Ratings 10/27/07
So, what did you think of the entire Georgia football team running onto the field to celebrate the first touchdown of their 42-30 victory over Florida? Not to cast doubt on the intelligence of the current Georgia scholar-athlete (we Clemson grads rarely do that, it's usually a very direct insult) but isn't that what you do after a last-second TD wins the game? I wonder how the refs decided to call exactly two unsportsmanlike penalties, instead of 80 or so. My favorite inappropriate celebration came in 1976. Lee Corso (of "not so fast my friends" ESPN fame) was coach at Indiana and the Hoosiers scored a TD to take a 7-6 first quarter lead at Ohio State. This was the first lead of any sort in 25 years for Indiana over the Buckeyes, so Corso called timeout and had the team pose for a picture in front of the scoreboard. Of course, Ohio State won 47-7, but Corso had the biggest laugh. By the way, in looking on the internet to "verify" this story, I read that Corso was a very good defensive back at Florida State, holding the school record for interceptions until it was broken by one Deion Sanders. Corso's roomate at FSU was Burt Reynolds, speaking of scholar-athletes.
I'm not sure anybody knows yet what's going on this year. The state of Virginia was ruined by late touchdown passes. The Hokies and Hoos better regroup fast if their season-ending game is to be meaningful. At the national level, it reminds me of basketball season when you expect everybody to lose. If that comparison holds, maybe it is time for a playoff. Playoffs determine a champion, but the champion does not have to be the best team. (And often is not the best team.) It seems to me that the BCS is still trying to determine the best team. If that changes every week, why not have a fun playoff?
The Hokies and Hoos still lead Miami by a game, so this week's games are crucial. UConn tries to continue its amazing Big East run, but West Virginia still awaits them. Ohio State and Michigan lead the Big 10 by two games and Kansas leads the Big 12 North. The Texas/Oklahoma matchups may clear up the Big 12 South, led by Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The biggest games nationally are LSU versus Alabama in Tuscaloosa and Arizona State versus Oregon in Eugene. Navy is favored over Notre Dame. Maybe the Middies laid an egg against Delaware because of looking ahead to this game. The last Navy QB to beat Notre Dame? Roger Staubach. Enjoy the games!
The following predictions are straight from the ratings, with 4 points added for home field.
Virginia Tech over Georgia Tech by 1 (the Mud-dobbers had the week off; the Hokies took a break 2 minutes early)
Virginia over RC@WS by 2 (the Deacs are playing well, both teams need wins to stay in the title chase)
Boston College over Florida State by 15 (After Blacksburg, Ryan is in clear and present danger of not winning the Heisman)
Connecticut over Rutgers by 8 (last year's surprise champs versus this year's? )
Michigan over Michigan State by 5 (Michigan won the Little Brown Jug last week; plus the Paul Bunyan Trophy this week?)
Ohio State over Wisconsin by 17 (remember when it was the Big 2 with Ohio State and Michigan always winning?)
Penn State over Purdue by 5 (third place and a pretty good bowl game at stake in Happy Valley)
Oklahoma over Texas A&M by 15 (I wasn't going to show this one, but Alabama fans love watching Franchione suffer.)
