Ratings 11/15/08
The next two weeks will be fun. Lots of BCS-important games, conference championships to decide, rivalry games and grudge matches. There are so many scenarios for the BCS title games that it's almost silly to talk about them until after the Texas Tech - Oklahoma game. I think it's great that the game of the year (well, this week's game of the year) is between two teams with suspect defenses and 50-points-a-game passing offenses. Flag football comes to prime time! The Raiders could lose and still win. A Sooner win makes a three-way, which I suppose means the polls decide, but OU still has to play Oklahoma State. I would think that Texas Tech holds the tie-breaker over Texas. So, how is this for a possibility? OU beats TT but then loses to Missouri; Oregon State wins out; somehow both Alabama and Florida lose. Then Texas Tech plays Southern Cal for the title, even though neither team wins their conference! Maybe "almost" needs to be removed from the third sentence.
One of the BCS possibilities that this week's games could mostly determine involves the BCS-busters. There are three unbeaten outsiders left: Utah, Boise State and Ball State. The blue Boise are likely to win out, but Utah hosts BYU in a huge game and Ball State is at Central Michigan for the MAC West Division title. In both cases, major bowls are possible; in both cases, not even winning their conference is possible. Tough circumstances.
A Cincinnati win over Pitt would almost clinch the Big East title, with only Syracuse left to play. A Miami win at Georgia Tech would do the same in the ACC Coastal. The ACC Atlantic is an NP-complete problem. (Sorry, that's a math joke, i.e. clever but not funny) Too bad the major bowls have to take somebody from the Big East and ACC when some great teams from the Big 12 and SEC will be left out. I would imagine the TV folks are rooting for Miami. How about Ball State versus Maryland, guys? Fear the turtle. (And I keep hearing the biddy in The Music Man saying BallState.)
The following predictions are straight from the ratings, with 4 points added for home field.
Oklahoma over Texas Tech by 3 (Bradford 38Td, 3406yds, 6Int; Harrell 36Td, 4077yds, 5Int. Wow.)
Ball State over Central Michigan by 4 (Wednesday night is football night ... in the MAC.)
Georgia Tech over Miami by 1 (A Mud-dobber win would throw the ACC race into chaos. So it's guaranteed.)
Virginia Tech over Duke by 9 (The Duke football team seems to have realized it's basketball season.)
Florida over The Citadel by 52 (I think the Gators are safe this week.)
Wisconsin over Cal Poly by 14 (The Badgers are less safe than you might think. A SLO upset?)
Maryland over Florida State by 1 (A 3-way tie if the Noles win, with the winner of ...)
Wake Forest over Boston College by 4 (Two tough teams that keep hanging in there. Classic ACC.)
Ohio State over Michigan by 24 (The Buckeyes would be happy to add one more to Michigan's record 8-loss season.)
Purdue over Indiana by 9 (Both teams kicked the Old Oaken Bucket several games back.)
Penn State over Michigan State by 12 (For the Land Grant Trophy - voted ugliest trophy - and the Big 10 title.)
Utah over BYU by 10 (A big game in a big rivalry; big o' me to notice, huh?)
Washington over Washington State by 2 (Somebody gets to win! The computer likes #124 over #160.)
Cincinnati over Pitt by 3 (A win puts the Bearcats in the rumble seat driving to a major bowl.)
Oregon State over Arizona by 3 (The Cats could ruin OSU's Rose Bowl plans.)
