College Football Rankings 2015: Hits and Misses from the Week 7 Polls
Same question, different week: Now what do we do?
Some separation is beginning to occur this college football season, but it's involving some unlikely teams. Take a short poll of who's playing the best football right now, and your answers will probably include some combination of Utah, Michigan, Florida and Clemson. But are any of those teams in the top four?
It's time to find out and peruse all of the latest trends by evaluating the recent USA Today 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 also what has transpired so far this season.
Hit: Utah
1 of 6
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 7 (previously No. 7)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 4 (previously 5)
We could spend time talking about how Utah remains outside the top four in the coaches poll, but let's be honest: the coaches poll rarely, if ever, gets things right. The AP poll at least has Utah at No. 4, which is the critical cut-off point.
The Utes have as good a resume as anyone in college football right now. The Week 1 win over Michigan looks better and better with each passing week (more on the Wolverines later) and a 30-24 win over Cal on Saturday was rock solid. Critics might wonder why Utah won by only six points when it recorded six turnovers and went plus-three in the game margin, but it's better than the alternative, which is no turnovers. Long story short, Utah's defense made Cal quarterback Jared Goff look pedestrian.
On top of all that, Utah's 62-20 win over Oregon is now its third-best victory of the season, as Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports tweeted.
Top to bottom, is Utah as inherently talented as, say, Ohio State? Probably not, but the Utes aren't lacking in that department, either. Running back Devontae Booker, the cornerstone of the team, is one of the top players at his position.
Utah has showed up every week and recorded big win after big win. Don't want the Utes at No. 1? Fine, but don't deprive them of what they've earned. If the season ended today, Utah is a final-four team. At the very least, we're to the point—past it, even—where what teams have done shouldn't be overshadowed by what other teams could do.
Miss: Michigan
2 of 6
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 14 (previously No. 21)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 12 (previously No. 18)
For some reason, it feels like where Michigan ranks in the polls doesn't quite match the overall perception of the program. Why is anyone's guess, but it doesn't fully add up. The Wolverines still appear...underrated, despite being the talk of college football, if that makes sense.
We'll know for sure next week when Michigan takes on Michigan State. But to show the complexity of the situation, Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports asks which team would be favored today? If you said Michigan, few would probably argue. Yet the Spartans rank ahead of the Wolverines in both major polls.
Michigan doesn't look the part of a fluke, either. Its 38-0 win over Northwestern—the same Northwestern team with wins over Duke and Stanford—was its third straight shutout. Since losing to Utah in Week 1, Jim Harbaugh's team has outscored opponents, 160-14.
It was always generally believed Harbaugh was the man to turn Michigan around, but it's also a shock that it's happened this quickly. It's almost like, if you can believe it, pollsters somehow feel the Wolverines are too good to be true.
That won't be the case this time next week if Michigan beats Michigan State. For now, though, it should be agreed upon that Harbaugh's team is playing better football than the Spartans.
Hit: Cal
3 of 6
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 23 (previously No. 22)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 23 (previously No. 23)
Cal's ranking is a perfect example of a team's performance outweighing an individual one.
Quarterback Jared Goff was just terrible against Utah, throwing five picks and probably considering himself fortunate he didn't turn the ball over more. However, that was an anomaly from what we've seen from Goff this year (and last year).
Utah's defense had Goff seeing ghosts all night. Even the best quarterbacks look average when they're being rushed and/or hit on a consistent basis. Had it not been for Cal's outstanding defensive effort, the loss could have been by far more than six points. The Golden Bears turned the ball over six times, yet the offense was in a position to win the game at the end. That's no easy task and defensive coordinator Art Kaufman deserves a ton of credit.
Look at this loss for what it was: Despite bad quarterback play, Cal had a chance to win on the road against a playoff-caliber team. If the defense can keep playing like that, and if Goff can get back on the right track, Cal is absolutely a top-25 team.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Miss: Clemson
4 of 6USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 6 (previously No. 6)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 5 (previously No. 6)
Once again, we're going to just leave this video of Clemson coach Dabo Swinney taking on "Clemsoning" for everyone to see.
"Clemsoning"? It's "bull crap" as Swinney said. It's certainly been dead for a while. All Swinney has done is knock off big-boy programs like Ohio State, Oklahoma and LSU while taking care of unranked opponents. Yet, following Clemson's 43-24 win over Georgia Tech—a game that wasn't ever in question—Swinney was asked to address "Clemsoning" and, well, take a look at what he said.
And, with that now said, why aren't the Tigers in the top four? The win over Notre Dame in Week 5 remains one of the best of the season—and the Irish bounced back in a big way against Navy—and Clemson has taken care of its business outside of that game. Its only struggle was against Louisville on a short week last month.
Generally, though, the Tigers have been one of the few consistent teams in college football and have shown they can win with defense. Yet, Clemson's not quite getting the respect it deserves.
Hit: Oklahoma
5 of 6
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 19 (previously No. 9)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 19 (previously No. 10)
This time last week, Oklahoma was celebrating from an impressive, double-digit win over West Virginia. Heading into Week 7, the Sooners now find themselves looking for a rebound after a stunning 24-17 loss to Texas in the Red River Shootout.
Life comes at you fast like that in college football.
Sooners coach Bob Stoops hasn't lost many games in his 16-plus years with the program, but this might have been the worst loss of all. Meanwhile, this Red River game could be known as the one that turned things around for Longhorns coach Charlie Strong.
The loss has taken Oklahoma out of the playoff conversation, and deservedly so, for the time being. The Sooners still have enough going on to be ranked, but it's a long climb back into the top 10. Going on the road against Kansas State next Saturday will be a major test to see if Oklahoma can rebound, or if it's destined to fall once again.
Miss: Alabama
6 of 6
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 9 (previously No. 10)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 10 (previously No. 8)
Want an example of different viewpoints? Check out how each poll ranked Alabama following a 27-14 win over Arkansas. The coaches' poll moved the Tide up one spot while the AP poll moved them down two spots.
In both cases, however, Alabama remains three spots ahead of Ole Miss, a team it lost to not even a month ago. Granted, the Rebels got blasted two weeks later on the road at Florida, while Alabama handled Georgia with ease, but I'm not sure we're far enough removed from the head-to-head game that it shouldn't be the chief tiebreaker.
Along those lines, Stanford (No. 16, No. 15) being ahead of Northwestern (No. 21, No. 20) brings up a similar argument.
It's a tough balance. Do you look at the head-to-head game first or the whole body of work? In Ole Miss' case, you could still argue its best win (over Alabama) is greater than its worst loss (to Florida, the current SEC East favorite).
Time will figure all this out, but for now, the Rebels should still be ahead of the Tide.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
