BP Poll - week 14

[LordJeffBuck]

01. Alabama 295 (10); lost to Florida, 20-31
02. Oklahoma 276 (1); beat Missouri, 62-21
02. Florida 276 (1); beat Alabama, 31-20
04. Texas 275; end of regular season
05. Southern Cal 253; beat UCLA, 28-7
06. Penn State 231; end of regular season
07. Utah 223; end of regular season
08. Texas Tech 222; end of regular season
09. Ohio State 211; end of regular season
10. Boise State 196; end of regular season
11. Texas Christian 164; end of regular season
12. Oklahoma State 156; end of regular season
13. Ball State 151; lost to Buffalo, 24-42
14. Cincinnati 146; beat Hawaii, 29-24
15. Oregon 116; end of regular season
16. Georgia Tech 114; end of regular season
17. Georgia 99; end of regular season
18. Boston College 78; lost to Virginia Tech, 30-12
19. Michigan State 76; end of regular season
20. Missouri 73; lost to Oklahoma, 21-62
21. Brigham Young 62; end of regular season
22. Mississippi 52; end of regular season
23. Northwestern 44; end of regular season
24. Pittsburgh 30; beat Connecticut, 34-10
25. Oregon State 27; end of regular season


Others receiving votes: Iowa 26; Virginia Tech 15; Maryland 3; Air Force 2; East Carolina 1; Nebraska 1; Florida State 1

Still not receiving a single vote: Michigan 0; Notre Dame 0

 

[FWBuckeye]

1 Alabama
2 Oklahoma
3 Texas
4 Florida
5 Texas Tech
6 USC
7 Penn St.
8 Ohio St.
9 Utah
10 Boise St.
11 TCU
12 Ball St.
13 Oklahoma St.
14 Michigan St.
15 Oregon
16 Georgia Tech
17 Georgia
18 Cincinnati
19 Missouri
20 BYU
21 Boston Coll.
22 Pittsburgh
23 Northwestern
24 Oregon St.
25 Mississippi

1-7 remained the same as last week for me. I did a good bit of shifting throughout the rest of the rankings. Props to whoever voted for Air Force. I think they are an underrated team.

 

[Jake]

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. Oklahoma
5. USC
6. Penn State
7. Ohio State
8. Texas Tech
9. Utah
10. Boise State
11. Cincinnati
12. TCU
13. Oregon
14. Mississippi
15. Oklahoma State
16. Georgia
17. Oregon State
18. Ball State
19. Virginia Tech
20. Georgia Tech
21. Boston College
22. Michigan State
23. Northwestern
24. Pittsburgh
25. Iowa

 

[Bucklion]

I'll post mine tomorrow, because it's at work, but I had all the same teams except for I had Iowa instead of Oregon State...they started 1-3, got blown out by Penn State, lost to Stanford, and got blown out of their own stadium in their rivalry game to end the season. Not top 25 material to me.

 

[LitlBuck]

Okay, it is time for me to give a little rant. I suppose I could do this in the BCS thread but since I have consistently voted Florida as my #1 I thought I might as well rant here.

I thought the purpose of this poll was to determine who are the top 25 teams in the country and that would mean including which teams should claim for the national championship. I will grant everyone that Alabama is undefeated but does everyone truly believe that they are one of the two best teams in the country. I certainly do not and I even put USC in front of them.

Many of you have consistently put Texas ahead of Oklahoma because they beat them on one Saturday but Oklahoma beat Texas Tech and Texas did not so doesn't that mean anything. I mean maybe before the Texas game, Bradford or a couple of the Oklahoma players did not have a good nights rest or something crazy like that. Maybe before the Texas Tech game, the same thing happen to a couple of Texas players. I guess what I'm saying is just because Texas beat Oklahoma on a neutral field does not mean that they are a better team to play for the national championship. I will not even get into the SOS of both teams which really favors Oklahoma.

Many of you have talked about Utah, Boise State, and Ball State being undefeated and that they should be ranked in the top 10 but look at their schedules and the teams that they have played. If all three of those teams would have played 6-7 "tough" teams during the season, I think that some of their starters might have suffered some injuries over the course of the season having to play entire games. I don't know the minutes that the starters have played for those teams but from the scores I would have to think they probably don't play much of the fourth quarter which really keeps them a lot fresher throughout the season and also more injury free unlike teams that have to play "tough" teams 6-7 games during the season.

