Ratings 11/1/08
It's almost decision time. Everybody is keeping track of voter tendencies nationwide. Pennsylvania is a blue state; Alabama is a red state. Over the weekend, Texas turned red. What's that you ask? Well, I'm talking about college football; Penn State, Alabama, Texas Tech. I don't know much about that thing in Ireland between McCain and O'Bama.
Where does my computer stand on the big three? It's taking a big pass, by proclaiming a top three of Florida, Texas and Southern Cal. I can't argue too much that Florida's demolitions of Kentucky and Georgia are impressive; that Texas going 3-1 with a nice point differential against Oklahoma, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech is impressive. It's a question of criteria. The BCS is about who deserves to play for the national championship, not who's got the best team. My computer ratings are about whose season-long record is the most impressive, given its schedule.
The ACC has become easy to pick. Based on current record and home field advantage, figure out who ought to win and then pick the other team. Which is good if you root for Clemson, maybe not so good if your allegiance is in Virginia. But, another week full of crucial games is here. When everybody is 3-2 or 2-2, all games are crucial. The Hokies host the Twerps on Thursday night, which usually means great things for VT. This year, who knows? Maryland could take a big lead in the Atlantic Division, Tech needs a win to stay alive in the Coastal. UVA and Wake also play an important interdivisional game. Nationally, the big three all play tough games. Southern Cal, which does not control its destiny in the Pac 10 (Oregon State does), hosts Cal and Utah faces a big hurdle to remain unbeaten.
The following predictions are straight from the ratings, with 4 points added for home field.
Virginia Tech over Maryland by 5 (If the Hokies have a QB, it could be a horrible night for Hitchcock-look-alike Friedgen)
Wake Forest over Virginia by 6 (Both teams went overtime last week. Sounds about right for this one.)
Texas Tech over Oklahoma State by 7 (Another storming of the field or two in Lubbock? Too much celebration, perhaps.)
Oklahoma over Texas A&M by 20 (The other matchup of Oklahomans and Texans is not nearly as interesting ... yet.)
Penn State over Iowa by 11 (The Hawks can be tough at home, and certainly didn't use it all up last week.)
Alabama over LSU by 5 (4 points for home field; how many for revenge as Saban returns to the Bayou?)
Utah over TCU by 5 (The Frogs put a wart on BYU's perfect season. Will the Utes also kiss a perfect season goodbye?)
North Carolina over Georgia Tech by 8 (Yet another game to take "control" of an ACC division.)
1 | Florida | 97.81 |
2 | Texas | 95.76 |
3 | Southern Cal | 94.36 |
4 | Penn State | 92.58 |
5 | Oklahoma | 91.91 |
6 | Texas Tech | 90.71 |
7 | Alabama | 89.97 |
8 | Missouri | 87.48 |
9 | Georgia | 87.05 |
10 | Oklahoma St | 86.97 |
11 | Utah | 85.44 |
12 | TCU | 84.69 |
13 | North Carolina | 83.51 |
14 | Ohio State | 83.41 |
15 | Boise St | 82.89 |
16 | California | 82.51 |
17 | Miami FL | 81.22 |
