College Football Rankings: Rearranging Top 3 Teams Based on Performance

The AP poll is seemingly always giving credit to certain teams that should be good, basing the decision purely on preseason expectations and the fact the team keeps winning.

I disagree.

For the first five weeks or so of the season, the poll should look drastically different every week based strictly on the results of the season to that particular point. 

Reward the teams like Florida State that decide to play the No. 1 team in the country in out-of-conference play. On the flip side, penalize teams like Nebraska and Virginia Tech that are playing nothing but out-of-conference cupcakes.

Here is my revised top three list based on the 2011 season results:

1. LSU Tigers (AP ranking: 2)

The Tigers hold the best win of the season over the Oregon Ducks on a neutral field (at least the computers think it was neutral), and their defense has been in a class of its own.

The Tigers are allowing 12 points a game despite playing the high-powered Ducks' offense and a very respectable Mississippi State arsenal.

They are the only team with two top-25 wins thus far.

2. Oklahoma Sooners (AP ranking: 1)

Going into the fifth-ranked Florida State Seminoles stadium and coming out with a double-digit win is quite possibly the second-best win of the season thus far.

Oregon is a better team than FSU, so the Sooners don’t deserve No. 1, but make no mistake that the Sooners are incredibly talented and are a top candidate to play for the national championship in January.

3. Boise State Broncos (AP ranking: 4)

They are the only undefeated team that has yet to play a home game.

Their convincing win over Georgia shows they can play with the big boys on the road and their romp of Toledo (a week after the Rockets gave Ohio State the scare of a lifetime) proves they can put away feisty teams early.

It’s not their fault they had an early bye week.