NCAA Football Rankings 2014: Hits and Misses from Week 15
We've reached the end of the line. The final polls are out, and the playoff committee has made its decision. To steal a quote from TCU head coach Gary Patterson, "I don't know what happens tomorrow, but bottom line is we've done everything we can do" (h/t Jon Solomon of CBSSports.com).
Now, it's up to voters to sort it all out.
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: Baylor
1 of 5
Ranking Last Week: coaches, No. 5; AP, No. 5; CFP, No. 6
Current Coaches Poll: No. 5
Current AP Poll: No. 4
Current B/R Poll: No. 6
Whether voters think Baylor is the fourth-best team in college football, the fifth or nowhere in the Top 10, the AP poll at least got one thing right: It ranked the Bears ahead of TCU.
Yes, the whole body of work matters. Baylor losing to West Virginia by double digits on the road matters. Playing no one in its nonconference schedule matters. But what also matters is beating TCU head-to-head 61-58 in October.
Why pundits continue to talk about Baylor as if it plays in an alternate universe remains baffling. What would happen between Baylor and TCU if they met again on a neutral field is irrelevant; the game and result happened. Baylor is better, and it's the easiest, most tangible way to separate teams.
What hurt Baylor more than anything was the lack of a solid nonconference schedule, as Jon Solomon of CBSSports.com tweets.
Miss: Missouri
2 of 5
Ranking Last Week: coaches, No. 13; AP, No. 14; CFP: No. 16
Current Coaches Poll: No. 14
Current AP Poll: No. 16
Current B/R Poll: No. 15
Losing star defensive end Shane Ray absolutely hurt Missouri in the SEC Championship Game against Alabama. That was probably taken into consideration when voters put the Tigers around No. 15. However, there was never any doubt Saturday that Alabama was going to win the SEC, even if Ray was on the field.
With the exception of a few big plays from the Tigers' passing game, Mizzou had no offense and couldn't stop Alabama. This is a team that now has three bad and/or blowout losses to Alabama, Indiana and Georgia.
What head coach Gary Pinkel has done over the past two seasons is remarkable. There's no taking that away, but to only drop down a couple of spots at most? I'm not sure Mizzou is a Top 15 team now.
Hit: Georgia Tech
3 of 5
Ranking Last Week: coaches, No. 12; AP, No. 12; CFP: No. 11
Current Coaches Poll: No. 9
Current AP Poll: No. 10
Current B/R Poll: No. 10
Losing to Florida State in the ACC Championship Game, especially when the outcome was so close, isn't a knock on Georgia Tech. It's good to see that voters agreed.
In fact, the Yellow Jackets moved up the polls after the loss to the Seminoles. That should be the case. Georgia Tech is playing its best football at the end of the season. Is this a Top 10 team at 10-3? Absolutely. The offense is clicking on all cylinders and gave a playoff-bound team all it could handle.
Kudos for thinking outside the mentality that a team must move down when it loses.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Hit/Miss: Ohio State
4 of 5
Ranking Last Week: coaches, No. 6; AP, No. 6; CFP: No. 5
Current Coaches Poll: No. 4
Current AP Poll: No. 5
Current B/R Poll: No. 4
In any given week, there's usually one wild card in "Hits and Misses." Ohio State is that wild card.
On one hand, it's impossible to ignore the Buckeyes going 59-0 against Wisconsin the Big Ten Championship Game. For Ohio State to win so convincingly with yet another backup quarterback, Cardale Jones, is impressive. There's clearly tremendous depth on Ohio State's roster, not to mention great coaching.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt we’re one of the top four teams in America,” Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said (via B/R's Adam Kramer).
On the other hand, you could argue that Wisconsin is not the Big Ten's second-best team. There's still Ohio State's loss to Virginia Tech in Week 2. The Hokies are eligible for a bowl, which helps, so the question is do voters put Ohio State at No. 4 or 5 based on how the Buckeyes have looked recently or with the whole body of work in mind?
The committee felt strongly enough to put Ohio State in the Top Four, but there's no easy answer.
Hit: Alabama
5 of 5
Ranking Last Week: coaches, No. 1; AP, No. 1; CFP: No. 1
Current Coaches Poll: No. 1
Current AP Poll: No. 1
Current B/R Poll: No. 1
There's going to be controversy surrounding the playoff, but there's one thing that's set in stone: Alabama is the consensus No. 1 team in the country.
Oregon definitely made its case with a rout over Arizona in the Pac-12 championship, but the Tide navigated through a tough SEC West schedule to finish 12-1, with the lone loss being on the road to a 9-3 Ole Miss team.
That's as good a resume as you're going to see anywhere. Furthermore, Alabama is playing as well as any team in the country. Though the score was close at times, the SEC title was never in doubt. In the Iron Bowl, Alabama actually had Auburn gassed by the end of the game.
That's no easy task. The Tide are atop college football yet again.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