Texas over Oklahoma State by 5 (historically a high-scoring, fun game for the upset-minded Cowboys)
Oregon over Arizona State by 5 (can the Ducks' day-glo uniforms bedevil unbeaten ASU? #2 versus #3 on the computer)
LSU over Alabama by 6 (the first Saban Bowl, as Nick Saban takes on his old team for 1st place in the SEC West)
Navy over Notre Dame by 1 (old sports adage: it's hard to beat a good team 44 straight times)
1 | LSU | 97.92 |
2 | Oregon | 95.58 |
3 | Arizona St | 94.39 |
4 | Ohio State | 94.14 |
5 | Boston College | 93.87 |
6 | West Virginia | 93.07 |
7 | Kansas | 92.88 |
8 | S. Florida | 92.03 |
9 | Oklahoma | 90.96 |
10 | Florida | 90.92 |
11 | Auburn | 89.93 |
12 | Georgia | 88.99 |
13 | Missouri | 88.12 |
14 | Alabama | 87.56 |
15 | Virginia Tech | 87.44 |
16 | Clemson | 87.16 |
17 | UConn | 86.75 |
18 | Michigan | 86.59 |
19 | Kansas State | 86.43 |
20 | Kentucky | 86.34 |
21 | S Carolina | 85.33 |
22 | Wake Forest | 85.07 |
23 | Southern Cal | 84.52 |
24 | California | 84.38 |
25 | Penn State | 84.24 |
26 | Tennessee | 83.44 |
27 | Texas | 83.41 |
28 | Virginia | 83.32 |
29 | Purdue | 83.29 |
30 | Arkansas | 82.96 |
31 | Rutgers | 82.86 |
32 | Oklahoma St | 82.66 |
33 | Florida State | 82.59 |
34 | Vanderbilt | 82.49 |
35 | Boise St | 82.31 |
36 | Georgia Tech | 82.21 |
37 | Illinois | 82.19 |
38 | Colorado | 81.60 |
39 | Cincinnati | 80.95 |
40 | Wisconsin | 80.76 |
41 | Texas A&M | 79.98 |
42 | Oregon St | 79.96 |
43 | N Iowa | 79.92 |
44 | BYU | 79.63 |
45 | Maryland | 79.59 |
46 | UCLA | 79.53 |
47 | Troy | 78.45 |
48 | Texas Tech | 78.40 |
49 | Miss St | 78.22 |
50 | Miami F | 77.83 |
51 | Hawaii | 77.42 |
52 | UMass | 76.98 |
53 | Louisville | 76.93 |
54 | New Mexico | 76.90 |
55 | C. Florida | 76.81 |
56 | Michigan St | 76.70 |
57 | Air Force | 76.31 |
58 | Utah | 75.99 |
59 | NC State | 75.93 |
60 | Appalachian | 75.10 |
61 | Washington | 74.96 |
62 | East Carolina | 74.85 |
63 | Nebraska | 74.82 |
64 | Wyoming | 74.62 |
65 | Houston | 74.48 |
66 | UNC | 73.86 |
67 | Elon | 73.81 |
68 | Stanford | 73.27 |
69 | Fresno St | 73.01 |
70 | N Dakota St | 72.63 |
71 | Ball State | 72.57 |
72 | Navy | 72.49 |
73 | Wofford | 71.94 |
74 | S Illinois | 71.69 |
75 | Delaware | 71.61 |
76 | Northwestern | 71.48 |
77 | Washington St | 71.40 |
78 | Pittsburgh | 71.38 |
79 | Arizona | 71.27 |
80 | Indiana | 71.23 |
81 | Central Michigan | 71.23 |
82 | Ole Miss | 71.22 |
83 | TCU | 71.08 |
84 | Iowa | 70.92 |
85 | New Hampshire | 70.46 |
86 | Richmond | 70.44 |
87 | JMU | 70.21 |
88 | McNeese St | 69.95 |
89 | Tulsa | 69.62 |
90 | Ga South | 69.27 |
91 | Yale | 68.57 |
92 | Florida Atlantic | 68.33 |
93 | Middle Tenn | 67.99 |
94 | Villanova | 67.24 |
95 | Notre Dame | 67.02 |
96 | Bowling Green | 66.99 |
97 | Duke | 66.77 |
98 | Miami O | 66.61 |
99 | Holy Cross | 66.48 |
100 | Buffalo | 66.27 |
101 | Montana | 66.24 |
102 | Youngstown | 65.81 |
103 | Nevada | 65.46 |
104 | Hofstra | 65.38 |
105 | UTEP | 64.96 |
106 | Southern Miss | 64.69 |
107 | Army | 64.54 |
108 | Akron | 64.44 |
109 | Ohio | 64.38 |
110 | La Tech | 64.36 |
111 | Citadel | 63.94 |
112 | West.Kentucky | 63.83 |
113 | Toledo | 63.80 |
114 | San Diego St | 63.72 |
115 | Baylor | 63.65 |
