Ratings 11/13/04
So, Auburn turns in an impressive performance against Georgia. ALL of the media experts agree that this win must put them into the top two. But, why doesn't Oklahoma's impressive win over Nebraska count? Or USC's impressive win over Arizona? Because that wouldn't be a story. The BCS being wrong is the story .
Three outstanding teams all have legitimate claims to being in the top two. Isn't this exactly why we have the BCS and why it's good? Instead of measuring who screams the loudest, we can use the best objective measures we've got (the computer polls) to break the tie. The fact is that the computers see what the experts don't, that the SEC is not dominant this year. Georgia is very good, but Tennessee is young, Florida is down, South Carolina is South Carolina, LSU is not great, Alabama is down and the rest are terrible. Why does that trump Oklahoma's road wins at Texas A&M and Oklahoma State and neutral site win over Texas? Or Southern Cal's wins over Cal, Arizona State, Virginia Tech and Oregon State (which, by the way, would have won at LSU if they hadn't missed three extra points). But, I digress; that's not the story .
Last Saturday was Revenge of the Nerds day. Five different teams -- Duke, Temple, Kentucky, Penn State and San Diego State -- won their first conference game of the season. And last place San Jose State almost ruined Boise State's perfect season in a game that started at 9 AM local time! Boise's defense woke up in time to preserve a 56-49 OT win.
Rivalry Week (part 1) is here! In-state rivalries include the Big Game (Stanford and Cal), the Iron Bowl (Auburn and Alabama), the Holy War (Utah and BYU, a series that dates back to 1896!), the Civil War (Oregon and Oregon State), the Apple Cup (Washington and Washington State), Big Thursday (Clemson and South Carolina) and Florida versus Florida State, which apparently is young enough that there is no nickname. Then there is Michigan and Ohio State, which was at one point going to be the SBC Classic and not determine the Big 10 championship. Michigan and Ohio State turned millions of dollars to have a named sponsor of the game, and Wisconsin turned down millions of dollars by losing miserably to Michigan State.
In Virginia, it's sucker week for Virginia and Virginia Tech as they try to not look ahead to their game on the 27th. The Hokies have it easier with a Thursday night home game against Maryland, while Virginia plays on the road in Atlanta. The following predictions are straight from the ratings, with 4 points added for home field.
Clemson over South Carolina by 4 (the Chickens want revenge, the Kittens want a bowl)
Florida State over Florida by 14 (not as much on the line as these teams are used to)
Virginia over Georgia Tech by 3 (are the Hoos still hunting now that Nov 1 is gone?)
Virginia Tech over Maryland by 15 (if the Turtles don't bring their offense, Hokies roll)
Michigan over Ohio State by 6 (tough year on and off field for OSU; a win would make it all ok)
Utah over BYU by 20 (the Utes try to finish 11-0, and hang on to 6th in the BCS)
California over Stanford by 23 (no laterals required in this one)
Oregon State over Oregon by 7 (Beavers and Ducks, the winner goes bowling)
Washington State over Washington by 16 (dreadful year for the Huskies)
Auburn over Alabama by 12 (does Auburn have enough left to handle an inspired Bama team?)
1 | Southern Cal | 72.18 |
2 | Oklahoma | 69.29 |
3 | California | 67.83 |
4 | Arizona St | 64.28 |
5 | Texas | 64.09 |
6 | Utah | 63.35 |
7 | Auburn | 62.51 |
8 | Miami F | 60.76 |
9 | Texas A&M | 59.40 |
10 | Michigan | 59.12 |
11 | Florida State | 58.95 |
12 | Louisville | 58.91 |
13 | Boise St | 58.27 |
14 | Oklahoma St | 57.62 |
15 | Virginia | 56.89 |
16 | Iowa | 56.45 |
17 | Georgia | 56.08 |
18 | Virginia Tech | 56.03 |
19 | Tennessee | 55.99 |
20 | LSU | 55.53 |
21 | Wisconsin | 54.01 |
22 | Texas Tech | 53.54 |
23 | Purdue | 53.47 |
24 | UCLA | 52.95 |
25 | Oregon St | 52.75 |
26 | Notre Dame | 51.97 |
27 | UTEP | 50.57 |
28 | Colorado | 50.31 |
29 | Arkansas | 49.65 |
30 | Ohio State | 49.41 |
31 | Georgia Tech | 49.31 |
32 | Oregon | 49.28 |
33 | Stanford | 49.03 |
34 | Florida | 48.93 |
35 | Fresno St | 48.58 |
36 | New Mexico | 48.55 |
37 | Boston College | 48.44 |
38 | UNC | 48.39 |
39 | West Virginia | 47.97 |
40 | BYU | 47.56 |
41 | Minnesota | 47.27 |
42 | S Carolina | 47.16 |
43 | Clemson | 46.95 |
44 | Michigan St | 46.83 |
45 | Bowling Green | 46.75 |
46 | Northwestern | 46.73 |
47 | Alabama | 46.72 |
48 | Washington St | 46.25 |
49 | NC State | 46.19 |
50 | UAB | 45.59 |
51 | Iowa State | 45.06 |
52 | Maryland | 44.61 |
53 | Memphis | 43.99 |
54 | Kansas | 43.67 |
55 | Kansas State | 43.58 |
56 | Missouri | 43.28 |
57 | Nebraska | 43.25 |
58 | Wyoming | 43.20 |
59 | Cincinnati | 42.91 |
60 | Wake Forest | 42.73 |
61 | Pittsburgh | 42.55 |
62 | Colorado St | 42.50 |
63 | Southern Miss | 42.49 |
64 | UConn | 40.71 |
65 | Syracuse | 40.46 |
66 | La Tech | 39.53 |
67 | Miami O | 39.47 |
68 | Arizona | 39.36 |
69 | Navy | 39.27 |
70 | Penn State | 39.23 |
71 | Troy | 39.06 |
72 | TCU | 39.04 |
73 | Air Force | 38.57 |
74 | North.Illinois | 38.21 |
75 | South Florida | 37.87 |
76 | Ole Miss | 37.52 |
77 | San Diego St | 37.11 |
78 | Toledo | 36.82 |
79 | Illinois | 36.49 |
80 | Marshall | 36.47 |
81 | Indiana | 36.21 |
82 | Baylor | 35.87 |
83 | New Mexico St | 35.65 |
84 | Rutgers | 34.32 |
85 | Washington | 34.24 |
86 | Duke | 33.71 |
87 | Houston | 33.69 |
88 | North Texas | 33.68 |
89 | Miss St | 33.63 |
90 | UNLV | 33.04 |
91 | Tulane | 32.76 |
92 | Hawaii | 31.23 |
93 | Kentucky | 31.02 |
94 | Akron | 30.83 |
95 | Vanderbilt | 30.39 |
96 | Rice | 30.39 |
97 | Kent | 30.13 |
98 | Nevada | 29.71 |
99 | Middle Tenn | 29.10 |
100 | SMU | 28.67 |
101 | Army | 28.22 |
102 | Temple | 28.15 |
103 | Tulsa | 28.03 |
104 | La-Lafayette | 27.24 |
105 | East Carolina | 26.75 |
106 | La-Monroe | 26.58 |
107 | Ohio | 26.49 |
108 | San Jose | 25.21 |
109 | Arkansas St | 24.87 |
110 | Utah State | 23.00 |
111 | Idaho | 21.79 |
112 | Cent.Michigan | 21.46 |
113 | East.Michigan | 21.20 |
114 | Ball State | 20.87 |
115 | Buffalo | 17.05 |
116 | West.Michigan | 17.01 |
117 | Central Florida | 16.26 |