Iggy's college football rankings for 10/24/04

[iggymcfly 0]

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

[2GOLD 0]

The Florida State defense is amazing.

Too bad the offense sucks so badly.

[Guest MikeSC]

I'm glad you have Gamecock respect --- but, no, they are not a top 25 team. They'll play Tennessee close --- for some reason, we never lose by more than 6 to them --- but the odds of Carolina going better than 2-2 in their last 4 is virtually nil.

-=Mike

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

So when does Auburn get to leap frog Oklahoma? That's gotta be happening soon with how impressive they've been added to Oklahoma playing nobodies.

[cabbageboy 0]

Just saw Louisville at #12. Unfortunately there really isn't much left on the schedule as far as a big win opportunity now. I figure we'll stay up for the next two games, since Memphis and TCU both beat U of L last year, but after that it's just jobbers like Cincy and Tulane.

[iggymcfly 0]

So when does Auburn get to leap frog Oklahoma? That's gotta be happening soon with how impressive they've been added to Oklahoma playing nobodies.

Well, I'm certainly not going to move them up following "big wins" like Kentucky and La. Tech.

 

I can't make any promises without seeing how Oklahoma does against OSU and Texas A&M, but a big win over Georgia followed by another win in the SEC Championship game would probably be enough to get the job done.

[iggymcfly 0]

I'm glad you have Gamecock respect --- but, no, they are not a top 25 team. They'll play Tennessee close --- for some reason, we never lose by more than 6 to them --- but the odds of Carolina going better than 2-2 in their last 4 is virtually nil.

-=Mike

Just because they're likely to end up 7-4 in the SEC doesn't mean that they wouldn't be 9-2 in the Big 12 North, or even the Big 10. You can't tell me that Southern Miss or Minnesota (both ranked in the AP poll) are playing better football than South Carolina right now.

[Damaramu 0]

I don't know where everyone is getting this "OU plays nobodies" bullshit at. If OU plays nobodies then so does USC plain and simple. They've played the same caliber of teams all season and OU has beaten/will beat 3 teams in the Top 25 and has beaten teams that have snuck in an out of the Top 25. So don't give me this "they play a weak schedule" bullshit because you have some god damn grudge against them because they're so much better than your team.

[lomasmoney 0]

They beat Texas and....................................Oregon ??

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I don't know where everyone is getting this "OU plays nobodies" bullshit at. If OU plays nobodies then so does USC plain and simple. They've played the same caliber of teams all season and OU has beaten/will beat 3 teams in the Top 25 and has beaten teams that have snuck in an out of the Top 25. So don't give me this "they play a weak schedule" bullshit because you have some god damn grudge against them because they're so much better than your team.

I decided to do research on whose schedule was tougher between USC and Oklahoma:

 

 

Oklahoma:

 

Bowling Green who is now 5-2

Houston who is now 1-6

Oregon who is now 4-3

Texas Tech who is now 4-3

Texas who is now 6-1

Kansas State who is now 3-4

Kansas who is now 3-4

 

Overall Opponent Record: 26- 23

 

 

USC:

 

Virginia Tech who is now 5-2

Colorado State who is now 3-4

BYU who is now 4-4

Stanford who is now 4-3

California who is now 5-1

Arizona State who is now 6-1

Washington who is now 1-6

 

Overall Opponent Record: 28- 21

 

 

 

Draw your own conclusions from that.

[snuffbox 0]

How many people here really believe Utah or California would beat Wisconsin if they actually played?

[CanadianChris 0]

I think Cal could. Utah I'm not so sure about.

[iggymcfly 0]

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.

[Damaramu 0]

Slasher Flick there is a very minor difference in schedule there.

Plus another annoying thing is that people seem to think OU picked an easy schedule on purpose. First of all they can't help it if the North Division sucks ass. Second of all they can't help it if Oregon ended up blowing.

People seem to want to penalize them for this. However they're a great team and it seems most are in denial.

And on top of that we're going to Stillwater and College station in the next 2 weeks. That's tough enough.

On top of that the Big XII north may suck but the South is just as strong as the Pac 10's top teams.