116 | Syracuse | 63.58 |
117 | Arkansas St | 63.43 |
118 | Kent State | 63.42 |
119 | Minnesota | 62.54 |
120 | W Illinois | 62.47 |
121 | S Dakota St | 62.34 |
122 | La-Monroe | 62.13 |
123 | UNLV | 61.86 |
124 | San Jose | 61.83 |
125 | Colorado St | 61.73 |
126 | Iowa State | 61.57 |
127 | E Kentucky | 61.47 |
128 | West.Michigan | 61.40 |
129 | Temple | 60.96 |
130 | Memphis | 60.90 |
131 | Grambling | 60.79 |
132 | East.Michigan | 60.67 |
133 | Wm & Mary | 60.30 |
134 | New Mexico St | 59.94 |
135 | Harvard | 59.60 |
136 | La-Lafayette | 59.02 |
137 | Furman | 58.53 |
138 | Delaware St | 57.84 |
139 | Marshall | 57.24 |
140 | Illinois St | 57.18 |
141 | E.Wash. | 57.12 |
142 | Chattanooga | 56.87 |
143 | Tulane | 56.78 |
144 | UAB | 56.42 |
145 | Alabama A&M | 56.37 |
146 | Missouri St | 56.27 |
147 | Dayton | 56.25 |
148 | Colgate | 56.24 |
149 | Central Ark | 56.22 |
150 | SC State | 55.70 |
151 | Cal Poly | 55.63 |
152 | Towson | 55.17 |
153 | Lehigh | 54.87 |
154 | Fordham | 54.82 |
155 | Liberty | 54.77 |
156 | Sam Houston | 54.31 |
157 | Utah State | 53.61 |
158 | San Diego | 53.57 |
159 | Jacksonville St | 53.30 |
160 | Southern | 53.15 |
161 | Nicholls St | 53.14 |
162 | Florida Int. | 53.01 |
163 | Norfolk St | 52.88 |
164 | Jackson St | 52.88 |
165 | Albany | 52.75 |
166 | Cornell | 52.68 |
167 | N Arizona | 52.42 |
168 | Gardner Webb | 51.97 |
169 | E Illinois | 51.89 |
170 | W Carolina | 51.88 |
171 | Idaho | 51.82 |
172 | Montana St | 51.60 |
173 | Rice | 51.59 |
174 | SMU | 51.26 |
175 | Maine | 50.94 |
176 | Northern Illinois | 50.76 |
177 | North Texas | 50.69 |
178 | UC Davis | 50.67 |
179 | Hampton | 50.44 |
180 | Stony Brook | 50.20 |
181 | Rhode Island | 50.16 |
182 | Coastal Car | 50.15 |
183 | Northeastern | 49.18 |
184 | Brown | 49.04 |
185 | Texas St | 48.83 |
186 | Prairie View | 48.07 |
187 | Weber St | 47.80 |
188 | Winston Salem | 47.63 |
189 | Dartmouth | 47.29 |
190 | Drake | 46.78 |
191 | Lafayette | 46.18 |
192 | Iona | 46.14 |
193 | Morgan St | 45.57 |
194 | Princeton | 45.43 |
195 | Penn | 44.82 |
196 | S Utah | 44.37 |
197 | SE La | 44.14 |
198 | Sacramento St | 43.97 |
199 | Alabama St | 43.91 |
200 | Portland St | 43.85 |
201 | Tenn St | 43.60 |
202 | Howard | 43.37 |
203 | Austin Peay | 42.95 |
204 | Morehead | 42.58 |
205 | Idaho St | 42.31 |
206 | Florida A&M | 41.37 |
207 | Cen Conn | 41.19 |
208 | Davidson | 41.13 |
209 | Tenn Martin | 40.86 |
210 | Samford | 39.92 |
211 | Charleston S | 39.92 |
212 | NW State | 39.86 |
213 | Wagner | 39.60 |
214 | VMI | 39.02 |
215 | Ark PB | 38.82 |
216 | Bucknell | 38.48 |
217 | Bethune Cookman | 38.20 |
218 | Monmouth | 37.95 |
219 | Murray St | 36.69 |
220 | SF Austin | 36.55 |
221 | Miss Valley | 36.51 |
222 | Tenn Tech | 35.95 |
223 | N Colorado | 35.62 |
224 | Duquesne | 35.33 |
225 | Robert Morris | 34.60 |
226 | Georgetown | 34.21 |
227 | Alcorn | 33.68 |
228 | Columbia | 32.83 |
229 | Valparaiso | 32.03 |
230 | SE Missouri | 31.72 |
231 | Jacksonville | 30.24 |
232 | Indiana St | 29.87 |
233 | NC A&T | 28.25 |
234 | Texas Southern | 25.00 |
235 | St Francis | 23.25 |
236 | Sacred Heart | 23.09 |
237 | Butler | 22.98 |
238 | Marist | 19.88 |
239 | Savannah St | 15.90 |
240 | LaSalle | 3.44 |