NCAA Football Rankings 2014: Hits and Misses from Week 9
That was fun.
Week 8 was eventful, if nothing else. To start the day, a pair of upsets in the Big 12 opened up the conference's title race and introduced a couple of new faces to the playoff conversation. The fitting nightcap was Florida State rallying to beat Notre Dame in a classic between two Top Five teams.
Just when you think the playoff picture is remotely clear, it gets shaken up like a snow globe.
As is customary every Sunday, The Associated Press and USA Today released their new Top 25 polls. You can also check out the latest Bleacher Report Top 25 for comparison.
Which teams were appropriately ranked in the latest Top 25 polls? Which ones weren't? The answers are in the following slides.
Hit: Florida State
1 of 7
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 2; AP, No. 2
Current Coaches Poll: No. 2
Current AP Poll: No. 2
Current B/R Poll: No. 2
Florida State didn't take its first lead against Notre Dame on Saturday until halfway through the fourth quarter, but it pulled off one of the best wins of the season all the same. By rallying, and then holding on to defeat Notre Dame 31-24, the Seminoles secured their third win over a Top 25 team.
It's a flip of the script from a year ago, when Florida State steamrolled opponents but didn't play a grueling schedule. The Seminoles keep surviving and advancing, which says a lot about the resilience of this team.
"It's what you play for ... It's what you practice for ... It's what we live for," head coach Jimbo Fisher told ESPN's Tom Rinaldi.
Does Florida State deserve to be No. 1 in the updated polls? Mississippi State was on a bye this week, so it could have been out of sight, out of mind. The Bulldogs still look like the most complete team in the country, but Florida State isn't far behind.
It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for Mississippi State and Florida State to share the No. 1 spot, but a close second isn't wrong, either.
Miss: West Virginia
2 of 7
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, NR; AP, NR
Current Coaches Poll: No. 25
Current AP Poll: No. 22
Current B/R Poll: No. 23
At 5-2, West Virginia has finally cracked the Top 25. The Mountaineers are coming off a huge 41-27 win over Baylor, easily the program's best win in years. West Virginia's only two losses? To Oklahoma and Alabama.
That's not a bad-looking resume, and yet West Virginia is barely a Top 25 team? That doesn't seem right.
West Virginia's turnaround from last year's 4-8 effort is sparked by two things: a dramatic improvement on defense and an offense that finally clicks. The Mountaineers shut down Baylor's offense—as much as one can, anyway—and have been able to score on everyone.
There are still tough games ahead—at Oklahoma State and then home games against TCU and Kansas State—and West Virginia has been, well, unpredictable at times. However, the Mountaineers' body of work is impressive.
Maybe the Mountaineers lose next week and drop back out of the polls. For now, they need to be in the Top 20.
Hit: Notre Dame
3 of 7
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 5; AP, No. 5
Current Coaches Poll: No. 8
Current AP Poll: No. 7
Current B/R Poll: No. 6
Notre Dame is an intriguing one-loss team. The Irish shouldn't be punished for losing at Florida State on the last play of the game. This was a gutsy performance by both sides, and college football fans should be thrilled with what they watched. Dropping Notre Dame down the polls only takes away from that; not to mention, the Irish proved they could play with anyone.
As Jon Solomon of CBS Sports opined, "Notre Dame proved it belongs among college football's elite."
However, Notre Dame's resume doesn't match the eye test. Its best win to date is against a now-three-loss Stanford team. So the question becomes a matter of what voters value more: what they saw Saturday or the whole body of work? Because the former indicates the Irish are a playoff-caliber team.
Instead, voters opted to drop the Irish a few spots—but only a few. As long as they are a Top 10 team, this decision is fine.
Notre Dame will have two more opportunities to get a big win: Nov. 8 at Arizona State and Nov. 29 at USC. By no means are the Irish out of the playoff discussion yet.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Miss: Michigan State
4 of 7
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 6; AP, No. 8
Current Coaches Poll: No. 5
Current AP Poll: No. 8
Current B/R Poll: No. 7
Look, debunking the narrative that the Big Ten can't play football is fine. Michigan State and Ohio State rank among the top five scoring offenses, and the top four running backs in the country play for Big Ten schools.
For that matter, the game between Michigan State and Ohio State on Nov. 8 still has major implications, both within the Big Ten and nationally.
But the Spartans at Nov. 5 in the coaches poll ahead of Oregon, to whom the Spartans lost in Week 2, and Auburn? Not so sure about that.
Michigan State's best win is against Nebraska—and it needed to hold off a furious rally by the Huskers. At this point in the season, it's OK to start taking the body of work into consideration, not just head-to-head results. That said, how is Michigan State ahead of Oregon in the coaches poll? The Spartans are far more appropriately ranked in the AP poll.
Hit: Marshall
5 of 7
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 24; AP, No. 25
Current Coaches Poll: No. 22
Current AP Poll: No. 23
Current B/R Poll: No. 21
It's getting to the point in the season where Marshall, one of the four undefeated teams in the country, is slowly moving up the polls.
Barring complete and total chaos, however, it doesn't appear the Thundering Herd are going to be a Group of Five representative at a major bowl, let alone make it to the playoff.
To be clear, Marshall's a fine team. Quarterback Rakeem Cato just threw a touchdown pass in his 39th straight game, a Football Bowl Subdivision record. The problem is, this team hasn't played anyone of note, nor is it getting any exposure nationally.
It's hard to get believers that way.
As much as I love a good underdog getting the chance to prove itself, the voters' reluctance to move the Herd up the polls is the right move.
Miss: TCU
6 of 7
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 12; AP, No. 12
Current Coaches Poll: No. 10
Current AP Poll: No. 10
Current B/R Poll: No. 10
One of the most impressive turnarounds of the season, if not the most impressive, has been TCU from a year ago. The Frogs offense is completely rejuvenated. Coupled with a talented defense, TCU has a claim to be the best team in the Big 12.
Had it not been for a blown lead against Baylor, TCU would be undefeated and somewhere in the Top Five. But a win over Minnesota in September looks good now that the Gophers are 6-1. A win over Oklahoma is still solid too, even though the Sooners have dropped two games.
Identifying TCU as a Top 10 team is the right call, but it feels like the Frogs should be a couple of spots higher, ahead of Michigan State and Georgia. The same could also be said for Kansas State, which comes in at No. 11 in the latest polls.
Miss: Alabama
7 of 7
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 7; AP, No. 7
Current Coaches Poll: No. 4
Current AP Poll: No. 4
Current B/R Poll: No. 4
If the playoff field were selected today, Alabama would make the field. Its best win probably isn't even a conference game; rather, the Week 1 victory over West Virginia looks better and better each week.
Conversely, beating the doors off of Texas A&M 59-0, while eye-opening, doesn't signal as much as it did, say, a month ago. The Aggies are on a three-game losing streak and headed the wrong way down the SEC West standings.
Barring a major turnaround, A&M just doesn't look like a good team. And Alabama moves up three spots ahead of Oregon, Notre Dame and Auburn?
Four SEC West teams made it into the latest AP Top Five. There's no doubt the top half of that division is deep. But the bottom, which right now includes A&M? It's pretty bad.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
