Ratings 11/13/04  
Ratings (November 13)

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