Penn State, but give Alabama credit for scheduling them even if it was played in Alabama. A blowout of the ACC’s Duke isn’t that impressive but beating in-conference foe Florida counts for something.
  3. Oregon (5-0). Oregon has scored at least 42 points in every game and has a great second half defense. Although Tennessee isn’t the Tennessee that Peyton Manning played for, credit for playing them on the road is due. I’ll also give them a pass for scheduling Portland State since they are another Oregon school. New Mexico as the other out-of-conference game keeps them out of the top 2, however.
  4. Oklahoma (5-0). I really didn’t want to put the Sooners this high as with the exception of the Texas game I haven’t been overly impressed by their scheduling (and beating) Florida State and Cincinnati.
  5. LSU (5-0). Nice wins against North Carolina and West Virginia out of conference. Both were at home though and UNC was without a bunch of players, but a win is a win and credit for scheduling them is due.
  6. Nevada (5-0). Beat California out of the Pac-10 and BYU out of conference. Even though BYU isn’t as good as usual this year, that still counts for something.
  7. Nebraska (4-0). Only tough out of conference matchup was against Washington (who just beat USC) but that was a good win and at least San Diego State isn’t the Citadel.
  8. Arizona (4-0). I doubt Arizona will stay in my top 10 for long, but a good win against a AP top-10 Iowa gets them on my list. Wins over Citadel and Toledo keep them from being higher.
  9. TCU (5-0). Texas Christian has out of conference wins against Pac-10 and Big-12 teams. And while SMU isn’t a top 10 (or even 20) caliber team, they aren’t chopped liver so that is another good out of conference win.
  10. Ohio State (5-0). Not really sure what to think of their one good win – an out-of-conference triumph of Miami (FL) – as I don’t know if Miami is as good as some people seem to think they are.

Who’s #1? Boise State!

Here is my final top 10 of the season. Boise State with their bowl victory over TCU is my number one. Alabama, the other undeafeated, is number two. Why, you ask, Boise over Alabama? Simple: Out-of-conference schedule. Boise beat three bowl teams, including PAC-10 champion Oregon, out-of-conference during the regular season and another team that won their conference chapionship (UC-Davis). How many bowl teams out-of-conference did Alabama beat? One. Who else did ‘Bama schedule out of conference you ask? Two of the worst three teams from the Sun Belt and a team that is not even in the BCS-subdivision (Chattanooga). What makes the Chattanooga game even worse is that it was scheduled in November! Let me repeat that: November! And not even the begining of November!

This means one or more of a few things things, ‘Bama (and most of the SEC) is scared of playing a quality out-of-conference opponent (esp. on the road – the Va Tech game was a neutral site, 2) they are trying to stack their record, 3) they are trying to rest up for a team that they are concerned they other-wise would have lost to (and the team they played afterwards, Auburn, they almost did lose to as they also almost lost to Tennessee at home earlier in the season – and without some questionable officiating they would have lost one of those games). Seriously, scheduling Chattanooga in November should count as a loss.

I know SEC apologists will say that the SEC is tougher than the WAC. That may be so, but I don’t see the SEC offering a spot to Boise State. I am not going to credit the conference for locking other teams out. In other words, just because your rich, I’m not going to make you richer. You have to earn it, and by not playing quality out-of-conference opponents (esp. on the road in hostile environments) you are not earning it. Now maybe if the SEC would drop teams that are at the bottom of the league and add teams from other leagues that were good, I’d by the strength of conference schedule argument. However, your cartel is no good here. You can’t say that they didn’t play anyone when you refuse to travel to play a good team north of the Mason-Dixon line or west of the Mississippi. You didn’t play anyone in the part of schedule you control: the out-of-conference schedule. I’m not a huge Southern Cal fan, but at least they go on the road and play teams like Ohio State and Notre Dame.

Still, credit ‘Bama with a great season and great victory last night. They beat the Longhorns pretty easily although without the injury to Colt McCoy the game would have been much different. I’m not sure what would have happened and the outcome may have been the same, but the game would have been different.

Without further ado, here is my final top ten of the season:

1) Boise State (14-0) (prev: 2)
2) Alabama (14-0) (prev: 4)
3) TCU (12-1) (prev: 1)
4) Texas (13-1) (prev: 5)
5) Florida (13-1) (prev: 7)
6) Cincinnati (12-1) (prev: 3)
7) Ohio State (11-2) (prev: 9)
8) Iowa (11-2) (prev: 10)
9) BYU (11-2) (prev: unranked)
10) Oregon (10-3) (prev: 6)

College Football Top 10 – End of Regular Season

The BCS bowl match-ups have just been announced tonight and it looks like the real championship game will be the Fiesta Bowl. TCU will be playing Boise State. That is correct, the BCS powers are so scared that their precious cash cow big-money conference teams will be beaten by the teams from non-BCS conferences again that they figured out a way to continue to duck them – have the two non-BCS teams play each other. On the field the small guys have proven they are better. Who did Texas or Alabama beat out of conference that was better than Oregon? That’s right. No one. Did they have the guts to go on the row to ACC runner-up Clemson and beat them in their own house. Of course not.

I’ll have one more top 10 after the bowl games. I can’t imagine that the winner of the Fiesta Bowl won’t be #1, but we will wait and see.

1) TCU 12-0 (prev: 1) Finished the season last week so they got to stay home and watch the gams on TV this week.

2) Boise State 13-0 (prev: 3) Blew out New Mexico State last week. Only undefeated team to beat another team that received a BCS bid, that being the PAC-10 champion Oregon.