 

OU and USC play relatively the same strength of schedule and we're going to find out who's better in the Orange Bowl.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Slasher Flick there is a very minor difference in schedule there.

Plus another annoying thing is that people seem to think OU picked an easy schedule on purpose. First of all they can't help it if the North Division sucks ass. Second of all they can't help it if Oregon ended up blowing.

People seem to want to penalize them for this. However they're a great team and it seems most are in denial.

And on top of that we're going to Stillwater and College station in the next 2 weeks. That's tough enough.

On top of that the Big XII north may suck but the South is just as strong as the Pac 10's top teams.

 

OU and USC play relatively the same strength of schedule and we're going to find out who's better in the Orange Bowl.

I'm not one of those who said Oklahoma picks an easy schedule on purpose. It's unfortunate that some teams fall far and fast between the time teams schedule to the time they actually come to play against them.

 

However I'm one of those who laughs when Oklahoma fans seem to think Oklahoma is the greatest team on earth when they've showed it against teams vastly overrated or plain simply bad. Not to say USC fans don't do the same, but as the schedule shows, USC plays a slightly tougher schedule, and is the reason USC is #1 not Oklahoma.

[Damaramu 0]

USC is #1 because they ended #1 last year. There were many preseason analysts that thought Oklahoma should've been #1.

I'm going to say it right now. OU and USC are the same. I think that at this moment neither team is clearly better and we won't know who's better till they play. That simple.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

USC is #1 because they ended #1 last year. There were many preseason analysts that thought Oklahoma should've been #1.

I'm going to say it right now. OU and USC are the same. I think that at this moment neither team is clearly better and we won't know who's better till they play. That simple.

Let's just hope they both make it to the Orange Bowl and put all this debate at rest.

[Damaramu 0]

USC is #1 because they ended #1 last year. There were many preseason analysts that thought Oklahoma should've been #1.

I'm going to say it right now. OU and USC are the same. I think that at this moment neither team is clearly better and we won't know who's better till they play. That simple.

Let's just hope they both make it to the Orange Bowl and put all this debate at rest.

Well if one of them loses then they don't deserve to be in the Orange Bowl.

If OU loses to OSU or A&M then they aren't as good as thought and deserve to either make it to another BCS bowl or the Cotton Bowl.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

USC is #1 because they ended #1 last year. There were many preseason analysts that thought Oklahoma should've been #1.

I'm going to say it right now. OU and USC are the same. I think that at this moment neither team is clearly better and we won't know who's better till they play. That simple.

Let's just hope they both make it to the Orange Bowl and put all this debate at rest.

Well if one of them loses then they don't deserve to be in the Orange Bowl.

If OU loses to OSU or A&M then they aren't as good as thought and deserve to either make it to another BCS bowl or the Cotton Bowl.

Obviously. Same goes for USC. One loss and they should be out.

[Damaramu 0]

USC is #1 because they ended #1 last year. There were many preseason analysts that thought Oklahoma should've been #1.

I'm going to say it right now. OU and USC are the same. I think that at this moment neither team is clearly better and we won't know who's better till they play. That simple.

Let's just hope they both make it to the Orange Bowl and put all this debate at rest.

Well if one of them loses then they don't deserve to be in the Orange Bowl.

If OU loses to OSU or A&M then they aren't as good as thought and deserve to either make it to another BCS bowl or the Cotton Bowl.

Obviously. Same goes for USC. One loss and they should be out.

The thing is though with the height of OU and USC's ranking if one of them were to lose a game now they'd edge out Utah or another At Large team for that At Large Bid. Well USC would have to lose twice b/c as of right now they have the fast track to the Pac 10 title even if they lose. B/c the other one loss team(Cal) was beaten by them.

[iggymcfly 0]

USC is #1 because they ended #1 last year. There were many preseason analysts that thought Oklahoma should've been #1.

 

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.

[Damaramu 0]

   USC is #1 because they ended #1 last year. There were many preseason analysts that thought Oklahoma should've been #1.

 

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.

So what are you going to do when they blow OSU and A&M out?

[iggymcfly 0]

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.