iggymcfly

Actually, the funny thing is that if I really wanted them to drop, the best way to do it would be to tank the week, and pick all the games wrong to kill their strength of schedule. Beating them badly is probably going to help them more than anything else I could do. I'll pass on that though. I'll just take the high road, and be happy to keep my undefeated record, and know who the real 1 and 2 are. Edit: Figured out the answer to the question I was asking at the end of the post.

Fuck yes. I get to knock off "number 2" Minnesota this week. I just hope they actually drop a spot or two with the loss.

I really wish I could see New England's streak ending right now. I don't think anyone on earth outside of California gives a fuck about Oakland and San Diego. It kind of sucks being a Jets fan living in Washington. Oh well, at least I can be happy that the Jets can move back into a tie for first in the AFC East in a game I actually get to see on Monday night.

Texas is on par with Tennessee, and OU and Auburn were similarly dominant against them. Meanwhile OSU and LSU aren't that far apart right now, as the Tigers have looked weak against the likes of Oregon State and Troy. Oklahoma was on the road, and while they needed a missed kick to avoid overtime, that's a lot better than needing a shitty made up call at home. If Auburn does beat Georgia and win the SEC Championship game, they'll obviously deserve to be in the Orange Bowl, but for now, they haven't done anything more impressive than Oklahoma has.

Don't push it too far Mike. Auburn was extremely lucky to get a bad call to beat LSU, and the Tennessee win's the only really good one that they have. Also, their non-conference slate is worse than pretty much any Big XII team, playing Louisiana Monroe, the Citadel, and Louisiana Tech. If they beat Georgia, then you can say that they deserve to take OU's spot at #2. But for now, Oklahoma deserves the two spot. Just because they play in the fifth best conference in the country, doesn't mean it's impossible for them to be #2 midway through the season.

Not really, you could even make an argument that the Pac Ten has two top 2 teams right now in USC and Cal. And as for a collection of slugs? UCLA, Stanford, Oregon, and Oregon State are all decent teams. The Pac Ten has three slugs out of ten, whereas the Big XII has seven out of twelve. When over half the teams in your conference are "slugs", you know you have a problem.

Nah, the Big XII has one dominant team, three decent teams, and a collection of slugs. Meanwhile, the Big East has one decent team, and a collection of slugs. There is a difference. However, Damaramu can't use the logic that it's not fair if the teams from his conference beat up on each other when the same thing happens in every conference in the country. It also happens to a much greater degree in conferences like the SEC where Georgia, Tennessee, LSU, Florida, Auburn, South Carolina, and maybe even Alabama are all good enough to be ranked without getting "beat up" by the other members of their conference.

Hey Bored. I know this has been said before, but do you think we can do something to reduce the value of the forfeits? Me and Mike are a combined 13-0 since taking over our teams, and we don't even have a prayer of a chance of being ranked because of these stupid forfeits. I don't even really get how it affects the strength of schedule, but judging by the full rankings you did that time, it obviously does. Can you at least get rid of whatever component that is that makes the people with forfeits automatically have the worst strength of schedule?

Nah, don't kill yourself. Just kill cabbageboy.

