College Football Rankings: 8 Teams Who Got Screwed

Some things don't change. Like Oklahoma's occupation of the top spot in the AP Top 25, like Alabama's dominating defense or Boise State's continuous ownage of BCS opponents.

Naturally, there are only 25 spots for a top 25 ranking. So naturally, there will always be teams that get left out in the cold, void of that tiny number in front of the program's university. Some things don't change, like teams getting screwed over in the polls.

Week in and week out, some programs will face the oh-so-harsh reality of being unranked.

Here are eight teams who got screwed this week in the polls.

Mississippi State

No, Mississippi State is not unranked. Rather, the Bulldogs sit 25th in the AP top 25, right on the proverbial fence between fame and forgotten.

How did State get screwed? It wasn't a result of pollsters, referees or any external forces that can decide the future of college football.

No, the Bulldogs were screwed out of one inch that could have been the difference between a win and a loss. Football has always been a game of inches and Dan Mullen's team missed out on a potential win by a couple of those inches.

Michigan

The Wolverines may be the first to admit that the season is far from over, but that instant classic at the Big House on Saturday night left most of the college football fanatics in disbelief of what had transpired.

Michigan is 2-0 with a blowout win over Western Michigan and that magical finish over a Notre Dame team that started the season ranked 16th.

There is easily an argument for Denard "Shoelace" Robinson and the Wolverines to have cracked the top 25, but sometimes that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

Houston

If you want high-octane offense, look no further than the Houston Cougars.

In their two games so far, the Cougars have amassed 86 points with the help of the top ranked passing offense in the FBS, led by Case Keenum's six TD passes.

Obviously, wins over UCLA and North Texas are nothing to write home about, but the offense is more than convincing.

The last time Keenum took the field prior to his season-ending injury in 2010, the Cougars were comfortably ranked in the top 25. How much longer will it take to re-convince the pollsters?

Tennessee

Tyler Bray looks the part of the real deal in Knoxville, leading the Volunteers to a 2-0 start.

Similar to Houston, Tennessee has some flash about its offense, racking up 87 total points with wins against Montana and Cincinnati. Again, nothing too impressive, but Bray has completed a sickening 78 percent of his passes for 698 yards and seven touchdowns.

We'll find out soon enough if Bray and co. are legit, with a full slate of top SEC opponents, including no. 16 Florida on Saturday.

But without getting too far ahead of ourselves, the Vols deserve some credit.

BYU

That makes two games for BYU that could've gone either way. Luckily, the Cougars got at least one to go their direction, a 14-13 win over Ole Miss.

The other, a 17-16 loss to the Texas Longhorns, could have had BYU off to a 2-0 start before facing in-state rivals Utah on Saturday.

For what it's worth, BYU was in prime position to escape Austin with a win, but good adjustments and tenacity from Texas let the Horns sneak away with a win.

Surely, a BYU triumph meant a Top 25 bid.

Missouri

Missouri went from being ranked 21st to losing to Arizona State on the road in an overtime thriller to looking at the top 25 from the outside.

Grant Ressel, a former walk-on for Mizzou, was money on field goal kicks all game. That is, until it mattered the most. Ressel missed a 48-yard attempt with 17 seconds to go that would have sealed the win for the Tigers, but a couple of timeouts and maybe some overthinking forced overtime.

Too bad, so sad for Gary Pinkel's team. But not to worry, Mizzou should get the last laugh, especially with the promise of the Tigers' sophomore quarterback James Franklin.

USC

A win is a win is a win, and USC has two to its name so far in 2011. Never mind how close they were.

It is a tough pill to swallow when a 1-1 team sits 25th in the polls while a number of undefeated, 2-0 squads, including the Trojans, are forced to live the next week without that little number attached to their university.

The Trojans won't play a ranked team until Sept. 24 when they travel to Tempe to play Arizona State, but will it take that long for the press to credit USC for its victories?

Penn State

How unlucky.

After a dominating 41-7 win over Indiana State to open the season, Penn State played host to Alabama only to get hosed by Trent Richardson and the nasty Nick Saban defense by a count of 27-11.

Suddenly, that no. 23 in front of the PSU became no more.

The Nittany Lions will soon bite the hand that feeds them because there is some legitimacy to their previously top 25 stature.