Movin' and Shakin': The Big Ten in the National Polls

Now that Week 3 is in the books, we can move on from the ever so popular early season strategy of: "Step one, count returning starters, step two, ?, step three, profit," to the slightly more grounded-in-reality method of "Transitive Property to the Extreme*."

With that, let's look at who moved up and down this week in the polls and weigh in on whether each team deserves its fate. (All rankings from the AP poll for simplicity's sake.) 

Movin' On Up

Wisconsin, 7th to 6th

The Badgers move up by virtue of staying unbeaten and allowing teams above it (Florida State) to lose. Wisconsin is still the best team in the Big Ten and, until it plays an opponent with a pulse, deserves to stay high in the national polls on the same logic that the AP has used ranking teams for years.

Verdict: Good Move. Nobody ever got punished for beating a MAC team, and there isn't much action behind the Badgers.

Nebraska, 11th to 9th

The Cornhuskers jump two spots instead of one because a win against Washington still counts more than a win against anybody from the MAC—ever. The Huskers demolished Washington and get the nod over South Carolina (who struggled with Navy) and Florida State (who played close against Oklahoma).

Verdict: So-so Move. A close loss to No. 1 Oklahoma shouldn't knock a Top 5 team out of the Top 10, but South Carolina deserved the drop.

Michigan, NR to 22nd

Wait a minute, we've all seen this movie before. Michigan starts out with generic solid win over an average team (WMU), beats Notre Dame with late-game heroics and then pastes some terrible football team (EMU), only to see itself ranked by the end of September.  

All the while there are questions swirling over the defense's ability to stop good offenses, and the offense's ability to adjust to a world without Rich Rodriguez.

Verdict: Bad Move.  Raise your hand if you are waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Illinois, NR to 24th

Illinois gets one of the better wins of the week by beating Arizona State at home. The Sun Devils are fresh off a good win over Missouri and look to be a borderline Top 25 team. Illinois has taken care of business in all three of its games.

Verdict: Bad Move. Only because the Illini should be higher. Switch Michigan and Illinois and all the sudden things look much more logical.

Droppin' Like It's Hot

Ohio State, 17th to NR

The Buckeyes followed up an unconvincing victory over Toledo with a stinker in front of a national audience against Miami on Saturday night. The same Miami team that is reeling under a darker NCAA storm cloud than OSU. Oh, and the Buckeyes might not have an offense.

Verdict: Good Move. The Buckeyes were due for a tumble after two bad weeks.

Michigan State, 15th to NR

The Spartans tumble to the first team out spot after losing in a disappointing fashion to Notre Dame. While Michigan State looked hapless for most of the game, the poll loves both the teams that Notre Dame has lost to.

Verdict: Bad Move. If your logic leads you to believe that UM and USF both deserve a spot in the 16-22 range for wins over a self-destructing Irish team, that would lead one to believe that the Irish are good enough that MSU shouldn't fall farther than the 22-25 range.

Join me next week when we add another layer of evidence to the national polls, the Big Ten beats up on a bunch of directional schools (EMU, WMU, North Texas), and some crazy Ohio State fan makes the argument that beating Colorado still carries weight and the Buckeyes are back.

*(Well, you see because team A beat team B in week one, then team B went on to beat team C on the road in a hailstorm then team D on a neutral field thanks to five unforced turnovers and a coaching meltdown (Note: Team D sounds a lot like Notre Dame, but it isn't), and teams C and D both beat MAC teams E and F by 50-plus points where team G only beat team E by 14 points —all scored in the fourth quarter to break a tie—then I can state definitively that team A is better than team G, and I will never be wrong because the teams will never be separated by less that four teams all season. Game. Set. Match.)