Well, here's my fresh new rankings. See what you think, and feel free to leave a comment. An intelligent comment would be ideal, but if you're not up for that, a stupid one works too. 1. USC 8-0 (1) The Trojans continue to widen the gap between themselves and the rest of the country. Watching them in person today, what really hit me is how well they execute. It's not that they're more talented than the rest of the country, or even the upper tier of the Pac Ten. They just take advantage of every single mistake, while making remarkably few of their own, and bring their 'A" game week in and week out. . 2. Oklahoma 8-0 (2) Yeah, the Sooners let OSU hang in the game today, and didn't put the game away as one might hope. However, a close game against a team the caliber of OSU, is still better than a similar performance against Ole Miss, and miles better than a loss to the likes of North Carolina. Going undefeated doesn't guarantee them an Orange Bowl berth, but they certainly have to be considered the most likely team to face USC at this point. . 3. Auburn 9-0 (3) Despite all the hype they've been getting from the national media as the "real #2", Auburn really hasn't been that impressive from week to week. They've had numerous close games against mediocre competition, and the only really impressive performance they've had was the Tennessee game. We'll find out just how legitimate Auburn is once they face Georgia. . 4. California 6-1 (5) The Golden Bears may well be playing the best football of any team in America right now. The loss to USC will keep them out of the top 3, but their 27-0 victory over Arizona State was just another step to show what an amazing team Cal is. People may complain that a one-loss team shouldn't be ranked ahead of an undefeated, but you can't tell me that California wouldn't be undefeated playing Utah or Wisconsin's schedule, and by the same token, I find it incredibly unlikely that Wisconsin or Utah would have been able to walk into the LA Coliseum and be a late incompletion from winning the ballgame, let alone actually pick up the victory. . 5. Utah 8-0 (6) Well, a little bit of the luster was taken off the Texas A&M win with what happened in Waco today, but that doesn't mean that Utah's not a legitimate team. Adding that win to similarly impressive performances against North Carolina, New Mexico, and at Arizona are enough to make Utah a legitimate Top 5 team. . 6. Wisconsin 8-0 (7) Yes, the Badgers are an undefeated team from a BCS conference, but that doesn't mean that they've played a BCS-caliber schedule. Purdue is now just teetering on the edge of the Top 25, and the fact of the matter is that Purdue and Ohio State are the only teams with winning records that the Badgers have played this year. It would really be nice if we could see Wisconsin play Michigan, so we can find out just how good the Badgers are. . 7. Georgia 7-1 (8) Florida was motivated, playing at their absolute best, but they still weren't as good as the Dawgs. Georgia still may be the best team in the SEC, and if they hadn't got caught by Tennessee the week after an emotional win, they could be in position to take Oklahoma's spot in the Orange Bowl. . 8. Tennessee 7-1 (10) Tennessee picked up a really nice road win against South Carolina, and now has a free road to the SEC Title game. The Vols still have every opportunity to show the Auburn game was a fluke, and end up in a very nice BCS game. . 9. Texas 7-1 (11) Texas may be the toughest team in the country to get a read on, as the gap in talent between Texas Tech and Oklahoma is so extreme that it's nearly impossible to figure out just how good they are. For now, the fact that they haven't suffered a Miami-caliber letdown is enough to keep them in the nine spot. . 10. Michigan 8-1 (13) Michigan's been doing a great job battling through some of the tougher teams in the Big Ten, and have as yet come out unscathed. Losing on the road at Notre Dame's not that bad, and also something that would be very unlikely to happen again if they played the Irish next week. . 11. Louisville 5-1 (12) Yeah, the Carolina win looks a little bit better now, but the Miami win looks a little worse, and it's really hard to rank them too high with their dearth of good wins. On the flipside though, if they'd played Miami at home or Lefors hadn't got knocked out in the 4th quarter, the Cardinals would probably be 6-0 right now. . 12. Miami 6-1 (3) I know it's controversial to put the Hurricanes below the Louisville team that they beat a few weeks ago, but looking at both of their "good wins", the common denominator is that they happened in the Orange Bowl. When they had to go on the road this week, they couldn't get the job done against N. Carolina. . 13. Boise State 8-0 (14) Boise State proved this week that they're more than talented enough to get the job done when motivated, blowing out Hawaii 69-3. However, you have to think that if they were playing in a major conference, some of those letdowns would be losses instead of close wins. . 14. Florida State 6-2 (9) The Noles have been playing lackadaisical football much of the year, and it finally caught up to them against Maryland. FSU may have ability, but they have to show it every week if they want to be a top ten team. . 15. Virginia Tech 6-2 (15) Virginia Tech's best "marquee win" is still over West Virginia, but they've been getting the job done week in and week out, and are actually tied for the ACC lead right now with Miami and Virginia. . 16. LSU 6-2 (18) The Tigers don't seem to play all that well against weaker teams, but it's understandably hard to get pumped up to make a run for the Peach Bowl coming off a national championship year. Don't forget that LSU's one bad call away from having a free ride to the SEC Title game and an outside shot at the national championship. . 17. West Virginia 7-1 (19) At the time of year when much of the country is falling prey to upsets, the Mountaineers still only have one loss. Of course, it's kind of hard to get upset playing against the incredibly mediocre Big East. . 18. Oklahoma State 6-2 (21) Falling just short of the upset against the Sooners is no reason to punish the Cowboys. In fact, a three point loss to Oklahoma stands in stark contrast to what USC and Cal did to our next contender... . 19. Arizona State 6-2 (17) That's right. ASU looked like they were playing in a different stratosphere in getting blown out by USC and California. They stay this high for two reasons, one being the 44-7 win over Iowa, and the other being the absolute lack of contenders for the spot. . 20. Virginia 6-1 (22) Virginia's kind of the Wisconsin of the one-loss teams, as they still haven't beaten a team with a winning record. Also, there's no reason to put them ahead of ASU, as their loss to Florida State was probably even worse. . 21. Iowa 6-2 (24) Maybe the Sun Devils just caught Iowa on a bad week. After playing Michigan close, they came up with very solid wins over MSU and Ohio State. In fact, at this point, they're probably the best hope the BCS organizers have for someone to knock off Wisconsin. . 22. Texas A&M 6-2 (16) I hate having to rank the Aggies #22 after a loss to BAYLOR of all teams, but there's just nobody else. On the bright side, the Aggies are a two-loss team, they do have a nice win over OSU, and you have to think that they were absolutely sleepwalking for what was likely the weakest team on their whole schedule. . 23. Purdue 5-3 (20) It's quite a feat to remain ranked when you're on a three game losing sreak, but the Boilermakers have managed it. The fact is that all three losses could have gone either way, and the ND win's still pretty nice. As an aside, Joe Tiller benching his senior Heisman candidate QB with under a minute to play and a chance to win is the kind of unforgivable coaching mistake that can kill a season. That sounds like the action of an angry man venting, rather than a coach trying to help his team win football games. . 24. Notre Dame 5-3 (NR) Well, the Irish have played one of the toughest schedules in the country, and the Michigan win is probably the most impressive among any of the three loss teams. . 25. South Carolina 5-3 (23) On the surface, this looks like an easy ranking to rip into, but there's no one else to fill the slot. The Gamecocks don't have a bad loss, and if you have to pick another three loss team, you might as well pick one from the best conference in the country.

