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The 696 Power Rankings: Week 11

 Not too many changes from last week, so I'm going to save the time and just post my rankings.

1)       Oregon (10-0)

2)       Auburn (11-0)

3)       TCU (11-0)

4)       Boise State (9-0)

5)       Stanford (9-1)

6)       LSU (9-1)

7)       Wisconsin (9-1)

8)       Alabama (8-2)

9)       Arkansas (8-2)

10)   Nebraska (9-1)

11)   Oklahoma State (9-1)

12)   Michigan State (9-1)

13)   Ohio State (9-1)

14)   Virginia Tech (8-2)

15)   Missouri (8-2)

16)   Oklahoma (8-2)

17)   South Carolina (7-3)

18)   USC (7-3)

19)   Mississippi State (7-3)

20)   Nevada (9-1)

The 696 Power Rankings: Week 10

After a one week hiatus with the power rankings (in which I realized how difficult my ranking process is when I have to take into account two weeks worth of results), we’re back with a much-changed top 20 thanks to a slew of great games and some highly regarded teams getting completely trounced.  This week’s rankings are just me (so no point totals necessary), and I’m including some categories just because.

The Championship Contenders

1)       Oregon (9-0)

The west-coast offensive juggernaut keeps on chugging away and only three more games separate them from perfection.  While anything can certainly happen, the Ducks definitely have the inside track to the Championship game, and Nike executives are probably preparing the most ridiculous looking uniforms possible.

2)       Auburn (10-0)

With a trip to Tuscaloosa and the SEC Championship game standing in their way (as well as the mounting and widespread allegations of certain improprieties against Cam Newton), the Tigers have a decidedly more difficult path to the Championship game than the Ducks.  While they have certainly earned this spot for now, don’t be surprised if they stumble in the home stretch.

3)       TCU (10-0)

After clobbering the Ute’s in Utah, TCU now has the edge over Boise if the Ducks or Tigers do fall short.  I for one would love to see this team take on Oregon for the National Championship and think it would be a more preferable outcome to Boise.

4)       Boise State (8-0)

I feel like I’m the only person in the country that is ambivalent towards the Broncos.  I don’t particularly care either way about what happens to them.  While I think TCU is more deserving, I wouldn’t be upset if Boise played for the Championship or if they play for the Champs Sports Bowl (or wherever they end up if they miss out).  Either way, this is definitely the most divisive team in the country, and I guess that shows how far they’ve come.

Teams That Just Fall Short

5)       Stanford (8-1)

The Cardinal are an excellent team this year, and definitely favored to go 11-1.  With their only loss being on the road against Oregon (a respectable showing by the way), this team has to be considered the best one-loss team of the bunch. 

6)       LSU (8-1)

Nobody was more surprised than I was to see the fighting Les Mileses get a win against Alabama.  I’ve been pretty critical of LSU in the past, but their body of work (except an inexplicable game against McNeese State) is very impressive.  Their divisional loss against Auburn, however, pretty much means they can’t win an SEC Championship and won’t play for it all this year. 

7)       Wisconsin (8-1)

After a big win in Iowa, I really have no choice to put the Badgers in the top ten.  While I do think their win against Ohio State is vastly overrated (did anybody really think the Buckeyes were the best team in the country?), Wisconsin has earned this position and could very well earn a trip to the Rose Bowl if they win out.

Good, but not Great

8)       Mississippi State (7-2)

Hold your laughter and hear me out.  After two early season losses to the now #2 and #6 teams in these rankings (they only lost to Auburn by a field goal), the Bulldogs (I had to look up their mascot) have been on a tear.  While I doubt they win in Tuscaloosa this week, I do believe that this is the best Mississippi State team I can remember.  Just imagine if Cam Newton had gone there (or if they had shelled out the cash his dad needed to save his church).

9)       Alabama (7-2)

The loss to LSU effectively eliminated the defending champs from this year’s race and helped brings some much-needed clarity.  The Tide will now have the chance (in a few weeks) to play spoiler and eliminate Cam Newton and company (which could pave the way for the non-BCS teams).

