College Football Rankings 2015: Hits and Misses from the Week 4 Polls
This isn't meant to bring anyone down from their college football high, but chances are, your favorite team is already one-quarter of the way through its regular season.
Now that you've had a moment to marinate on that, and possibly cry, it's time to digest all that happened in Week 3 and evaluate the USA Today Amway Coaches Poll and the Associated Press Top 25. Should Ole Miss be No. 1 after knocking off Alabama on the road? Or is Ohio State still the top team in the land? Should the Tide slip out of the Top 10? What about LSU? The Tigers dominated a struggling Auburn team.
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: Ole Miss
1 of 7
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 5 (previously No. 11)
Associated Press Top 25: T-No. 3 (previously No. 15)
Besides Michigan State's win over Oregon in Week 2, no other team has a signature victory quite like Ole Miss. The Rebels jumped out to a big lead against Alabama Saturday night and hung on to win on the road, 43-37.
There are a couple of different ways to view this. There were some, shall we say, fortuitous moments that went Ole Miss' way. And, despite winning the turnover battle 5-0, the Rebels still won by only six points. At the same time, though, there's nothing wrong with things going your way—ask 2013 Auburn—and the Rebels were the sharper team, hands down. They absolutely deserved to win.
"We didn't just come here saying, 'Let's pick a fight,'" Ole Miss defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche told Chris Low of ESPN.com. "We came here saying, 'Let's handle our business and go home.'"
Similarly, they absolutely deserve to be ranked among the top four teams in college football. Ole Miss just missed the cut at No. 5 in the coaches poll but tied for No. 3 with TCU in the AP poll. Should the Rebels be No. 1? It's up for debate, but if the season ended today, Ole Miss would probably be a playoff-bound team. As they should be.
Miss: Ohio State
2 of 7
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 1 (previously No. 1)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 1 (previously No. 1)
No one in their right mind denies that Ohio State is among the most talented teams in the country, if not the most talented. If you're of the belief that the Buckeyes could line up against any team, any day, anywhere and win, then sure, they're worthy of the No. 1 spot.
That said, Ohio State has played like anything but the No. 1 team this season. The Buckeyes trailed at the half to Virginia Tech and looked sluggish in wins against Hawaii and Northern Illinois. In fact, the Huskies had a legitimate chance to upset Ohio State in Columbus. The Buckeyes turned the ball over, couldn't convert key third downs and had late-game clock-management issues.
It comes down to what pollsters think is important: How a team has played (and against whom) versus how it could play. Right now, Ohio State doesn't even look like the best team in the Big Ten. The quarterback situation, once considered the ultimate blessing, is now an uncertainty moving forward as neither J.T. Barrett nor Cardale Jones have played all that well.
"It's just frustrating, knowing what we're capable of and what we can do to teams and not playing to that level," offensive lineman Taylor Decker told B/R colleague Ben Axelrod. "We just gotta get it figured out."
And Ohio State may get it figured out. For now, though, this team looks a little less than deserving of being a consensus No. 1 pick. Other teams have done more and looked better.
Hit: Notre Dame
3 of 7
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 8 (previously No. 10)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 6 (previously No. 8)
The same question about Notre Dame holds true for another week: Is there a more snake-bitten team in college football than the Irish? (The answer, by the way, is TCU. Maybe.) In a 30-22 win over Georgia Tech, Notre Dame lost safety Drue Tranquill to a season-ending ACL tear, per CSNChicago's JJ Stankevitz. He's the sixth starter Notre Dame has lost for the year to injury.
Yet, the Irish keep on winning, and this was the most impressive victory for the team to date. It was an odd game, though; the Yellow Jackets missed a pair of field goals and mounted an improbable late-game rally. All the same, Notre Dame did an excellent job slowing down Tech's option rushing attack. Tech didn't start converting third downs until the fourth quarter (and went 3-of-15 in that category).
As long as Notre Dame keeps winning, it should be in the playoff conversation. This team is too talented and passed its first major test of the season. It'll be one of many tests this year, as the schedule features some marquee games. Do the Irish have the depth to handle it?
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Miss: Auburn
4 of 7
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 25 (previously No. 15)
Associated Press Top 25: NR (previously No. 18)
What in the name of Gene Chizik is Auburn doing in anyone's Top 25? Or even near it?
Though polls are dissected on a weekly basis, here at Hits and Misses, the general rule of thumb is to not get too worked up. We'll disagree with some things, but AP and coaches top 25 rankings are little more than fun Sunday morning/afternoon fodder and irrelevant to the College Football Playoff selection committee. Or, at least, that's what the committee has us believe.
But this? Auburn being ranked No. 25 in the coaches poll? That's borderline offensive. The Tigers probably shouldn't have been ranked after narrowly escaping Jacksonville State, but at least they were 2-0 then. Auburn got its doors blown off by LSU but is somehow still one of the top 25 teams in the country according to coaches (or Sports Information Directors) around the country.
Good thing these polls don't matter anymore.
Hit/Miss: BYU
5 of 7
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: NR (previously No. 22)
Associated Press Top 25: T-No. 22 (previously No. 19)
And now, this week in antiquated poll trends.
BYU's role as playoff crasher came to an end in the early-morning hours on Sunday in a 24-23 loss at UCLA. But that doesn't mean the Cougars have to drop out of the Top 25 polls entirely. Consider this team's body of work:
- A win on the road at Nebraska.
- A win at home over Boise State.
- A one-point loss at UCLA.
Yes, BYU could be 0-3 just as easily as it could be 3-0. Still, as Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports noted, this team has two quality—albeit dramatic—wins and a close loss on the road to a potential playoff team. Again, the question remains: If pollsters ask teams to schedule difficult games, why are they so quick to punish them for losing, especially when the game is close?
If anything, there's an argument to be made that BYU could move up in the polls because it showed it could hang with a Top 10/Top 15 team. Traditional poll movement relative to wins and losses has to go, but at least AP voters kept the Cougars in the Top 25.
Miss: USC
6 of 7
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 18 (previously No. 7)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 19 (previously No. 6)
You don't have to agree with Stanford being ranked to disagree that the Cardinal should be placed behind USC. After all, the Cardinal did just beat the Trojans, 41-31, in Week 3. So what's Stanford doing at No. 24 in the coaches poll and No. 21 in the AP poll with USC at No. 18 and No. 19 in those same polls, respectively?
Furthermore, what's Northwestern doing at No. 19 in the coaches poll? The Wildcats beat the Cardinal in Week 1...who just beat the Trojans in Week 3. Yet, USC is ranked ahead of both teams.
Polls are weird sometimes, but the coaches poll has a knack for being especially fouled up. At least the AP poll got it right by ranking Northwestern ahead of USC and Stanford for Week 4. Still, no one got it right by putting USC ahead of Stanford.
Hit: LSU
7 of 7
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 9 (previously No. 14)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 8 (previously No. 13)
Since we knocked Auburn for somehow still being ranked in the coaches poll, I suppose it's fair that we only praise LSU so much. That said, LSU running back Leonard Fournette was a stud against Auburn, rushing for 228 yards and three touchdowns on just 19 carries in a 45-21 win.
Yes, Auburn's defense is still shaky at best. However, it probably doesn't matter how good or bad your defense is if Fournette is running like this... and this... into the end zone.
Fournette's performance was single-handedly good enough to put LSU on the periphery of the playoff conversation. The Tigers have only played two games, but the defense looks solid, and quarterback Brandon Harris is playing well enough. But, Fournette...goodness. LSU can, should and will ride their sophomore running back into a Heisman-contending season.
And when you have the best player on the field, you have a good chance to win every game.
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