Yeah, I had to laugh when I saw that score. Obviously, spread betting is not for me. I'm still not convinced that I couldn't pick an upset or two on the money line, but the prudent thing's probably to just not screw with it for a little while.

I agree that Auburn should probably pass Oklahoma if they look good against Georgia and win the SEC Championship game. The problem is that I really don't see it happening. Really, the only game all year where they were impressive was against Tennessee. They only beat LSU because of a bullshit leaping call, and they're not exactly dispatching lower tier teams with ease either. I'd be surprised if they beat Georgia now, even if they are coming off a bye week. They obviously can't really be ranked higher than four with a loss, but honestly I think the best team in the country right now might be California. You know that they would have won that USC game on a neutral field, and they haven't even been close to being challenged the rest of the way. As we speak, they're dominating Arizona State by a score of 20-0, and I think that if two of the top three remaining teams lose, Cal would probably beat either USC or Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.

It seems like he did. He's playing like shit out there, and the only rational explanation is the non-throwing shoulder that the ESPN announcers keep talking about.

Like last year when they were a three seed in the NCAA tournament and favored in every tournament game until the Final Four? Yeah, they really choked then. They only made it to the national championship game.

So, am I gonna get a forfeit this week? I'm not really threatened enough to worry about the win, but that could at least be a good boost to my strength of schedule.

I agree on Georgia Tech. They should absolutely, beyond a doubt be ranked #1 in the preseason poll. They went to the national championship game last year, and the only major contributor they lost was Marvin Lewis. Don't you think Jarrett Jack, Ismail Muhammad, and Luke Schenscher are still improving? Don't you think that Will Bynum will be better after having a whole year in the system? Don't you think BJ Elder's going to light up the NCAA tournament just a little better when he's not out there on one leg? How this team can be ranked below the choke artists from Carolina, or the two-man team from Wake? I guess people think that the tournament was a fluke, but what they're failing to recognize is that the Jackets started out the year last year 13-0 with a victory in the Preseason NIT, and they only started losing when they had to force Bynum into the lineup. Once Bynum was fully integrated into the team concept, and they had a little bit of chemistry, they rolled through the NCAA tournament, all the way through to the NCAA championship.

Well, I waste so much of my time on college football and basketball that that's where I think I could probably make some money. I won a bowl pool for a few hundred bucks last year, and I did by pretty much knowing all the early games. The minor conference games go pretty much according to form, even if the casinos don't always know what "form" is. A prime example would be the first bowl game last year, (the New Orleans Bowl?), where the Sun Belt was clearly terrible, and Memphis was a much, much better team, but North Texas got favored because they were a conference champion and had a better record. I also agree on the NCAA tournament. There's plenty of upsets that a seasoned observer knows have a better than 50/50 chance of taking place. It seems like betting the money lines on some of those 5/12 games could yield some good results.

