NCAA Football Rankings 2014: Hits and Misses from Week 14
Rivalry week is over. In a week's time, so too will the college football regular season. The days of overreacting to polls are (mostly) over. Teams now have entire bodies of work to show off. Weekly rankings are far more steady.
That doesn't mean they're all correct, however.
As is customary every Sunday, the Associated Press and USA Today released their new Top 25 polls. Though neither of these polls is taken into consideration by the playoff selection committee, the polls may provide a glimpse into where teams stand.
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: Alabama
1 of 8
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 1; AP, No. 2; CFP: No. 1
Current Coaches Poll: No. 1
Current AP Poll: No. 1
Current B/R Poll: No. 1
Is there any team playing better in college football right now? Voters certainly don't think so.
Following a 55-44 shootout win over Auburn in the Iron Bowl, the Tide were named the consensus No. 1 team. Even though Florida State remains undefeated, it's tough to argue against the Tide.
Alabama got off to a slow start against Auburn, thanks in part to poor defense and a series of interceptions by quarterback Blake Sims. By the end of the game, though, it was Auburn, not Alabama, that was gassed. That's saying something.
As the AP's Ralph Russo points out, Alabama has now reached No. 1 in the AP poll in each of the last seven seasons. That's the longest such streak since Miami (FL) from 1986-92.
With the playoff selection just around the corner, the Tide are playing their best at the right time.
Hit: Mississippi State
2 of 8
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 4; AP, No. 4; CFP: No. 4
Current Coaches Poll: No. 10
Current AP Poll: No. 10
Current B/R Poll: No. 9
Mississippi State's playoff hopes are dead, at least for the time being, after a 31-17 loss to Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl. The Bulldogs had been clinging to the No. 4 spot in the playoff rankings, but they have plummeted to the bottom part of the Top 10.
Frankly, Mississippi State hasn't looked the part of a playoff-bound team over the past month or so. But the only opinion that matters is that of the selection committee. Still, the loss means Mississippi State won't win the SEC West, let alone the SEC.
As Dan Mullen told Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com, "I didn't think we were getting in the playoff anyway."
Is Mississippi State still a Top 10 team? Sure. The Bulldogs still have quarterback Dak Prescott and have won 10 games. Moving them out of the playoff discussion via the rankings is the right move, though.
Miss: Arizona
3 of 8
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 12; AP, No. 12; CFP: No. 11
Current Coaches Poll: No. 8
Current AP Poll: No. 8
Current B/R Poll: No. 8
If there's a two-loss team that can crash the playoff, Arizona is it.
Thanks to UCLA's loss to Stanford and a win over Arizona State, the Wildcats are headed to their first Pac-12 Championship Game. There, Arizona will have a rematch against Oregon, a team it beat in Eugene earlier in the season.
Arizona is in a prime position to make a last-second playoff surge. On Friday, it can get another quality win over a team that, at the moment, is favored to be playoff-bound. The Wildcats can also win their conference and finish without any really terrible losses.
Even though they lost to the Ducks in Eugene, Michigan State—also 10-2—is ranked No. 7. Why isn't Arizona the highest-ranked two-loss team again?
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Hit: Boise State
4 of 8
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 25; AP, No. 25; CFP: No. 23
Current Coaches Poll: No. 22
Current AP Poll: No. 22
Current B/R Poll: No. 22
Finding a team to represent the "Group of Five" in a major New Year's Eve/Day bowl has been a chore. Marshall saw its undefeated hopes go up in flames in an overtime loss to Western Kentucky. For several weeks, the selection committee showed little, if any, love to mid-major schools.
But now, Boise State is starting to emerge from the pack thanks to a convincing 50-19 win over Utah State. Make no mistake, hanging 50 points on the Aggies defense is no easy task.
It's been an interesting year for Boise State, which started with a blowout loss to Ole Miss in Week 1. However, the Broncos have quietly gone about their business and remain the king of the non-power schools. The only thing that separates Boise State from a major bowl bid is the Mountain West championship against Fresno State.
Miss: Minnesota
5 of 8
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 22; AP, No. 22; CFP: No. 18
Current Coaches Poll: No. 25
Current AP Poll: NR
Current B/R Poll: No. 23
Put simply: What is Minnesota still doing in anyone's Top 25?
Look, the Gophers have had a nice season. Head coach Jerry Kill has done a phenomenal job turning the program around. That said, Minnesota is 2-3 in its last five games, and its best win during that stretch was a close call against Nebraska.
In a related story, however, TCU applauds all Top 25 polls that include the Gophers and wonder exactly what the AP poll's deal is.
Hit: UCLA
6 of 8
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 10; AP, No. 9; CFP: No. 8
Current Coaches Poll: No. 17
Current AP Poll: No. 16
Current B/R Poll: No. 17
Just when you think UCLA is about to turn a corner, the Bruins go and lay an egg. Such was the case Friday when Jim Mora's team got thoroughly outcoached in a 31-10 blowout to Stanford. (In fairness, Cardinal quarterback Kevin Hogan had the best game of his season and perhaps his career.)
The loss cost UCLA a spot in the Pac-12 championship against Oregon and a possible late push toward the playoff.
The Bruins are good—there's nothing inherently wrong with a 9-3 record—but have been outclassed twice this season by Stanford and Oregon. That's been an unfortunate pattern for UCLA, dating back to 2009.
UCLA is what it is: a good, but not great, team with a lot of talent. No. 17 or so sounds about right.
Hit/Miss?: Missouri
7 of 8
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 17; AP, No. 17; CFP: No. 17
Current Coaches Poll: No. 13
Current AP Poll: No. 14
Current B/R Poll: No. 14
Honestly, what do you do with Missouri? This isn't so much of a hit or a miss as much as it is a conundrum.
This isn't an attempt to downplay Missouri winning its second straight SEC East title. What head coach Gary Pinkel has done is nothing short of amazing. The Tigers have gone 14-2 in the SEC over the past two years. That's impressive no matter the conference.
Missouri has two awful losses to Indiana and Georgia at home, but it has reeled off six wins in a row, the most impressive of which probably came against Arkansas on Friday.
Furthermore, the Tigers are ranked at least one spot ahead of Georgia, a team it lost to 34-0, in the major polls.
None of this is to say that Missouri isn't a different team now—surely it is—but it's still tough to get a full read on the Tigers. We'll probably find out more next week in the SEC title game against Alabama.
Hit: Georgia Tech
8 of 8
Ranking Last Week: Coaches, No. 15; AP, No. 16; CFP: No. 16
Current Coaches Poll: No. 12
Current AP Poll: No. 12
Current B/R Poll: No. 12
Of the playoff dark horses, Arizona seems like a safe bet. That said, don't completely overlook Georgia Tech.
The Yellow Jackets have been generally flying under the radar, but a wild 30-24 overtime win over Georgia on the road Saturday is difficult to ignore. Paul Johnson's team is 10-2 with only one questionable loss (to North Carolina) and has a chance to knock off undefeated Florida State.
Does Georgia Tech have a legitimate shot at a playoff if it beats the Seminoles? Perhaps not without some help, but you'd be hard-pressed to find many teams that are playing better right now.
Maybe this is not a Top 10 team, but Georgia Tech is right on the cusp.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
