Finally, some upsets, and with them some better definition of the race to the BCS as we head down the homestretch. But first, a moment of silence for Jahvid Best, who hurtled through the air to score a touchdown, landing on his back and suffering his second concussion in as many weeks. In the short term, it appears he has suffered no permanent physical injury. Long-term effects, though, remain to be seen.
…
Thank you.
Now, the weekly awards:
Upset of the week: Honorable mention to Navy’s 23-21 victory over Notre Dame and Stanford’s 51-42 boat race over Oregon, but I’m going with Northwestern’s 17-10 win over Iowa because it effectively knocks the Hawkeyes out of the national title race (yes, I will finally make an alteration to my projections!) Iowa probably would have had a chance had not their quarterback, Ricky Stanzi, been injured in the second quarter. Iowa has gone from national title contender to likely out of the BCS entirely, as next week they will have to take on Ohio St with the conference title on the line without Stanzi.
Comeback of the week: Connecticut made a valiant attempt to claim this award, scoring 35 points in the second half trying to erase a 20-point halftime deficit to Cincinnati, but in the end they came up a 2-point conversion short. So the award goes to Bowling Green, who scored 14 4th quarter points to eek out a 30-29 win over Buffalo. Bowling Green still trails Temple by two games in the MAC East Division, but bizarrely, those two teams don’t play each other this year!
Yawner of the week: Disappointing Georgia took out its frustrations on Tennessee Tech to the tune of 38-0. It was a de facto bye week for the Bulldogs, who close out the season against Auburn, Kentucky, and Georgia Tech.
Game of the week: Despite the controversy about the interception that was (or wasn’t), the Alabama-LSU game was a great football game. It used to be LSU that would wear down its opponents with physical play, but in this game Alabama played that card to perfection en route to a 24-15 win. The SEC title game between Florida and Alabama is officially set in stone.
By beating a high ranked opponent, Alabama jumped up to #1 in my ratings. Oregon’s loss to Stanford dropped them only to 9th, and it’s a crime that the human polls are ranking USC higher than Oregon (even more of a crime than ranking Oregon higher than Boise State last week). Here’s the complete list:
Rank Team W-L Value STR Last Week AP
1 Alabama 9-0 6.831 STR-14 Last-4 AP-3
2 Texas 9-0 6.484 STR-26 Last-2 AP-2
3 Florida 9-0 6.342 STR-33 Last-1 AP-1
4 Cincinnati 9-0 5.801 STR-57 Last-5 AP-5
5 TCU 9-0 5.657 STR-64 Last-7 AP-4
6 Iowa 9-1 4.946 STR-36 Last-3 AP-15
7 Boise St 9-0 4.787 STR-105 Last-8 AP-6
8 Georgia Tech 9-1 4.741 STR-48 Last-10 AP-7
9 Oregon 7-2 4.417 STR-7 Last-6 AP-14
10 LSU 7-2 4.242 STR-11 Last-9 AP-9
11 Pittsburgh 8-1 4.180 STR-65 Last-12 AP-8
12 Houston 8-1 4.068 STR-68 Last-13 AP-13
13 Ohio St 8-2 4.062 STR-24 Last-20 AP-10
14 Virginia Tech 6-3 4.039 STR-1 Last-17 AP-20
