Cutting to the chase, here goes:
TOP FIVE
- Alabama
- Florida
- Oklahoma
- Penn State
- Texas
BEST OF THE REST
- Georgia
- Missouri
- Ohio State
- Oklahoma State
- Southern California
- Texas Tech
- Utah
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THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS:
Given the number of highly ranked teams that suffered losses last weekend, it was inevitable that this week’s rankings would be in a state of flux. I had a hard time deciding which school was worthy of claiming that last top five slot. I had an equally hard time deciding on the last team in my dirty dozen.
- Penn State is starting to make a believer out of me. Wisconsin isn’t as good as many thought it would be in the preseason; still, you don’t see the Badgers get destroyed at home like that very often. The interesting debate will come if Ohio State beats Penn State later this season – for Southern Cal as well as the Buckeyes.
- I’m glad I didn’t have to spend time parsing whether Alabama or Texas deserves to be ranked #1.
- Would somebody please go ahead and beat Texas Tech? Elite teams don’t get pushed into overtime by Nebraska.
- I had a hard time with number twelve and looked at four different teams in that slot. In the end, I stuck with Utah, because it won and I didn’t feel right penalizing it. On the other hand, that Michigan win grows more worthless with each passing week and I can see some other team’s resume catching up.
- LSU was not one of those four teams. I’m not ready to write the Tigers’ chances off for this season, but Florida certainly exposed some flaws in this team. On the other side, it appears to me that Florida is only going to be challenged by a team with a credible passing attack. If you look at the Gators’ remaining schedule, you’ll see there are very few viable candidates to pose that threat.
- I wasn’t quite prepared to banish Missouri from the top twelve, mainly because I’m not sure I’ve got a good handle on the quality of the top of the Big XII yet.
12 Comments
October 13, 2008 at 7:16 am
Texas*
Alabama*
Oklahoma State*
Penn State*
Florida*
Ohio State
Georgia
Oklahoma
USC
Missouri
BYU
Texas Tech
I’m probably gonna be one of the few that has Okie St. in my top five. Essentially, I debated leaving Oklahoma in, but I felt that it’s better to reward State for a quality win than reward Oklahoma for the quality loss. Who has OU beaten to this point anyway?
I dropped LSU out because Auburn looks beyond bad right now and that is the only win they had that was really impressive IMO. Now….not so much.
The SC win is not looking that bad for the Dawgs the more we play and just looking at the stats, I didn’t see a whole lotta difference between USC’s handling of ASU and UGA’s. USC got them at home too.
I really debated putting Texas Tech, Utah or LSU. I went with Texas Tech. But the home nailbiter against a Nebraska team mauled by Missouri was less than impressive.
October 13, 2008 at 7:48 am
Senator
whether this is bias or not, I’m not sold on Penn State. I have them in my top five because they are undefeated and have not been challenged. But even if they go undefeated they will not get a nod over a one loss USC, Big 12 one loss champion or SEC one loss champion.
It’s an imperfect system and many teams get screwed, but someone in the Big 10 has got to win a big out of conference game against an elite (top ten) opponent before I give them the benefit of the doubt again. They’ve played in four BCS games the last two years and haven’t been much more of a challenge than a solid Mountain West team.
October 13, 2008 at 8:02 am
I know it’s not an elite team, but Penn State certainly looked better against Oregon State than USC did.
October 13, 2008 at 8:18 am
One more factor in my Oklahoma State decision. They are supposed to be all offense and no defense but their defense played very well in that game considering who their opponent was.
Did anyone else put Okie State in your top five or give it consideration?
What made you do it or not do it?
October 13, 2008 at 8:59 am
I did not consider Ok. St. for the Top 5 mainly because I couldn’t justify, to myself, jumping them from “teams under consideration for the top 12″ all the way to the top 5. I struggled with the last top 5 team and the last top 12 team for sure. I went with Oklahoma and USC over Florida for the top 5 and went with LSU over Texas Tech or Mich. St. for the top 12. It basically came down to who I thought would win head to head when looking at Oklahoma vs. UF and USC vs. UF.
Here is the ballot I submitted…
Best 5
Alabama
Oklahoma
Penn St
USC
Texas
Rest of the 12
BYU
Florida
Georgia
LSU
Missouri
Ohio St
Oklahoma St
October 13, 2008 at 9:16 am
Everyone has their own way but I’ve sorta tried to get away from the standard “you should only rise so many spots” thing that I think mars the media poll.
If I had no problem bumping Bama up when it all reality they have no win any more impressive than Okie State’s at this point, I couldn’t justify not doing the same with Okie State.
Just my ten cents.
October 13, 2008 at 9:41 am
Munson – just curious, why do you have USC in the top 5? They beat a 4-loss Arizona state team and lost to an unranked Oregon State. Yet Florida beats #3 LSU after losing to an unranked Ole Miss. I don’t get the logic behind a big jump with USC.
Many thanks in advance for your response.
October 13, 2008 at 2:00 pm
I added OK St to my top five. I figure that big wins are more important, and all of my top five have beaten a team in the 6-12 group.
ALABAMA
FLORIDA
OKLAHOMA STATE
TEXAS
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Georgia
Louisiana State
Missouri
Ohio State
Oklahoma
Penn State
Texas Tech
The only 2 up top with losses (UF and USC) had mid-level conference losses. Obviously, that’s a big deal, but the two wins each had (vs. LSU and tOSU, respectively) were huge victories. The big wins by the undefeateds (Bama v. UGA, UT vs. OU, and Ok St vs. Missou) were all close on the scoreboard, if not on the field.
October 13, 2008 at 5:34 pm
I had USC on the verge of the Top 5 last week so, for me anyway, they didn’t make a big jump to be up there.
As for Florida. I haven’t been that impressed with them until the last game. They lost to Ole Miss at home and did not look impressive against Tennessee, Arkansas or Miami even though the scores looked good. For me they were near the bottom of the Best 12 until this last game and I gave them strong consideration for the Top 5 after whipping LSU. It came down to which team I thought would when head to head if USC or Oklahoma played Florida and right now I think Florida would lose to both of those teams.
October 13, 2008 at 7:24 pm
[...] Senator is running the Mumme poll….view his ballot here. Mine [...]
October 13, 2008 at 7:25 pm
“It came down to which team I thought would when head to head if USC or Oklahoma played Florida and right now I think Florida would lose to both of those teams.”
I didn’t think about that way. That’s certainly something for me to consider further. Thanks so much for answering my question! I appreciate the counter to my opinion – I will be looking through that angle when I put together my ballot again next week.
Thanks!
October 14, 2008 at 9:29 am
No problem. I enjoy discussing people’s different methods of comparing teams.
Obviously, I meant “win” not “when” thanks for not going all grammar/vocab police on me.
Me write good.