This might be the most excited I’ve ever been for our community poll, this will be up through Wednesday and I’ll post results on Thursday
- Texas
- Ohio State
- Oregon
- Penn State
- Miami
- Georgia
- Iowa State
- BYU
- Alabama
- Boise State
- Clemson
- Ole Miss
- Tennessee
- Missouri
- Utah
- Texas A&M
- LSU
- Oklahoma
- Notre Dame
- Indiana
- Kansas State
- Pitt
- Army
- Navy
- Liberty
A quick overview of my methodology. I’m sure you can find contradictions, but I do try to stick to this.
At this point in the season, I try to make the ranking 25% how good I think the team actually is, and 75% what the resume says. As we go on, the resume gets more bias.
A few principles that I try to apply.
- If you are 5-0 or better, I’ll put you in. It is hard enough to get there, that even with an easier schedule, it should get you ranked. I do this for 2 reasons. First, I want to reward winning. Second, if greater 6 teams never get ranked despite what they do on the field, why bother to say they are apart of the league? Even if all these greater 6 drop a game, I’ll still try to put one or two of them up there, if I can justify it.
- I try to use a blind resume, where you consider the resume’s content regardless of the name. The biggest effect that this has is that I effectively ignore head to head. You can look at my poll, and complain that I ranked Georgia above Alabama, and cry afoul that Alabama beat Georgia, and should be ahead. I don’t care, because Georgia has a better resume than Alabama. You can make the same complaint against my Texas A&M/Notre Dame ranking. It doesn’t change my results.
- I value bad losses more than I do good wins. Again, going with Alabama and Georgia, I put more weight on the fact that Alabama lost to Vanderbilt, then I do that Alabama beat Georgia. I value reliability. If you can’t show up for the “easy wins”, then I will punish you much more than I will reward you for showing up for the big games.
I like your reasoning and appreciate the explanation, so please don’t interpret this comment as me taking issue with your ballot. I am curious about Missouri at 14 and LSU at 17 though. What on their resumes pushes them up that high, especially considering the bad losses factor? By your logic, it seems like some of the undefeated teams should be ahead of them (especially Indiana given that they have a common opponent with LSU and beat them much more decisively). SMU’s absence feels conspicuous also when you have BYU as high as 8.
No, please poke holes in my poll. I spend time on it, but this is the first real year I have actually put pen to paper.
For LSU and Missouri, the cop out answer is that is the 25% of the ballot I give to supposed team quality. Realistically, it shouldn’t have that big of an effect though. Those are 2 teams that, after looking at their schedule just now, I was surprised how weak all their opponents were . I feel a bit bad, because using my metrics, they should be lower. Maybe 3-5 spots each, some where in that range. The good news is, at least LSU will have a chance to make a point this weekend against Ole Miss. That game will make a much bigger difference than me re-evaluating.
Indiana I still feel fine on. Their schedule hasn’t been impressive. I think the Nebraska game in 2 weeks is the first real challenge they will face. If they perform well, they will see a jump.
SMU was on the short list to get ranked, but with my rule of ranking 5-0 teams, they got cut. Kansas state is the lowest ranked one loss team in my ranking, and I would take them over SMU.
Alright, you guys win, I’ll take the time to actually put something together. Ended up playing it pretty safe:
Top 25
- Ohio State
- Texas
- Oregon
- Penn State
- Miami (FL)
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Tennessee
- Ole Miss
- Iowa State
- Clemson
- LSU
- BYU
- Oklahoma
- Texas A&M
- Boise State
- Kansas State
- Missouri
- Notre Dame
- Utah
- Indiana
- Pittsburgh
- Illinois
- SMU
- Texas Tech
I tried throwing together a computer poll, but it’s pretty rudimentary and over-favors teams that have played more games (and won those extra grames):
Bad Computer Top 25
- Indiana
- Miami (FL)
- Ohio State
- Texas
- Oregon
- Penn State
- Pittsburgh
- BYU
- Iowa State
- Texas A&M
- Navy
- Texas Tech
- Ole Miss
- Army
- Nebraska
- SMU
- Duke
- Syracuse
- LSU
- Virginia
- Colorado
- Clemson
- Arizona State
- Alabama
- Missouri
- Illinois
- Washington
- North Texas
- Rutgers
- Georgia
- Utah
- Kansas State
- Memphis
- Tennessee
- Oklahoma
Indiana #1? Subscribe
Taking all bets on how high Vandy gets ranked.
