College Football Rankings 2015: Hits and Misses from the Week 9 Polls
Week 8 of the 2015 college football season is officially behind us. Fans are starting to get restless about rankings, which can only mean we're getting that much closer to the playoff committee's poll.
In the meantime, we'll just have to dissect the latest USA Today coaches poll and the Associated Press Top 25. With some unexpected endings playing spoiler, there's a lot to discuss. Was Utah overrated, or did it suffer a bad game? Is Ohio State back to being No. 1?
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 the past week's action but also on what has transpired so far this season.
Hit: Ohio State
1 of 6
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 1 (previously No. 1)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 1 (previously No. 1)
Finally, Ohio State looks like the No. 1 team in college football. Or, at the very least, the Buckeyes appear back on track after beating Rutgers 49-7. Yes, it's just Rutgers, but the catalyst for change was quarterback J.T. Barrett. The defending Big Ten Quarterback of the Year showed he was, in fact, better suited to handle more than just red-zone appearances. As Bleacher Report's Ben Axelrod wrote, head coach Urban Meyer is showing trust in his quarterback as well:
"Perhaps most importantly, with the longest leash he's been given as a passer since his return from injury, Barrett completed 14 of his 18 attempts for 223 yards and three touchdowns, looking every bit like the player who rewrote the Buckeyes' quarterback record books a season ago in the process.
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When the Buckeyes are clicking, it seems no one in college football can beat them. The tail end of Ohio State's schedule against Michigan State and Michigan should provide some challenges, but like last year, this team might start playing its best football at the right time.
Miss: Utah
2 of 6
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 14 (previously No. 7)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 13 (previously No. 3)
The Utes paid dearly for losing 42-24 to USC, but poll reactions might be a little too harsh here. The Trojans have all the talent in the world, and what they did to Utah Saturday is something many thought they should have been doing all season long.
"I don’t know how they’re 3-3 going in," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said of USC, per B/R's Bryan Fischer. "They could easily win out, that’s how talented they are.”
Couple that with Utah quarterback Travis Wilson having his worst game since throwing six interceptions against UCLA in 2013, and it just wasn't Utah's night.
And, given how Utah has performed this season versus a quality schedule, it would seem this was more of a bad game and less of an indictment on the Utes as a whole. It's one thing to drop Utah near the bottom of the Top 10, but to suggest Oklahoma State or Iowa has done more? That might be a stretch to conclude after one loss.
Hit: Stanford
3 of 6
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 8 (previously No. 11)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 8 (previously No. 10)
Utah may not be the crown jewel of college football anymore, but the Pac-12 is by no means out of the playoff picture. Slowly, voters are beginning to recognize it may be the Cardinal—yes, the same team that lost to Northwestern 16-6 in Week 1—who are playing the best football in the Pac-12.
Stanford's 31-14 win over Washington was the team's sixth straight win. For the third time this year, and for the second week in a row, running back Christian McCaffrey hit 300 all-purpose yards. The Cardinal aren't just winning—they're dominating. This is also the most creative we've seen Stanford's offense in a while.
Week 9's game at Washington State could be delightfully (or dreadfully, depending on your affiliation) tricky. It is at night on Halloween, after all. But the road to the playoff is advantageous for Stanford. In November, it gets Oregon, Cal and Notre Dame at home. Those are tough games, but they would boost Stanford's resume even more.
Stanford might not be in many top fours across college football, but this team is not far behind.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Miss: Memphis
4 of 6
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 16 (previously No. 17)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 16 (previously No. 18)
Last week, and after beating Ole Miss, Memphis was probably just happy to be universally ranked. But now it's starting to feel like the Tigers are still being underrated.
Memphis barely moved up in the latest polls, which is something you'd expect by itself considering it beat Tulsa on Friday and the Golden Hurricane are now 3-4. But with Ole Miss dominating Texas A&M, Memphis looks even better. As Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated tweeted, Memphis is the Rebels' biggest fan moving forward. The more Ole Miss wins, the better it looks for Memphis—assuming, of course, the Tigers take care of their own business.
Quarterback Paxton Lynch looks like the real deal, and this offense can score in bunches. In time, Memphis will move up if it keeps winning. Games against Navy, Houston and Temple will be part of the toughest stretch the Tigers will face all year. Still, Memphis feels a few clicks too low.
Hit: Florida State
5 of 6USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: No. 15 (previously No. 9)
Associated Press Top 25: No. 17 (previously No. 9)
Like Utah, Florida State was knocked from the list of unbeaten teams in Week 8. Unlike Utah, the Seminoles' first loss of the season—and first ACC loss since 2012—came in dramatic fashion with Georgia Tech returning a blocked field goal for a game-winning touchdown.
So why defend Utah and not Florida State? The Utes looked more like they had a bad game. Florida State looked like it did six weeks ago. Plus, Georgia Tech is nowhere near as good as USC, despite underwhelming records for both.
Without a doubt, the rebuilding Noles have made strides over the course of this season. Head coach Jimbo Fisher is doing one of his best jobs ever. However, some of the problems Florida State has showed came back up in a big way against the Yellow Jackets. Red-zone issues, run blocking, downfield passing and mental errors have been the primary concerns.
The final 10 seconds against Georgia Tech will be remembered the most, but the previous 59:50 is what put Florida State in that position to start.
Hit: Texas A&M
6 of 6
USA Today Amway Coaches Poll: NR (previously No. 16)
Associated Press Top 25: NR (previously No. 15)
Texas A&M has problems. Major problems. The Aggies aren't a team until they can figure out how to solve them.
For the second straight week, A&M lost to a top-tier SEC opponent by double digits, this time 23-3 to Ole Miss. The run defense remains a problem, but now the Aggies don't have a clear-cut quarterback. Kyle Allen struggled for the second game in a row, and no one is sure what's going on with backup Kyler Murray.
It seems almost unfathomable that Texas A&M would have problems on offense, but here we are. The season-ending game against LSU is still daunting, but there's more intrigue now in how A&M responds against teams such as South Carolina and Auburn. As Ralph Russo of the Associated Press tweeted, we're getting to the point of disregarding A&M entirely.
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
