Grading the Preseason Associated Press Top 25 Midway Through the 2012 Season
Every season there are a number of teams unable to live up to the preseason hype created by The Associated Press and USA Today Coaches' polls, and this season has been no different with teams like the Arkansas Razorbacks, Michigan State Spartans and Virginia Tech Hokies falling out of the Top 25.
College campuses around the country are just getting done with midterm exams, which is why it is time to hand out mid-season grades to the AP pollsters and evaluate their preseason assessments of the best teams in college football.
Click on to find out how the pollsters have done through Week 8 of the 2012 season.
No. 25: Louisville Cardinals
1 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 16
The Louisville Cardinals are one of only 11 remaining undefeated teams and have moved up a total of nine spots since the beginning the of 2012 campaign.
This would be deserving of a below average grade if the Cardinals had any quality victories, but Charlie Strong's squad has beaten only one team with a winning record this season, which means their current ranking is a little bit inflated.
For the most part, the pollsters were not too far off in their preseason assessment of Louisville.
Grade: B
No. 24: Boise State Broncos
2 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 21
Despite losing several key starters on both sides of the football, including college football's all-time wins leader, Kellen Moore, the Boise State Broncos cracked The Associated Press Top 25 prior to the start of the 2012 campaign.
The Broncos have proved they are a legitimate Top 25 team on defense, but their offense has struggled against above-average opponents thus far.
Boise State's only loss came on the road in its season-opener against the Michigan State Spartans, and the Broncos have moved up slightly in the polls since the beginning of the season, which means the pollsters got this one right.
Grade: A
No. 23: Florida Gators
3 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 3
One of the biggest surprises this season has been the Florida Gators, who are undefeated and have signature wins at home against the LSU Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks, in addition to a quality road victory over the Texas A&M Aggies.
Not many people expected the Gators to be legitimate contenders in the SEC East, but Florida's defense has single-handedly vaulted them up the polls and into national title contention.
The Associated Press voters completely missed the boat on this preseason ranking, though this is more a testament to how quickly Will Muschamp has been able to turn the Gators around as opposed to the pollsters getting it wrong.
Grade: F
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No. 22: Kansas State Wildcats
4 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 4
Much like the Florida Gators, not too many people believed the Kansas State Wildcats would be ranked inside the top five and still undefeated through eight weeks of the 2012 college football season.
Collin Klein's development as a passer has been remarkable, and there is no telling what the Wildcats can do if the Heisman Trophy front-runner continues to put up big numbers against the opponents left on their schedule.
The Wildcats have proven the pollsters wrong thus far but cannot afford to get complacent and have a letdown against the Texas Tech Red Raiders this Saturday.
Grade: F
No. 21: Stanford Cardinal
5 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 19
The Stanford Cardinal have moved up two spots in The Associated Press poll after their first seven games and scored an upset victory over the USC Trojans in mid September.
Although the Cardinal followed up the early-season upset over the Trojans with a loss to the Washington Huskies, head coach David Shaw managed to right the ship and lead Stanford to two victories in their next three games with the only loss coming on the road against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Things appear to be going as expected for Stanford in the first season of the post Andrew Luck era, but the Cardinal will have a tough time staying in the Top 25 if they cannot beat either the Oregon Ducks or Oregon State Beavers in three weeks.
Grade: A
No. 20: TCU Horned Frogs
6 of 25Current AP Ranking: Not Ranked
Prior to starting quarterback Casey Pachall's suspension and disenrollment, the TCU Horned Frogs appeared as though they would be able to exceed the expectations of The Associated Press poll voters.
Unfortunately, the Horned Frogs have dropped two of their last three games without Pachall at the helm, and with four games against ranked opponents still on the schedule, things appear to be heading downhill in a hurry for TCU.
In light of Pachall's suspension, though, a fair grade cannot be assessed to the Horned Frogs since there is really no telling if the pollsters had this one right or wrong prior to the start of the 2012 campaign.