I just do not think that a team's won loss records should be the determining factor of plays in the national championship game or the BCS bowl games. There is much more to it than just wins and losses.
If anyone thinks that Alabama is going to beat Florida straight up this Saturday, I am willing to take on anyone who would like to vbet me.

Below is my top 25 for what it is worth.:)

1 Florida
2 Oklahoma
3 Texas
4 USC
5 Alabama
6 Texas Tech
7 Penn St.
8 Ohio St.
9 Oklahoma St.
10 Utah
11 Boise St.
12 TCU
13 Missouri
14 Ball St.
15 Cincinnati
16 BYU
17 Mississippi
18 Iowa
19 Georgia Tech
20 Georgia
21 Virginia Tech
22 Boston Coll.
23 Maryland
24 Northwestern
25 Pittsburgh

 

[JXC]

Okay, it is time for me to give a little rant. I suppose I could do this in the BCS thread but since I have consistently voted Florida as my #1 I thought I might as well rant here.

I thought the purpose of this poll was to determine who are the top 25 teams in the country and that would mean including which teams should claim for the national championship. I will grant everyone that Alabama is undefeated but does everyone truly believe that they are one of the two best teams in the country. I certainly do not and I even put USC in front of them.

Many of you have consistently put Texas ahead of Oklahoma because they beat them on one Saturday but Oklahoma beat Texas Tech and Texas did not so doesn't that mean anything. I mean maybe before the Texas game, Bradford or a couple of the Oklahoma players did not have a good nights rest or something crazy like that. Maybe before the Texas Tech game, the same thing happen to a couple of Texas players. I guess what I'm saying is just because Texas beat Oklahoma on a neutral field does not mean that they are a better team to play for the national championship. I will not even get into the SOS of both teams which really favors Oklahoma.

Many of you have talked about Utah, Boise State, and Ball State being undefeated and that they should be ranked in the top 10 but look at their schedules and the teams that they have played. If all three of those teams would have played 6-7 "tough" teams during the season, I think that some of their starters might have suffered some injuries over the course of the season having to play entire games. I don't know the minutes that the starters have played for those teams but from the scores I would have to think they probably don't play much of the fourth quarter which really keeps them a lot fresher throughout the season and also more injury free unlike teams that have to play "tough" teams 6-7 games during the season.

I just do not think that a team's won loss records should be the determining factor of plays in the national championship game or the BCS bowl games. There is much more to it than just wins and losses.
If anyone thinks that Alabama is going to beat Florida straight up this Saturday, I am willing to take on anyone who would like to vbet me.

Below is my top 25 for what it is worth.:)

1 Florida
2 Oklahoma
3 Texas
4 USC
5 Alabama
6 Texas Tech
7 Penn St.
8 Ohio St.
9 Oklahoma St.
10 Utah
11 Boise St.
12 TCU
13 Missouri
14 Ball St.
15 Cincinnati
16 BYU
17 Mississippi
18 Iowa
19 Georgia Tech
20 Georgia
21 Virginia Tech
22 Boston Coll.
23 Maryland
24 Northwestern
25 Pittsburgh

All I can say, is somebody like you would have put Ohio State out of the top 2 in 2002.

I just do not think that a team's won loss records should be the determining factor of plays in the national championship game or the BCS bowl games. There is much more to it than just wins and losses.

You are right. Winning and losing doesn't matter. USC and Florida and Oklahoma lost...but they shouldn't have. They are better than Oregon State, Mississippi, and Texas. So really we shouldn't even count their losses.

If W/L record doesn't matter, why is Northwestern in your top 25??? Sure they are 9-3. But we saw how the played when we went there...they stink. They really should have been 6-6. So I will keep them out.

Why even play the season? Why keep score? Just everyone scrimmage, and we will see who looks better.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

I thought the purpose of this poll was to determine who are the top 25 teams in the country and that would mean including which teams should claim for the national championship. I will grant everyone that Alabama is undefeated but does everyone truly believe that they are one of the two best teams in the country. I certainly do not and I even put USC in front of them.

That's more or less how I rank teams outside the top 2. Who do I think would win on a neutral field? However, I will not use that system for picking my top two, because it is my opinion that the right to play in the national championship game goes to those who earn it, not who I think is better.

At this point, Alabama has earned it because they have beaten everyone they have played. Texas has earned it because they beat Oklahoma on a neutral field. Sure, they lost to Tech who lost to the land-thieves.....BUT, they lost at night on the road on the penultimate play of the game whereas UO lost by 10.

