Iggy's college football rankings for 11/14/04

[iggymcfly 0]

Well, I didn't bother to post my top 25 last week, since no one seemed to be paying much attention the week before, but after Auburn's big win, there was enough of a shakeup that I figured, my rankings and the rankings in general would be worthy of discussion this week.

 

(Previous week's rank in parenthesis)

 

1. Auburn 10-0 (3)

 

Well, color me impressed, converted, whatever. The Tigers absolutely dominated an excellent Georgia team, and showed they truly are a step above the rest of the SEC. They're still pretty close to 1 and 1A with USC, as their bodies of work are pretty much even. However, it's the way Auburn's winning right now that gives them the edge. They really haven't been challenged since the LSU game, and when you're playing in the deepest conference in America, that's an accomplishment.

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2. USC 10-0 (1)

 

The Trojans are still an excellent team, and in most years, the way they've been playing would be enough to keep them in the one slot. However, there have been chinks in the armor as of late, as they let teams like Arizona and Washington hang around for a quarter or two, and they let Oregon State stay in the game into the fourth. Games like the ASU blowout suggest that they can still turn it on when they want, but for now, they're just a hair behind Auburn.

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3. Oklahoma 10-0 (2)

 

It's a shame for the Sooners to fall out of Orange Bowl position without losing a game, but under the current system, that's about all that can happen right now. They've played a weaker schedule than the other two competitors, and lack the signature wins that USC and Auburn achieved against the likes of ASU, Auburn, and Tennessee. The fact is that even in the Big XII, Oklahoma seems like they need a little luck to get by mid-range teams like Texas A&M and Oklahoma State, and even the Texas win lost a little luster after the Longhorns insipid performance against Kansas.

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4. California 8-1 (4)

 

Cal holds onto fourth for now, but really seems to be losing ground as of late. The near loss to Oregon was followed by a fairly mediocre performance against the Huskies. Luckily, with a rivalry game ahead followed by a trip to Southern Miss, we'll get to see what the Golden Bears can manage when they're really motivated.

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5. Utah 10-0 (5)

 

The Utes look more and more impressive from week to week, as they're not just beating all the teams on their schedule, they're dismantling them. They've beaten every team they've played by at least two touchdowns, and have been averaging 54 points a game over the last four weeks. They turned in another impressive performance this week, leading a good Wyoming team by a score of 38-7 before bringing in the scrubs in the second half. They don't jump Cal due to a few question marks on the defense, but if this were last year when every team had a loss, Utah would be a contender for the national title.

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6. Michigan 9-1 (9)

 

The Wolverines were the beneficiary of poor performances by a lot of top teams this week, as well as seeing one of their common opponents topple previously undefeated Wisconsin. Now, all they need is a win over Ohio State and they can punch their ticket for the Rose Bowl.

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7. Texas 9-1 (8)

 

The Longhorns had a terrible performance this week, needing a conversion on 4th and 18 to beat arguably the worst team in the Big XII. Still, at this point in the season, it's hard to drop a team for a game they didn't lose, and as long as they keep winning, Texas is still a top ten team.

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8. Louisville 7-1 (10)

 

The Cardinals keep on winning in impressive fashion, but to really move up, they need a better win than North Carolina. The fact that they probably could have beaten Miami on the road if Lefors hadn't got hurt is the only thing keeping them this high.

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9. Tennessee 7-2 (11)

 

The Vols took a much-needed week off to see if Erik Ainge can start to get healthy, and they'll need him if they want to have any chance of knocking off the Auburn juggernaut in the SEC Championship.

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10. Miami 7-2 (14)

 

The Canes showed that they're still legit against Virginia, and that when they get up for the game, they cna play with anybody. The problem is that they didn't get up for a couple weeks, and it cost them any chance at playing for the national title.