10)   Nebraska (8-1)

It’s shocking how bad that loss to Texas looks now (UT, Woof), but it’s also shocking how good that win at Oklahoma State looks (see below).  The Huskers have got to be the Big 12 Favorites right now (their remaining schedule includes games against woeful Kansas and coachless Colorado), but won’t be sniffing at the Championship game.

11)   Oklahoma State (8-1)

43 year-old Mike Gundy has his team in position to win the upside-down, inside-out Big 12 South, but they still have to get through the traditional powerhouses (OU and UT) for a chance at a rematch against Nebraska.  Something tells me they stumble.

12)   Arkansas (7-2)

The Razorbacks still have two tough games (at Mississippi State and against LSU) to close out their season (not to mention UTEP), and have been floating around these rankings all season.  I don’t really know what to make of the team other than the fact that they play in the toughest division (the SEC West) in the country.

Rolling My Eyes

13)   Ohio State (8-1)

I long for the day when the Buckeyes aren’t overrated by national voters.  Look at their schedule, it’s terrible.  Their best win is either Miami or Illinois (I just threw up a little in my mouth).  This is not a top ten team and I wish I could rank them lower except. . .

14)   Virginia Tech (7-2)

How high can we really rank a team that lost to James Madison??  Sure they stupidly scheduled the game five days after the Labor Day showdown with Boise State, but it’s still James Madison.

15)   MSU (9-1)

I don’t know if I’m sad or glad that the Buckeyes and Spartans don’t play each other.  On one hand, the winner would be given a “quality win” but on the other hand, it would give me an excuse to drop one completely out of the rankings.  This team got clobbered by Iowa (the same Iowa that lost to Arizona).  My critics might say “but they beat Notre Dame.”  So did Tulsa, and Michigan, and Navy, and Utah. . . (oh wait).

16)   Utah (8-1)

And just when we thought Notre Dame had one last chance against a quality team, the Ute’s go out and lay a complete egg against TCU.  I have no idea what to expect for ND-Utah on Saturday.  None whatsoever.

The Jury is Still Out

17)   Oklahoma (7-2)

The Big 12 South is a complete mystery to me right now.  I thought Oklahoma was a good team, but then they go and lose to Texas A&M, a team that hasn’t won a big game in something like a decade.  Will the Sooners bounce back?  Maybe.  Are their final two games at Baylor and Oklahoma State really difficult games?  Maybe.  The Sooners still control their own destiny, so don’t be surprised to see them stumble into the BCS.

18)   Arizona (7-2)

The Wildcats pretty much are what we thought they were.  A mid-level Pac-10 team fighting for an appearance in the Holiday Bowl. With three games left (USC, at Oregon, Arizona State), neither a 3-0 nor 0-3 finish would shock me.

19)   Iowa (7-2)

This is where my rankings become internally inconsistent.  Iowa clobbered Michigan State, but lost to Arizona.  Iowa lost to Wisconsin, but Wisconsin lost to Michigan State.  I’ll rank them 19^th and hope that they expose Ohio State as a fraud later this month.

20)   Nevada (8-1)

The pistol’s only loss came half an ocean from home.  I’ll give them this spot until they lose a game.  

My Thoughts on “The Rocky Horror Glee Show”

Three years ago I was visiting one of my friends and found myself at a party when the Time Warp started playing.  Many of the party-goers seemed to know all of the moves to the dance, but me and another friend were completely perplexed about what was happening.  As it turned out, we were at a marching band party, and the Time Warp is one of the songs the band plays regularly, but as a 20 year old movie fan, I had no clue what it was.

The problematic thing about Glee doing a Rocky Horror Picture Show episode is that Rocky Horror isn’t really as ubiquitously known as the movie's fans seem to think.  While episodes devoted to Madonna and Britney Spears make sense because those are two of the biggest stars of their generations, the majority of Glee’s target demographic probably hasn’t seen Rocky Horror, let alone know the movie/musical well enough to appreciate an entire episode of the show that is paying tribute to it.