15 Wisconsin 7-2 3.914 STR-23 Last-16 AP-21
16 USC 7-2 3.814 STR-22 Last-14 AP-11
17 Miami FL 7-2 3.736 STR-28 Last-18 AP-12
18 Penn St 8-2 3.648 STR-44 Last-11 AP-19
19 Oklahoma St 7-2 3.490 STR-41 Last-21 AP-17
20 Utah 8-1 3.347 STR-109 Last-15 AP-16
21 Arizona 6-2 3.151 STR-37 Last-19 AP-18
22 BYU 7-2 2.919 STR-67 Last-24 AP-22
23 West Virginia 7-2 2.901 STR-71 Last-23 AP-27
24 Oregon St 6-3 2.802 STR-17 Last-34 AP-26
25 Clemson 6-3 2.659 STR-18 Last-29 AP-24
26 South Florida 6-2 2.613 STR-76 AP-23
27 Troy 7-2 2.388 STR-101 AP-43
28 Navy 7-3 2.373 STR-50 AP-30
29 Auburn 7-3 2.295 STR-53 AP-27
30 Notre Dame 6-3 2.250 STR-35 Last-22 AP-40
31 Boston Coll 6-3 2.180 STR-40 AP-35
32 Fresno St 6-3 2.068 STR-46 AP-41
33 Rutgers 6-2 2.063 STR-104 AP-32
34 Cent Michigan 7-2 2.027 STR-112 AP-34
35 Nebraska 6-3 1.987 STR-45 AP-33
36 Stanford 6-3 1.887 STR-52 AP-25
37 Texas Tech 6-3 1.786 STR-66 AP-29
38 California 6-3 1.709 STR-69 Last-25
39 North Carolina 6-3 1.596 STR-72 AP-35
40 Idaho 7-3 1.475 STR-103
41 Oklahoma 5-4 1.456 STR-16 AP-38
42 Tennessee 5-4 1.387 STR-20 AP-31
43 Arkansas 5-4 1.383 STR-21
44 Mississippi 6-3 1.345 STR-96 AP-41
45 Temple 7-2 1.295 STR-120 AP-35
46 Georgia 5-4 1.281 STR-25
47 South Carolina 6-4 1.117 STR-59
48 Kentucky 5-4 1.113 STR-31
49 Missouri 5-4 0.903 STR-39
50 Air Force 6-4 0.842 STR-79
51 Minnesota 5-5 0.833 STR-13
52 Nevada 5-3 0.820 STR-95
53 Florida St 4-5 0.601 STR-5
54 Mississippi St 4-5 0.558 STR-4
55 Northwestern 6-4 0.545 STR-98
56 Kansas St 6-4 0.542 STR-99 AP-39
57 Northern Illinois 6-3 0.524 STR-115
58 Middle Tenn St 6-3 0.474 STR-117
59 UCLA 4-5 0.436 STR-6
60 Michigan St 5-5 0.431 STR-34
61 Texas A&M 5-4 0.306 STR-81
62 SMU 5-4 0.278 STR-78
63 Connecticut 4-5 0.271 STR-12
64 Marshall 5-4 0.269 STR-87
65 Kansas 5-4 0.266 STR-86
66 East Carolina 5-4 0.251 STR-91
67 Iowa St 5-5 0.251 STR-43
68 UCF 5-4 0.171 STR-94
69 Ohio 6-3 0.071 STR-121
70 LA Monroe 5-4 -0.039 STR-102
71 Southern Miss 5-4 -0.142 STR-106
72 Bowling Green 4-5 -0.199 STR-38
73 Purdue 4-6 -0.208 STR-10
74 Washington 3-6 -0.304 STR-2
75 Michigan 5-5 -0.357 STR-88
76 Duke 5-4 -0.538 STR-114
77 Arizona St 4-5 -0.565 STR-56
78 Baylor 4-5 -0.567 STR-55
79 Wake Forest 4-6 -0.635 STR-30
80 LA Lafayette 5-4 -0.761 STR-119
81 Wyoming 4-5 -0.839 STR-74
82 San Diego St 4-5 -0.922 STR-84
83 UAB 4-5 -0.954 STR-93
84 NC St 4-5 -1.035 STR-100
85 Syracuse 3-6 -1.044 STR-8
86 UNLV 4-6 -1.156 STR-60
87 Louisville 3-6 -1.207 STR-15
88 Indiana 4-6 -1.210 STR-61
89 Kent St 5-5 -1.235 STR-118
90 Toledo 4-5 -1.321 STR-107
91 Colorado 3-6 -1.338 STR-27
92 Tulsa 4-5 -1.356 STR-108
93 Virginia 3-6 -1.518 STR-32
94 Illinois 3-6 -1.741 STR-49
95 Colorado St 3-7 -1.785 STR-29
96 W Michigan 4-6 -1.807 STR-110
97 Tulane 3-6 -1.854 STR-58
98 UTEP 3-6 -1.879 STR-70
99 Louisiana Tech 3-6 -1.942 STR-62
100 Buffalo 3-6 -2.100 STR-82
101 Hawaii 3-6 -2.289 STR-97
102 Army 3-6 -2.609 STR-113
103 New Mexico St 3-6 -2.648 STR-111
104 Florida Atlantic 2-6 -2.852 STR-73
105 Arkansas St 2-6 -2.900 STR-63
106 Florida Intl 2-7 -3.049 STR-51
