NCAA Football Rankings 2013: Hits and Misses from Week 15
The voters really earned their paychecks this week when putting together the latest college football poll. After a weekend that included several upsets, there was no telling how the rankings would look.
Seven ranked teams suffered a loss during rivalry week. That included top-ranked Alabama, a Top 10 Clemson squad and several other programs that had their eyes set on a possible BCS bowl.
How do the polls look after the madness?
Duke and Arizona State are finally getting some attention, but there are still a couple of teams that are slightly overrated.
Note: Here are the AP poll and the USA Today coaches poll in their entirety.
Hit: Ohio State
1 of 10
Ranking Last Week: USA Today, No. 3; AP, No. 3
Current USA Today Coaches Poll: No. 2
Current AP Poll: No. 2
Overall Record: 12-0
Hey, look at that! Ohio State is finally getting some legitimate love from the voters. Are you happy now, Buckeye fans? In fact, it even received four first-place votes in the coaches poll.
While it's tough to agree with the Buckeyes being the best team in the country, they do deserve to be in the Top Two and have a fair shot to appear in the national championship. Like it or not, they are undefeated, and the Big Ten isn't that bad, with eight teams winning at least seven games.
Voters could have given Auburn the top spot or something, but they got this one right.
Speaking of Auburn...
Miss: Auburn 2 First-Place Votes in AP Poll
2 of 10
Ranking Last Week: USA Today, No. 4; AP, No. 4
Current USA Today Coaches Poll: No. 3
Current AP Poll: No. 3
Overall Record: 11-1
I love a feel-good story as much as anyone. You can't describe in words the job head coach Gus Malzahn has done this season. He's easily the coach of the year and probably deserves to have a little more cash thrown his way.
But Auburn isn't the best team in college football.
Have you seen Florida State play recently? Yeah, the team that hasn't even come close to losing a game and plays lights-out on both sides of the ball.
I get it—the win over Alabama wasn't expected, and the way it happened made some get out of hand a little bit. But let's not jump off the diving board just yet.
Hit: Duke
3 of 10
Ranking Last Week: USA Today, No. 24; AP, No. 24
Current USA Today Coaches Poll: No. 20
Current AP Poll: No. 20
Overall Record: 10-2
Duke not only cracked both polls, it's now moving up the ladder. With a solid road victory against North Carolina, the Blue Devils moved up an impressive four spots in the AP and coaches poll. To make matters even sweeter, they'll have a shot against Florida State for the ACC crown and an automatic bid in a BCS bowl.
The same way Gus Malzahn turned around Auburn, coach David Cutcliffe was able to pull off the near impossible with Duke. And it's heartwarming to see that the voters aren't treating this fairy tale as a fluke and are actually showing some respect to this program on the rise.
Next week against the Seminoles should be fun.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Miss: Texas A&M
4 of 10
Ranking Last Week: USA Today, No. 21; AP, No. 19
Current USA Today Coaches Poll: No. 25
Current AP Poll: No. 22
Overall Record: 8-4
It's time to pull the plug on Texas A&M, as the Aggies appear to have checked out this season. After losing the heartbreaker to Auburn, Johnny Manziel and company have come close to losing to Mississippi State and have lost back-to-back games on the road against LSU and Missouri.
Tough competition, sure, but you don't see that competitive spirit from the team that you saw earlier in the season. The offense isn't nearly as productive as it's been and the defense continues to give up points in bunches.
It may be tough to imagine, but the Aggies aren't a Top 25 team right now.
Hit: UCLA
5 of 10
Ranking Last Week: USA Today, No. 22; AP, No. 22
Current USA Today Coaches Poll: No. 19
Current AP Poll: No. 17
Overall Record: 9-3
One team that made a big jump this week was UCLA. The Bruins rebounded quite nicely from their loss to Arizona State by creaming USC 35-14. So much for the rivalry game being competitive.
Anyway, the Bruins have now won four of their last five games and look like a real contender when both sides of the ball are in a rhythm. They have been inconsistent all season long, but it finally looks like everybody is working together.
UCLA is a team no one wants to face this bowl season.
Miss: Georgia in the AP Poll
6 of 10
Ranking Last Week: USA Today, NR; AP, NR
Current USA Today Coaches Poll: NR
Current AP Poll: No. 25
Overall Record: 8-4
Nitpicking much? Possibly. But Georgia hasn't done anything to be worthy of a Top 25 ranking. It's almost as if the voters were lazy, needed one team to reward the bottom spot to and simply picked the program with the biggest name.
The Bulldogs needed a comeback to beat Georgia Tech! Sure, give the Dawgs credit for getting the job done, but we're talking about a team that's extremely one-dimensional on offense and doesn't have nearly the same caliber of athletes that Georgia has.
A four-loss, banged-up Bulldogs squad shouldn't be ranked.
Hit: Arizona State
7 of 10
Ranking Last Week: USA Today, No. 18; AP, No. 13
Current USA Today Coaches Poll: No. 13
Current AP Poll: No. 11
Overall Record: 10-2
Arizona State took down their in-state rival Arizona Wildcats this weekend and managed to move up five spots in the coaches poll. That speaks volumes to how much voters respect this team after the Sun Devils ended the regular season on a seven-game winning streak.
And for good reason. Arizona State's option offense between quarterback Taylor Kelly and running back Marion Grice is absolutely deadly. The defense has also done a nice job of racking up 36 sacks and holding opponents to a 40.56 third-down conversion percentage.
The Sun Devils will face Stanford in the Pac-12 title game next weekend, and are looking like a dangerous team to face down the stretch.
Miss: Alabama
8 of 10Ranking Last Week: USA Today, No. 1; AP, No. 1
Current USA Today Coaches Poll: No. 4
Current AP Poll: No. 4
Overall Record: 11-1
Alabama has been criticized all season for not playing up to its standards. Although the Tide won 11 straight games, they sleepwalked through quarters and weren't quite clicking on both sides of the ball like we're used to seeing.
Then, they lost to Auburn in the most bizarre way possible. Instead of dropping Nick Saban's team a couple spots lower, voters have opened the door for this team to sneak back into the national championship picture. Sure, Duke upsetting Florida State and Michigan State beating Ohio State seems impossible, but what if it happens?
Alabama's ranking is questionable given the way it's played all season.
Hit: UCF in the AP Poll
9 of 10
Ranking Last Week: USA Today, No. 19; AP, No. 17
Current USA Today Coaches Poll: No. 17
Current AP Poll: No. 15
Overall Record: 10-1
It wasn't much of a jump for the Knights considering they only beat South Florida by a field goal. However, UCF is now considered the best Non-AQ in the AP poll. It's about time these voters woke up and smelled the coffee.
While I respect Northern Illinois and Louisville, UCF has the most impressive resume, with wins over the Cardinals and Penn State this season. It is a physical team in the trenches and can play that smashmouth style of football with anybody.
Hopefully the Knights get selected to a well-deserved BCS bowl.
Miss: Cincinnati in the Coaches Poll
10 of 10
Ranking Last Week: USA Today, No. 25; AP, NR
Current USA Today Coaches Poll: No. 23
Current AP Poll: NR
Overall Record: 9-2
OK, wait.
The voters bash teams like Louisville and Northern Illinois because they don't play anybody. But Cincinnati wins six games in a row and is somehow making progress in the polls? Uh, hello. This is the same team that lost to a nine-loss South Florida squad.
The Bearcats don't have a single impressive win under their belt. How they are ranked is beyond me, especially when there are other unranked teams out there that have beaten a few quality opponents.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
