College Football Rankings: Where The Polls Have It Wrong
Yesterday, NCAA college football rankings were released producing the biggest shake up of the season yet so far. With losses from Alabama, Florida, Miami, and other top teams the top 25 underwent a major alteration over the weekend.
There is always some controversy in the way college football rankings are created. After all polls can be affected by various biases and popular opinion does not always reflect the true nature of the teams behind the rankings.
In the week 7 NCAA college football rankings there were several mistakes that the AP and USA Today polls made.
Here are the errors, over-rankings, and under-rankings of the week 7 college football polls:
Nebraska In The Top Five
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The Associated Press poll puts the Cornhuskers at number five, while USA Today places them comfortably at number four. Both rankings are entirely too high.
Nebraska does get some credit. They are, after all, undefeated.
However, take a closer look at their five wins: Western Kentucky, Idaho, Washington, South Dakota State, and Kansas State. These teams combine for an underwhelming overall record of 10-15.
Kansas State is no slouch of a team, but they are not exactly a proven team this year either.
This Nebraska team is one that is ranked above:
1. An undefeated Oklahoma Sooner team that has beaten Florida State, Air Force, and Texas.
2. An undefeated Auburn Tigers who has beaten South Carolina, a team which just knocked off number one Alabama.
3. An undefeated LSU team with three top 25 victories against Florida on the road, North Carolina, and West Virginia.
Even Michigan State has taken down two top 25 ranked opponents, yet Michigan State finds itself on the outside looking in the top ten. Nebraska has put up some big numbers both offensively and defensively, and Bo Pelini deserves a lot of credit, but there are far more deserving undefeated teams who belong in the top five.
South Carolina Behind Alabama
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Alabama took a record tumble this week from the number one spot by falling all the way to number eight. The descent was not enough to put them behind their vanquishers the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Is Alabama better than the number eight team in the country?
Probably.
Would they beat the Gamecocks in a rematch in Atlanta?
They still have a chance to get a shot in the SEC Championship game.
But for now, South Carolina went out on the field and thoroughly beat the Crimson Tide. Steve Spurrier's team and Nick Saban's team both have one loss. Both losses came at the hands of ranked teams.
The difference? The Gamecocks went out and beat Alabama this weekend. With nearly identical records, South Carolina should be above Alabama, at least for a week.
LSU Underrated at Number Nine
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While the statistics may not show the prettiest team on paper, the wins on paper certainly demonstrate LSU's dominance this weekend.
A tough victory in the Swamp this weekend, combined with wins over non-conference ranked opponents North Carolina and West Virginia should be enough to put LSU over Auburn which has only one victory over a top 25 opponent.
The defense is impressive and the dual quarterback threats of Jefferson and Lee appeared to flummox a good Florida defense. Les Miles undoubtedly has his team threatening to return to the BCS Championship game this year.
LSU belongs above both TCU and Nebraska who have had unimpressive schedules and performances thus far to warrant top five rankings.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Undefeated Nevada, Missouri, and Oklahoma State Behind Wisconsin and Iowa
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Another example of Big Ten teams being over-ranked can be found in Wisconsin and Iowa.
Iowa's defense may be ranked number one in the country, but it helps that the only decent offense they played was Arizona's which promptly put 34 points up against the Hawkeyes. In fact, Iowa's lone victory over a ranked opponent came against Penn State, a fellow overrated Big Ten team which already has three losses including being blown out by Alabama in a game where they managed just three points.
Wisconsin's case is not any better. The Badgers have exactly zero victories over top 25 opponents with its biggest victory a one point margin coming against a 3-3 Arizona State team. Fortunately, Wisconsin will not be in this spot for long with a game against Ohio State this week, one which will be sure to display openly all of Wisconsin's weaknesses.
Nevada, Missouri, and Oklahoma State have not played anyone particularly good either; however, all of these teams are undefeated. Missouri has the third ranked defense in the country, while Oklahoma State and Nevada boast the number two and number seven offenses in the country, respectively.
Each with one loss, there is no way Wisconsin or Iowa should be ranked above undefeated Nevada, Missouri, or Oklahoma State teams.
Michigan Falling Out Of The Top 25
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Michigan's loss to Michigan State at home was embarrassing, but for the pollsters apparently it was not enough as Michigan fell from 18 to completely off of the top 25 list this week. There are several reasons why Michigan belongs in the top 25.
They failed their first big test to Michigan State, and the game was at home; however, Michigan State was ranked above them to begin with and has displayed talent this year at an unusual level for a Michigan State team.
Denard Robinson remains the best sophomore player in the country and will rebound off of the three interception performance against the Spartans. Michigan deserves some credit merely based off of the incredible talent they have in Robinson.
Lastly, the plain fact is that Michigan has only one loss which came to a ranked opponent. Wisconsin remains in the top 25 despite also losing to the same Michigan State team which was ranked 24th at the time, not 17th as they were when they beat Michigan.
Clearly, Michigan belongs in the rankings to a greater extent than two loss Florida and Oregon State teams or even one loss Wisconsin or West Virginia teams.
Florida and Oregon State Remaining In The Top 25
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One has to feel for both Florida and Oregon State. Their losses have been to TCU, Boise State, Alabama, and LSU, teams who currently hold the third, fourth, eighth, and ninth spots in this week's rankings.
That being said, both teams have two losses, one of which came at home for each team. Neither team has looked particularly strong this year, and both teams are clinging to the top 25 based on the prestige and/or starting spot in the preseason rankings.
Florida and Oregon State may very well be in the top 25 teams talent-wise in the country, but until some other teams start losing more than one game, the Gators and the Beavers should find themselves on the outside looking in.
Ohio State at Number One
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The best place to start is at the top where the pollsters got this ranking completely wrong. After Alabama lost, the Ohio State Buckeyes moved up to number one this week sitting above fellow undefeated teams the Oregon Ducks and Boise State.
In both polls, Ohio State, Oregon, and Boise State garnered all but three of the first place votes with the Buckeyes taking 34 and 49 votes in the AP and USA Today polls, respectively. For some unclear reason, the pollsters have decided that Ohio State should be ranked over both of these teams which have stronger resumes.
Oregon's most impressive win was a tough comeback victory against Stanford, one in which they outscored a tough opponent 49-10. Boise State has taken out Virginia Tech and Oregon State, who both have victories over other top 25 teams this year.
On the other hand, Ohio State's only major victory has been a home win against the Miami Hurricanes. After The U was blown out by Florida State in Miami this weekend, it is evident that Ohio State is lacking the notable wins to be ranked over Boise State and Oregon.
It is not Ohio State's fault that their opponents have not been quite as strong as those of the Broncos and the Ducks; however, for now it is only fair that the undefeated teams who have proven the most on the field should be ranked at number one.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
