College Football Rankings: Arkansas Razorbacks and the Most Underrated Teams
It's always hard to get the rankings perfect.
Some teams are going to be ranked too high, others too low. Only one thing is for certain: People are going to complain about the rankings no matter what.
This week, there are six teams that stand out as clearly being underrated. They range from a team in the top five to two unranked teams that should have a number next to their names.
Read along to see which teams we're talking about, and rest assured that you'll be hearing their names throughout this season.
No. 5 TCU Horned Frogs (4-0)
1 of 6
Last Week:
41-24 win over Southern Methodist.
The Reason:
No disrespect to Boise State, but TCU may be the best team in the country from a non-BCS conference. Yet, somehow, the AP Poll dropped it from No. 4 to No. 5 despite a convincing win over a respectable Southern Methodist team.
Led by quarterback Andy Dalton, this team has beaten everyone it's played so far. The schedule hasn't just been filled with pushovers either.
The easy 62-7 victory over Tennessee Tech was sandwiched by wins over No. 24 Oregon State and Baylor, a team that hadn't allowed a single offensive touchdown until it ran into the TCU buzz saw.
The team that replaced TCU? That would be the Oregon Ducks, who won a close game against Arizona State. The Ducks may be a better team in the long run, but a close win over Arizona State shouldn't have been enough to push them over the Horned Frogs in the rankings.
No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers (4-0)
2 of 6
Last Week:
70-3 victory over Austin Peay.
The Reason:
It's hard to do much better than beating a team by 67 points, but apparently that wasn't enough to move up at all in the rankings. The Badgers stayed put at No. 11.
Scott Tolzien is an efficient quarterback and when he's not putting the ball in the air, he gets to hand it off to the tank known as John Clay. Trust me, this bruiser knows how to run the ball with some power.
Although Wisconsin has yet to produce a marquee win, they have proven themselves in a bunch of areas of the game.
The 70 points shows the offensive firepower. The fact that they haven't allowed more than 21 points in a game shows the defensive capabilities. Finally, the 20-19 win over Arizona State shows the ability to grit it out and win the close games.
Don't worry, Badger fans. You'll get your chance to prove yourself and move up. Three of the next four games are against No. 24 Michigan State, No. 2 Ohio State, and No. 17 Iowa.
No. 15 Arkansas Razorbacks (3-1)
3 of 6
Last Week:
20-24 loss to Alabama.
The Reason:
This is the one that really boggles my mind.
The previously 10th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks took on top-ranked Alabama and the game came down to the wire. In fact, Arkansas outplayed the Crimson Tide for much of the game and might even have won if Ryan Mallett hadn't uncharacteristically thrown two late interceptions.
The AP's reward for the Razorbacks was to drop them five spots in the rankings to No. 15.
If anything, they proved they can play with the elite teams and should have moved up.
But, with more SEC wins will come a higher ranking.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
No. 23 North Carolina State Wolfpack (4-0)
4 of 6
Last Week:
45-28 win over Georgia Tech.
The Reaction:
At least they're finally ranked. But you would think they'd be ranked higher after destroying Georgia Tech, moving to 4-0, and looking like the best team in the ACC.
Miami is still ranked seven spots ahead of the Wolfpack despite a loss to Ohio State, where Jacory Harris and the rest of the Hurricane squad didn't look so great.
Quarterback Russell Wilson has been playing incredibly as of late, and it seems like he'll never throw another interception as long as he plays football. As he rolls along, so too does NC State.
It's time for this team to get a lot more respect.
Unranked Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-0)
5 of 6
Last Week:
65-28 win over Tulsa.
The Reaction:
It may not have been against the best of opponents, but the Cowboys still flat out dominated, just as they've been doing for most of their short season.
Kendall Hunter is one of the best running backs in the country, and in just three games has rushed for 473 yards and six touchdowns. Yes, you read that correctly. Six touchdowns.
The signal-caller, Brandon Weeden, used a 409-yard, six-touchdown passing performance against Troy to boost his numbers. He has now thrown for 975 yards and 11 touchdowns.
This is a dangerous offensive team that hasn't gotten the national recognition it deserves. That could change with a win against Texas A&M this week.
Unranked Kansas State Wildcats (4-0)
6 of 6
Last Week:
17-13 win over UCF.
The Reason:
The main reason that Kansas State is underrated is because the majority of the country still doesn't know who the man pictured to the left is.
Daniel Thomas, the running back for the Wildcats, is one of the absolute best at his position and needs to be included in Heisman talks. So far this year, he's run for 628 yards in just four games, averaging six yards per carry. He's also found the end zone six times.
Thomas has carried the team to a 4-0 record and will continue to put up huge numbers.
If the presence of No. 8 and the undefeated record weren't enough to convince voters that Kansas State should be ranked (and it clearly wasn't for some strange reason), the Week 1 win over UCLA should solidify the case.
While not as impressive at the time, UCLA is fresh off of back-to-back wins against ranked teams. First Case Keenum and the Houston Cougars went down, followed shortly by the heavily favored Texas Longhorns, who were playing at home.
Kansas State plays at home this week against No. 6-ranked Nebraska, and an upset could be in the making.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