Grade: Not Applicable
No. 19: Oklahoma State Cowboys
7 of 25Current AP Ranking: Not Ranked
The Oklahoma State Cowboys are finding out that reloading in the Big 12 Conference is much tougher than it sounds.
The Cowboys fell out of The Associated Press Top 25 after a lopsided loss to the Arizona Wildcats, but Oklahoma State managed to bounce back with a close loss against the Texas Longhorns two weeks later and topped the previously ranked Iowa State Cyclones 31-10 over the weekend.
Head coach Mike Gundy and the Cowboys have fared well enough through six games with two freshmen quarterbacks to earn the pollsters a slightly below average mark, but do not expect to see Oklahoma State back in the national rankings this season with the meat of its schedule on the horizon.
Grade: C
No. 18: Ohio State Buckeyes
8 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 9
Many will be quick to conclude that the pollsters deserve a well below-average mark for their preseason assessment of the Ohio State Buckeyes, but given the state of the Big Ten Conference they were not too far off.
The Buckeyes may be 8-0, but have not exactly run through one of the nation's weakest schedules. Ohio State's defense has been porous, to say the least, and even head coach Urban Meyer is not buying into his team's top-10 ranking.
Yes, the Buckeyes may be the best team in the Big Ten and have yet to lose a game, but Ohio State's ranking is a bit inflated and could drop in the final four weeks of the season as its schedule begins to get a bit tougher.
Grade: B
No. 17: Nebraska Cornhuskers
9 of 25Current AP Ranking: Not Ranked
It took only two weeks for the Nebraska Cornhuskers to fall from the ranks of The Associated Press Top 25, but all hope has not been lost in Lincoln after topping the Wisconsin Badgers and Northwestern Wildcats in Big Ten Conference play.
The Cornhuskers are starting to earn some respect in the eyes of the pollsters and received 24 points in the Week 9 rankings.
A win against the Michigan Wolverines this Saturday at Memorial Stadium would help Nebraska continue its climb back into the Top 25 and help improve the voters' below-average grade.
Grade: C
No. 16: Virginia Tech Hokies
10 of 25Current AP Ranking: Not Ranked
The Virginia Tech Hokies appeared to have an easy road to the Atlantic Coast Conference title game at the end of the season, but through eight games, Frank Beamer's team is tied for third in the Coastal Division and is 4-4 on the year.
Things took a turn for the worst when the Hokies were blown out by the Pittsburgh Panthers and only got worse two weeks later after consecutive losses to the Cincinnati Bearcats and North Carolina Tar Heels.
Virginia Tech can get itself back in the mix for an ACC title with only one ranked opponent left on its schedule. A return to the Top 25, though, is highly unlikely.
Grade: F
No. 15: Texas Longhorns
11 of 25Current AP Ranking: Not Ranked
Several college football fans bought into the preseason hype surrounding the Texas Longhorns, and anyone who did is beginning to wish they had not hopped aboard the bandwagon.
Sophomore quarterback David Ash has come into his own as a passer, which has Texas ranked No. 6 in scoring offense, but the real problem for the Longhorns this season has been the defense.
The Longhorns could not stop the West Virginia Mountaineers on fourth down in a 48-45 loss and were embarrassed by the Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Rivalry game.
Without a quality win on their resume through seven games, the Longhorns find themselves out of the Top 25 and fighting to hang around in a heated Big 12 Conference title race.
Grade: D
No. 14: Clemson Tigers
12 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 13
The Clemson Tigers have played about as well as everyone expected them to coming into the 2012 season.
Head coach Dabo Swinney and Tigers have a 6-1 overall record because of their high-powered offense, but things are not going well on the defensive side of the ball as Clemson managed to give up 31 points against the Boston College Eagles and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in consecutive games.
Clemson's only blemish came at the hands of the Florida State Seminoles in Week 4. Unless several teams falter in front of the Tigers, do not expect to see them move up The Associated Press poll very much in the coming weeks.
