BCS Rankings Week 14: Which Teams Are Too High And Too Low?
The BCS rankings for Week 14 are drastically different from last week's edition, and for good reason.
Indeed, this was easily the wildest weekend of college football that we've seen all season. Auburn pulled off an epic comeback, Boise State's title hopes crumbled in Reno, Arkansas upset LSU, and Oklahoma won its eighth straight in the Bedlam series.
Absolutely unfathomable madness. And now it's time to make sense of the new BCS rankings. The first order of business, as always, is to determine who is out of place.
Here are five teams that are too high and five that are too low.
Too High: No. 23 Arizona
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Mike Stoops' team has been dying a very slow death over the last month. It started with an embarrassing loss at Stanford, a loss at home to USC and then a second-half meltdown against then-No. 1 Oregon after a weekend off.
In short, they haven't won a game since October 30th and they're still ranked.
Ummm...what?
At least the voters got it right. The writers and coaches ditched the Wildcats from the rankings altogether after they both had them at No. 20 for Week 13.
Too High: No. 20 Utah
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The Utes were two or three plays away from losing to BYU on Saturday and they also clearly got some help from the officials on a play that was ruled a fumble.
If you take away the fourth quarters of their last two contests, the Utes end the season with a four-game losing streak.
Yet they got to hold on to their No. 20 spot, ahead of a Florida State team that will be playing in the ACC championship game.
Color me confused.
Too High: No. 12 Missouri
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If you want to find a team in the Top 25 that has benefited from other teams' losses, look at the No. 12 Missouri Tigers.
They were No. 6 after they upset the Sooners and dropped as low as No. 17 after losing their second game in a row in Week 10 to Texas Tech.
Since then, they've pulled off a trio of shrug-worthy wins over Kansas State, Iowa State and Kansas, and have moved all the way up to No. 12.
I wouldn't have a problem with this, but they're sitting in front of both Nebraska and Oklahoma State. One is a team that did whip them and the other is a team that would have whipped them.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Too High: No. 8 Michigan State
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First things first: We should all tip our caps to the Spartans for sharing the Big Ten title for the first time since 1990. Moreover, I've come to realize that they have an absolutely outstanding fan base who always comes to college football discussions with its guns loaded.
That being said, Michigan State is not a Top 10 team.
First, of the three Big Ten co-champs, they have the worst loss. They were furiously stomped by an Iowa team that ended their season with three losses in a row.
Second, as much credit as the Spartans deserve for their win over Wisconsin, that was not the same Badgers team that we've seen over the last month.
Third, any of the other teams in the Top 10 would beat them—hands down.
Too High: No. 3 TCU
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Before you back away from your monitor in disgust, hear me out on this one—unless you're an SEC fan, of course, in which case you're probably digging this.
As much as I want to see a non-AQ team rattle the cages, the push made by Stanford and Wisconsin over the course of November has made it apparent that the Frogs are just not the best fit for the No. 3 spot.
It all comes down, I suppose, to trophy wins. The Frogs boast two wins over ranked teams: Oregon State to start the season and Utah on the first Saturday of November.
Now look at those two teams. And then look at the Novembers for the Cardinal and the Badgers.
I'll rest my case there, but feel free to engage me in a discussion (civil, of course) in the comments section.
Too Low: No. 17 Nevada
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When I did my mock BCS rankings yesterday afternoon, I predicted that the Wolf Pack would get a four-spot boost as a reward for unseating Boise State, and I still thought that was a raw deal.
But a two-spot boost for pulling off one of the most significant upsets of the past decade?
You have got to be (bleeping) kidding me.
Because Boise State dropped seven spots to No. 11, you could say that the Broncos' loss was also Nevada's loss, as it ultimately validated all the talk of Boise and the WAC being severely overrated.
More on that to come...
Too Low: No. 16 Alabama
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If you think there's another three-loss team in the country that could beat any of the other teams in the Top 25, I'd love to hear it.
Indeed, Nick Saban's team may have had a down year, but you could still make the case that it is a couple plays away from being undefeated. The Tide's three losses represent a just punishment for their habitual failure to execute in big moments, but they're still a damn good football team.
But my biggest gripe with their five-spot slide in the BCS rankings from No. 11 is that I just don't think that's very fair considering that they lost to the No. 1 team in the country by a single point.
If that single point was enough to put Auburn into the top spot, then it also should have been enough to salvage the Tide some dignity.
Too Low: No. 11 Boise State
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While we do need to recognize that Boise's defense definitely dropped the ball in the second half on Friday night, we also need to recognize that it is one Kyle Brotzman kick away from being the No. 3 team in the country.
Indeed, given the razor-thin margin between the Broncos and the No. 3 Frogs, a tough win on the road over the then-No. 19 team would have given them the nod over TCU.
Instead, their plummet to No. 11 after their overtime defeat essentially tells us two things.
The first, as I've already stressed, is that Nevada isn't all that great. The second is that Boise is really that bad.
The culprit in this case, as it always is, would be the computers. The writers and coaches have Boise at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively. The computers have them at No. 14.
Basically, you should try to imagine this whole Boise thing as one of those I-Spy pictures. If you stared at it for long enough, you'd see a giant middle finger directed at the Western Athletic Conference.
Too Low: No. 9 Oklahoma
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I believe I owe all the Sooners faithful an apology. I'm sorry for doubting your team.
Here's why they deserve to be higher than No. 9.
First, they're a better team than Michigan State.
Second, they might have the most clever coach in the country. The way he managed the fourth quarter against Oklahoma State was unbelievable.
Third, outside of maybe Auburn, it's hard to find a team that has played with more swagger in the last three weeks, and there's certainly nobody in the Big 12 that even comes close.
Fourth, they're going to beat Nebraska and give themselves a boost anyway.
Too Low: No. 5 Wisconsin
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So if TCU is indeed too high, then the question is obviously whether it's Stanford or Wisconsin that deserves the No. 3 ranking.
In my opinion, you have to give the nod to the Badgers. The Cardinal have been dominant this season, but the Badgers have been absolutely unbelievable ever since they suffered their first-and-only loss against Michigan State on Oct. 2nd.
And just look at their last three games in particular, in which they've outscored their opponents 201 to 71. Those are basketball numbers, for crying out loud.
And don't think that this discussion is pointless. In the event that Auburn and/or Oregon go down on Saturday, the No. 3 ranking could end up being huge.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