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11. Georgia 8-2 (7)

 

Not such a good week for the Bulldogs, as they discovered that Auburn was their "daddy", so to speak, and they lost any chance at playing in a BCS game. However, the way Auburn is playing right now, there's really not much shame in losing to them, and if the Bulldogs were playing in the Big 10, the Big East, or maybe even the Big XII, they could be undefeated right now.

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12. Florida State 8-2 (13)

 

The Noles need losses by Miami and maybe Virginia Tech to get to a BCS game now, and are probably wishing they'd gotten up a little better for Maryland. They have the talent to be in the Top 5 right now, but just can't seem to get the motor running to play good football week after week.

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13. LSU 7-2 (16)

 

The Tigers really have been impressive, mowing down most of the SEC, including another nice win last night over Alabama. Also, the one point loss to Auburn on a leaping call looks even better now, even if the Georgia demolition looks a little worse.

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14. Wisconsin 9-1 (6)

 

The Badgers got absolutely blown out of the water by Michigan State, and confirmed what I'd expected all year long: They're not that good of a football team. They've coasted by on one of the easiest schedules in America, but they're really not a top ten caliber football team.

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15. Virginia Tech 7-2 (15)

 

The Hokies took the week off and remained in the same spot, so I guess that's good. They still have two major tests remaining against Virginia and Miami to either fall off, or skyrocket to the top.

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16. Arizona State 8-2 (18)

 

The Sun Devils picked up another nice win this week over Washington State and are still among a handful teams of that can say they haven't lost to anyone outside the Top 5.

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17. Boise State 9-0 (12)

 

I know I said it's hard to drop teams when they win at this point in the season, but there have to be exceptions. The Broncos were playing San Jose State who's legitimately one of the worst teams in the country, and they gave up 49 points and won in double overtime. You just can't tell me that Boise State could handle the grind of getting up for big games week after week in a major conference, and come out anything close to unscathed.

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18. Boston College 7-2 (24)

 

The Golden Eagles picked up a huge win over West Virginia this week, and pretty much punched their ticket to the Sugar Bowl. Even though they play in the Big East, BC is pretty legit, as they don't have any really bad losses, and they also beat Notre Dame in South Bend.

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19. Iowa 8-2 (21)

 

The Hawkeyes have played pretty good football since the Michigan loss, winning six in a row. Of course, the state of the Big Ten accounts for a lot of that, but Iowa's still earned their way back into the Top 20.

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20. Texas A&M 7-3 (22)

 

With another solid win over Texas Tech, the Aggies are finally starting to erase the stain of the Baylor loss, and show that they belong as an upper-level team.

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21. Oklahoma State 7-3 (23)

 

Well, a win over Baylor's not that impressive, but it's still a lot better than what happened to the team ranked a spot above them.

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22. Virginia 7-2 (19)

 

The Hoos actually played fairly well in the loss to Miami, but when Akron is the only team you've beaten that has a winning record, you know you have some problems.

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23. West Virginia 8-2 (17)

 

The Mountaineers lost their Big East title and BCS berth against Boston College, and now have to settle for the title of worst two-loss team from a major conference.

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24. Notre Dame 6-4 (20)

 

Nobody wants to rank the Irish after a loss to Pittsburgh of all teams, but the fact remains that they've beaten two top 12 teams, while the other teams in this vicinity haven't even beaten anyone in the Top 25.

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25. Georgia Tech 6-3 (NR)

 

The Yellow Jackets don't have any big signature wins, but they don't have any bad losses either, and a 6-3 record in the ACC's an accomplishment. If they really want to get respect, however, they're going to have to pick off Virginia or Georgia.

[Damaramu 0]

Umm.......actually OU plays the toughest schedule out of those 3 teams. They showed it on FSN last night.

OU's schedule rank is 10. USC's is like 37. Auburn's is like 24.

So they don't play the weakest schedule of the 3 by any means.

[Secret Agent 0]

I agree with Dama; Iggy has no idea what the hell he is talking about with regards to schedule. it should be this:

 

1. Oklahoma

2. Auburn

3. USC

[Art Sandusky 0]

He's got Tennessee in the top 10, that's alls I care about.