I'm not worried about where 'Bama fits in. If they beat Florida, that proves to me they deserve to be #1. If they lose to UF, then it isn't an issue for the Tide. Do they look as good in their wins as Texas or Florida or Oklahoma or USC? No, not so much, but they also haven't spit the bit yet. USC had a chance to be number 1 and they choked on it in Corvalis. Ditto Florida with Ole Miss, Texas with Tech, and Uo with Texas.

I'm with JXC on the 2002 comparison. Nobody thought OSU belonged there. People were calling for Iowa to go. For USC to go. For somebody who "deserved" it. The hell with that. OSU won all of their games, therefore they earned the privilege. Alabama has won all of there games. One more and they deserve it.

For all those arguing that Bama hasn't played anybody.......if the schedule is so easy....why isn't anybody else in a BCS conference undefeated?

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

1 Alabama (1)
2 Texas (2)
3 Oklahoma (3)
4 Florida (4)
5 USC (5)
6 Penn St. (6)
7 Texas Tech (7)
8 Ohio St. (9)
9 Utah (10)
10 Boise St. (12)
11 Oklahoma St. (8)
12 TCU (16)
13 Ball St. (15)
14 Cincinnati (17)
15 Georgia Tech (18)
16 Oregon (19)
17 Georgia (13)
18 Michigan St. (20)
19 Boston Coll. (21)
20 Mississippi (22)
21 Oregon St. (14)
22 Missouri (11)
23 BYU (23)
24 Northwestern (25)
25 Iowa (NR)

Dropped out: Florida State

 

[LitlBuck]

All I can say, is somebody like you would have put Ohio State out of the top 2 in 2002.

You are right. Winning and losing doesn't matter. USC and Florida and Oklahoma lost...but they shouldn't have. They are better than Oregon State, Mississippi, and Texas. So really we shouldn't even count their losses.

If W/L record doesn't matter, why is Northwestern in your top 25??? Sure they are 9-3. But we saw how the played when we went there...they stink. They really should have been 6-6. So I will keep them out.

Why even play the season? Why keep score? Just everyone scrimmage, and we will see who looks better.

You are probably correct. They might not have played and the national championship game. I don't know what else to tell you.

The reason that Northwestern is in my top 25 is just because we gave them a good spanking does not mean that every other team in the country would give them a good spanking. They are my #24. I see where Oregon jumped to #15 in the BCS out of nowhere. Are they really that good? I have no idea.

I just stayed my opinion. I really didn't need your sarcasm:(. I remember earlier in the season how big you were on Kentucky and Vanderbilt:! and I did not even put them in my top 25 while you had them ranked. I never said not to count wins and losses. My point was that when two quality teams play each other you cannot just take their head-to-head matchup. I believe you have to take their entire season and judge them on that.

 

[Bucklion]

You are probably correct. They might not have played and the national championship game. I don't know what else to tell you.

The reason that Northwestern is in my top 25 is just because we gave them a good spanking does not mean that every other team in the country would give them a good spanking. They are my #24. I see where Oregon jumped to #15 in the BCS out of nowhere. Are they really that good? I have no idea.

I just stayed my opinion. I really didn't need your sarcasm:(. I remember earlier in the season how big you were on Kentucky and Vanderbilt:! and I did not even put them in my top 25 while you had them ranked. I never said not to count wins and losses. My point was that when two quality teams play each other you cannot just take their head-to-head matchup. I believe you have to take their entire season and judge them on that.

I guess the only thing I would add is that you basically are assuming that all of the teams all those other undefeated teams played suck. In the case of the Mountain West anyway, there are some pretty good teams there. Yes, Utah's win over Defection U opening weekend has lost quite a bit of luster, but I'd say that Utah, TCU, BYU, and Air Force are just as good as, say, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Pitt, and UConn, if not better. Every conference has shitty teams. I would argue the Mountain West has as many good teams as at least the Big East. The Big Ten is probably 5-deep, but that's about it, and the PAC10 is about 3-deep, if that. I think the MW should get some credit...they have some good programs, and they are 1-0 in the BCS just like Boise State is.

 

[Bucklion]

Alabama
Florida
Texas
Oklahoma
USC
Utah
Penn State
Ohio State
Boise State
Texas Tech
TCU
Cincinnati
Ball State
Oregon
Boston College
Georgia Tech
Oklahoma State
Georgia
Mississippi
NW
BYU
Michigan State
Iowa
Missouri
Pitt

 

[Bucklion]

That's more or less how I rank teams outside the top 2. Who do I think would win on a neutral field? However, I will not use that system for picking my top two, because it is my opinion that the right to play in the national championship game goes to those who earn it, not who I think is better.

