NCAA Football Rankings 2016: Hits and Misses from Week 7 Polls
Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc on last weekend's college football schedule, canceling some games and pushing others back to Sunday. That also forced both the Associated Press Top 25 and Amway Coaches polls to come out one day later, which meant having to wait an extra day to point out what those polls got right and where they erred.
The AP is voted on by media members, while college head coaches cast ballots for the Amway poll. Each voter has their individual reasoning for how they ranked their teams, and those ballots are up for critique after they are combined to create the rankings. Generally there's a good consensus, but that's not always the case, which provides for some poll results that stand out from the pack.
Here's our breakdown of the hits and misses from the Week 7 polls.
Hit: Consistency at the Top
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With 61 journalists and 63 college football coaches voting in this week's polls, it's somewhat amazing that we managed to get the same seven schools in the exact order in both rankings. Maybe we should enlist this group to definitively decide whether a hot dog is a sandwich.
Houston's loss to Navy and Texas A&M's double-overtime win against Tennessee were the only results that impacted the top seven, causing Houston to fall out of that group and the Aggies to join it. A&M is No. 6 in both polls, jumping ahead of a one-loss Louisville team that had the week off.
Alabama remains the overwhelming No. 1 team in each poll after winning 49-30 at Arkansas, earning 56 first-place AP votes and 58 top spots from Amway voters. That's up from 53 and 57, respectively, a week ago.
Ohio State stayed second in each poll but lost some first-place AP votes after beating Indiana 38-21. The Buckeyes went from being ranked first six times in the AP to just twice, but it gained a first-place vote (from three to four) in the Amway poll.
Miss: Varying Opinions of Florida
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Hurricane Matthew's impending arrival prompted Florida and LSU to cancel their Saturday game in Gainesville, a decision that has come under much scrutiny because of its potential impact on the SEC standings. Only slightly less controversial is the difference in ranking that Florida has in the two polls.
The Gators are 14th in the Amway poll, jumping four spots despite not playing in Week 6, while they held firm at 18th in the AP rankings.
Does this mean the coaches who vote in the Amway were somehow impressed with Florida's pre-emptive postponement? Tennessee head coach Butch Jones, whose team beat Florida in Week 4 and could be most adversely affected if that game is not rescheduled, isn't a voter this year, and he likely would not have lifted the Gators in the rankings.
The only other team listed in both polls whose ranking differs by more than two spots is Baylor, which sits 11th in the AP and eighth in the Amway. The Bears, who were off last weekend, were 13th and 11th, respectively, in the previous rankings.
Hit: Tennessee Isn't Punished for Overtime Loss at Texas A&M
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Tennessee's second-half comeback magic didn't extend to overtime on Saturday, as it lost 45-38 at Texas A&M in double OT after rallying from a 28-7 deficit. It's the fifth time this season the Volunteers have trailed by 10 or more points this season and come back to tie or take the lead, but this time, they couldn't complete the comeback and finish on top.
AP voters felt just being able to force overtime was worthy of keeping Tennessee at No. 9 (while raising A&M from eighth to sixth), while the Amway voters dropped the Vols two spots to 11th.
That change was much better than the drops experienced by other ranked teams that lost in Week 6. Houston slipped from sixth in the AP and fifth in the Amway to 13th and 12th, respectively, after losing at Navy, while Miami (Florida) went from 10th in both polls to 16th (AP) and 17th (Amway) after its 20-19 home loss to Florida State. Arkansas dropped from 17th (AP) and 16th (Amway) to 22nd in both rankings after losing 49-30 at home to top-ranked Alabama.
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Miss: Voters Not Doing Boise State Any Favors
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Non-power conference schools across the country watched with baited breath Saturday as Navy held off unbeaten Houston. The Cougars' loss not only hurt their chances of being the first “Group of Five” school to make the College Football Playoff, but it also put at risk their hope of earning another New Year's Six bowl bid.
We won't know where the Cougars sit in the eyes of the playoff selection committee until Nov. 1, when the first playoff rankings are released, but based on the AP and Amway polls, they're still in good shape for that major bowl slot. That's good news for them, but it's bad news for other Group of Five hopefuls, most notably unbeaten Boise State.
The Broncos moved to 5-0 with a 49-21 win at New Mexico on Friday, which moved them to 15th in both polls. That's still two spots behind Houston in the AP rankings and three slots behind the Cougars in the Amway poll.
Boise was the first recipient of the New Year's Six bowl invitation given out to the highest-rated Group of Five conference champion, beating Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl in 2014.
Hit: Western Michigan Rows into AP Poll for First Time
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It's been 75 years since Western Michigan won the first six games of a season, but back in 1941, only 20 teams were ranked by the Associated Press. It also played in the Michigan Collegiate Conference instead of the Mid-American, and it was known as the Hilltoppers instead of the Broncos.
The Broncos, who jumped into the Amway poll last week and is ranked 23rd in that poll, sits at No. 24 in the AP for their first-ever national ranking. They become the 108th current FBS team and ninth from the MAC to be ranked, thanks to a 6-0 start that includes wins over Big Ten schools Illinois and Northwestern, as well as conference rivals Central Michigan and Northern Illinois.
The program that has adopted the mantra “Row the Boat” under fourth-year coach P.J. Fleck has won 22 games since the start of 2014 after going 19-38 in the previous five seasons combined.
Miss: Each Poll Adds a Two-Loss SEC School
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For the first time all season, every unbeaten team—there are 11 left—is ranked in both polls, ensuring the schools off to the best starts in 2016 have been rewarded. But the majority of the 21 schools with only one loss find themselves outside of the rankings, and in many cases, it's at the expense of two-loss teams.
There are five teams in each poll that have lost twice, including a pair that moved into the rankings for Week 7. Auburn (4-2) jumped into the AP poll at 23rd after its blowout win at Mississippi State, and LSU (3-2) returned to the Amway rankings at 25th despite its game at Florida getting washed out by a hurricane.
Two new one-loss teams did make it into the rankings as well. Navy (4-1) parlayed its win against Houston into its first AP ranking (25th) since finishing 18th in the final 2015 poll, and Arizona State (5-1) used a 23-20 home win over UCLA to get into the Amway rankings at 24th despite not being ranked at any time in either poll during a 4-0 start.
One-loss schools that aren't ranked include the following: Air Force, Maryland, Memphis, Middle Tennessee, North Carolina State, San Diego State, South Florida, Toledo, Troy, Tulsa and Wake Forest.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