107 Maryland 2-7 -3.131 STR-80
108 Memphis 2-7 -3.263 STR-83
109 San Jose St 1-6 -3.278 STR-3
110 Utah St 2-7 -3.282 STR-77
111 Akron 2-7 -3.291 STR-85
112 Vanderbilt 2-8 -3.295 STR-42
113 North Texas 2-7 -3.428 STR-92
114 Washington St 1-8 -3.749 STR-9
115 Miami OH 1-9 -4.010 STR-19
116 Others-Normal -4.949 STR-47
117 Ball St 1-8 -5.095 STR-116
118 Rice 0-9 -5.711 STR-54
119 New Mexico 0-9 -5.789 STR-75
120 East Michigan 0-9 -5.866 STR-89
121 West Kentucky 0-9 -5.936 STR-90
Most overrated team: Stanford (6-3, AP#25, Hack#36) The Cardinal offense did impress last week against Oregon, but so far that has been their only significant victory this year. The highest ranked team they have beaten besides Oregon is #59 UCLA, and they lost to #79 Wake Forest. They finish up against USC, Cal, and Notre Dame – if they can win two of those three they probably deserve to be in the top-25.
Most underrated team: Iowa (9-1, AP#15, Hack#6) I knew it was going to happen. Iowa loses its starting quarterback and then loses a tough game to Northwestern, and the voters disproportionately punish the Hawkeyes, ignoring their 9-0 start including a home win over Arizona and road wins over Penn St and Wisconsin. I know that without Stanzi, Iowa is going to have a tough time against both Ohio St and Minnesota, but right now, based on what they’ve done, they deserve to be a lot higher than 15th.
BCS Pie-in-the-sky predictions: I’m leaving Florida in the national championship game, but now I’m sending Alabama to the Sugar Bowl instead of LSU. As for the other spot in the championship, Iowa is out (now I’m picking Ohio St to go to the Rose Bowl) and Texas is in (have to find a new candidate for the Fiesta Bowl):
Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Pittsburgh
Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Boise St
Fiesta Bowl: USC vs. Miami (FL)
Rose Bowl: Ohio St vs. Oregon
National Championship: Florida vs. Texas
For a discussion of how I would do playoffs instead of the BCS format, see my last post.
Interesting games this week:
(3) Florida vs. (47) South Carolina [Steve Spurrier tries to upset his former team]
(35) Nebraska vs. (65) Kansas [Cornhuskers try to stay alive in Big-12 North race against disappointing Jayhawks]
(23) West Virginia vs. (4) Cincinnati [Both teams still control their own path to the BCS]
(20) Utah vs. (5) TCU [If Horned Frogs win this game, I’ll put TCU in my Sugar Bowl projection instead of Boise]
(6) Iowa vs. (13) Ohio St [Stanzi’s injury takes some of the luster off of this game]
(40) Idaho vs. (7) Boise St [Even though the Vandals have 3 losses now, this is still the biggest intra-Idaho game in years]
(8) Georgia Tech vs. (76) Duke [Yellow Jackets can clinch trip to the ACC title game and deal crushing blow to Blue Devils’ slim hopes of bowl eligibility with a win]
(21) Arizona vs. (38) California [Wildcats still control their own path to the Rose Bowl, but after Cal they still have to play Oregon, Arizona St, and USC]
…
Thank you.
