College Football Rankings 2012 Week 8: Three Teams That Should Be Ranked Higher
It's been 44 years in the making, but for the first time since 1968, the Ohio Bobcats cracked the AP poll for Week 8, bringing up the rear at No. 25.
The AP poll saw movement at the top and the bottom, with West Virginia dropping 12 spots from 5 to 17, while South Carolina's loss to LSU left the Gamecocks sitting No. 9 in the country—exactly where the No. 6 LSU Tigers found themselves last week.
But all isn't peachy with the poll, as a handful of teams have a legitimate gripe over their placement; that is, if they were included at all.
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Here are three schools who are going to have a chip on their shoulder when they next take the field.
Mississippi State (6-0): No. 15
All the Bulldogs have done is win, both in the SEC and against out-of-conference competition.
With a 3-0 conference record, Mississippi State finds itself tied with Alabama for first place in the SEC West.
The Bulldogs' real test comes in two weeks when they travel to Tuscaloosa to take on the No. 1 team in the land.
In the meantime, while Mississippi State might not be Top-10 material, the Bulldogs are a superior team to Louisville, which sits only 14 voting points behind them at No. 16.
Arizona State (5-1): Unranked
Sitting alone atop the Pac-12's South Division you'll find the Arizona State Sun Devils, one of the more well-balanced teams in the country.
They average 40.5 points per game while allowing only 14.2, numbers that find their offense ranked 19th in the country, their defense ninth.
Over the past three weeks, Arizona State has beaten Utah, California and Colorado by a combined score of 115-41.
No. 25 Ohio has beaten UMass, Akron and Buffalo by a combined score of 109-93.
I typically cheer for the little guy, but Arizona State has a strong argument that it should be ranked ahead of Ohio.
TCU (5-1): Unranked
All the Horned Frogs did this weekend was walk into Waco and shut down the high-powered Baylor offense, holding a team that was averaging more than 600 yards and 50 points a game to 432 yards and 21 points in walking away with a 49-21 victory.
Like the Sun Devils, the beef here revolves around Ohio.
The Horned Frogs' win over Baylor is more impressive than what Ohio's done as the powerhouse of the Mid-American Conference.
Week 8 AP Top 25 Poll (via ESPN)
1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Florida
4. Kansas State
5. Notre Dame
6. LSU
7. Ohio State
8. Oregon State
9. South Carolina
10. Oklahoma
11. USC
12. Florida State
13. Georgia
14. Clemson
15. Mississippi State
16. Louisville
17. West Virginia
18. Texas Tech
19. Rutgers
20. Texas A&M
21. Cincinnati
22. Stanford
23. Michigan
24. Boise State
25. Ohio
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
