College Football Rankings 2015: Hits and Misses from the Week 3 Polls
Remember when Week 2 of the college football season was supposed to be boring? Good times.
That's the beautiful nature of this sport. When things are supposed to be mundane and go according to plan, they rarely do. Despite a slow start early in the day, the night games on Saturday were superb. Oregon-Michigan State went down to the wire, as did LSU-Mississippi State, and BYU pulled off another thrilling victory.
Now, it's time to digest all that happened and evaluate the USA Today Amway Coaches Poll and the Associated Press Top 25. Where did pollsters get it right? Where did they swing and miss? We give our two cents in the following slides based not only on Saturday's action but what has transpired so far this season.
Hit: Michigan State
1 of 8
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 4 (previously No. 6)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 4 (previously No. 5)
Heading into the season, pundits labeled Michigan State as the potential spoiler to Ohio State's run at a repeat national championship. After a 31-28 win over Oregon, calling the Spartans a "spoiler" is probably a disservice. This is a team very much in the College Football Playoff conversation.
Put it this way: The season is young, but Michigan State has the single most impressive win through two weeks. If polls are supposed to be based on what you've accomplished, there's a case to be made the Spartans should be No. 1. After all, the Buckeyes needed a second-half rally to pull away from Virginia Tech and looked sluggish against Hawaii coming off a short week.
But putting Michigan State in the top four—essentially labeling them a playoff team—is ultimately what matters. Both polls did just that.
Miss: Oregon
2 of 8
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 13 (previously No. 5)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 12 (previously No. 7)
Major early-season non-conference games serve an important purpose. There's the pure entertainment value, and then there's the litmus test. Oregon-Michigan State was not only fun to watch but gave fans a great glimpse into both teams' current abilities and what they can be. While we learned the Spartans are a legitimate playoff contender, we also learned the Ducks aren't that far behind.
If top-tier programs are going to be bold enough to play each other during their non-conference schedules, you can't really knock the loser if the game is close, as Oregon-Michigan State was. The notion of dropping a team a certain number of spots because it lost a big game is antiquated. Had Ducks quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. hit a wide-open Byron Marshall in the end zone on Oregon's final drive, perhaps the result of the contest would have been different.
This was a game of inches and feet, not of huge deficits. The Ducks shouldn't have dropped so far in the polls. This is still a Top 10 team based on how it played against the Spartans.
Hit: Notre Dame
3 of 8
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 10 (previously No. 11)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 8 (previously No. 9)
Figuring out what to do with Notre Dame is difficult. The Irish looked superb in Week 1 against Texas, though the Longhorns are admittedly in bad shape. Even more shine would have been taken off that win had Texas not beaten Rice comfortably.
Notre Dame, however, needed a miracle touchdown from backup quarterback DeShone Kizer to beat Virginia on the road, 34-27. This felt like a possible trap game to begin with, but some troubling signs cropped up as well. Cavaliers quarterback Matt Johns picked apart the Irish defense, and no one emerged on offense to join running back C.J. Prosise and wide receiver William Fuller.
On top of that, starting quarterback Malik Zaire is out for the year with a fractured ankle, according to Pete Sampson of Irish Illustrated.
Notre Dame is insanely talented but has already been crushed by injuries. Defensive tackle Jarron Jones and running back Tarean Folston have also suffered season-ending knee injuries, and now Zaire is done, too. As Brian Hamilton of Sports Illustrated opined, those setbacks leave the Irish with no margin for error.
Had Auburn played better, Notre Dame probably would have stayed exactly where it was. Think of it as pollsters putting this team in a holding pattern, which is probably smart given the uncertainty swirling around the Irish going forward.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Miss: Auburn
4 of 8
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 15 (previously No. 7)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 18 (previously No. 6)
Week 2 was not good to the SEC. Not good at all. Arkansas lost to Toledo. Florida had to survive against East Carolina. Georgia struggled early against Vanderbilt. Tennessee blew its largest home lead ever to Oklahoma. But none of those results were as embarrassing as Auburn's comeback victory over Jacksonville State of the Football Championship Subdivision.