Personally, I was barely aware of Rocky Horror Picture Show before I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower a couple summers ago (a book that includes a subplot about going to midnight showings of RHPS).  Intrigued by the midnight showings with high levels of audience participation, I went to one that summer.  It was bizarre, involved a lot of high school-aged kids running around in their underwear (and some older guys that were creepily there as well), and featured a plot that barely made any sense (which Sue Sylvester points out in the episode.  I was completely immersed in something that I did not understand at all.

I suppose that this is the basis of a Rocky Horror experience, and if this is what the Glee writers were trying to achieve, then I suppose they succeeded.  I believe that they failed miserably because the whole episode seemingly assumed that their viewers not only have a basic understanding of Rocky Horror, but have a great appreciation for the movie/musical. 

The Glee writers/producers seem to think that fans of the show (the Gleeks, I suppose) are this small group of outcasts similar to people that love Rocky Horror and regularly attend midnight screenings.  While I’m certain that every Rocky Horror fan has probably been watching Glee from the start, the audience of the show is SO MUCH LARGER.  This is a top 20 show on the TV!!  Behind Modern Family it is the second highest rated show (not including football) for the 18-49 demographic.  To make an episode that assumes the viewers are intimately familiar with a cult movie is almost insulting to the broad audience of the show.

I understand that the cast and crew probably had a great job filming this episode, but in the grand scheme of things it turns people off from the show.  I’m sure millions of fans like myself begrudgingly watched and then found themselves barely paying attention by the end (or flipping over to Celtics-Heat).  In the grand scheme of things, episodes like the Britney Spears episode earlier this year (or even using Empire State of Mind in the premiere) help to bring more people to the show, but having an episode that can really only be fully enjoyed by an incredibly small percentage of fans that happen to be a part of the Rocky Horror cult just doesn’t seem like a great idea to me and was a disservice to the show.

Quick Thoughts:

-As a whole, the episode did a pretty good job of limiting the number of storylines, and keeping characters unrelated to these storylines (Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, Artie, Mike, Quinn, Santana, and Brittany) in the background of the episode.  Unlike some people, I like that the show is starting to do this to keep their episodes clearer and better organized.

-Will deciding to put on the musical to impress Emma was a satisfactory storyline, but I have mixed feelings about how they are dealing with their relationship.  Emma essentially giving Will a lap dance in the middle of the episode was ridiculous (even if it was parodying RHPS), and the final scene between the two where they talked about how they loved each other but needed to stay apart was completely unrealistic.  I understand how they want to keep these two characters apart for pacing reasons, but maybe it is time for Will to get a girlfriend so that he isn’t coming across as a complete asshole.

-I loved the John Stamos appearance.

-Finn and Sam being ashamed of their bodies is absurd.  These two are supposed to be football players and the “cool” kids, I think they’d be ok with walking around with their shirts off.

-Did the Barry Botswick and Meat Loaf cameo serve any purpose other than to reference Rocky Horror?  I don’t think so.

-I suppose it was nice how at the end of the episode Schuester acknowledges that Rocky Horror night showings are for the people that are outcasts (like they continue to describe the Glee club as), but this also highlighted how mainstream audiences wouldn’t really appreciate the episode.

Songs:

All the songs in this episode were pretty much satisfactory, considering that I’m not really familiar with any of them.  Because they were pretty much covering songs from a musical, they didn’t do much in the way of reimagining the music, but it was well done for what they were doing.

Read my review of episodes 3 and 4 Here

The 696 Power Rankings: Week 8

Another week led to another major shakeup in the power rankings, and a tie between the top two teams.  I’m sure this week will bring even more madness in the race for the Championship, and this is why I love college football. 

T-1) Oregon (7-0, 38)

The Ducks haven’t really been involved in a super-close game all season, and they really haven’t had a major road test yet.  Their trip to the Coliseum could prove to be both of these things as they take on a down, but still powerful USC team.  I predict a Trojans victory if only because it will create more chaos in the Power Rankings.

T-1) Auburn (8-0, 38)

Les Miles ill-fated 4^th down disaster towards the end of the game led Auburn to another close victory and co-ownership of the top spot in these rankings. On paper, the Tigers look to have an easy month of games before their Iron Bowl matchup in Tuscaloosa, but their penchant for close SEC games means anything could happen.

