Every now and again we can get caught up looking down the road. When looking at the rankings it’s easy to look at the future schedule and project a given team’s record based on what we think. It’s easy to look at what Alabama has done, for example, and project that they’ll blow through the remaining games that don’t feature ranked opponents.
Looking at the season this way can make almost every week seem uninteresting with only about 5 or 6 key games to watch. It’s this brand of thinking that lead some teams to overlook their immediate opponent and play a closer game or even get upset.
When it comes to the rankings, I would love the top 25 to reflect the moment in time we are living in. Almost everyone thinks Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, & Oklahoma are 5 of the best teams in the country. What they have accomplished in recent memory provides us the expectation they are 5 of the best. However, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have to earn it.
It’s why I’m happy to see Kentucky ranked so high and UCF up there even though they’re only 3-0 against bad teams. If we don’t live in the moment we can miss out on all the excitement of the season. Sure, the focus of many people are fixed on the playoff contenders. That is expected. However, I believe the early season rankings should reflect the current landscape of what teams have accomplished in the current season.
By living in the moment, we do not miss out on all of life’s beautiful moments. There might just be a story being written under our very nose.
For this week’s rankings we’ll look at Undefeated teams, Ranked wins, close ranked losses, and total opponent record (non-FCS). By looking at the opponent’s total record we can gauge a little bit of the quality of their record and strength of opponents.
Bold = Undefeated; (x) = Ranked Wins
TOSS’s “in the moment” rankings:
- LSU – 8-3 (2)
- Alabama – 10-6 (1)
- Notre Dame – 8-8 (1)
- Stanford – 8-4
- Auburn – 8-4 (1-1)
- Clemson – 5-6 (1)
- Georgia – 6-4
- Ohio St – 5-11
- Washington – 7-4
- Oklahoma – 5-9
- West Virginia – 4-4
- Penn St – 7-8
- Kentucky – 7-5
- Miami – 8-3
- BYU – 8-3 (1)
- Wisconsin – 9-6
- Michigan – 7-8
- Ole Miss – 8-4 (1)
- Texas Tech – 9-3
- Maryland – 9-7 (1)
- Texas – 8-8
- California – 4-3 (1)
- UCF – 3-5
- Duke – 6-5
- Texas A&M – 10-2
Undefeated Teams not ranked:
- Buffalo – 5-7
- Syracuse – 5-7
- South Florida – 4-7
- NC State – 3-4
- North Texas – 3-8
- Cincinnati – 2-8
- Colorado – 1-7
Other Notable Teams:
- Oregon – 5-6
- Mississippi State – 7-4
- TCU – 8-4
- Oklahoma State – 6-5
- Arizona State – 11-5
- Michigan State – 8-4
- Virginia Tech – 3-5
- Boise State – 7-5
- San Diego State – 8-4
- Utah State – 4-7
- Hawai’i – 6-11
- Baylor – 7-5
- Virginia – 6-5
- Boston College – 5-8
- Houston – 6-6
- Memphis – 4-8
- Indiana – 6-5
- Iowa – 5-6
- Minnesota – 7-9
- Florida – 7-6
- Missouri – 7-5
- Arkansas State – 7-5
- Coastal Carolina – 5-4
- Georgia Southern – 6-3
- Appalachian State – 6-2
On a side note, I can understand why the voters get it wrong every now and again because taking the time to look at all this information is very time-consuming. At least the AP poll isn’t as bad as the Coaches Poll.
-Jaracz
The Other Side Sports 