It does change the message, because it adds a "which means _______ for the rankings" to the end of the criticism/observation.
Had you posted your criticisms in the offense thread, or the Cardale thread, the most blowback you would have received would have been to stay the course, trust the coaches, it's early, yadda yadda instead of these stringent rebuttals from verbose arguers like myself :p I tend to agree with you overall, just not in this context.
Premature rankings are a problem, but so is waiting.
Ranking FSU higher than we think they deserve is a problem, but downgrading them while staying undefeated is also a problem.
I'd move OSU down to 3 if MSU were healthier. The problem is, when do you move them back up? Realistically they shouldn't be able to do anything to truly impress pollsters until late November. What if they get back to their old ways in the next few weeks? Do you move them back up part way? All the way? What does it mean if it happens against terrible B1G competition? What does it mean that they played way down to the level of their terrible competition in week 2, struggled with a good mid major in week 3 and looked much better but still flawed in week 4? If they play better against PSU, would pollsters think they rise to the level of their competition?
There's also the matter of ranking teams according to where they will finish. I hate this practice but it's done by a lot of pollsters and that favors OSU more than anyone and helps cover up hiccups along the way.
see above
This time last year they were in a dogfight with Navy (3 pt game in 4th), had a nasty loss to VT, beat a hapless KSU program and were in a shootout with Cincy until late in the 3rd qtr. I don't think they had righted the ship yet. Obviously knowing the ending is cheating, but last year is a pretty clear indication that none of us know very much, even about the team we watch religiously.
No I shouldn't dismiss Ole Miss. I'd put them number one, but more because of how they look instead of who they beat. After that I see a ton of flaws, and for the sake of argument I mentioned how much I distrust Ole Miss long term.
It seems like FSU 14 did not get the same benefit of the doubt for 12 wins that Ole Miss 15 is getting for winning 4. Personally I felt all along that FSU was overrated and feel that way to a lesser extent about MSU & OSU now. So there's a disconnect on your end (and mine) between how we feel and what is fair for rankings in my imo.
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