Ratings 11/22/08
You didn't really want it to be easy, did you? Texas Tech, Maryland, Miami and Central Michigan could have wrapped up division titles. Only Central Michigan managed to keep their game close. Which makes Rivalry Week even better. Along with the Chicken Ranch Tilt on Turkey Day and Big Thursday on Saturday, we have the Backyard Brawl, Bedlam, the Egg Bowl(?), the Iron Bowl, the Civil War and the Border War. Oddly, Florida / Florida St and Georgia / Georgia Tech don't seem to have names for their SEC/ACC battles.
Oklahoma's big win over Texas Tech guarantees a big argument about the title game. Unless Auburn upsets Alabama, it seems likely that the Alabama/Florida winner gets one spot. Unless Missouri shows an upset in the Big 12 Championship, the Big 12 winner probably gets the other spot. So, the title game argument is about the Big 12 South champion. It might be unprecedented that four legitimate top ten teams are in the same 6-team conference. If Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State, then there is a three-way tie at the top. Who goes to the Championship Game? The tiebreaker is the BCS rankings. Currently, Texas is #2, Oklahoma #3 and Texas Tech #7. So it's between Texas and Oklahoma. Would a Sooner victory over a very good Cowboy team be enough to jump the Horns? I know, you're going to say that Texas beat Oklahoma so they should go. But Texas lost to Texas Tech and Oklahoma killed the Red Raiders. My guess is that Oklahoma needs a BIG win Saturday. And it will be a battle to get a win of any sort. Of course, if Oklahoma loses then it's only a two-way tie and Texas Tech wins the tiebreaker. So all three teams are still alive. Unless Missouri gets in the way or Southern Cal somehow hijacks the human polls, the tiebreaker winner gets into the BCS Title game.
The fun starts Tuesday night with Ball State playing Western Michigan for a division title. Then on Thursday after the pro games on Thursday there's Texas and the Aggies. Several games are on Friday, as well. Enjoy the family, food and football!
The following predictions are straight from the ratings, with 4 points added for home field.
Ball State over Western Michigan by 11 (Nate Davis versus Tim Hiller - fun on Tuesday night.)
Texas over Texas A&M by 34 (Would Texas be tempted to run up the score? Surely not.)
Pitt over West Virginia by 4 (Even matchup, but a big revenge game for West Virginia.)
Mississippi over Miss State by 20 (A good year for the Rebels, topped with an Egg Bowl cream?)
Virginia Tech over Virginia by 8 (The Hokies go to Tampa if they win. Maybe no offensive td's, but many offensive plays.)
Boston College over Maryland by 9 (A rematch of last year's Tampa rematch if BC wins.)
Florida over Florida State by 11 (Prime time for the Noles. Are they ready for it?)
Georgia over Georgia Tech by 10 (Another double-digit ACC underdog. Little respect given, or earned.)
Tennessee over Kentucky by 1 (A nice "upset" of Kentucky to send Coach Fullmer on his way?)
Alabama over Auburn by 23 (Wilson sometimes struggles at home. Might be closer than 23.)
Missouri over Kansas by 16 (Too much Chase Daniel for the Fat Man in the Border War.)
Southern Cal over Notre Dame by 26 (SC's got great defense, not enough O for polls.)
Oregon State over Oregon by 7 (Would send the Beavers to the Rose Bowl. TV wants some Aflac.)
Oklahoma over Oklahoma State by 5 (Big-time Bedlam! The Cowboys have done well against Stoops.)
