Bob’s College Football Power Rankings: Week 7

Another crazy week of college football, another Notre Dame last second finish (although not what we were hoping for) and another week of major changes in Bob’s Power Rankings.  This week I’ll break down my thoughts, and explain why I have Notre Dame ranked, but not Ohio State.

1.       Florida (6-0)

The Gators survived a scare in what was certainly a trap game against the Bobby Petrino and Ryan Mallet led Razorbacks of Arkansas.  While other teams might drop in the rankings because of a similar scare, I think we can all agree that Florida deserves to be ranked #1 until they lose or Tim Tebow goes pro (whichever happens first).

2.       Alabama (7-0)

The Tide haven’t played a close game all season, and looking at the rest of their schedule, they might not.  This very well might be the best team in the country, and if they keep winning they will get a chance to prove it against the Gators.  I’ve only watched ND games thus far this year, but I’m strongly considering making the effort to watch the SEC champion game in early December because of this team.

3.       Texas (6-0)

The Longhorns won the Red River Rivalry against a down for the count Oklahoma team that figured to be their best competition for the rest of the year.  Despite some road trips along the way,  I figure this team will waltz into the BCS Championship game, and maybe even bring Colt McCoy the Heisman while they’re at it.

4.       USC (5-1)

One of the only teams on this list I have actually watched play a game, I think it is clear to everybody that this SC team is in a down year . . . and they are still remarkably talented.  Their Washington loss probably kept them out of the big game again this year (and possibly saved the BCS away from a 3 unbeaten controversy).

5.       Iowa (7-0)

I think we are all expecting the Hawkeyes to lose a couple games before the end of the season, but their trip to the Horseshoe in November is the only difficult game left on the schedule.  Could an unbeaten season by the Hawkeyes pave the way for a BCS playoff?  Is this Kirk Ferentz’s once-every-five-years great season that reminds people of how good a coach he is (he isn’t, and if ND fires Weis I want no part of this guy).

6.       Cincinnati (6-0)

The other team that Irish Eyes are watching is the Bearcats of Cincinnati.  Is Brian Kelly the real deal?  Is this team as good as it’s ranking?  Will they be able to overcome the loss of Tony Pike to trample through the Big East and into their second straight BCS game?  We all know that they are going to lose to Pittsburgh and/or West Virginia/Connecticut. 

7.       Boise State (6-0)

This is as low as I can move the Broncos until Oregon loses a game and can be dropped as well.  I have nothing against the non-BCS teams, but I do have a problem with Boise’s weak schedule and their seeming potential to crash the National Championship party.  In fact, there’s a good chance they aren’t even the fourth best non-BCS team (I’m looking at you Mountain West Conference). 

8.       Oregon (5-1)

The Ducks have been cruising since that season-opening loss to Boise, and now have control of the Pac-10.  If they can win their next two (one against the Trojans), I’ll move them ahead of Boise and anoint them as the best one loss team in the country. 

9.       LSU (5-1)

After a bye week, the Tigers will play the other Tigers in their division.  [How can two teams in the same division that are something like rivals have the same mascot?  I don’t understand it, do people say Go Tigers, Beat Tigers on Gameday?  Does it complicate cheers?  It makes no sense, and it should only be allowed if each team has a live Tiger mascot and the two Tigers fight each other before the games.  OR, since Auburn doesn’t have a live Tiger, LSU’s Mike the Tiger* should fight the Auburn Mascot Aubie.  How well a candidate would do in a fight with an actual tiger would then become part of the Auburn mascot competition.  That would be a college football tradition I could endorse]

10.    Miami (FL) (5-1)

I wonder what the tie-breaker process is in the ACC Coastal Division.  Miami beat Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech beat Virginia Tech, and Virginia Tech beat Miami.  All the teams have only one conference loss, and all of them will probably be favored in the rest of their games.  Because of the ACC’s reputation, this probably won’t impact the BCS Championship race like the Texas-Oklahoma-Texas Tech tie did last year, but I’m shocked this situation already exists halfway through the season.

11.    TCU (6-0)

Now this is a non-BCS team I can root for.  Not only is the Mountain West a very strong conference with BYU, Utah, Air Force, and Wyoming; but the Horned Frogs have a recent history of doing very well and hold non-conference victories at Clemson and Virginia.   

12.    Georgia Tech (6-1)

I want ACC Coastal Division Chaos.  Please win out Paul Johnson, please win out.

13.    Virginia Tech (5-2)

Oh how the mighty have fallen.  Just a week ago I was wondering what would happen if the Hokies could work their way into the BCS Championship game.  Now, they are locked into a battle for their own division.  By the way, I looked up the tie-breaking process at the ACC Website, and was really confused over how this thing would be broken if all three teams win out.  I’m writing in to an actual sportswriter with this question.

14.    BYU (6-1)

Another non-BCS team I can root for.  If they hadn’t choked against FSU I probably would be rooting for them to make the Championship game right about now.  Alas, they probably have no shot at the BCS because of the loss (although if they win out, I’ll be calling for them over that team from Boise).

15.    Oklahoma State (5-1)

I was reluctant to rank them for a few weeks, but after beating Missouri I think they are even better than the Houston team that beat them earlier in the season.  With a couple more Big XII wins (including one against Texas on Halloween) they will shoot up these rankings faster than any team since Iowa).

16.    Pittsburgh (6-1)

Wanny has his Panthers back in the rankings and looking for blood, which pleases me because now Notre Dame has another ranked team on its schedule this season.  Hopefully they won’t lose till the Irish roll into Heinz Field.

