NCAA Football Rankings 2014: Hits and Misses from Week 4
Week 4 has come and gone, and we inch ever closer to the first College Football Playoff. There's still a long way to go in the season, but contenders are starting to take shape.
Florida State and Oregon survived and advanced against Clemson and Washington State, respectively. Auburn fended off Kansas State in one of the more intriguing nonconference matchups of the season. Alabama hosed Florida despite being bit by the turnover bug, and Oklahoma powered past West Virginia on the road.
Now, The Associated Press, USA Today and Bleacher Report have the difficult task of ranking the Top 25 teams. The Top 10 feels set for the most part, but how does the top half look? Do voters keep Florida State at No. 1 because it keeps winning? How much does a close win at Washington State hurt Oregon?
These are just some of the questions voters have to answer.
How did the polls look? Which teams are the hits and which are the misses? The answers are in the following slides.
Miss: Florida State
1 of 7
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 1; AP, No. 1
Current Coaches Poll: No. 1
Current AP Poll: No. 1
Current B/R Poll: No. 2
Overall Record: 3-0
It's a matter of picking nits at this point, but how exactly do we view Florida State? It's a conundrum.
On one hand, the Seminoles have wins over Oklahoma State and Clemson, and the latter came without star quarterback Jameis Winston. That's about as good of a resume as you're going to find this early in the year. That has to count for something, right?
"We ain't lost in 19 straight games," head coach Jimbo Fisher said (h/t Christopher Nee, 247Sports.com). "We are No. 1 till somebody beats us."
On the other hand, Florida State has obvious problems that were exposed in a 23-17 overtime win over Clemson. Namely, the offensive line hasn't been as dominating as it was expected to be, and the running game has suffered as a result. The Tigers came after sophomore quarterback Sean Maguire and got the results you'd expect. And the storyline from Saturday's game was as much about Clemson tripping and falling on its face as it was about the Seminoles winning without Winston and defensive end Mario Edwards.
On paper, this team is still superb, but watching the Seminoles tells a different story. There simply have been other teams that have looked better, even when Winston was playing. Is Florida State the best team in the country right now? It doesn't really feel that way.
Dan Wolken of USA Today is one of a few voices to echo that.
Hit: Mississippi State
2 of 7
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, NR; AP, NR
Current Coaches Poll: No. 16
Current AP Poll: No. 14
Current B/R Poll: No. 14
Overall Record: 4-0
Not having Mississippi State ranked to begin the season felt like a snub. The Bulldogs' 34-29 victory over LSU, however interesting it got at the end, validates those feelings.
Mississippi State has the real deal in quarterback Dak Prescott and physically dominated LSU in the trenches on both sides of the ball. That sounds like a winning combination if there ever was one. This is, without a doubt, head coach Dan Mullen's most talented team to date.
The next two games don't afford Mississippi State any breaks. After a bye, the Bulldogs get Texas A&M and Auburn—but at home. Even games against Kentucky and Arkansas could be tricky.
Want to know how good this team could really be? We'll find out soon enough. For now, a Top 15 ranking from the AP poll seems appropriate.
Miss: East Carolina
3 of 7
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, NR; AP, NR
Current Coaches Poll: No. 24
Current AP Poll: No. 23
Current B/R Poll: No. 22
Overall Record: 3-1
East Carolina may very well be the best team in the state of North Carolina. Following the Pirates' 70-41 throttling of the Tar Heels, it certainly looks that way.
ECU has one loss, by 10 points on the road at South Carolina, and two wins against ACC teams Virginia Tech and UNC. That's an impressive nonconference showing. It's possible ECU may not lose a game for the rest of the season if it keeps playing like this.