For the second week in a row, the Tigers offense couldn't find a rhythm. Quarterback Jeremy Johnson threw two interceptions—his fourth and fifth on the season—and continues to leave something to be desired when it comes to decision-making and vision. But Auburn's defense wasn't much better, allowing 438 yards. The Tigers' playoff hype train is derailing fast.
Coupled with Louisville's loss to Houston—the Cardinals, Auburn's Week 1 opponent, are now 0-2—it's officially time to question where the Tigers should stand in the polls—if they should be there at all. As Jon Solomon of CBSSports.com pointed out, Auburn may only be ranked on name recognition at this point.
Hit: BYU
5 of 8
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 22 (previously NR)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 19 (previously NR)
As Maximus Decimus Meridius once asked, "Are you not entertained?"
The most exciting team in college football, BYU, has officially entered the Top 25. Welcome aboard, Cougars. Your reward is a trip to UCLA followed by a trek to Michigan. All of that is to say we could be waving goodbye to BYU just after we welcomed it.
For now, though, the Cougars have rightly earned a spot in the polls, even if both their wins have come in dramatic fashion. There was the Hail Mary against Nebraska in Week 1 and the thrilling go-ahead touchdown against Boise State on Saturday.
Yes, BYU could just as easily be 0-2, but the reality is the Cougars have shown a ton of perseverance and have a pair of quality wins. What more could you ask for?
Miss: Oklahoma
6 of 8
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 17 (previously No. 17)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 16 (previously No. 19)
Beyond Michigan State's win over Oregon, no other team had a bigger win in Week 2 than Oklahoma did against Tennessee. It wasn't the prettiest game for the Sooners, but they erased a 17-point deficit on the road against a ranked team and won in overtime. "It's one of the more special wins, maybe my favorite of all of them," Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops said, per Ryan Gerbosi of the Dallas Morning News.
Favorite win or not, the Sooners made a statement. And that's not good enough to move up in the coaches poll? Not even a spot? While Auburn remains two spots ahead? Who's doing the voting here? The AP poll isn't much better. Oklahoma moved up three spots to No. 16 but is still behind Ole Miss and Georgia Tech, who haven't played anybody.
If we're going to ask teams to play tough nonconference games, we need to reward them when they come away with a win. Otherwise, what's the point?
Hit: Northwestern
7 of 8
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 24 (previously NR)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 23 (previously NR)
The irony of Northwestern being ranked now is that it happened after the Wildcats shut out Eastern Illinois 41-0 and not after they upset Stanford in Week 1. All the same, Northwestern is 2-0 and rightfully included in the Top 25.
The Wildcats have another interesting test next weekend at Duke. Then, after a home game against Ball State, Northwestern takes on its Big Ten opponents—there's no Ohio State or Michigan State—and Pat Fitzgerald's team could find itself in the conversation for the West division title.
Could this be the year the Wildcats finally break through? A solid start is certainly a good sign.
Miss: Temple
8 of 8
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: NR (previously NR)
Associated Press Top 25: NR (previously NR)
It's time to start buying stock in Temple if you haven't already. Yes, the Owls play in the American Athletic Conference—which is in the "Group of Five"—but this is a team that has manhandled Penn State (recording 10 sacks against the Nittany Lions) and throttled preseason AAC favorite Cincinnati (Temple led the Bearcats 34-12 in the fourth quarter).
The Owls aren't getting much love from voters, as they are among the "others receiving votes." But anyone who's watched this team knows the defense is for real and the offense is serviceable enough to win games. You could say the same about a few Power Five teams in the bottom of the polls that haven't done as much schedule-wise.
If we throw out preseason expectations and go on what teams have done, how can pollsters not give more attention to Temple?
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes obtained firsthand unless cited. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
