BCS Rankings Week 10: Who's Underrated and Who's Overrated
The BCS Rankings featured five undefeated teams in the top five spots: The Oregon Ducks, Auburn Tigers, TCU Horned Frogs, Boise State Broncos and Utah Utes.
While Oregon and Auburn sit atop the rankings with no controversy, the three undefeated teams who belong to non-major conferences have major questions facing them in the next few weeks. Does a one-loss team from a major conference deserve the opportunity to jump a Utah team with a less impressive schedule?
Without any clarity surrounding how the computer makes decisions, underrated and overrated teams emerge each week in the BCS rankings.
Here are this week's underrated and overrated teams in the Week 10 BCS Rankings:
Underrated: Arkansas
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Arkansas sits at No. 18 in the Week 10 BCS Rankings below teams such as Oklahoma State and Michigan State. One can easily argue that the Razorbacks have two losses and have not beaten a single ranked opponent this season.
On the other hand, those two losses came to Alabama and Auburn. The Alabama game was a four-point margin. The Arkansas defense simply could not stop Cam Newton and the high-octane Auburn offense.
However, two losses to two of the top ranked teams in the country does not merit sinking the Razorbacks this low in the rankings.
Ryan Mallet is one of the top quarterbacks in the country. The defense is actually pretty good, and its 46th ranking is skewed by one poor game against Auburn in which they let up 65 points.
Out of four remaining regular season games, Arkansas plays three ranked opponents, including South Carolina, Mississippi St. and LSU. With an outside shot to make it to the SEC Championship game, Arkansas will have to hope that a tough schedule is enough to vault them over some one-loss and undefeated teams in the rankings.
Overrated: LSU
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LSU is 7-1 and 3-1 against ranked opponents. Their defense is 10th in the country, giving up just 15.6 points per game.
Now that all the positive things there is to say about LSU are out of the way, here is why they are overrated at No. 10.
LSU has no offense, and I mean that literally. Les Miles is using both Jarrett Lee and Jordan Jefferson at quarterback equally resulting in an offense without a leader. The Tigers offensive numbers are disappointing for the No. 10 team in the country.
The Tigers have averaged just 25.5 points per game, good for 73rd in all of Division I. The passing game has averaged an abysmal 138.8 yards per game, 113th in college football.
Even the schedule is misleading. LSU beat ranked teams North Carolina, West Virginia and Florida. However, none of these teams remain ranked. North Carolina had suspended players against LSU, West Virginia has lost two weeks in a row to Connecticut and Syracuse, and Florida is just not the same team it once was under Urban Meyer losing to Mississippi St. and needing overtime to beat a sub-par Georgia team.
LSU won't be overrated for long though. After a showdown with Alabama this week, LSU will see a big drop in its position in the BCS rankings.
Underrated: Iowa
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Iowa is the best two loss team in the country right now. After a devastating one-point home loss to Wisconsin last weekend, the Hawkeyes decimated the Michigan State Spartans this weekend by a 31-point margin.
The Hawkeyes are one of the most balanced teams in the country. The defense ranks eighth overall, holding the opposition to just 14.5 points per game. The offense, led by Adam Robinson and Ricky Stanzi, scores a respectable 34.1 points per game, an amount good for 26th in college football.
If it hadn't been for a fake punt and late score by Wisconsin, Iowa would be sitting in the top 10 right now in the BCS rankings.
Hawkeye fans shouldn't fret. On November 20th, the Ohio State Buckeyes will be visiting. Iowa should have an opportunity to prove to the polls and maybe even the computers that they are a top-10 team. While the Wisconsin loss essentially removed Iowa from BCS title game contention, the Hawkeyes still have much to prove, and their talent could lead them to a Big 10 Championship and BCS bowl game berth.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Overrated: Michigan State
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Michigan State took a dive in the rankings this week after the beat down they received from Iowa over the weekend. The fall, however, wasn't large enough.
As an undefeated team, the Spartans deserved their 15 minutes in the spotlight. Now that they lost, the BCS rankings need to face the reality that is this Michigan State team.
Besides a victory against Wisconsin at home, Michigan State hasn't really accomplished much this season. Six out of the Spartans' first seven games were at home. A three-point overtime victory against Notre Dame doesn't scream BCS title contender. Victories over Florida Atlantic, Western Michigan and Northern Colorado don't exactly impress either.
