It's times like these that I'm glad there's a draft ballot. Having been gone all weekend for the Cocktail Party without an Internet connection, I missed a lot of the weekend's action. There will probably be some things that don't make sense, so please let me know in the comments. I'm still catching up on everything.
Top 25 here, comments after the jump.
- Florida
- Alabama
- Texas
- TCU
- Iowa
- Cincinnati
- Boise State
- Oregon
- LSU
- Georgia Tech
- Pittsburgh
- Penn State
- Houston
- Utah
- Miami (FL)
- USC
- Ohio State
- Oklahoma State
- Cal
- Oklahoma
- Notre Dame
- Arizona
- BYU
- Virginia Tech
- Clemson
As with every week, I start with my stat-based rankings. The first 30 teams are listed below for your perusal. This week, I had to knock six teams out and bring six teams up in order for my ballot to make sense. We're just in one of those transitional periods I guess. OUT: Nebraska, Texas Tech, BC, Central Michigan, Temple, Auburn. IN: Houston, Cal, Oklahoma State, Utah, Arizona, BYU.
Beyond that, I tried to let the numbers lead me. Hence, Florida jumps Alabama by a slim margin. I looked at last week and this week, and the only appreciable difference was in the strength of schedule numbers. Florida's was basically the same, but Alabama's took a minor hit. The two of them are well out in front of everyone else, so just consider them 1 and 1A.
Once again, I had to move Texas up a bit to get to third and the reason was strength of schedule. It was 77th best in the nation last week by my estimation, and playing Oklahoma State helped move it up to 58th. By all other measures the Longhorns belong in the top three or four, but the schedule is holding them back some.
I moved Oregon down below all the undefeated teams for now, but I can be convinced to put them as high as fourth. The Ducks had a slow start (and it wasn't just Boise - they escaped by two against Purdue as well) but since they've been a monster. I haven't been all that high on USC all season, and Oregon just exposed them, thankfully. USC's never been good against running quarterbacks (which is why Tressel screwed up so badly by not having Pryor run), so something like this was always coming if Oregon could straighten itself out given how many people USC's defense lost.
Beyond that, it's all a bunch of shuffling based on won/loss records. If something's out of whack, let me know.
| Rank | Team | SSOS | YPP Diff | PyWin Pct | Real Win Pct | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | 23 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 8.80 |
| 2 | Alabama | 31 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 9.00 |
| 3 | Oregon | 22 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 12.00 |
| 4 | TCU | 59 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 13.40 |
| 5 | Iowa | 39 | 15 | 13 | 1 | 13.80 |
| 6 | Texas | 58 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 14.40 |
| 7 | Cincinnati | 78 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 18.40 |
| 8 | Boise St. | 85 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 18.60 |
| 9 | Virginia Tech | 5 | 19 | 18 | 34 | 22.00 |
| 10 | LSU | 84 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 22.20 |
| 11 | Georgia Tech | 28 | 39 | 28 | 8 | 22.20 |
| 12 | Pittsburgh | 60 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 23.20 |
| 13 | Oklahoma | 17 | 10 | 12 | 44 | 25.40 |
| 14 | Southern California | 44 | 27 | 19 | 19 | 25.60 |
| 15 | Penn St. | 105 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 25.60 |
| 16 | Ohio St. | 81 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 25.80 |
| 17 | Miami (FL) | 3 | 52 | 52 | 16 | 27.80 |
| 18 | Clemson | 14 | 20 | 20 | 44 | 28.40 |
| 19 | Boston College | 21 | 21 | 38 | 34 | 29.60 |
| 20 | Nebraska | 76 | 6 | 8 | 34 | 31.60 |
| 21 | Notre Dame | 61 | 37 | 27 | 19 | 32.60 |
| 22 | Texas Tech | 57 | 24 | 16 | 34 | 33.00 |
| 23 | Central Mich. | 97 | 14 | 21 | 19 | 34.00 |
| 24 | Temple | 96 | 18 | 30 | 13 | 34.00 |
| 25 | Auburn | 30 | 51 | 37 | 28 | 34.80 |
| 26 | Utah | 114 | 29 | 17 | 8 | 35.20 |
| 27 | Houston | 72 | 44 | 34 | 13 | 35.20 |
| 28 | Tennessee | 24 | 31 | 15 | 55 | 36.00 |
| 29 | Rutgers | 50 | 22 | 53 | 28 | 36.20 |
| 30 | Wisconsin | 19 | 75 | 39 | 24 | 36.20 |