At this point, Alabama has earned it because they have beaten everyone they have played. Texas has earned it because they beat Oklahoma on a neutral field. Sure, they lost to Tech who lost to the land-thieves.....BUT, they lost at night on the road on the penultimate play of the game whereas UO lost by 10.

I'm not worried about where 'Bama fits in. If they beat Florida, that proves to me they deserve to be #1. If they lose to UF, then it isn't an issue for the Tide. Do they look as good in their wins as Texas or Florida or Oklahoma or USC? No, not so much, but they also haven't spit the bit yet. USC had a chance to be number 1 and they choked on it in Corvalis. Ditto Florida with Ole Miss, Texas with Tech, and Uo with Texas.

I'm with JXC on the 2002 comparison. Nobody thought OSU belonged there. People were calling for Iowa to go. For USC to go. For somebody who "deserved" it. The hell with that. OSU won all of their games, therefore they earned the privilege. Alabama has won all of there games. One more and they deserve it.

For all those arguing that Bama hasn't played anybody.......if the schedule is so easy....why isn't anybody else in a BCS conference undefeated?

Same question can be asked for Ball State...yeah, OK, the MAC isn't the Big XII, but Western and Central are no slouches, and when was the last time any team went undefeated in the MAC? It's not easy to win 12 Division I football games without dropping a single one, especially on the road, I don't care who you are or what league you play in.

 

[LitlBuck]

I guess the only thing I would add is that you basically are assuming that all of the teams all those other undefeated teams played suck. In the case of the Mountain West anyway, there are some pretty good teams there. Yes, Utah's win over Defection U opening weekend has lost quite a bit of luster, but I'd say that Utah, TCU, BYU, and Air Force are just as good as, say, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Pitt, and UConn, if not better. Every conference has [censored]ty teams. I would argue the Mountain West has as many good teams as at least the Big East. The Big Ten is probably 5-deep, but that's about it, and the PAC10 is about 3-deep, if that. I think the MW should get some credit...they have some good programs, and they are 1-0 in the BCS just like Boise State is.

I respect your opinion especially with regard to comparing the MWC top teams to the Big East top teams but I think from top to bottom the Big 10 is much deeper than the Mountain West. I think that the more teams in the Big 10 can give the higher teams a better game every Saturday whereas when you get into the lower tier of the Mountain teams they are just bad. Like scum:!

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

Same question can be asked for Ball State...yeah, OK, the MAC isn't the Big XII, but Western and Central are no slouches, and when was the last time any team went undefeated in the MAC? It's not easy to win 12 Division I football games without dropping a single one, especially on the road, I don't care who you are or what league you play in.

Oh, absolutely it's a tall test for any team on any level of play. Heck, look at Ohio high school football. Only one team (any division) went undefeated this season.

However, the fact that 3 mid-majors remain unbeaten versus just 1 from BCS conferences indicates to me (I know this ignores how good the teams actually are) that it is easier for a mid-major to go undefeated than it is for a BCS team, therefore, they don't get the same recognition or treatment (or benefit of the doubt).

 

[BB73]

1 Florida
2 Oklahoma
3 Texas
4 USC
5 Alabama
6 Texas Tech
7 Penn St.
8 Ohio St.
9 Oklahoma St.
10 Utah
11 Boise St.
12 TCU
13 Missouri
14 Ball St.
15 Cincinnati
16 BYU
17 Mississippi
18 Iowa
19 Georgia Tech
20 Georgia
21 Virginia Tech
22 Boston Coll.
23 Maryland
24 Northwestern
25 Pittsburgh

Let's look at your top-3. Based on your own top-25, how many wins does Florida have against those teams? And how many wins do Texas and Oklahoma have against those teams?

Florida - beat your #20 (Georgia)
Oklahoma - beat your #6, #9, #12, and #15
Texas - beat your #2, #9, and #13

Florida's loss was at home to your #17
Oklahoma's loss was at a neutral site to your #3
Texas's loss was on the road to your #6

Per NCAA statistics, through games played:
Florida's strength of schedule: 13th
OKlahoma's SOS: 1
Texas's SOS: 5

I know you've got your 'eye test', but I don't see the same thing.