1:1000 1st
1:100 2 to 9th
1:50 10 to 15th
1:25 16 to 20th
1:5 21st to 25th
1:2 Not ranked but receives Votes.
Note: the bank and casino of Milkisklim will only pay out only in Beamer Bucks which is valued at nothing because that’s how much preparation SC did for this week.
my rankings
Texas
Ohio State
ole Miss
Georgia
Oregon
Penn State
Miami FL
potato institute of Pickens county
Iowa State
LSU
Texas am
vandy
Alabama
Mizzou
Southern Cal
Boise State
Arkansas
Tennessee
Michigan
Washington
navy
army
SMU
California
Louisville
My ballot (computer poll). It no longer thinks of Texas as a league of their own, as an Ohio State University is closing the gap due to Texas being on bye last week (thank goodness for that). Everyone’s darling Vanderbilt doesn’t crack the top 25 but it does have the biggest movement, rising 42 places.
Also, when I was ranking Sam Houston (never thought I’d say that) it made me think of other newcomers to FBS. Looks like Kennesaw State is not listed in the dropdowns for this poll.
Full ranking:
Rank Change Team Record Points 1 - Texas 5-0 387 2 +2 Ohio State 5-0 372 3 +2 Ole Miss 5-1 368 4 -1 Alabama 4-1 356 5 +2 Indiana 6-0 352 6 - Miami (FL) 6-0 342 7 +27 Texas A&M 5-1 326 8 +3 Penn State 5-0 323 T9 -7 Notre Dame 4-1 321 T9 +7 Virginia Tech 3-3 321 11 +4 SMU 5-1 314 12 +2 Nebraska 5-1 309 T13 -1 Tennessee 4-1 305 T13 +8 Clemson 4-1 305 15 -2 USC 3-2 303 16 +18 Arkansas 4-2 302 17 +14 Washington 4-2 299 18 +4 Georgia Tech 4-2 292 19 +25 Tulane 4-2 291 20 -4 Michigan 4-2 288 21 -3 Boston College 4-2 286 T22 +18 Iowa State 5-0 282 T22 +7 Sam Houston 5-1 282 24 +16 Georgia 4-1 278 25 -17 Kentucky 3-2 277 26 +21 Minnesota 3-3 276 27 -18 BYU 5-0 275 28 +10 Texas Tech 5-1 272 29 -19 Oklahoma 4-1 270 30 -1 Duke 5-1 267 T31 +24 Army 5-0 264 T31 +9 Arizona State 4-1 264 33 -1 UNLV 4-1 262 34 +18 Oregon 5-0 261 T35 -3 JMU 4-1 257 T35 +5 Connecticut 4-2 257 T35 -12 South Carolina 3-2 257 38 +42 Vanderbilt 3-2 255 39 -3 TCU 3-3 251 40 +17 Pittsburgh 5-0 248 41 +23 Navy 5-0 243 42 +26 Houston 2-4 240 T43 -24 Cincinnati 3-2 237 T43 -5 Oklahoma State 3-3 237 T45 -26 LSU 4-1 236 T45 - Baylor 2-4 236 T47 +26 Boise State 4-1 234 T47 +3 North Carolina 3-3 234 T47 +10 Kansas 1-5 234 50 -2 Auburn 2-4 233 T51 -28 Utah 4-1 231 T51 -28 Colorado 4-1 231 T53 +4 Rutgers 4-1 230 T53 -30 Maryland 3-2 230 T53 +2 Louisville 3-2 230 T53 +8 Northern Illinois 3-2 230 57 -30 Kansas State 4-1 229 58 -30 Illinois 4-1 228 59 +7 Toledo 4-1 225 T60 +1 Arizona 3-2 224 T60 -8 Florida State 1-5 224 62 +15 Texas State 3-2 221 T63 +14 Syracuse 4-1 220 T63 +9 California 3-2 220 65 +31 West Virginia 3-2 219 66 +17 Virginia 4-1 215 67 +31 Jacksonville State 2-3 214 68 -16 Missouri 4-1 213 T69 -33 Memphis 4-1 212 T69 -5 Michigan State 3-3 212 T71 +8 Louisiana 4-1 211 T71 +2 South Alabama 2-4 211 73 +41 Wisconsin 3-2 209 74 -14 Iowa 3-2 208 75 -6 Northwestern 2-3 207 76 +18 Florida 3-2 205 77 -32 