There's times when I wonder how hard it can be. I mean during the college football season, there are about fifty games out there a week, some with obscure teams, and all you have do is find one or two lines that are a little off. Pro sports are too random to actually win any money, but it really seems like there are some opportunites with college sports for an astute observer to make a couple bucks. I think I'm going to just see what bets I would make for a week or two, and if it seems like I'd make money, I'll just join a site. I mean tell me these lines don't look a little off to you: Hawaii at Boise State (-22.5) NC State (-1.5) at Clemson Oregon State (-7.5) at Arizona 22 and a half points for Hawaii/Boise State?!? The Broncos haven't beaten a team by 22 since their first game of the season against Idaho. Hawaii's supposed to be a decent team, so how the hell are they a 22.5 point underdog, especially on a night when they'll be extra pumped to get Timmy Chang the passing record? The other ones are less glaring, but NC State's a damn good team, and even if they let down a little bit after the Miami game, they should be able to win by at least a field goal. And then there's the OSU/Arizona game. OSU's just catching their stride coming off consecutive double digit victories. Meanwhile, Arizona hasn't lost by less than 14 since they played Washington State four games ago. And even in that game, they lost at home to the same team that OSU beat by 19 last week. I mean, you'd think at least a 10 or 12 point line would be appropriate there. Well, since I'm posting this before the games actually happen, I guess we'll all see whether I'm right on this or if it's just another opportunity for me to throw money down the drain, but of all the forms of gambling, sports betting seems to be the most advantageous.

I like the idea in principle. The only thing that bothers me about it is when you leave out high-profile matchups between relatively even schools like South Carolina vs. Tennessee.

G Tech 4 Life! The Jackets are kicking ass tonight. I know it's only halftime, but they are looking fucking good. They're playing efficient football and making the big plays when they need to. Georgia Tech's my favorite I-A school that I don't actually attend, so it's tight to see them doing so well tonight.

It depends. If they can actually blow out OSU and Texas A&M the way that USC blew out Arizona State (42-7 at halftime), then they could probably take the top spot, due to Oklahoma never coming as close to losing as USC. Meanwhile, if they get simple strong wins, but still look as impressive as Auburn does against Georgia, and in the SEC Championship, they'll keep the two spot. If, on the other hand, they beat OSU and Texas A&M by close scores in the fourth quarter, and Auburn beats Georgia and the SEC East Champion solidly, Oklahoma would probably drop to three.