Michigan State is not a top team offensively or defensively. Their 41st offensive ranking reflects their lack of big playmakers relative to other BCS contenders. Defensively, Michigan State was embarrassed this week against Iowa and was not particularly impressive against Northwestern the week before.
Sadly, Michigan State's remaining schedule is quite light with just Minnesota, Purdue and Penn State, teams with a combined record of 10-15. With no Big 10 Championship game looming, Michigan State could be the worst team to play in a BCS bowl game this year.
Underrated: Arizona
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The one-loss Arizona Wildcats find themselves at No. 15 this week in the BCS rankings. With a victory over the aforementioned Iowa Hawkeyes, Arizona has demonstrated its ability to win outside of the Pac-10.
However, Arizona has not played the toughest part of the Pac-10 yet. With games looming against Stanford, USC, and No. 1 Oregon in the next three weeks, Arizona will have to prove on the field that they belong with the big boys in the BCS.
Arizona has a terrific defense ranked seventh in the country, allowing only 14.4 points per game. Offensively, Matt Scott has done a solid job replacing junior Nick Foles, who was knocked out a couple weeks ago with a knee injury.
If Arizona can beat Oregon and Stanford, and that's a big IF, they certainly are one of the most deserving one-loss teams for a shot at the BCS title.
Overrated: Stanford
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Stanford is another one-loss Pac-10 team, but I don't understand why they are ranked higher than Arizona. The Cardinal's lone loss came on the road to Oregon, however, their wins have not been very impressive.
The Cardinal have not beaten a ranked opponent yet this season. Their out of conference schedule was laughable with Notre Dame and Wake Forest serving as walkover opponents. The biggest victory of the season came against Lane Kiffin and the watered-down USC Trojans, and even that win came at home with just a two-point margin.
Unlike Arizona, Stanford's schedule besides the matchup with Wildcats continues to be easy. After the Arizona game, only Oregon State and California remain between Stanford and their BCS hopes.
Andrew Luck and Stanford's offense cannot be denied as one of the better offenses in college football today; however, the defense is an entirely different story. Two weeks ago, the Cardinal let up 28 points against a Washington State team that averaged just 18.1 and was 107th in offense. At 40th overall in defense, Stanford just doesn't belong with the other BCS contenders.
Underrated: Boise State
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Probably the most controversial team in all of college football, Boise State sits at No. 4 this week in the rankings. Despite winning every week, the Broncos have watched as each week a new team jumps them in the rankings.
The argument that most make against Boise State is that as a member of a non-major conference, its schedule is too easy to merit a No.1 ranking. However, victories over ranked Virginia Tech and Oregon State teams would suggest otherwise.
Since those games, Boise State has not played anyone good or even significant on the college football scene. The best team Boise State has played in the last four games is Toledo, but one cannot argue with the style points.
Statistically, Boise State has been the best team in college football. Defensively, the Broncos are ranked third overall allowing just over 13 points per game. Offensively, Kellen Moore has led Boise State to the second-ranked offense in Division I. If it were not for Oregon's ridiculous offensive season, Boise State would be getting much more recognition for its offensive results.
The Broncos have only one ranked team on the remaining schedule and that is No. 23 Nevada. Will it be enough to finally convince the computer to put them in the BCS title game. That is not something that the one-loss hopefuls want to find out.
Overrated: Nebraska
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At No. 7 in this week's BCS Rankings, Nebraska is listed as the second-best one loss team in the country. This is the biggest travesty in this week's rankings.
Forget the fact that Nebraska's loss was to Texas, an unranked team, while teams ranked below the Cornhuskers with one loss such as Ohio State, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and LSU all lost to ranked opponents.
Nebraska's biggest victories came against fellow overrated teams Oklahoma State and Missouri. Take the Oklahoma State, Missouri and Texas games out of the schedule, and Nebraska has one of the easiest schedules in all of college football. Idaho, Washington, South Dakota State and Western Kentucky created the bulk of the Cornhuskers' out of conference schedule. These teams boast a combined 11-21 record.
If Boise State loses respect for its schedule, I'm not sure how Nebraska deserves respect in the rankings.
With no ranked teams left on the remaining schedule, the Cornhuskers have an easy path to the Big 12 Championship game. At least there, Bo Pelini's squad will have to face a legitimate BCS contender.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
