Once again the undefeateds all remained undefeated and the only major changes in the top 15 are caused by the losses suffered by Southern Cal and Va Tech. There was more action at the bottom, where 3 of my previous bottom 5 lost and fell off the list.I expect that if there are disagreements with my picks this week (and I expect that there will be disagreements), those disagreements will revolve around a couple of names in my new bottom three.
 | ||
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | |
| 2 | Florida | |
| 3 | Texas | |
| 4 | Cincinnati | |
| 5 | TCU |  2 |
| 6 | Iowa |  1 |
| 7 | Boise State | 1 |
| 8 | Oregon | 2 |
| 9 | LSU | |
| 10 | Georgia Tech | 1 |
| 11 | Pittsburgh | 1 |
| 12 | Penn State | 1 |
| 13 | Southern Cal | 7 |
| 14 | Ohio State | 1 |
| 15 | Houston | 1 |
| 16 | Arizona | 2 |
| 17 | Utah | 3 |
| 18 | Miami (Florida) | 1 |
| 19 | California | 3 |
| 20 | Oklahoma State | 3 |
| 21 | Notre Dame | |
| 22 | South Florida | 3 |
| 23 | Rutgers | |
| 24 | Virginia Tech | 10 |
| 25 | Temple | |
| Last week's ballot | ||
Dropped Out: West Virginia (#21), South Carolina (#23), Central Michigan (#24).
Once again, I'm glad to show my work (wouldn't it drive you crazy when you'd solve a complicated quadratic equation in your head in algebra class and your teacher wouldn't accept it because you didn't make any pencil scribbles to back up your idiosyncratic mathematical logic). You can click on the thumbnail of my handwritten notes up above as always to see all of this week's scores and records and some of my rationale for this week's choices, especially the additions. I don't expect the fact that I've finally added Notre Dame to stir up any controversy, but the addition of Rutgers and Temple probably deserves a comment.
- 6-2 Rutgers is replacing another 6-2 Big East school, West Virginia, but Rutgers' losses to two teams in the top 15, Pitt & Cincy, don't look as bad as the Mountaineers' losses to USF and Auburn. Also, I simply feel that the young Scarlet Knight offense is on the verge of gelling and going on an end-of-season run. We'll know for sure where they belong after their next game against South Florida.
- 6-2 Temple is replacing a losing MAC school, Central Michigan (7-2), after beating Navy yesterday. The Owls' six-game win streak is their longest since 1974 and their last loss was to Penn State. I personally feel great for Temple. How many times did we watch them play the Scarlet Knights over the years? It was a long-time rivalry with a nearby team; they always brought a lot of their own fans up the Turnpike from Philly to Rutgers Stadium. It was awful to see the depths they sank to in recent years; it's too bad we can't say "sorry" and give them Louisville's place in the Big East.
4 comments:
Some thoughts:
1. still seems premature to rank RU, although looking at the alternatives I can't think of who you could place in their spot. Everybody outside of the top 5-10 seems to have a bad loss or two on their resume.
2. ditto on Temple. My Dad and I were laughing just yesterday about a game back in '91 or '92 where the main attraction was the escalating hijinks between the Temple Owl and the Scarlet Knight mascots. By the end of the game I really think they were trying to hurt each other!
3. talk about MAC ships passing in the night - hurray for Temple, but what the heck happened to Ball State this year?
Mark,
1) We'll see how premature the Rutgers ranking is after the USF game, but I like your terminology of "premature" rather than "wrong" because it suggests that that is definitely the positive direction the Knights are headed.
2) I seem to remember seeing at least two entertaining wrestling matches between the Knight and the Owl. It's too bad the new sideline rules keep the mascots separated.
As much as I'd like to see RU ranked, I think they need to beat USF to maybe get a sniff at the Top 25.
If they do that, and then beat Syracuse and Louisville, we're looking at a 9 win team going into the WVU game. Who'd have thunk it? This is essentially a rebuilding year on the offensive side of the ball...and a possibility of matching the win total of the 2006 team is in reach.
There is still a helluva a lot to play for this year.
Hugh,
I was just so tired of shuffling teams that I didn't care about into and out of the bottom ranks of the top 25 that I finally decided to give a chance to two two-loss teams that I actually feel some emotional and geographic connection to (I could not possibly be more bored with the SEC and the Big Twelve).
Rutgers and Temple could both win out the rest of the season and cement their places in this list. If not, they'll go the way of North Carolina, Missouri, Wisconsin, Central Michigan, West Virginia, Michigan, Oklahoma, Florida State, Mississippi, Texas Tech, Nebraska, and others who have had short lives on my ballot this year. We're still due for the big upset week when a slew of ranked teams lose -- I have a feeling that it may be during this coming week when both USF and Rutgers are off and avoiding the carnage until the twelfth.
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