It feels like the Pirates should be ranked inside the Top 20. While it's nice to see them getting national recognition, this team looks like it could contend with just about anyone. Don't be so shy, voters. Go ahead and put the Pirates higher up.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Hit: Kansas State
4 of 7
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 20; AP, No. 20
Current Coaches Poll: No. 25
Current AP Poll: No. 25
Current B/R Poll: NR
Overall Record: 2-1
It would be easy to drop Kansas State, a lower Top 25 team, out of the rankings altogether because of a loss. But the Wildcats gave Auburn all kinds of fits in Thursday's 20-14 defeat. And in this playoff era, we shouldn't necessarily punish teams for losing tough nonconference games.
Otherwise, why would anyone schedule them ever?
K-State had numerous self-inflicted wounds—and not just three missed field goals. Receiver Tyler Lockett, for example, had a perfectly thrown pass bounce right off of him in the end zone for an interception.
Here's the thing about a Bill Snyder team: It almost always gets better as the season progresses. Last year, the Wildcats started slow, but by bowl season, there couldn't have been many teams that wanted to play them. Assuming Kansas State can clean up its act, it's going to challenge every single Big 12 team on the schedule.
Dropping the 'Cats out of the Top 25 would be a mistake. The AP and coaches polls got it right here.
Miss: Oklahoma
5 of 7
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 4; AP, No. 4
Current Coaches Poll: No. 3
Current AP Poll: No. 4
Current B/R Poll: No. 4
Overall Record: 4-0
If we're going to say Florida State isn't the best team in the country right now, it's only fair to provide an alternative. After Week 4, Oklahoma has stated its case to be No. 1.
West Virginia won't be a 10-win team this year in all likelihood, but the Mountaineers are certainly competitive, and winning in Morgantown at night is not an easy task. Yet the Sooners powered past West Virginia 45-33 behind the running attack of freshman Samaje Perine.
West Virginia is going to move the ball and score points, so giving up 33 isn't the worst thing ever. In fact, Oklahoma did a much better job of shutting down the Mountaineers offense in the second half.
There's no major win on the Sooners' resume—no Michigan State, for example—but Bob Stoops' team looks complete.
Hit/Miss: Oregon
6 of 7
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 3; AP, No. 2
Current Coaches Poll: No. 4
Current AP Poll: No. 2
Current B/R Poll: No. 1
Overall Record: 4-0
OK, this is cheating a bit. However, Oregon appears to be quite the perplexing team to voters depending on the outlet. B/R, for example, still has the Ducks as the No. 1 team in the country despite them escaping with a 38-31 win over Washington State.
The coaches poll, however, moved Oregon down a spot to No. 4. That was probably coupled with Oklahoma's win over West Virginia, but the move still makes sense.
Oregon has one of the best wins of any of the teams (over Michigan State) in the playoff discussion. At the same time, the Week 4 victory over the Cougars showed the Ducks look lost at times in pass coverage. Granted, no other team will throw it like Wazzu, but it's a troubling sign all the same.
Oregon's patchwork offensive line struggled to keep quarterback Marcus Mariota's jersey clean too. In short, it wasn't the Ducks' best effort.
Is Oregon still one of the four best teams in the country? Absolutely, but there's no consensus on where to place this team right now.
Miss: Georgia
7 of 7
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 14; AP, No. 13
Current Coaches Poll: No. 13
Current AP Poll: No. 12
Current B/R Poll: No. 12
Overall Record: 2-1
It doesn't matter that Georgia had no problem rebounding from a Week 3 loss to South Carolina by shaming Troy 66-0. The Trojans are no longer a respectable non-power program, and a game that was over before halftime proves nothing.
South Carolina's narrow 48-34 closer-than-it-should-have-been win over Vanderbilt was surprising, however. The Gamecocks aren't the same team from week to week. In the long run, that may be concerning.
"It’s one of the worst (wins) I have ever had, no question," head coach Steve Spurrier said about the win over Vanderbilt, via Josh Kendall of The State. "It’s embarrassing but we are who we are. We are not a very good team, but we are 3-1 somehow."
Still, we're only one week removed from South Carolina beating Georgia, and the AP, coaches and B/R polls all have the Bulldogs over the Gamecocks? Why?
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