 

It's crap to drop Boise State and not Texas though. One team is supposed to be a preseason national title contender each year. Clue: It's not the team that plays on blue turf.

 

Texas is just so horribly overrated each year.

[Secret Agent 0]

The fact is that even in the Big XII, Oklahoma seems like they need a little luck to get by mid-range teams like Texas A&M and Oklahoma State, and even the Texas win lost a little luster after the Longhorns insipid performance against Kansas.

 

Your beloved Auburn also had to have the ref's cheat for them to get past LSU, lets not forget about that either. Oh, and when did the late season flounders of teams OU has beaten start coming into consideration for OU's ranking?

 

"Texas is barely edging by so let's drop OU's ranking." that's even more stupid than your rankings having the number 3 leap frog to number 1.

[Damaramu 0]

As Herbstreit pointed out. OU's 3 biggest wins have come against ranked teams on the road.

Auburns biggest win has come at home.

USC's biggest win has come at home.

OU played the toughest road schedule.

[Bored 0]

Oh no he's got a twin now!

 

Anyways those SoS rankings are strictly based on win/loss record. By that method beating Bowling Green is just as good as beating Georgia or Virginia Tech. So let's just say it's a very flawed way to compare schedules. Things will get a bit tighter in those straight up SoS rankings anyways with the remaining schedule of those three teams.

 

BTW since when was the Texas win a road game? The Red River Shootout is a neutral site game. Sure it's in Dallas but the crowd is split 50/50. USC's win over Virginia Tech was more of a road game than that as it was in Landover, MD in front of a partisan Virginia Tech crowd.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

He's more of a lame USC troll than anything else.

[Damaramu 0]

Still OU does not deserve to be #3. They beat 2 Top 25 teams on the road 2 weeks in a row.

Meanwhile I will admit that Auburn is just as deserving.

And USC is deserving.

The problem that we've run into is that the system is flawed. God damn this system we're forced to work with.

It's almost as if we're going to have to have a split champion AGAIN. Although I know that won't happen.

But the system doesn't support 3 undefeated teams that are all deserving.

 

Fucking BCS.......

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

It's not even worth having this argument with you because it's like talking to a brick wall.

[Damaramu 0]

Really? Because it seems that the rest of the board is like a brick wall when it comes to OU.

 

"OU is deserving."

"NO! LALALALA! THEY SUCK!"

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Actually it has more to do with people questioning their schedule and quality of wins and you accusing people of saying they suck when no one actually said that. People just think Auburn is a superior team. Doesn't mean OU sucks.

[Damaramu 0]

But OU has had impressive wins. They've beaten 3 Top 25 teams and 2 of those were on the road.

And Texas is a Top 10 team. As much as you say "They don't deserve to be!" fact is they ARE ranked in the Top 10 and OU shut them out.

[Damaramu 0]

*double post*

[2GOLD 0]

Comparing the non-conference schedules...I have no idea what the Auburn supporters are looking at now.

 

Auburn:

Louisiana-Monroe, they are 4-6

Citadel, they are 2-7

La. Tech, they are 5-5

 

Auburn does have wins over the 15th ranked Vols, the 17th ranked LSU and 8th ranked Georiga. Their closest game was a one point win over LSU.

 

USC:

16th ranked Va. Tech, they are 7-2

Colorado State, they are 4-6

BYU, they are 5-5

Still to come: Notre Dame, they are 6-4

 

They have defeated three ranked teams, including the highest ranked in CAL at 4th. Their closest win is 3 at Stanford. No question USC is in the title game if they defeat ND and UCLA.

 

 

Oklahoma:

Bowling Green, they are 8-2

Houston, they are 3-7

Oregon, they are 5-5

 

OU has defeated three ranked teams and their closest win was 3 points over Oklahoma State.