3)       Michigan State (8-0, 36)

It’s really tough for me to swallow the fact that MSU still has not lost a game.  It looked like they were going to fall to Northwestern in what was their FIRST GAME OUTSIDE THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, but they came through with another risky play at the end.  Iowa might have the last best chance at defeating the Spartans this weekend, and hopefully they will (because I wouldn’t want to have to root for Purdue or Penn State at the end of the season).

4)       Boise State (6-0, 35)

Four of the Broncos next five games are not on Saturday.  I’m not quite sure what this means, but I don’t think that tonight’s contest on ESPN2 is really the best way to nationally showcase themselves.  In any event, I think we’re obligated to rank them pretty high as long as they keep crushing the opposition.  Would they have the same results in another conference, probably not, but I think they’ve earned a high ranking.

5)       Missouri (7-0, 33)

Despite the fact that Hogan fell asleep and I started switching over to the Giants-Phillies game, we were both very impressed by Missouri’s win against Oklahoma.  Do I think that the Tigers will follow it up with a win at Nebraska this weekend?  Not at all, but for one week the Tigers have earned their place in the top five.

 6)       TCU (8-0, 29)

Playing usually respectable teams BYU and Air Force the past two weeks, the Horned Frogs continued their dominance by only allowing a total of ten points.  Just like Boise, they have been thoroughly taking down opponents left and right, but probably don’t have a chance at the title.

7)       Alabama (7-1, 28)

The first one-loss team to appear in these power rankings is also a team that I still believe will have a chance to defend their title come January.  They have an off week before a trip to Baton Rouge followed by a game against power rankings newcomer Mississippi State, and I really can’t imagine that any team in the country faces a more ridiculous schedule than the Tide.

8)       Utah (8-0, 27)

The Ute’s begin their three-week season-defining gauntlet against Air Force, TCU, and Notre Dame this weekend with nobody really expecting them to make it through unbeaten.  I haven’t really watched this team yet and have no idea what they’ll do either, but I’ll let you know more in a few weeks.

9)       Wisconsin (7-1, 24)

The Badgers escaped from Iowa with a win and are now delusionally thinking they have a chance to compete for the championship.  They might very well finish 11-1, and they might very well go to the Rose Bowl, but there’s no chance they play for the title.  Sorry.

10)   Oklahoma (6-1, 21)

The Sooners didn’t drop too far after their loss to Missouri based on our respect for some of their early season wins.  I don’t really like this team as a championship contender, but I still think they are the favorites to win the final Big 12 Championship.  Although a trip to suddenly strong Baylor is looming in a few weeks.

T-11) Florida State (6-1, 19)

Jimbo Fisher has his team poised for an ACC Championship game appearance, which might not mean much in this watered-down conference, but is a huge improvement over Bobby Bowden’s final seasons.

T-11) Stanford (6-1, 19)

I feel like a team this strong should have beaten the Cougars of Wazzou by more than ten points.

13)   Ohio State (7-1, 17)

I’m just glad that no arguments for #1 can be made for the Buckeyes this season. 

14)   Arizona (6-1, 14)

The Wildcats have some tough road tests coming up (UCLA, Stanford, Oregon) and home dates with the Trojans and the Sun Devils.  This could end really poorly for them. 

15)   LSU (7-1, 11)

The fighting Les Miles’s couldn’t pull another rabbit out of their hat against Auburn and now have a week to screw around (because does anybody think Miles does actual coaching?) before playing Alabama.  Good luck with that.

16)   Nebraska (6-1, 9)

After exposing Oklahoma State (or winning a close game on the road) the Huskers now have a date with last week’s team of destiny as Missouri tries to retain their national stature on the road.  I’m picking Nebraska.

17)   Arkansas (5-2, 8)

T-18) South Carolina (5-2, 4)

T-18) Mississippi State (6-2, 4)

Because two-loss SEC teams are what the bottom of the power rankings are all about.

T-18) Oklahoma State (6-1, 4)

Because getting exposed by Nebraska means they remain in the power rankings.  Or, we ran out of teams worth ranking.  Either way, the Cowboys still have 3-4 losses remaining on their schedule.