Now, the weekly awards:
Upset of the week: Honorable mention to Navy’s 23-21 victory over Notre Dame and Stanford’s 51-42 boat race over Oregon, but I’m going with Northwestern’s 17-10 win over Iowa because it effectively knocks the Hawkeyes out of the national title race (yes, I will finally make an alteration to my projections!) Iowa probably would have had a chance had not their quarterback, Ricky Stanzi, been injured in the second quarter. Iowa has gone from national title contender to likely out of the BCS entirely, as next week they will have to take on Ohio St with the conference title on the line without Stanzi.
Comeback of the week: Connecticut made a valiant attempt to claim this award, scoring 35 points in the second half trying to erase a 20-point halftime deficit to Cincinnati, but in the end they came up a 2-point conversion short. So the award goes to Bowling Green, who scored 14 4th quarter points to eek out a 30-29 win over Buffalo. Bowling Green still trails Temple by two games in the MAC East Division, but bizarrely, those two teams don’t play each other this year!
Yawner of the week: Disappointing Georgia took out its frustrations on Tennessee Tech to the tune of 38-0. It was a de facto bye week for the Bulldogs, who close out the season against Auburn, Kentucky, and Georgia Tech.
Game of the week: Despite the controversy about the interception that was (or wasn’t), the Alabama-LSU game was a great football game. It used to be LSU that would wear down its opponents with physical play, but in this game Alabama played that card to perfection en route to a 24-15 win. The SEC title game between Florida and Alabama is officially set in stone.
By beating a high ranked opponent, Alabama jumped up to #1 in my ratings. Oregon’s loss to Stanford dropped them only to 9th, and it’s a crime that the human polls are ranking USC higher than Oregon (even more of a crime than ranking Oregon higher than Boise State last week). Here’s the complete list:
Rank Team W-L Value STR Last Week AP
1 Alabama 9-0 6.831 STR-14 Last-4 AP-3
2 Texas 9-0 6.484 STR-26 Last-2 AP-2
3 Florida 9-0 6.342 STR-33 Last-1 AP-1
4 Cincinnati 9-0 5.801 STR-57 Last-5 AP-5
5 TCU 9-0 5.657 STR-64 Last-7 AP-4
6 Iowa 9-1 4.946 STR-36 Last-3 AP-15
7 Boise St 9-0 4.787 STR-105 Last-8 AP-6
8 Georgia Tech 9-1 4.741 STR-48 Last-10 AP-7
9 Oregon 7-2 4.417 STR-7 Last-6 AP-14
10 LSU 7-2 4.242 STR-11 Last-9 AP-9
11 Pittsburgh 8-1 4.180 STR-65 Last-12 AP-8
12 Houston 8-1 4.068 STR-68 Last-13 AP-13
13 Ohio St 8-2 4.062 STR-24 Last-20 AP-10
14 Virginia Tech 6-3 4.039 STR-1 Last-17 AP-20
15 Wisconsin 7-2 3.914 STR-23 Last-16 AP-21
16 USC 7-2 3.814 STR-22 Last-14 AP-11
17 Miami FL 7-2 3.736 STR-28 Last-18 AP-12
18 Penn St 8-2 3.648 STR-44 Last-11 AP-19
19 Oklahoma St 7-2 3.490 STR-41 Last-21 AP-17
20 Utah 8-1 3.347 STR-109 Last-15 AP-16
21 Arizona 6-2 3.151 STR-37 Last-19 AP-18
22 BYU 7-2 2.919 STR-67 Last-24 AP-22