 

 

Vs ranked opponents

OU has won by a combined average of 7 points

USC has won by a combined average of 17 points

AUB has won by a combined average of 14 points

 

 

My conclusion:

USC deserves to be in without question if they win out. OU hasn't shown alot against the ranked teams they faced but Auburn had a horrible non conference schedule.

 

Auburn and OU are still a toss up.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Is whooping Tennessee's ass by 24 in Neyland Stadium suddenly not a damn impressive road win?

 

The teams are incredibly close, but Auburn hasn't let anyone get close since they defeated LSU. When I watch them play, I see the most complete and dominating team in college football.

 

Something's going to have to give, and with Auburn and OU tied in the AP Poll this week and OU only up by 2 points in ESPN/Coaches/USA Today, it's going to be OU if Auburn wins out. Wins over Alabama and the SEC championship game will increase Auburn's prestige; wins over Baylor and some scrub in the Big XII north won't. Sorry. Maybe it should be OU and Auburn, not Auburn/USC, but I don't think the Sooners have a chance at the Orange Bowl unless one of those two loses.

 

Onto Iggy's rankings: I thought they were ridiculous at the beginning of the season, but they're pretty decent now that we actually know what these teams can do.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Let's be honest though.

 

Texas A&M had just lost to Baylor before they came to play Oklahoma. OU sturggled to beat a team that had just lost to a 3-7 team.

[2GOLD 0]

Let's be honest though.

 

Texas A&M had just lost to Baylor before they came to play Oklahoma. OU sturggled to beat a team that had just lost to a 3-7 team.

 

I don't think it was struggled so much as overlooked. TAM was probably looking ahead to OU, which you are never supposed to do, and ended up running into evil Baylor.

[Damaramu 0]

Didn't A&M's coach comment that he didn't care about Baylor and didn't care about losing to them? That right there shows that he was waiting for OU.

A&M had prepared all offseasn and season for OU.

[Damaramu 0]

And according to the Gameday guys there is a 26% chance that all 3 teams will be undefeated come season end.

The odds are against Auburn right now. But stranger things have happened.

But dropping OU for winning? That's not right. OU deserves to be in the title game.

And they are given flack for beating OSU by 3? OSU is a GOOD team and on top of that it was on the road and it is a more heated rivalry than OU/Texas. People don't seem to understand that aspect.

 

Oh and on top of that OU is probably going to have a Heisman trophy winner on their roster AGAIN. White just seperated himself from the other QB's this past weekend.

[Damaramu 0]

Then again I guess if Auburn wins out they're going to the title game and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it. Sucks though that my team has to be screwed out of a title that they deserve to play for. Maybe the voters are just trying to prove a point after last year's debacle which I might add wasn't our fault and was out of our hands. So if they're trying to punish OU for that it's a travesty b/c OU couldn't do anything about it. But they seem to want to blame us.

 

I guess I'll just have to do with OU being undefeated and having a Fiesta Bowl crown and hopefully being the catalyst to a change in the system.

I have a feeling that if a team like OU gets screwed then they will take a harder look at the system than they did last year.

With the tradition at OU and the fact that aside from Miami it's probably the most elite program in the country so with them getting screwed the powers that be may look harder at what happens.

 

Maybe I should hope for OU to get left out so the system is changed.

Then again I want White to have his national title. And the fact that he's on track to another Heisman makes it worse.

[2GOLD 0]

Didn't A&M's coach comment that he didn't care about Baylor and didn't care about losing to them? That right there shows that he was waiting for OU.

A&M had prepared all offseasn and season for OU.

 

Then A&M was poorly coached. Anytime a coach says "this game doesn't matter to us", he's a bad coach.

[Damaramu 0]

Didn't A&M's coach comment that he didn't care about Baylor and didn't care about losing to them? That right there shows that he was waiting for OU.

A&M had prepared all offseasn and season for OU.

 

Then A&M was poorly coached. Anytime a coach says "this game doesn't matter to us", he's a bad coach.

Well you'll get no argument from me.