3) Cincinnati 12-0 (prev: 2) Tough game against Pitt, but they pulled it out. Still they drop in my top-10 one spot.

4) Alabama 13-0 (prev: 5) Alabama blew out over-rated Florida in the SEC championship game. Because Texas almost lost, I moved them up one spot. Also factoring into the decisions was at least Alabama did schedule Virginia Tech this year. Yes, the Hookies aren’t up to typical standards, but they were expected to be in the top 10.

5) Texas 13-0 (prev: 4 ) If the Big 12 Championship game was 59:59 instead of 60 minutes, they wouldn’t have won the championship. Despite that I was hoping Nebraska would win just so the BCS was forced to consider one of the non-BCS conference schools for the championship, the replay was correct and there was one second left on the clock.

6) Oregon 9-2 (prev 7) Oregon beat Oregon State in the Civil War and jumps over Florida into 6’th in my pole.

7) Florida 12-1 (prev: 6) Florida showed why they duck teams like TCU and Boise State. They just aren’t the team the pollsters wanted us to believe they are this year as evident by their blow-out lost to Alabama.

8 ) Georgia Tech 11-2 (prev: 9) Georgia Tech moves up one spot by beating Clemson in the ACC championship game.

9 ) Ohio State 10-2 (prev: 8) Ohio State didn’t play this week but will be in the Rose Bowl.

10) Iowa 10-2 (prev: 10) Iowa finishes the pre-bowl game season as the last person in my top 10. Penn State fans might not like it, but Penn State lost and Penn State, even more than Florida who at least plays Florida State, is kig of the cupcakes out of conference.

College Football Top 10

Only one more week left. No changes in the top 6, but the rest of the top 10 saw some shake-ups….

1) TCU 12-0 (prev: 1) Finished the season undefeated with a thumping of New Mexico.

2) Cincinnati 11-0 (prev: 2) Beat a Illinois team that is talented, but can’t seem to put anything together. Big game this weekend against Pitt where the winner will be the Big East champion.

3) Boise State 12-0 (prev: 3) Nice win over Nevada this past weekend. They finish up the season with an in-conference match-up against New Mexico State

4) Texas 12-0 (prev: 4 ) Next game is the Big 12 championship game against Nebraska which may be the toughest oponent all year. The Big 12 was a tough conference last year, but like the SEC is down this year. Really, who has Texas beat that was better than Utah or BYU – both of whom TCU handled easily? Not Oklohoma, not OK state, not A&M who scored 39 points against them. Texas does not deserve a spot in the title game over the likes of TCU or Cinncy based on the fact they didn’t beat any teams that should be in the top 20.

5) Alabama 12-0 (prev: 5) Almost moved Alabama down below Florida after Aurburn pushed them, but I think their out of conference schedule was slightly tougher (i.e. Va Tech > Florida State).

6) Florida 12-0 (prev: 6) Finally an admirable out of conference game on the schedule. Sadly for Florida, Florida State isn’t very good this year and hasn’t been for a while.

7) Oregon 9-2 (prev 10) With losses by Georgia Tech and Pitt, Oregon moves into seventh. The “Civil War” game against PAC-10 this weekend will serve as a de facto PAC-10 championship game.

8 ) Ohio State 10-2 (prev: 9) Ohio State moves up one spot thanks to some losses above them.

9) Georgia Tech 10-2 (prev: 7) Despite a Rambling Wreck loss against out-of-conference, in-state Georgia,Tech stays in the top 10.

10) Iowa 10-2 (prev: unranked) I had a tough time deciding who to pick for the 10th spot, but I’ll give it to Iowa. They had a poor performance in the loss to Northwestern but the other loss was to Ohio State which is a good team. Also, while Arizona isn’t that good, they are better than Charleston Southern.

College Football Top 10

Not much changed this past wekend in my college football top 10. Here it is:

1) TCU (11-0) (prev: 1) Beat Wyoming on the road 45-10. Fellow undefeated team, Texas, beat Wyoming 41-10 earlier this season. I don’t know how much you can compare scores, but still I know if TCU beat Wyoming by less than Texas the Big Conference Supporters would have a field day with it.

2) Cincinnati 10-0 (prev: 2) Had an off week before playing Illinois this coming weekend.

3) Boise State 8-0 (prev: 3) Oregon’s loss to Stanford makes Boise’s biggest win not look as good, but still who did Texas, Florida, or Alabama beat out of conference that was better?

4) Texas 11-0 (prev: 4 ) Beat a one in-conference win Kansas State.

5) Alabama 11-0 (prev: 5) Beat the Chattanooga Mocs? If Florida didn’t play an equivelent cupcake, I’d move Alabama down a spot

6) Florida 11-0 (prev: 6) The SEC once again proves it can frost cupcakes but most of their top teams don’t have the guts top play tough out of region, out of conference games

7) Georgia Tech 10-1 (prev: 7) The Rambling Wreck had an off week before this weeks out-of-conference, in-state game against Georgia.

8 ) Pittsburgh 9-1 (prev: 8 ) The Panthers rested up this past week in preparation for the Backyard Brawl with West Virgina.

9) Ohio State 9-2 (prev: 10) Although Ohio State’s loss to Southern Cal is not looking so good anymore, I’m still giving them some credit for at least scheduling one tough out of conference game and thus they are my top 2 loss team.

10) Oregon 8-2 (prev 9) Just pulled out the win this past week in Arizona and the Stanford loss doesn’t look so good after Stanford lost to Cal this week. This drops Oregon to #10.

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