23 West Virginia 7-2 2.901 STR-71 Last-23 AP-27
24 Oregon St 6-3 2.802 STR-17 Last-34 AP-26
25 Clemson 6-3 2.659 STR-18 Last-29 AP-24
26 South Florida 6-2 2.613 STR-76 AP-23
27 Troy 7-2 2.388 STR-101 AP-43
28 Navy 7-3 2.373 STR-50 AP-30
29 Auburn 7-3 2.295 STR-53 AP-27
30 Notre Dame 6-3 2.250 STR-35 Last-22 AP-40
31 Boston Coll 6-3 2.180 STR-40 AP-35
32 Fresno St 6-3 2.068 STR-46 AP-41
33 Rutgers 6-2 2.063 STR-104 AP-32
34 Cent Michigan 7-2 2.027 STR-112 AP-34
35 Nebraska 6-3 1.987 STR-45 AP-33
36 Stanford 6-3 1.887 STR-52 AP-25
37 Texas Tech 6-3 1.786 STR-66 AP-29
38 California 6-3 1.709 STR-69 Last-25
39 North Carolina 6-3 1.596 STR-72 AP-35
40 Idaho 7-3 1.475 STR-103
41 Oklahoma 5-4 1.456 STR-16 AP-38
42 Tennessee 5-4 1.387 STR-20 AP-31
43 Arkansas 5-4 1.383 STR-21
44 Mississippi 6-3 1.345 STR-96 AP-41
45 Temple 7-2 1.295 STR-120 AP-35
46 Georgia 5-4 1.281 STR-25
47 South Carolina 6-4 1.117 STR-59
48 Kentucky 5-4 1.113 STR-31
49 Missouri 5-4 0.903 STR-39
50 Air Force 6-4 0.842 STR-79
51 Minnesota 5-5 0.833 STR-13
52 Nevada 5-3 0.820 STR-95
53 Florida St 4-5 0.601 STR-5
54 Mississippi St 4-5 0.558 STR-4
55 Northwestern 6-4 0.545 STR-98
56 Kansas St 6-4 0.542 STR-99 AP-39
57 Northern Illinois 6-3 0.524 STR-115
58 Middle Tenn St 6-3 0.474 STR-117
59 UCLA 4-5 0.436 STR-6
60 Michigan St 5-5 0.431 STR-34
61 Texas A&M 5-4 0.306 STR-81
62 SMU 5-4 0.278 STR-78
63 Connecticut 4-5 0.271 STR-12
64 Marshall 5-4 0.269 STR-87
65 Kansas 5-4 0.266 STR-86
66 East Carolina 5-4 0.251 STR-91
67 Iowa St 5-5 0.251 STR-43
68 UCF 5-4 0.171 STR-94
69 Ohio 6-3 0.071 STR-121
70 LA Monroe 5-4 -0.039 STR-102
71 Southern Miss 5-4 -0.142 STR-106
72 Bowling Green 4-5 -0.199 STR-38
73 Purdue 4-6 -0.208 STR-10
74 Washington 3-6 -0.304 STR-2
75 Michigan 5-5 -0.357 STR-88
76 Duke 5-4 -0.538 STR-114
77 Arizona St 4-5 -0.565 STR-56
78 Baylor 4-5 -0.567 STR-55
79 Wake Forest 4-6 -0.635 STR-30
80 LA Lafayette 5-4 -0.761 STR-119
81 Wyoming 4-5 -0.839 STR-74
82 San Diego St 4-5 -0.922 STR-84
83 UAB 4-5 -0.954 STR-93
84 NC St 4-5 -1.035 STR-100
85 Syracuse 3-6 -1.044 STR-8
86 UNLV 4-6 -1.156 STR-60
87 Louisville 3-6 -1.207 STR-15
88 Indiana 4-6 -1.210 STR-61
89 Kent St 5-5 -1.235 STR-118
90 Toledo 4-5 -1.321 STR-107
91 Colorado 3-6 -1.338 STR-27
92 Tulsa 4-5 -1.356 STR-108
93 Virginia 3-6 -1.518 STR-32
94 Illinois 3-6 -1.741 STR-49
95 Colorado St 3-7 -1.785 STR-29
96 W Michigan 4-6 -1.807 STR-110
97 Tulane 3-6 -1.854 STR-58
98 UTEP 3-6 -1.879 STR-70
99 Louisiana Tech 3-6 -1.942 STR-62
100 Buffalo 3-6 -2.100 STR-82
101 Hawaii 3-6 -2.289 STR-97
102 Army 3-6 -2.609 STR-113
103 New Mexico St 3-6 -2.648 STR-111
104 Florida Atlantic 2-6 -2.852 STR-73
105 Arkansas St 2-6 -2.900 STR-63
106 Florida Intl 2-7 -3.049 STR-51
107 Maryland 2-7 -3.131 STR-80
108 Memphis 2-7 -3.263 STR-83
109 San Jose St 1-6 -3.278 STR-3
110 Utah St 2-7 -3.282 STR-77
111 Akron 2-7 -3.291 STR-85
112 Vanderbilt 2-8 -3.295 STR-42