I do not like Franchione. I think he's arrogant and I think he is a bad coach. Sure he's done some good things with A&M this year but I mean look at his first year with them. And he's got all the talent in the world down there.

[CanadianChris 0]

Then again I guess if Auburn wins out they're going to the title game and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it. Sucks though that my team has to be screwed out of a title that they deserve to play for. Maybe the voters are just trying to prove a point after last year's debacle which I might add wasn't our fault and was out of our hands. So if they're trying to punish OU for that it's a travesty b/c OU couldn't do anything about it. But they seem to want to blame us.

Well, anything except BEAT FUCKING KANSAS STATE, anyway.

 

I honestly don't get all this "woe is me" crap about the system when it was the system that got you into a national title game last year in the first place.

[2GOLD 0]

Then again I guess if Auburn wins out they're going to the title game and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it. Sucks though that my team has to be screwed out of a title that they deserve to play for. Maybe the voters are just trying to prove a point after last year's debacle which I might add wasn't our fault and was out of our hands. So if they're trying to punish OU for that it's a travesty b/c OU couldn't do anything about it. But they seem to want to blame us.

Well, anything except BEAT FUCKING KANSAS STATE, anyway.

 

I honestly don't get all this "woe is me" crap about the system when it was the system that got you into a national title game last year in the first place.

 

That was last year.

 

Just like other college football fans, he hit reset.

 

Course, I'm still trying to figure out how Florida State got that game against Oklahoma the year OU won the title. FSU didn't deserve to be in that game.

[Damaramu 0]

So we got beat? You act as if OU lost on purpose.

Should OU have not been in the title game? Sure.

Could they do anything about it? No.

[Guest]

The BCS is not the problem as with the old system, and any other system outside of a playoff, we would have a 3 way split for the national title as things are going right now. I am sick of everyone saying that the system is the problem. It is not.

[Guest]

Double post.

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

My prediction: someone in the top 3 loses, and all the pissing and moaning this season goes for naught. People switch gears and whine for a few weeks about how Utah deserves to be in the title game and the system doesn't work because they arn't there, until they play and lose in their BCS bowl and finally, when it's all said and done, the complainers are reduced to talking about how undefeated Boise State should have a share of the national title with OU/USC/Auburn, at which point they lose all credibility forever.

 

I would also laugh if Utah lost next week, and all the bitching and crying that would go with it.

[iggymcfly 0]

Damaramu, if your argument is that Oklahoma's played a solid schedule and won all their games, and deserves to be under a system that gives them a chance at the national title, I agree 100%. I'd even extend the same argument to Utah that there should be a large enough playoff to accomodate the season that they've had.

 

However, if you're saying that Oklahoma can't get jumped by Auburn because they were ranked that high to start the season, or that given the current flawed system, they deserve to play for the title more than Auburn or USC, you're wrong.

 

The Sooners have played three good teams this year. Out of those games, none were decided before the 4th quarter, and only one was decided before the final play.

 

Meanwhile, USC and Auburn have also played three really good teams each. However, not only were the teams they played better, but they also played much better against them. Auburn destroyed Tennessee on the road, leading 31-3 at the half, and not letting Tennesse get a touchdown until late in the fourth quarter. Then they destroyed Georgia just as badly at home, leading 24-0 before giving up a touchdown in garbage time.

 

Meanwhile USC did the same thing to Arizona State, taking a 42-7 lead at the half. ASU's a very good team, as their only other loss was to Cal, and they beat Iowa 41-7. USC also beat VT solidly on the road. And even though they played Cal close, Cal played damn near perfect football. Aaron Rodgers and his receivers couldn't miss as they collectively had the game of their lives, but it still wasn't enough to get by USC.

 

So really, whether two games were at home and one was on the road, or one was at home and two were on the road, isn't really enough to account for 35 point shifts in the scores of those games. The fact is that USC and Auburn have played better football than Oklahoma has, and they've also won against a tougher schedule.