1 | Florida | 99.69 |
2 | Texas | 98.03 |
3 | Oklahoma | 97.13 |
4 | Southern Cal | 96.72 |
5 | Penn State | 93.57 |
6 | Texas Tech | 92.88 |
7 | Alabama | 91.66 |
8 | Utah | 90.18 |
9 | Missouri | 89.69 |
10 | Georgia | 88.59 |
11 | Ohio State | 88.29 |
12 | Oklahoma St | 87.49 |
13 | TCU | 87.26 |
14 | Oregon St | 85.79 |
15 | Boise St | 85.08 |
16 | Florida St | 85.01 |
17 | Iowa | 84.08 |
18 | California | 83.82 |
19 | Mississippi | 83.21 |
20 | Oregon | 82.95 |
21 | Boston College | 82.87 |
22 | Georgia Tech | 82.83 |
23 | North Carolina | 82.78 |
24 | Cincinnati | 82.58 |
25 | Michigan St | 82.56 |
26 | Nebraska | 82.23 |
27 | Miami FL | 82.07 |
28 | Brigham Young | 82.00 |
29 | South Carolina | 81.82 |
30 | Ball St | 81.46 |
31 | Virginia Tech | 81.06 |
32 | Pittsburgh | 80.84 |
33 | West Virginia | 80.70 |
34 | Clemson | 80.70 |
35 | LSU | 80.63 |
36 | Wake Forest | 80.28 |
37 | Northwestern | 80.00 |
38 | James Madison | 79.07 |
39 | Tulsa | 78.79 |
40 | Connecticut | 78.64 |
41 | Vanderbilt | 77.93 |
42 | Arizona | 77.82 |
43 | Kansas | 77.59 |
44 | Wisconsin | 77.53 |
45 | Maryland | 77.36 |
46 | South Florida | 77.28 |
47 | Virginia | 76.66 |
48 | Rutgers | 76.05 |
49 | North Carolina St | 75.73 |
50 | Air Force | 75.57 |
51 | Kentucky | 75.14 |
52 | Appalachian St | 74.90 |
53 | Duke | 74.73 |
54 | Navy | 74.53 |
55 | Notre Dame | 74.50 |
56 | Rice | 74.29 |
57 | Western Michigan | 74.25 |
58 | Houston | 73.80 |
59 | Illinois | 73.66 |
60 | Central Michigan | 73.59 |
61 | Baylor | 73.45 |
62 | Buffalo | 73.26 |
63 | Minnesota | 73.17 |
64 | Stanford | 72.84 |
65 | Auburn | 72.49 |
66 | Richmond | 72.40 |
67 | East Carolina | 72.29 |
68 | Colorado | 72.16 |
69 | Nevada | 71.94 |
70 | Tennessee | 71.88 |
71 | Villanova | 71.72 |
72 | Arizona St | 71.60 |
73 | Wofford | 71.33 |
74 | Purdue | 71.08 |
75 | Arkansas | 70.46 |
76 | Kansas St | 70.03 |
77 | Troy | 70.00 |
78 | Fresno St | 69.93 |
79 | Hawai`i | 69.88 |
80 | Colorado St | 69.71 |
81 | Southern Miss | 68.75 |
82 | Louisville | 68.59 |
83 | Montana | 68.29 |
84 | New Hampshire | 68.27 |
85 | Texas A&M | 68.02 |
86 | UCLA | 67.80 |
87 | Northern Illinois | 67.77 |
88 | New Mexico | 67.73 |
89 | Louisiana Tech | 67.49 |
90 | UTEP | 67.23 |
91 | Cal Poly SLO | 67.15 |
92 | Michigan | 67.09 |
93 | Mississippi St | 66.84 |
94 | Bowling Green | 66.39 |
95 | William & Mary | 66.34 |
96 | UNLV | 66.26 |
97 | Akron | 65.93 |
98 | Elon | 64.73 |
99 | Weber St | 64.58 |
100 | Temple | 64.52 |
101 | San José St | 64.42 |
102 | Arkansas St | 63.98 |
103 | Syracuse | 63.95 |
104 | Central Florida | 63.73 |
105 | Memphis | 63.37 |
106 | Northern Iowa | 63.30 |
107 | Massachusetts | 63.29 |
108 | Maine | 62.82 |
109 | Marshall | 62.55 |
110 | Harvard | 62.52 |
111 | Florida Atlantic | 62.40 |
112 | Middle Tennessee St | 62.10 |
113 | Furman | 62.05 |
114 | Indiana | 62.03 |
115 | Southern Illinois | 61.93 |
116 | Georgia Southern | 61.64 |
117 | Liberty | 61.59 |
118 | Samford | 61.47 |
119 | Iowa St | 61.44 |
120 | Louisiana-Lafayette | 61.08 |
121 | Florida Int'l | 60.67 |
122 | Wyoming | 60.64 |
123 | Ohio U. | 60.62 |
124 | Central Arkansas | 59.67 |
125 | Toledo | 59.55 |
126 | Army | 59.42 |
127 | Utah St | 58.68 |
128 | Eastern Washington | 58.01 |
129 | Colgate | 57.60 |