113 North Texas 2-7 -3.428 STR-92
114 Washington St 1-8 -3.749 STR-9
115 Miami OH 1-9 -4.010 STR-19
116 Others-Normal -4.949 STR-47
117 Ball St 1-8 -5.095 STR-116
118 Rice 0-9 -5.711 STR-54
119 New Mexico 0-9 -5.789 STR-75
120 East Michigan 0-9 -5.866 STR-89
121 West Kentucky 0-9 -5.936 STR-90
Most overrated team: Stanford (6-3, AP#25, Hack#36) The Cardinal offense did impress last week against Oregon, but so far that has been their only significant victory this year. The highest ranked team they have beaten besides Oregon is #59 UCLA, and they lost to #79 Wake Forest. They finish up against USC, Cal, and Notre Dame – if they can win two of those three they probably deserve to be in the top-25.
Most underrated team: Iowa (9-1, AP#15, Hack#6) I knew it was going to happen. Iowa loses its starting quarterback and then loses a tough game to Northwestern, and the voters disproportionately punish the Hawkeyes, ignoring their 9-0 start including a home win over Arizona and road wins over Penn St and Wisconsin. I know that without Stanzi, Iowa is going to have a tough time against both Ohio St and Minnesota, but right now, based on what they’ve done, they deserve to be a lot higher than 15th.
BCS Pie-in-the-sky predictions: I’m leaving Florida in the national championship game, but now I’m sending Alabama to the Sugar Bowl instead of LSU. As for the other spot in the championship, Iowa is out (now I’m picking Ohio St to go to the Rose Bowl) and Texas is in (have to find a new candidate for the Fiesta Bowl):
Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Pittsburgh
Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Boise St
Fiesta Bowl: USC vs. Miami (FL)
Rose Bowl: Ohio St vs. Oregon
National Championship: Florida vs. Texas
For a discussion of how I would do playoffs instead of the BCS format, see my last post.
Interesting games this week:
(3) Florida vs. (47) South Carolina [Steve Spurrier tries to upset his former team]
(35) Nebraska vs. (65) Kansas [Cornhuskers try to stay alive in Big-12 North race against disappointing Jayhawks]
(23) West Virginia vs. (4) Cincinnati [Both teams still control their own path to the BCS]
(20) Utah vs. (5) TCU [If Horned Frogs win this game, I’ll put TCU in my Sugar Bowl projection instead of Boise]
(6) Iowa vs. (13) Ohio St [Stanzi’s injury takes some of the luster off of this game]
(40) Idaho vs. (7) Boise St [Even though the Vandals have 3 losses now, this is still the biggest intra-Idaho game in years]
(8) Georgia Tech vs. (76) Duke [Yellow Jackets can clinch trip to the ACC title game and deal crushing blow to Blue Devils’ slim hopes of bowl eligibility with a win]
(21) Arizona vs. (38) California [Wildcats still control their own path to the Rose Bowl, but after Cal they still have to play Oregon, Arizona St, and USC]
posted by The Hack Poll at
12:46 PM
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