1 | Florida | 102.34 |
2 | Texas | 99.39 |
3 | Southern Cal | 98.04 |
4 | Texas Tech | 96.33 |
5 | Oklahoma | 95.56 |
6 | Penn State | 93.16 |
7 | Alabama | 92.21 |
8 | Missouri | 90.84 |
9 | Utah | 90.56 |
10 | Georgia | 89.88 |
11 | Oklahoma St | 88.52 |
12 | Ohio State | 88.38 |
13 | North Carolina | 87.55 |
14 | TCU | 87.30 |
15 | Oregon St | 86.36 |
16 | Boise St | 86.21 |
17 | Michigan St | 84.98 |
18 | Miami FL | 84.94 |
19 | Brigham Young | 84.78 |
20 | California | 84.15 |
21 | Oregon | 84.11 |
22 | Nebraska | 83.40 |
23 | Iowa | 83.37 |
24 | LSU | 83.26 |
25 | Pittsburgh | 83.09 |
26 | Florida St | 83.07 |
27 | Mississippi | 82.97 |
28 | South Carolina | 82.66 |
29 | Ball St | 82.48 |
30 | Cincinnati | 82.05 |
31 | Wake Forest | 81.98 |
32 | Boston College | 81.96 |
33 | Georgia Tech | 81.46 |
34 | Vanderbilt | 81.25 |
35 | Connecticut | 81.18 |
36 | Virginia Tech | 81.09 |
37 | West Virginia | 80.60 |
38 | James Madison | 80.42 |
39 | Maryland | 79.96 |
40 | Northwestern | 79.72 |
41 | Virginia | 79.56 |
42 | Arizona | 79.40 |
43 | Clemson | 79.38 |
44 | Tulsa | 78.98 |
45 | Wisconsin | 78.86 |
46 | Kansas | 78.71 |
47 | Notre Dame | 78.33 |
48 | Air Force | 78.22 |
49 | Minnesota | 76.73 |
50 | Duke | 76.53 |
51 | Rutgers | 76.41 |
52 | Kentucky | 76.30 |
53 | South Florida | 76.17 |
54 | Navy | 76.10 |
55 | Illinois | 76.08 |
56 | Appalachian St | 75.92 |
57 | Stanford | 75.18 |
58 | Western Michigan | 75.08 |
59 | Rice | 74.98 |
60 | Central Michigan | 74.71 |
61 | Baylor | 74.40 |
62 | Houston | 74.24 |
63 | Buffalo | 73.99 |
64 | Nevada | 73.94 |
65 | Auburn | 73.38 |
66 | East Carolina | 73.22 |
67 | Arkansas | 73.18 |
68 | Arizona St | 73.16 |
69 | North Carolina St | 72.89 |
70 | Colorado | 72.77 |
71 | Richmond | 72.37 |
72 | Villanova | 71.24 |
73 | Hawai`i | 71.21 |
74 | Kansas St | 71.00 |
75 | UNLV | 70.58 |
76 | Tennessee | 70.58 |
77 | Colorado St | 70.51 |
78 | Wofford | 70.42 |
79 | Purdue | 70.28 |
80 | Southern Miss | 69.88 |
81 | Louisville | 69.86 |
82 | Fresno St | 69.82 |
83 | Texas A&M | 69.18 |
84 | UTEP | 69.14 |
85 | Troy | 69.13 |
86 | New Mexico | 69.08 |
87 | Bowling Green | 68.92 |
88 | Akron | 68.89 |
89 | Montana | 68.88 |
90 | Michigan | 68.87 |
91 | UCLA | 68.81 |
92 | Louisiana Tech | 68.47 |
93 | Weber St | 68.40 |
94 | Cal Poly SLO | 68.33 |
95 | New Hampshire | 67.83 |
96 | Northern Illinois | 67.82 |
97 | Elon | 67.20 |
98 | San José St | 66.89 |
99 | William & Mary | 66.77 |
100 | Mississippi St | 66.07 |
101 | Temple | 65.51 |
102 | Memphis | 65.43 |
103 | Florida Atlantic | 65.30 |
104 | Indiana | 65.04 |
105 | Northern Iowa | 64.82 |
106 | Louisiana-Lafayette | 64.73 |
107 | Marshall | 64.16 |
108 | Maine | 63.83 |
109 | Furman | 63.63 |
110 | Arkansas St | 63.36 |
111 | Iowa St | 63.30 |
112 | Massachusetts | 63.25 |
113 | Florida Int'l | 63.18 |
114 | Central Florida | 63.07 |
115 | Southern Illinois | 62.74 |
116 | Syracuse | 62.62 |
117 | Wyoming | 62.44 |
118 | Georgia Southern | 62.39 |
119 | Middle Tennessee St | 61.90 |
120 | Samford | 61.57 |
121 | Harvard | 61.46 |
122 | Army | 61.36 |
123 | Utah St | 60.29 |
124 | Washington | 59.97 |
125 | Ohio U. | 59.42 |
126 | Central Arkansas | 59.23 |
127 | Toledo | 59.07 |
128 | McNeese St | 59.04 |
129 | Kent St | 58.73 |
130 | Liberty | 58.66 |