130 | South Carolina St | 57.19 |
131 | Jacksonville St | 57.14 |
132 | Washington | 56.91 |
133 | Brown | 56.89 |
134 | Holy Cross | 56.77 |
135 | South Dakota St | 56.56 |
136 | New Mexico St | 56.53 |
137 | Delaware | 56.42 |
138 | Kent St | 56.10 |
139 | San Diego St | 56.00 |
140 | Alabama-Birmingham | 55.80 |
141 | McNeese St | 55.66 |
142 | Tulane | 55.40 |
143 | The Citadel | 55.39 |
144 | Western Kentucky | 55.08 |
145 | Eastern Kentucky | 54.87 |
146 | Louisiana-Monroe | 54.76 |
147 | SMU | 54.69 |
148 | Lafayette | 54.63 |
149 | Miami OH | 54.56 |
150 | Tennessee-Martin | 54.48 |
151 | North Dakota St | 54.48 |
152 | Washington St | 54.10 |
153 | Eastern Michigan | 53.97 |
154 | Pennsylvania | 53.73 |
155 | Western Illinois | 53.38 |
156 | Yale | 53.35 |
157 | Hofstra | 53.34 |
158 | Montana St | 53.33 |
159 | Northern Arizona | 52.84 |
160 | Texas St-San Marcos | 52.68 |
161 | Tennessee St | 51.56 |
162 | Albany NY | 51.25 |
163 | Northwestern St | 50.55 |
164 | Lehigh | 50.33 |
165 | Florida A&M | 50.13 |
166 | Charleston Southern | 49.97 |
167 | Stony Brook | 49.78 |
168 | Sacramento St | 49.52 |
169 | Northeastern | 49.35 |
170 | Coastal Carolina | 49.05 |
171 | Grambling St | 48.60 |
172 | Idaho | 48.59 |
173 | Sam Houston St | 48.13 |
174 | Western Carolina | 48.09 |
175 | Rhode Island | 48.08 |
176 | UC-Davis | 47.88 |
177 | Towson | 47.83 |
178 | Gardner-Webb | 47.28 |
179 | Eastern Illinois | 47.15 |
180 | Princeton | 47.14 |
181 | Missouri St | 46.40 |
182 | Prairie View A&M | 46.09 |
183 | Nicholls St | 45.95 |
184 | SE Louisiana St | 45.86 |
185 | Jacksonville FL | 45.86 |
186 | Southern Utah | 45.32 |
187 | Monmouth NJ | 45.27 |
188 | Bethune-Cookman | 45.11 |
189 | VMI | 45.07 |
190 | Youngstown St | 45.03 |
191 | San Diego | 44.77 |
192 | Cornell NY | 44.74 |
193 | North Texas | 44.68 |
194 | Portland St | 44.39 |
195 | Illinois St | 44.38 |
196 | Fordham | 44.17 |
197 | Central Conn St | 43.31 |
198 | Hampton | 43.11 |
199 | Morgan St | 43.08 |
200 | Stephen F. Austin | 42.73 |
201 | Southern U. | 42.71 |
202 | Chattanooga | 42.70 |
203 | Dayton | 42.20 |
204 | South Dakota | 42.04 |
205 | Murray St | 41.32 |
206 | Northern Colorado | 41.13 |
207 | Bucknell | 41.06 |
208 | Norfolk St | 40.94 |
209 | North Dakota | 40.87 |
210 | Presbyterian | 40.63 |
211 | Delaware St | 40.40 |
212 | SE Missouri St | 40.11 |
213 | Columbia | 39.69 |
214 | Sacred Heart | 38.40 |
215 | Idaho St | 38.21 |
216 | Jackson St | 38.02 |
217 | Austin Peay | 37.88 |
218 | Tennessee Tech | 37.04 |
219 | Robert Morris | 35.52 |
220 | Bryant | 35.29 |
221 | Alabama A&M | 34.63 |
222 | Georgetown DC | 33.55 |
223 | Dartmouth | 33.51 |
224 | North Carolina Central | 33.13 |
225 | Butler | 32.17 |
226 | Morehead St | 31.65 |
227 | Drake | 31.31 |
228 | Duquesne | 30.74 |
229 | Winston-Salem St | 30.58 |
230 | Marist | 30.26 |
231 | Alabama St | 29.56 |
232 | Davidson | 28.14 |
233 | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 27.33 |
234 | Indiana St | 27.31 |
235 | Alcorn St | 26.46 |
236 | North Carolina A&T | 25.70 |
237 | Wagner | 25.31 |
238 | Howard | 24.38 |
239 | Texas Southern | 22.97 |
240 | Savannah St | 22.38 |
241 | Valparaiso | 20.00 |
242 | Mississippi Valley St | 18.44 |
243 | Iona | 17.28 |
244 | St Francis PA | 17.02 |
245 | Campbell | 5.46 |