Grade: A
No. 13: Michigan State Spartans
13 of 25Current AP Ranking: Not Ranked
The Michigan State Spartans have been one of the most disappointing teams in college football this season and fell out of the Top 25 after a 17-16 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in Week 5.
The end of a disappointing season is nowhere in sight for the Spartans as they have to travel to Camp Randall Stadium and face the Wisconsin Badgers before returning home to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Michigan State is 4-4 on the season and has lost three of its last four games, which has all but drowned out its hopes of playing in a second straight Big Ten Conference championship game.
Grade: F
No. 12: Wisconsin Badgers
14 of 25Current AP Ranking: Not Ranked
After a sluggish start to the 2012 campaign, the Wisconsin Badgers appear to be rounding into form offensively at the right time of the season.
The Badgers lost a tough road contest against the Oregon State Beavers, which does not look like as bad of a loss as it did back in Week 2, and blew a 17-point lead against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Wisconsin appears to have turned things around, though, and has piled up more than 30 points in four of its last five games. The Badgers have started to receive votes in The Associated Press rankings once again and could very well climb back into the Top 25 with a few more victories.
Nevertheless, the Badgers failed to live up to their preseason ranking and have made the pollsters look fairly silly.
Grade: D
No. 11: West Virginia Moutaineers
15 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 25
Everyone knew the West Virginia Mountaineers would be able to put up video game numbers on offense against several of the teams on their 2012 schedule; however, poor defensive play has come back to bite Dana Holgorsen's squad in back-to-back losses.
After scoring 70 points against the Baylor Bears and 48 against the Texas Longhorns, the Mountaineers' offense has disappeared the last two weeks, while the defense has given up an average of 52 points in losses to the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Kansas State Wildcats.
The Mountaineers are desperately trying to stay in The Associated Press poll, but the West Virginia is not even close to a top-15 team without Geno Smith picking apart opposing defenses.
Grade: D
No. 10: Arkansas Razorbacks
16 of 25Current AP Ranking: Not Ranked
The Arkansas Razorbacks have been the granddaddy of all letdowns this season and have completely redefined the definition of overrated.
After entering the 2012 campaign with national title hopes, the Razorbacks have only managed to score victories over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks of the Football Championship Subdivision, Kentucky Wildcats and Auburn Tigers.
The Razorbacks were upset by the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks of the Sun Belt Conference in their second game, which led to a 52-0 rout at the hands of the Alabama Crimson Tide and a 58-10 loss to the Texas A&M Aggies just two weeks later.
Arkansas currently has a 3-4 record and will need to win three games against a difficult schedule that features three ranked opponents in order to make a bowl game this year.
Grade: Double F
No. 9: South Carolina Gamecocks
17 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 17
The pollsters would have received a better grade for their preseason assessment of the South Carolina Gamecocks had it not been for consecutive losses to the LSU Tigers and Florida Gators.
As it stands now, though, the Gamecocks were a bit overrated to start the season and need a lot of help in order to get themselves into the SEC title game.
South Carolina's defense has been outstanding for the entire year, but the offense has not performed at a top-10 level the past two weeks, which is the reason the Gamecocks are now playing from behind the eight ball in the SEC East.
Grade: C+
No. 8: Michigan Wolverines
18 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 20
Although the Michigan Wolverines are just now making their way back into the top 20, Brady Hoke's second season in Ann Arbor has not been as disappointing as many want to believe.
The Wolverines' preseason ranking was exposed right away by the Alabama Crimson Tide at Cowboys Stadium, and Michigan turned the ball over six times in a loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, which knocked Michigan out of The Associated Press Top 25.
However, Michigan took care of business against the weaker teams on its schedule and beat the Michigan State Spartans for the first time in five attempts even without a stellar game from star quarterback Denard Robinson.
Michigan's preseason hype has faded away, but the Wolverines' defense is getting better every week and had rescued the pollsters for the time being.