18 | LSU | 81.03 |
19 | Michigan St | 80.79 |
20 | Brigham Young | 80.70 |
21 | Oregon St | 80.52 |
22 | Wake Forest | 79.75 |
23 | Ball St | 79.61 |
24 | Georgia Tech | 79.59 |
25 | Tulsa | 79.46 |
26 | Northwestern | 79.30 |
27 | Florida St | 79.28 |
28 | South Carolina | 79.16 |
29 | Oregon | 79.13 |
30 | Mississippi | 79.06 |
31 | Duke | 78.86 |
32 | Arizona | 78.49 |
33 | West Virginia | 78.41 |
34 | Minnesota | 78.23 |
35 | Virginia | 77.94 |
36 | Pittsburgh | 77.78 |
37 | Vanderbilt | 77.46 |
38 | Iowa | 77.30 |
39 | Nebraska | 77.05 |
40 | Connecticut | 77.02 |
41 | Kansas | 76.67 |
42 | Cincinnati | 76.39 |
43 | Virginia Tech | 76.21 |
44 | Illinois | 76.06 |
45 | James Madison | 75.93 |
46 | South Florida | 75.06 |
47 | Maryland | 75.00 |
48 | Notre Dame | 74.99 |
49 | Navy | 74.50 |
50 | Kentucky | 74.18 |
51 | Air Force | 74.09 |
52 | Clemson | 73.67 |
53 | Boston College | 72.85 |
54 | Wisconsin | 72.77 |
55 | Stanford | 72.76 |
56 | Appalachian St | 72.64 |
57 | Rice | 72.07 |
58 | Central Michigan | 71.78 |
59 | Arkansas | 71.76 |
60 | Auburn | 70.09 |
61 | Western Michigan | 70.07 |
62 | Tennessee | 69.71 |
63 | Kansas St | 69.58 |
64 | Baylor | 69.24 |
65 | Louisville | 69.22 |
66 | Colorado | 69.15 |
67 | Rutgers | 69.14 |
68 | New Mexico | 69.01 |
69 | Buffalo | 68.92 |
70 | East Carolina | 68.76 |
71 | Montana | 68.55 |
72 | Richmond | 68.32 |
73 | Texas A&M | 68.23 |
74 | Purdue | 68.19 |
75 | Arizona St | 68.16 |
76 | Villanova | 67.33 |
77 | Northern Illinois | 66.99 |
78 | San José St | 66.91 |
79 | Hawai`i | 66.43 |
80 | Fresno St | 66.09 |
81 | Wofford | 65.87 |
82 | Louisiana-Lafayette | 65.80 |
83 | Weber St | 65.79 |
84 | Nevada | 65.77 |
85 | Troy | 65.72 |
86 | UCLA | 65.40 |
87 | Houston | 65.40 |
88 | Colorado St | 65.24 |
89 | Cal Poly SLO | 65.19 |
90 | Akron | 64.65 |
91 | Temple | 64.46 |
92 | Elon | 64.28 |
93 | Bowling Green | 64.00 |
94 | Indiana | 63.66 |
95 | UNLV | 63.59 |
96 | Southern Miss | 63.40 |
97 | New Hampshire | 63.32 |
98 | UTEP | 63.30 |
99 | Michigan | 62.97 |
100 | North Carolina St | 62.96 |
101 | Massachusetts | 62.96 |
102 | Arkansas St | 62.51 |
103 | William & Mary | 62.31 |
104 | Marshall | 62.28 |
105 | Mississippi St | 62.20 |
106 | Memphis | 62.10 |
107 | Northern Iowa | 61.94 |
108 | Syracuse | 61.92 |
109 | Furman | 61.59 |
110 | Louisiana Tech | 61.46 |
111 | Florida Atlantic | 59.65 |
112 | Iowa St | 59.22 |
113 | Florida Int'l | 59.17 |
114 | Georgia Southern | 59.16 |
115 | Central Florida | 58.69 |
116 | Washington | 58.61 |
117 | Southern Illinois | 58.35 |
118 | Army | 58.13 |
119 | Harvard | 57.98 |
120 | Maine | 57.73 |
121 | Tulane | 57.56 |
122 | Samford | 57.45 |
123 | Ohio U. | 57.17 |
124 | Wyoming | 57.14 |
125 | Toledo | 57.10 |
126 | Middle Tennessee St | 56.76 |
127 | Utah St | 56.25 |
128 | Western Illinois | 56.23 |
129 | New Mexico St | 54.93 |
130 | McNeese St | 54.70 |
131 | Northern Arizona | 54.56 |
132 | Western Kentucky | 54.24 |
133 | South Dakota St | 54.07 |
134 | Central Arkansas | 53.99 |
135 | Tennessee-Martin | 53.97 |
136 | Brown | 53.94 |
