Ratings 10/14
At my age, it can be refreshing to return to some old classics: the Salem High School band playing Sinatra and Sammy Davis tunes at the Friday night football games, Nebraska and Oklahoma ranked 1-2, Virginia not being competitive with Clemson, ... , some things just feel right.
The ratings have mostly settled down. Oklahoma jumped from #10 to #2 with a big win over Kansas State, but that mirrors the official polls pretty well. Ohio State dropped after falling in a Gopher hole, but only from #3 to #7. Florida moved up from #15 to #10 (not a good strength of schedule for the Gators). There have been several surprises this year. The Gamecocks of South Carolina are up to #13. Western Michigan is hanging in there at #20, although like #17 TCU their weak conference makes it almost impossible to improve their rating. As you look through the list, remember that strength of schedule plays a very important role.
This is not a week of big games. The really big games are played the following two weeks. This is more of an alignment week as the conference races clear up. Minnesota and Oregon State can continue their march towards the Rose Bowl (as ABC explores programming options should they make it there), Miami and Florida State mark time until their showdowns with Virginia Tech and Clemson, and Alabama and Tennessee try to figure out what's gone wrong. The following predictions are based on the ratings (take the difference in ratings and add 4 to the home team).
1 | Nebraska | 66.58 |
2 | Oklahoma | 64.71 |
3 | Florida State | 64.31 |
4 | Miami F | 64.06 |
5 | Virginia Tech | 62.49 |
6 | Washington | 61.83 |
7 | Ohio State | 61.79 |
8 | Oregon | 61.58 |
9 | Mississippi State | 60.95 |
10 | Florida | 60.74 |
11 | Kansas State | 59.18 |
12 | Clemson | 57.18 |
13 | South Carolina | 56.83 |
14 | Arizona | 56.77 |
15 | Michigan | 54.86 |
16 | UCLA | 54.47 |
17 | TCU | 54.32 |
18 | Oregon State | 53.73 |
19 | Georgia | 53.6 |
20 | Western Michigan | 53.48 |
21 | Wisconsin | 53.27 |
22 | Iowa State | 53.25 |
23 | Minnesota | 52.77 |
24 | Southern Miss | 52.57 |
25 | Northwestern | 52.24 |
26 | Purdue | 52.09 |
27 | Auburn | 51.93 |
28 | West Virginia | 51.5 |
29 | Notre Dame | 51.31 |
30 | NC State | 50.58 |
31 | Arizona State | 50.32 |
32 | Illinois | 49.79 |
33 | Georgia Tech | 49.6 |
34 | Colorado State | 49.51 |
35 | Texas A&M | 49.42 |
36 | Alabama | 49.34 |
37 | Southern Cal | 49.28 |
38 | Louisville | 48.92 |
39 | Toledo | 48.01 |
40 | Boston College | 47.59 |
41 | Fresno State | 46.92 |
42 | Tennessee | 46.84 |
43 | Arkansas | 46.29 |
44 | Texas | 45.61 |
45 | UNLV | 45.52 |
46 | Air Force | 45.15 |
47 | LSU | 44.96 |
48 | East Carolina | 44.49 |
49 | Northern Illinois | 44.33 |
50 | Texas El Paso | 44.13 |
51 | Ohio | 44.03 |
52 | Stanford | 43.36 |
53 | Mississippi | 43.22 |
54 | Michigan State | 43.08 |
55 | Washington State | 42.97 |
56 | Texas Tech | 42.92 |
57 | BYU | 42.62 |
58 | San Jose State | 42.55 |
59 | Colorado | 41.81 |
60 | Pittsburgh | 41.51 |
61 | Syracuse | 41.13 |
62 | California | 41 |
63 | Virginia | 40.66 |
64 | Boise State | 40.03 |
65 | UAB | 39.99 |
66 | Temple | 39.95 |
67 | Kansas | 39.86 |
68 | Penn State | 39.22 |
69 | Maryland | 39.05 |
70 | Memphis | 38.63 |
71 | North Carolina | 38.17 |
72 | Akron | 38.01 |
73 | Idaho | 37.89 |
74 | Iowa | 37.34 |
75 | Indiana | 37.24 |
76 | Utah | 37.16 |
77 | Central Florida | 36.57 |
78 | Kentucky | 35.76 |
79 | Missouri | 35.71 |
80 | New Mexico | 35.07 |
81 | Miami O | 35.01 |
82 | Marshall | 32.64 |
83 | Baylor | 32.5 |
84 | San Diego State | 32.47 |
85 | Middle Tennessee | 32.3 |
86 | Cincinnati | 32.26 |
87 | Oklahoma State | 31.94 |
88 | Vanderbilt | 31.86 |
89 | Utah State | 31.81 |
90 | New Mexico State | 31.81 |
91 | Rutgers | 30.65 |
92 | Tulane | 29.88 |
93 | Rice | 29.77 |
94 | Ball State | 28.82 |
95 | Nevada | 28.35 |
96 | Tulsa | 26.52 |
97 | Navy | 26.12 |
98 | North Texas | 25.85 |
99 | Arkansas State | 24.13 |
100 | Duke | 24.12 |
101 | Houston | 22.68 |
102 | Eastern Michigan | 22.46 |
103 | SMU | 21.54 |
104 | Louisiana Tech | 21.09 |
105 | Wyoming | 21.06 |
106 | Connecticut | 20.81 |
107 | Bowling Green | 20.58 |
108 | Hawaii | 20.34 |
109 | Wake Forest | 18.98 |
110 | Central Michigan | 18.66 |
111 | Army | 17.91 |
112 | Kent | 16.78 |
113 | Louisiana Monroe | 15.15 |
114 | Buffalo | 12.31 |
115 | Louisiana Lafayette | 10.38 |