131 | New Mexico St | 58.14 |
132 | Holy Cross | 57.61 |
133 | Delaware | 57.45 |
134 | Miami OH | 57.43 |
135 | Jacksonville St | 57.39 |
136 | Eastern Washington | 57.34 |
137 | South Carolina St | 57.32 |
138 | Tulane | 57.24 |
139 | Western Illinois | 57.11 |
140 | South Dakota St | 57.02 |
141 | Alabama-Birmingham | 56.57 |
142 | North Dakota St | 56.55 |
143 | Colgate | 56.47 |
144 | Montana St | 56.32 |
145 | Lafayette | 56.30 |
146 | Tennessee-Martin | 56.24 |
147 | SMU | 55.77 |
148 | Western Kentucky | 55.73 |
149 | Brown | 55.72 |
150 | Eastern Michigan | 55.65 |
151 | San Diego St | 54.90 |
152 | The Citadel | 54.41 |
153 | Northern Arizona | 54.38 |
154 | Hofstra | 54.37 |
155 | Tennessee St | 54.20 |
156 | Yale | 54.09 |
157 | Louisiana-Monroe | 54.08 |
158 | Sacramento St | 53.88 |
159 | Eastern Kentucky | 53.85 |
160 | Washington St | 53.76 |
161 | Texas St-San Marcos | 53.03 |
162 | Pennsylvania | 52.58 |
163 | Northeastern | 51.54 |
164 | Albany NY | 51.25 |
165 | Northwestern St | 50.85 |
166 | UC-Davis | 50.70 |
167 | Coastal Carolina | 50.61 |
168 | Sam Houston St | 50.28 |
169 | Grambling St | 49.85 |
170 | Idaho | 49.81 |
171 | Florida A&M | 49.53 |
172 | Stony Brook | 49.47 |
173 | SE Louisiana St | 48.31 |
174 | Missouri St | 47.94 |
175 | Towson | 47.84 |
176 | Charleston Southern | 47.84 |
177 | Western Carolina | 47.63 |
178 | Bethune-Cookman | 47.40 |
179 | Lehigh | 47.32 |
180 | Gardner-Webb | 47.23 |
181 | Eastern Illinois | 46.99 |
182 | North Texas | 46.96 |
183 | Prairie View A&M | 46.92 |
184 | South Dakota | 46.73 |
185 | Rhode Island | 46.39 |
186 | Southern Utah | 46.28 |
187 | Princeton | 45.78 |
188 | Nicholls St | 45.56 |
189 | Fordham | 45.51 |
190 | Monmouth NJ | 45.17 |
191 | Cornell NY | 44.99 |
192 | Morgan St | 44.95 |
193 | Stephen F. Austin | 44.94 |
194 | Illinois St | 44.87 |
195 | Portland St | 44.85 |
196 | Southern U. | 43.58 |
197 | Northern Colorado | 43.52 |
198 | Central Conn St | 43.47 |
199 | Youngstown St | 43.40 |
200 | Jacksonville FL | 43.29 |
201 | Chattanooga | 42.96 |
202 | VMI | 42.70 |
203 | Hampton | 42.47 |
204 | Presbyterian | 42.40 |
205 | Dayton | 41.85 |
206 | Delaware St | 41.48 |
207 | Norfolk St | 41.37 |
208 | San Diego | 41.14 |
209 | Columbia | 40.58 |
210 | SE Missouri St | 39.62 |
211 | Murray St | 39.58 |
212 | Austin Peay | 39.57 |
213 | Bucknell | 39.21 |
214 | North Dakota | 39.20 |
215 | Jackson St | 38.59 |
216 | Tennessee Tech | 38.46 |
217 | Sacred Heart | 38.19 |
218 | Idaho St | 37.17 |
219 | Robert Morris | 35.03 |
220 | Bryant | 34.72 |
221 | Alabama A&M | 34.39 |
222 | North Carolina Central | 34.07 |
223 | Dartmouth | 33.88 |
224 | Georgetown DC | 33.36 |
225 | Butler | 33.18 |
226 | Winston-Salem St | 31.56 |
227 | Alabama St | 30.43 |
228 | Duquesne | 30.35 |
229 | Morehead St | 30.11 |
230 | Marist | 29.52 |
231 | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 28.05 |
232 | Drake | 27.56 |
233 | Alcorn St | 27.56 |
234 | Indiana St | 27.55 |
235 | North Carolina A&T | 26.78 |
236 | Wagner | 25.08 |
237 | Howard | 24.73 |
238 | Davidson | 23.72 |
239 | Texas Southern | 23.22 |
240 | Savannah St | 22.92 |
241 | Mississippi Valley St | 20.30 |
242 | Valparaiso | 20.00 |
243 | Iona | 17.53 |
244 | St Francis PA | 16.73 |
245 | Campbell | 3.48 |