Well, there weren't many changes this week, and I didn't really feel like writing them all up with commentary right away, but they're ready now, so here they are: (previous week's rank in parenthesis) 1. USC 7-0 (1) The Trojans have still played the toughest schedule of any of the unbeatens, and have been playing even better the last few weeks to boot. It would almost take a loss to wrench away the top spot now. . 2. Oklahoma 7-0 (2) Despite a moderately suspect schedule, the Sooners have been impressive enough in their wins to hold off Miami and Auburn for now. However, they may need some style points against OSU and Texas A&M to keep the two spot. . 3. Auburn 8-0 (3) Auburn will have plenty of chances to prove themselves worthy in the upcoming weeks, taking on Georgia before the SEC Championship game. However, they'll also have plenty of chances to pick up a loss. . 4. Miami 6-0 (4) The Canes got another impressive win on Saturday, beating NC State 45-31 in a game that was much less close than the score indicated. It's almost a coin flip between Miami and Auburn right now, but the Tigers dominant win over Tennessee is still just enough to give them the edge. . 5. California 5-1 (5) Cal strengthened their resume, dominating the same Arizona team that came within a late field goal of beating Wisconsin by a score of 38-0. The Golden Bears continue to impress, and are a completed pass away from being the consensus #1 team in America. . 6. Utah 7-0 (6) Utah also solidified its position by beating a common opponent of the Badgers, as they ran up 63 points on a UNLV team that held Wisconsin to 18. Despite their conference, the Utes have just been too strong to ignore thus far. . 7. Wisconsin 8-0 (7) The Badgers keep rolling along, but don't really have anyone left on the schedule strong enough to make a statement against. Without help, Wisconsin will just remain at seven. . 8. Georgia 6-1 (8) The Dawgs pulled out another victory over a tough SEC team, beating Arkansas on the road. Having one close loss really isn't bad considering the depth of the SEC right now. . 9. Florida State 6-1 (9) An embarrassing performance against Wake Forest threatened to drop the Noles down, but they remain in the 9 spot for now. Despite the struggles against mediocre teams, one has to think that Florida State has enough talent to win when it matters. . 10. Tennessee 6-1 (10) Tennessee escaped Alabama with a win, and as long as they only have one loss, the Georgia win should be enough to keep them in the Top Ten. . 11. Texas 6-1 (12) The Longhorns finally got an impressive win against a good team, and it was enough to leapfrog Louisville to move into eleventh. . 12. Louisville 5-1 (11) The Cardinal have seeed very impressive within the confines of their schedule, but they really need at least one major win to be taken seriously among the top contenders. . 13. Michigan 7-1 (14) Beating Purdue on the road was a nice boost for this Wolverine team, that up until then was 1-1 against Top 40 teams. . 14. Boise State 7-0 (15) The Broncos showed that when they get up for a game, they really are a little better than the rest of the WAC, and that close games against the likes of Tulsa are due as much to lack of interest as lack of skill. . 15. Virginia Tech 5-2 (17) The Hokies have a favorable schedule most of the way from here on out, and could easily roll into Miami on December 4, with the ACC title on the line. . 16. Texas A&M 6-1 (18) Beating Colorado in overtime's not exactly very impressive, but you can't really blame them for taking a week off after the big win over OSU. . 17. Arizona State 6-1 (19) Somewhere along the same lines, Arizona State had a lot more trouble than they should have with UCLA, but at the end of the day, they still only have one loss. . 18. LSU 5-2 (16) Coming within four points of losing to Troy at home is inexcusable for a two-loss team trying to gain some national respect. . 19. West Virginia 6-1 (21) While the Big East may not even be the sixth best conference in America, WV is still somewhat legit as the loss to VT is nothing to be ashamed of. . 20. Purdue 5-2 (13) The Boilermakers are in danger of entering free-fall mode now, coming off two consecutive losses to Michigan and Wisconsin. They obviously have the talent to be 7-0, but just couldn't quite get it done when it counted. . 21. Oklahoma State 6-1 (24) UCLA and Missouri are decent, but nothing compared to what's awaiting the Cowboys the next two weeks against Oklahoma and Texas. . 22. Virginia 6-1 (22) The Cavaliers get this spot by default as a one-loss BCS team, but the 33 point loss to Florida State was their only game all year against a team with a winning record. . 23. South Carolina 5-2 (NR) The Gamecocks are extremely underrated. They dominated Alabama, nearly beat Georgia, and still have an outside shot to win the SEC East and make it to the title game. . 24. Iowa 5-2 (NR) The Hawkeyes are also in the rankings pretty much by default, as the only memorable point of their season thus far was the 44-7 shellacking they took at the hands of Arizona State. . 25. NC State 4-3 (25) The Wolfpack having nothing to be ashamed of in a close loss to Miami, and still have tough road wins over Virginia Tech and Maryland to hold to their credit.

Just so you know Damaramu, before the season, I thought Oklahoma was the best team in the country. I don't do preseason rankings, but if I did OU would have been on top. It was only after I saw how the teams played throughout the season that I put USC in the #1 spot. And while there have been times throughout the season, when I felt that USC and Oklahoma were essentially 1 and 1A, right now I feel that USC deserves the top spot due to big wins vs. #5 Cal, at #15 VT, and an absolutely doinant win vs. #17 Arizona St. Meanwhile, #11 Texas is currently the only upper level team that Oklahoma has beaten.

If Cal and Wisconsin played on a neutral field, and I could get even odds, I'd take all my money out of the bank and put it on them. Shit, I'd probably even take Cal over USC on a neutral field right now. Of course, when Cal and Wisconsin do play in the Rose Bowl, I'd guess that Cal will probably be a seven or eight point favorite, so the betting opportunites won't be all that advantageous. As for Utah, it's a lot closer comparison, but yes I really think they could beat Wisconsin. For the most part, the Badgers have been coasting through an easy schedule, taking advantage of a Purdue meltdown for their only big win. I'm still much more impressed with Utah's overall talent, and I think that their high-powered offense would be enough to score at least 27 points against Wisconsin which is more than the Badgers have scored since the first game of the season, and would therefore be enough to win.

Well, the situation's really not that much different this year, at least not yet. At this point in the season last year, there were five undefeateds, although two of them were mid-majors below the level of this year's Utah team (NIU and TCU), and two more still had to play each other (Miami and VT). I think in analyzing the undefeateds, a lot of it's due to schedule. Wisconsin and Oklahoma are taking advantage of the fact that the Big Ten and Big XII are at about their weakest level in history, and in Wisconsin's case, they also get to miss Michigan. USC had both Cal and ASU at home. And then as far as Utah and Boise State are concerned, UTEP is the only other team in either of their conferences that has a winning record. All that leaves is Miami and Auburn, and given their schedules, one or both of them probably will pick up a loss before the season's done.