Washington State 4-1 203 78 -3 Nevada 2-4 202 T79 +4 San Jose State 4-1 198 T79 +8 Coastal Carolina 4-1 198 81 +4 UCF 3-2 197 T82 -33 Eastern Michigan 4-1 195 T82 +7 Oregon State 4-1 195 T82 -16 ECU 3-3 195 85 -34 UNT 4-1 193 86 +1 Old Dominion 1-4 189 87 +11 Bowling Green 2-3 188 T88 +9 NC State 3-3 186 T88 +21 Charlotte 3-3 186 90 - Miami (OH) 1-4 184 91 -30 Fresno State 3-2 180 T92 -22 Western Kentucky 3-2 173 T92 -22 FIU 2-3 173 94 +20 Wake Forest 2-3 171 95 -3 Troy 1-5 168 96 +17 Marshall 3-2 166 T97 -22 Ohio 3-2 163 T97 +8 UCLA 1-4 163 99 +2 Stanford 2-3 162 T100 +10 UL Monroe 4-1 161 T100 +6 Temple 1-5 161 102 -21 Liberty 4-0 156 T103 -22 Georgia Southern 3-2 155 T103 +4 Massachusetts 1-5 155 T105 -18 Buffalo 3-2 152 T105 -19 FAU 2-3 152 107 +10 San Diego State 2-3 151 108 -15 Mississippi State 1-4 144 T109 -14 Central Michigan 3-2 143 T109 +10 Arkansas State 3-2 143 111 +9 Hawaii 2-3 141 112 -12 New Mexico 1-4 139 113 +10 Western Michigan 2-3 137 114 -10 Tulsa 2-4 134 115 -13 USF 2-3 133 T116 +7 Colorado State 2-3 129 T116 -13 Rice 1-4 129 118 -11 Louisiana Tech 1-3 124 T119 -8 Wyoming 1-4 117 T119 +3 Air Force 1-4 117 121 -9 Georgia State 2-2 115 T122 -8 UTSA 2-3 113 T122 +3 UTEP 0-5 113 124 +7 Akron 1-5 110 T125 +4 Appalachian State 2-3 105 T125 -7 New Mexico State 1-4 105 T127 -7 UAB 1-4 100 T127 +5 Southern Mississippi 1-4 100 129 -1 Utah State 1-4 97 130 +4 Ball State 1-4 94 131 -5 Kennesaw State 0-5 92 132 -3 Purdue 1-4 85 133 -6 Middle Tennessee 1-4 81 134 -1 Kent State 0-5 61 Texas takes back the #1 spot after the Vandyset. Vandy back in the rankings. Rutgers takes #24
ballot
1. Texas 2. Penn State 3. BYU 4. Oregon 5. Miami 6. Ohio State 7. Iowa State 8. Alabama 9. Pittsburgh 10. Indiana 11. Georgia 12. Tennessee 13. Texas Tech 14. Clemson 15. Illinois 16. SMU 17. LSU 18. Notre Dame 19. Vanderbilt 20. Texas A&M 21. Oklahoma 22. Missouri 23. Nebraska 24. Rutgers 25. Washington 26. Ole Miss
My poll this week, I will take questions on everything except Tennessee’s ranking:
- Texas
- Ohio State
- Oregon
- Penn State
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- LSU
- Tennessee
- Miami (FL)
- Clemson
- Ole Miss
- Notre Dame
- Iowa State
- alabama
- Michigan
- Oklahoma
- Nebraska
- UNLV
- Army
- Indiana
- Boise State
- BYU
- Navy
- Illinois
- SMU
Arkansas should be ranked. It’s not a question, just a statement.
OK, where is your poll ranking them?
Made one just for you and submitted it.
1 tOSU 5-0
2 Texas 5-0
3 Penn 5-0
4 Oregon 5-0
5 Georgia 4-1
6 Miami 6-0
7 Bama 4-1
8 Iowa St. 5-0
9 UT 4-1
10 Ole Miss 5-1
11 BYU 5-0
12 Indiana 6-0
13 AtM 5-1
14 Notre Dame 4-1
15 Clemson 4-1
16 Boise St 4-1
17 Louisiana St. 4-1
18 Utah 4-1
19 Pitt 5-0
20 OU 4-1
21 Arkansas 4-2
22 Vanderbilt 4-2
23 Illinois 4-1
24 Kansas St. 4-1
25 Mizzou 4-1
I mean they only beat Tennessee, and Tennessee ain’t played nobody pawwwwlllll
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