College Football Rankings - 14 Nov

There are now only two undefeated teams from AQ conferences, which means that those two teams control their own destiny, while a handful of one-loss teams and Houston sit waiting in the wings hoping that at least one of the slips up, allowing them to atone for their losses or weak schedule. Here are my current rankings, based completely on strength of schedule and quality of performance, for the top 25 teams in college football.

TW. (LW) Team (Record) Rating (AP) (BCS)
1. (1) Oklahoma (8-1) -36.52 (5) (5)

2. (5) Oklahoma State (10-0) -34.80 (2) (2)
3. (6) Oregon (9-1) -34.14 (4) (4)

4. (2) LSU (10-0) -30.06 (1) (1)
5. (4) Alabama (9-1) -29.17 (3) (3)
6. (3) Stanford (9-1) -28.28 (8) (9)
7. (7) Wisconsin (8-2) -27.28 (15) (17)

8. (9) Houston (10-0) -21.41 (11) (11)
9. (8) Boise State (8-1) -21.28 (10) (10)

10. (14) Texas A&M (5-5) -19.29 (NR) (NR)
11. (13) Missouri (5-5) -18.65 (NR) (NR)
12. (21) Kansas State (8-2) -18.55 (16) (13)
13. (12) Texas (6-3) -17.34 (31) (23)
14. (17) Georgia (8-2) -17.11 (13) (14)
15. (23) Arkansas (9-1) -16.42 (6) (6)
16. (10) Florida State (7-3) -16.31 (23) (25)
17. (19) Michigan (8-2) -16.10 (20) (18)
18. (15) Notre Dame (7-3) -16.08 (24) (NR)
19. (16) USC (8-2) -15.92 (18) (NR)
20. (11) Arizona State (6-4) -14.71 (33) (NR)
21. (18) Utah (6-4) -14.00 (NR) (NR)
22. (NR) TCU (8-2) -13.95 (19) (19)

23. (NR) Michigan State (8-2) -11.97 (12) (15)
24. (NR) Miami (5-5) -10.92 (NR) (NR)
25. (NR) Tulsa (7-3) -10.86 (30) (NR)

Dropped Out

(25) South Carolina (8-2) -10.27 (14) (12)
(20) Southern Miss (9-1) -8.95 (22) (20)
(22) Cincinnati (7-2) -7.85 (29) (NR)
(24) Clemson (9-1) -7.18 (7) (7)

Ranked Teams by Conference

Big 12 - 6
Pac 12 - 5
SEC - 4
Big 10 - 3
CUSA - 2
MWC - 2
ACC - 2
Ind - 1

It's hard to pick a team of the week, but it not difficult to pick out the two best choices - Oklahoma State and Oregon. Oklahoma State went to Texas Tech, the team that upset Oklahoma last week, and destroyed the Red Raiders 66-6, setting them up for a huge showdown with Oklahoma in two weeks that will have national championship implications, possibly for both teams. Oregon went to Stanford and blew out the team with the nation's longest winning streak, maintaining their status as the only team to beat the Cardinal in the past two seasons, and made a case that they may be the best one-loss team in the country, as they hope to earn a rematch with LSU in the national title game in January.

Auburn has become the most overrated team in the nation lately, somehow keeping a spot in the BCS top 25 despite having 4 losses, more than any other team in the rankings. Each of their 4 losses were by double digits, and even though all four were to current top 15 teams, their best win of the season is over South Carolina, another severely overrated SEC school.

Clemson is also very overrated, and you'll notice that they dropped from my top 25 this week. When you look at the teams they've beaten, the three best victories were over overrated Auburn and Virginia Tech teams, and over a Florida State team that was deflated after a loss that killed their national title hopes. Next week they play at South Carolina, which should prove just how weak the ACC leaders actually are.

Texas A&M is on the opposite side of the spectrum, although they still don't have a true signature win. They have lost 5 games, including overtime losses against very good Missouri and Kansas State teams, a 4-point loss to Arkansas, a single-point loss to Oklahoma State, and a loss to Oklahoma, currently the best overall team in the nation. The fact that they are currently in the strongest overall conference also helps them sneak into the top 10 despite three straight losses.

LSU slipped this week because of strength of schedule issues, specifically, playing Western Kentucky, who is currently ranked #88 out of 120 teams in the FBS. Houston has played several teams at that same level this season, but they make sure to blow them out of the water, while LSU allowed the Hilltoppers to hang around until late in the third quarter before putting them away.

Prediction Results

Ranked Teams: 18-7 (.720) 197-77 overall (.719)
Unranked Teams: 22-10 (.688) 74-37 overall (.667)
Upsets: 4-4 (.500) 34-53 overall (.391)