This weekend's Alabama-LSU game certainly lived up to the hype, with neither team able to overcome the other's defense and the game being decided by a field goal in overtime. Among the other unbeaten teams, only Houston did not struggle with an inferior opponent, which made the top of the rankings a little interesting this week. Here are this week's rankings, with current ranking followed by previous ranking, team name, overall record, rating, AP Rank, and BCS rank.
TW. (LW) Team (Record) Rating (AP) (BCS)
1. (6) Oklahoma (8-1) -33.07 (7) (6)
2. (4) LSU (9-0) -31.58 (1) (1)
3. (1) Stanford (9-0) -31.46 (3) (4)
4. (2) Alabama (8-1) -28.33 (4) (3)
5. (3) Oklahoma State (9-0) -27.21 (2) (2)
6. (5) Oregon (8-1) -26.16 (6) (7)
7. (8) Wisconsin (7-2) -24.02 (16) (18)
8. (7) Boise State (8-0) -21.00 (5) (5)
9. (11) Houston (9-0) -18.36 (11) (11)
10. (18) Florida State (6-3) -17.64 (29) (NR)
11. (9) Arizona State (6-3) -16.99 (28) (NR)
12. (17) Texas (6-2) -16.69 (21) (16)
13. (10) Missouri (4-5) -15.96 (NR) (NR)
14. (13) Texas A&M (5-4) -15.10 (NR) (NR)
15. (15) Notre Dame (6-3) -14.20 (32) (NR)
16. (14) USC (7-2) -13.07 (18) (NR)
17. (21) Georgia (7-2) -12.90 (14) (15)
18. (22) Utah (5-4) -12.32 (NR) (NR)
19. (16) Michigan (7-2) -12.13 (22) (24)
20. (24) Southern Miss (8-1) -11.89 (25) (22)
21. (NR) Kansas State (7-2) -11.75 (17) (14)
22. (NR) Cincinnati (7-1) -10.86 (23) (23)
23. (NR) Arkansas (8-1) -10.44 (8) (8)
24. (NR) Clemson (8-1) -9.98 (9) (9)
25. (20) South Carolina (7-2) -9.73 (15) (13)
Dropped Out
(12) Nebraska (7-2) -9.12 (19) (19)
(25) Washington (6-3) -7.21 (30) (NR)
(23) Ohio State (6-3) -6.04 (27) (NR)
(19) Michigan State (7-2) -5.70 (13) (17)
Ranked Teams by Conference
Big 12 - 6
SEC - 5
Pac 12 - 5
Big 10 - 2
CUSA - 2
ACC - 2
MWC - 1
Ind - 1
Big East - 1
Other than LSU, Oklahoma played the toughest opponent this weekend, and they handled the visiting Aggies well, taking a 41-10 lead into the 4th quarter before allowing a couple of late touchdowns. Because of that and the overall strength of the Big 12, which was the best of any conference in nonconference play this season, the Sooners have taken over the top spot in my rankings for the first time this season.
Because of how close the game between Alabama and LSU was, many are lobbying for a rematch in the national championship game, but I believe that it would not be fair given the circumstances. Because there is no true playoff system, we are relying on opinion to determine the best two teams, and if both are from the same conference, how can we be sure that the title goes to the top team from the best conference? I believe that in order to play in the BCS title game the way it's set up now, a team must be a conference champion, thereby allowing two teams that have not yet played from different regions to duke it out for the title. If a playoff system were set up, then I believe it would be fair to allow 2 teams from a conference in, and if those two happen to both reach the title game for a rematch, it would be justified.
Florida State is back after 3 straight losses spoiled their season, winning 4 in a row by at least 25 points each. Two of the losses were to Oklahoma and Clemson, which are totally understandable, so there's just the one unexplainable loss to Wake Forest keeping them from being considered for a BCS spot.
Texas has only two losses this season, and both are to top 5 teams, but they are being held down in the rankings because they have yet to beat a team that is even close to being ranked. Luckily, they have four chances remaining this season to get some quality wins and make a move in the rankings.
Kansas State returned to my rankings this week after they came within one final play of upsetting Oklahoma State on the road. They have losses to the same two teams as Texas does, but they have also grabbed a couple of decent victories over Baylor and Missouri. It should be interesting to see which is really better when they play in 2 weeks.
Prediction Results
Ranked Teams: 16-7 (.696) 179-70 overall (.719)
Unranked Teams: 21-6 (.778) 52-27 overall (.658)
Upsets: 4-4 (.500) 30-48 overall (.385)
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