137 | SMU | 53.86 |
138 | Louisiana-Monroe | 53.73 |
139 | Jacksonville St | 53.72 |
140 | Liberty | 53.26 |
141 | Delaware | 53.13 |
142 | Lafayette | 52.93 |
143 | Miami OH | 52.78 |
144 | Colgate | 52.67 |
145 | Kent St | 52.65 |
146 | Eastern Michigan | 52.11 |
147 | North Dakota St | 51.82 |
148 | Northeastern | 51.57 |
149 | Holy Cross | 51.46 |
150 | UC-Davis | 51.19 |
151 | Northwestern St | 51.09 |
152 | Alabama-Birmingham | 50.75 |
153 | Washington St | 50.64 |
154 | The Citadel | 50.64 |
155 | South Carolina St | 50.60 |
156 | San Diego St | 50.51 |
157 | Eastern Kentucky | 50.27 |
158 | Eastern Washington | 50.11 |
159 | Montana St | 50.01 |
160 | Tennessee St | 49.77 |
161 | Missouri St | 49.42 |
162 | Sam Houston St | 48.58 |
163 | Eastern Illinois | 48.58 |
164 | Hofstra | 48.05 |
165 | Albany NY | 47.86 |
166 | Texas St-San Marcos | 47.64 |
167 | Pennsylvania | 47.19 |
168 | Sacramento St | 47.13 |
169 | Nicholls St | 46.88 |
170 | Gardner-Webb | 46.39 |
171 | Southern Utah | 46.25 |
172 | North Texas | 46.13 |
173 | Grambling St | 45.40 |
174 | Yale | 45.31 |
175 | Illinois St | 44.63 |
176 | Idaho | 44.57 |
177 | Coastal Carolina | 44.47 |
178 | Princeton | 44.26 |
179 | Western Carolina | 44.09 |
180 | SE Louisiana St | 43.93 |
181 | Morgan St | 43.85 |
182 | Towson | 43.71 |
183 | Stony Brook | 43.57 |
184 | Dayton | 43.20 |
185 | Stephen F. Austin | 43.03 |
186 | Lehigh | 43.03 |
187 | Bethune-Cookman | 42.82 |
188 | Florida A&M | 42.80 |
189 | Cornell NY | 42.80 |
190 | Rhode Island | 42.69 |
191 | Northern Colorado | 42.54 |
192 | Charleston Southern | 42.51 |
193 | Jacksonville FL | 41.80 |
194 | Fordham | 41.73 |
195 | Portland St | 41.63 |
196 | Presbyterian | 41.10 |
197 | Sacred Heart | 40.99 |
198 | VMI | 40.80 |
199 | Youngstown St | 40.53 |
200 | Prairie View A&M | 39.98 |
201 | Hampton | 39.95 |
202 | Monmouth NJ | 39.89 |
203 | San Diego | 39.74 |
204 | Chattanooga | 39.24 |
205 | SE Missouri St | 39.19 |
206 | Central Conn St | 37.84 |
207 | Delaware St | 37.79 |
208 | South Dakota | 37.47 |
209 | Bucknell | 37.20 |
210 | North Dakota | 37.07 |
211 | Southern U. | 36.87 |
212 | Murray St | 36.87 |
213 | Butler | 36.02 |
214 | Tennessee Tech | 35.95 |
215 | Norfolk St | 35.31 |
216 | Robert Morris | 34.28 |
217 | Austin Peay | 34.21 |
218 | Alabama A&M | 33.14 |
219 | Columbia | 32.77 |
220 | Bryant | 32.15 |
221 | Idaho St | 31.62 |
222 | Jackson St | 29.94 |
223 | Dartmouth | 29.87 |
224 | Morehead St | 28.40 |
225 | Georgetown DC | 28.18 |
226 | Duquesne | 28.10 |
227 | Marist | 28.06 |
228 | Alabama St | 27.61 |
229 | North Carolina Central | 27.57 |
230 | Drake | 26.47 |
231 | Winston-Salem St | 25.80 |
232 | Indiana St | 24.35 |
233 | Davidson | 24.22 |
234 | Wagner | 23.94 |
235 | Alcorn St | 23.92 |
236 | North Carolina A&T | 22.61 |
237 | Texas Southern | 21.28 |
238 | Valparaiso | 20.00 |
239 | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 19.44 |
240 | Howard | 19.18 |
241 | Savannah St | 18.17 |
242 | Iona | 17.42 |
243 | St Francis PA | 14.85 |
244 | Mississippi Valley St | 14.50 |
245 | Campbell | 5.04 |