Ratings 10/21  
Ratings (October 21)

For awhile on Saturday it looked like the wrong Orange was going to win, but Clemson and Virginia Tech both had nice come-from-behind wins on the road against dangerous teams. The scheduling parallels continue as this week they both have home games against good teams (Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh, respectively, although the computer doesn't think much of Pittsburgh) and the following week with big time trips to the state of Florida. Clemson joined Tennessee and Georgia with wins from back-up freshman quarterbacks, a trick they may have learned from Florida the week before.

The most obvious change in the ratings is Oklahoma moving into a dead heat with Nebraska. This may seem odd since last week Nebraska was 2 points ahead, then Nebraska beat Baylor 59-0 and Oklahoma had an off week. The computer ratings don't always make sense in that sort of linear one-week-to-the-next logic. The explanation is that Oklahoma's previous opponents all had big weeks (Texas jumped from #44 to #31, Kansas from #67 to #55 and little known UTEP from #50 to #40) and Nebraska's did not. Strength of schedule plays an important role in the ratings and strength of schedule is not a static item. I imagine a middle-aged man in stripes putting his head into a TV replay (or eye examination) machine and announcing, "Upon further review, Oklahoma's strength of schedule will have 2 points added to it." Wake Forest will try that strategy this week.

The Big Game this week is Nebraska at Oklahoma. This used to be the Thanksgiving weekend finale until Oklahoma gave up football for a few years. It will have a new look with Oklahoma's great passing offense, but returns the old look of the winner going to a big bowl. I expect the winner will go to the Orange Bowl, although Nebraska will have a game left at Kansas State and Oklahoma will play at Texas A&M. A possible upset game is Florida State at NC State, which I would pick closer than the computer has. Florida and Georgia have an important matchup in the World's Largest Cocktail Party and, yes, the computer really does pick South Carolina by 9 over Tennessee. The following predictions are purely from the ratings, adding 4 for the home team.


Oklahoma over Nebraska by 4
Virginia Tech over Pittsburgh by 18
Clemson over Georgia Tech by 12
Virginia over North Carolina by 5
Florida over Georgia by 7
Florida State over NC State by 8
Ohio State over PurDrew by 2
South Carolina over Tennessee by 9
Oregon over Arizona State by 6
Kansas State over Texas A&M by 2

1 Nebraska 66.7
2 Oklahoma 66.55
3 Florida State 63.19
4 Miami F 62.95
5 Oregon 60.83
6 Virginia Tech 60.69
7 Ohio State 60.55
8 Washington 60.53
9 Florida 59.92
10 Kansas State 59.17
11 Oregon State 56.48
12 Clemson 56.31
13 Michigan 55.95
14 Arizona 55.64
15 Western Michigan 55.1
16 South Carolina 54.4
17 Notre Dame 54.28
18 Purdue 54.27
19 Mississippi State 54.12
20 Texas A&M 53.24
21 Georgia 53.07
22 Northwestern 51.97
23 TCU 51.79
24 Wisconsin 51.74
25 UCLA 51.65
26 Southern Miss 51.2
27 NC State 51.01
28 Arizona State 50.88
29 Iowa State 49.55
30 Colorado State 49.42
31 Texas 49.18
32 Auburn 49.13
33 Tennessee 49.03
34 Minnesota 49.02
35 Georgia Tech 48.82
36 LSU 48.74
37 Toledo 48.47
38 Southern Cal 47.8
39 West Virginia 47.72
40 Texas El Paso 47.65
41 Louisville 47.33
42 Stanford 47.12
43 Pittsburgh 46.58
44 East Carolina 46.22
45 Illinois 45.74
46 Alabama 45.49
47 Arkansas 45.2
48 Boston College 44.79
49 San Jose State 44.31
50 Texas Tech 44.03
51 Ohio 43.72
52 Fresno State 43.69
53 Boise State 42.85
54 Penn State 42.65
55 Kansas 42.49
56 Michigan State 42.48
57 UNLV 42.38
58 Washington State 42.14
59 Syracuse 42.07
60 Indiana 41.51
61 Mississippi 41.29
62 Northern Illinois 41.29
63 UAB 40.92
64 Air Force 40.6
65 Colorado 40.38
66 California 39.79
67 Virginia 39.05
68 Temple 38.97
69 New Mexico 38.73
70 North Carolina 38.34
71 BYU 38.31
72 Maryland 37.99
73 Iowa 37.05
74 Central Florida 36.55
75 Kentucky 36.38
76 Utah 36.32
77 Memphis 35.01
78 San Diego State 34.72
79 Missouri 34.14
80 Miami O 34.06
81 Akron 34.04
82 New Mexico State 34
83 Idaho 33.98
84 Utah State 33.91
85 Marshall 33.83
86 Cincinnati 33.6
87 Rice 32.86
88 Rutgers 32.1
89 Oklahoma State 31.8
90 Baylor 31.54
91 Vanderbilt 30.88
92 Middle Tennessee 30.62
93 Houston 28.79
94 Tulsa 28.75
95 Ball State 27.84
96 Tulane 27.08
97 Nevada 26.47
98 Connecticut 23.79
99 Navy 23.62
100 Duke 23.49
101 Louisiana Tech 23.17
102 SMU 23.1
103 North Texas 23.07
104 Bowling Green 22.96
105 Arkansas State 22.35
106 Army 21.87
107 Wyoming 21.27
108 Eastern Michigan 20.08
109 Hawaii 19.56
110 Central Michigan 18.04
111 Wake Forest 17.68
112 Kent 17.28
113 Buffalo 13.53
114 Louisiana Monroe 12.58
115 Louisiana Lafayet te 11.08