Grade: C
No. 7: Florida State Seminoles
19 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 11
The Florida State Seminoles were legitimate national title contenders until they got tripped up on the road by the North Carolina State Wolfpack.
Now, the Seminoles are playing well enough to earn a BCS bowl bid, which is what the pollsters expected out of Florida State this season.
The Seminoles may have dropped a few spots since the beginning of the 2012 campaign, but a win over the Florida Gators at the end of the year would help Florida State climb back to where it was in the polls at the beginning of the season.
Grade: B
No. 6: Georgia Bulldogs
20 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 12
Next up are the Georgia Bulldogs, who come in six spots lower than the pollsters had them prior to the start of the 2012 college football season.
Aaron Murray and the Georgia offense were stifled by the South Carolina Gamecocks in their only marquee game of the year, which raised several eyebrows and exposed the Bulldogs' preseason Associated Press poll ranking.
The Bulldogs got back on track with a win over the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday, but Georgia's dismal performance against the only quality opponent on their schedule is the reason why the poll voters are getting a below-average mark.
Grade: C
No. 5: Oregon Ducks
21 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 2
The Oregon Ducks are piling up an average of 51 points per game, have an unblemished record through seven games and have yet to be tested this season, which means the pollsters were pretty close to getting this one right.
Chip Kelly's defense is creating turnovers, and the offense is operating at an alarming rate with freshman quarterback Marcus Mariota calling the shots.
Fans in Eugene are excited for the rest of the season, which will see the Ducks line up against three ranked opponents and most likely another in the Pac-12 Conference championship game.
Grade: B+
No. 4: Oklahoma Sooners
22 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 8
Had the Oklahoma Sooners been able to top the Kansas State Wildcats at home in Week 4, Bob Stoops' team would be undefeated, and pollsters would be rejoicing about picking them to be the No. 4-ranked team in the nation to start the season.
Instead, the Sooners are stuck behind several unbeaten teams and will need a lot of help in order to get back into the national title picture.
Oklahoma's defense has been stout all season long, and now that the offense has come around, the Sooners look like the team all of the voters thought they would be prior to the kickoff of the 2012 season.
Grade: B-
No. 3: LSU Tigers
23 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 6
The LSU Tigers are at the front of the line as far as one-loss teams go in The Associated Press poll, and their only loss came on the road against the Florida Gators, which is nothing to be ashamed of.
The most pivotal game on LSU's schedule is in two weeks against the Alabama Crimson Tide and will likely decide not only the SEC West, but the final grade the pollsters should receive for their preseason ranking of the Tigers.
As things stand right now, the voters get an above-average mark, considering LSU's 7-1 record, dominant defense and strong rushing attack that has them in the national title hunt.
Grade: B+
No. 2: Alabama Crimson Tide
24 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 1
The Alabama Crimson Tide appear to be head and shoulders above every other team in college football right now, which is exciting for pollsters everywhere since they ranked Nick Saban's team No. 2 before the 2012 season got underway.
Alabama's defense is giving up fewer than 10 points per game but will be tested for the first time this weekend when the Crimson Tide face the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The pollsters just missed the mark on Alabama, which means they get an outstanding grade for doing their homework on the Crimson Tide.
Grade: A-
No. 1: USC Trojans
25 of 25Current AP Ranking: No. 10
The USC Trojans held the top spot in the preseason Associated Press poll, but after being upset by the Stanford Cardinal early in the season, voters more than likely regretted putting Lane Kiffin's squad at No. 1 to start the season.
USC has the weapons on offense to win a national title, and although defensive depth is a bit of a concern for the Trojans, they will have a chance to prove it is good enough to win it all when they square off with the Oregon Ducks in two weeks.
Like all the other one-loss teams, the Trojans will need to win out and get some help in order to climb back to the top of the polls and raise the pollsters' grade come season's end.
Grade: C
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