17.    Penn State (6-1)

I’m still waiting for Penn State to beat somebody of substance . . . still waiting. . .

18.    Utah (5-1)

I love the Mountain West Conference, and think it is about time they get some respect.  The conference has more teams in my top 20 than the Pac 10 (2), the Big 10 (2), the Big XII (2), the Big East (2), and an equal number of ranked teams as the SEC and ACC (3 apiece).  Anybody who says they don’t have enough depth is kidding themselves as well.  This conference is legitimate and everybody should know it.

19.    Houston (5-1)

I didn’t really want to rank this team, but there weren’t any better options (more on that ahead).

20.    Notre Dame (4-2)

I could try to explain why I think that ND proved they were a top 20 team by almost beating USC, but that is a silly argument.  Instead, I’m now going to give reasons why teams that the polls rank above ND don’t deserve to be ranked at all.  Starting with that team from Ohio. . .

Not Ranked (record, BCS ranking, AP ranking, Coach’s Ranking):

-Ohio State (5-2, 19, 18, 17)

This is the biggest joke I have seen in quite some time.  The Buckeyes have the same number of losses as the Irish (2), and those losses are to a) USC at home, the same loss that ND just had and b) PURDUE, a team that Notre Dame actually beat.  I pollsters might have been able to justify this if OSU had a big win, but their biggest wins to date are against Illinois (0-4 in conference), Indiana (1-2 in conference) and Wisconsin (2-2 in conference).  Until they beat Penn State, Iowa, or Michigan in November I can’t possibly justify a ranking for the Buckeyes.

-Wisconsin (5-2, 21, NR, NR)

At least the pollsters agree with me on this one, but something fishy is going on with the BCS computers.  Sorry Ben and Tim but the Badgers have lost their only two noteworthy games of the year.  After that abysmal out of conference schedule where they played a team named Wofford (If I don’t know what state the school is located in, they shouldn’t be playing against a BCS team) and almost lost to Fresno State, the Badgers have their best wins against an MSU team that ND beat, and a mediocre Minnesota team.  I want to know what the computers see in this team.

-Kansas (5-1, 25, 24, 21)

The Jayhawks only have one loss, so I guess that means they deserved to be ranked.  Never mind the fact that their loss was to dreadful Colorado, and their best wins have come against Duke and Iowa State.  Please show me something, anything.  If you are going to lose to Colorado you need to beat SOMEBODY, ANYBODY.

-Texas Tech (5-2, NR, 21, 24)

At 5-2 the Red Raiders are probably the team that is most deserving to be in my Power Rankings (which is ironic because unlike the above three teams they are not ranked in the BCS).  Not only are their two losses against ranked teams Texas and Houston but they also had a great win last week against Nebraska.  In fact, I’m probably showing favoritism by putting ND above Texas Tech.  Oh well, we’ll see what happens next week.

-Arizona (4-2, 22, NR, NR)

Another puzzling choice by the computers to enter the BCS ratings this week; I’d love to see the Wildcats have a good season but can’t advocate a ranking for a 2 loss team that lost to Washington.  Since the Pac-10 has a nine game schedule, they’ll get the opportunity to prove themselves against Oregon and USC, but until they do the other wins will mean very little.

-West Virginia (5-1, 23, 22, 22)

With wins against Liberty, ECU, Colorado, Syracuse, and Marshall the Mountaineers are really scraping the bottom of the barrel with their schedule.  I’ll give them their due if they win some Big East games, but this ranking is clearly premature.

-South Carolina (5-2, 24, 23, 23)

While the Gamecocks losses are against teams that are good (or great in the case of Alabama) this ranking is based solely on the fact that Ole Miss was overrated at the beginning of the season.  If you really believe that South Carolina is a top 25 team, then you also must believe that Ole Miss is a top 25 team as well, because they are the Gamecocks only good win.  Is Ole Miss worthy of a ranking?  Let’s look:

-Ole Miss (4-2, NR, NR, 25)

Ole Miss does not deserve to be anywhere near the rankings.  Their wins are against Memphis, Southeastern Louisiana, Vanderbilt, and UAB.  While these might be solid to great wins in basketball, they are meaningless in football.  What is even more shocking to me is that the Rebels still have one more out of conference game . . . against Northern Arizona.  I’ve been led to believe that Ole Miss fans think they have a good football program.  If this is true, then I expect them to stop putting together this laughable out of conference schedule immediately. 

-Oklahoma (3-3, NR, 25, NR)

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.  I really do feel bad for Sam Bradford.  He probably would have made like $40 million dollars had he gone pro last year (and been playing for the Lions).  Now what?  He probably won’t be a first round pick.  He might never be the same player.  It sucks because I love it when players come back for their senior year.  I really had a lot of respect for Bradford, Tebow, and McCoy all returning this year.  I could now see Jimmy Clausen watching what has happened to Bradford and bolting for the NFL at the end of this year, and I wouldn’t blame him one bit.  Regardless, Oklahoma has a .500 record with their best wins against Tulsa and Baylor.  Sorry, this is the one place where the AP voters are out of their minds.

*As I did Wikipedia research about the Auburn and LSU mascots, I discovered that there is a process for finding a new Mike the Tiger at LSU.  Apparently, when a new Mike the Tiger is found, “the public eagerly anticipates for white smoke to blow from the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine.”  This is probably one of the coolest imitations of the Papal selection process I have heard of.