CFB Top 25: Regular Season Final!

As I’ve mentioned previously, my true FINAL Top 25 will come after the bowls are completed. Between now & then, I’m going to look over the entire season & make sure that I am able to make any kinds of adjustments to my rankings that I should, so that I know that I have the best rankings possible! It’s easy to forget games & miss things that should be included in your rankings. But, until then, this is my final regular season rankings!

1. Oklahoma
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. Alabama
5. Boise State
6. Utah
7. USC
8. Penn State
9. Texas Tech
10. Ohio State
11. Oklahoma State
12. Cincinnati
13. TCU
14. Oregon
15. Georgia
16. Virginia Tech
17. Georgia Tech
18. BYU
19. Mississippi
20. Michigan State
21. Ball State
22. Boston College
23. Nebraska
24. Arizona
25. Oregon State

Also considered: Missouri, Western Michigan, Northwestern.

 

Yes, Missouri fell out of my Top 25! You might think “but wait, they’re still a really good football team”! Then, why haven’t they played like it? They don’t have a single signature win. Even Oregon State, who is ranked 25th by me has a signature win over USC. Also, unlike Georgia, they really have no excuse for NOT winning a game against a ranked team.  Georgia has a couple: The SEC wasn’t at it’s best this year & injuries.

Ball State took a nose dive down to the 21st spot.. That game against Buffalo was a disaster! Ball State cracked under the pressure, or at least Nate Davis did.

Cincinnati nearly got stunned by Hawaii, I tell ya. But hey, the homefield advantage for Hawaii is probably the best homfield advantage in the nation, that’s something that you have to realize. Hawaii puts the voodoo on teams down there on the island!

CFB Top 25: Let me be the human tiebreaker!!!

Yeah.. If some of you are still confused as to who the Big 12 South champs should be, allow me to help you out.

I noticed in some of the human polls out there that Texas jumped Oklahoma & Florida.. Simply amazing!

Texas routes a non-ranked, not even close to ranked, losing team & Oklahoma defeats a Top 15 school & BAM! Texas jumps them! I think the voters who caused that to happen have lost their minds! If you ranked Oklahoma ahead of Texas last week, you should also rank Oklahoma ahead of Texas this week, which leads me to what you all are waiting for………. My Top 25, ofcourse:

1. Alabama
2. Oklahoma
3. Texas
4. Florida
5. Boise State
6. Utah
7. USC
8. Penn State
9. Ball State
10. Texas Tech
11. Ohio State
12. Cincinnati
13. Oklahoma State
14. TCU
15. Boston College
16. Oregon
17. Georgia
18. Georgia Tech
19. BYU
20. Missouri
21. Mississippi
22. Michigan State
23. Virginia Tech
24. Nebraska
25. Oregon State

Didn’t consider anyone else.

Now, I’m going to address just a few other things here:

The first of which is about the spot in the BCS Bowl games that is now left open with Oregon State getting thumped by Oregon @ home, thus making USC an automatic bid into the Rose Bowl as PAC-10 Champs. The spot should go to the Boise State Broncos. It won’t happen, but, it should. In the Official BCS Standings, Boise State is ranked AHEAD of Ohio State, not to mention that Boise State is undefeated & Ohio State has 2 losses.

I understand that Boise State is only ONE spot ahead of Ohio State, but, isn’t #2 just one spot ahead of #3? This is the system that decides who plays for the National Title. There should NEVER be a time when they throw their own system aside & basically call it crap themselves. That’s what they’ll be doing if they do not choose Boise State to play in a BCS Bowl.

I know WHY they really won’t choose Boise State, too. It’s all about the money! You know what, though? I have a solution to their problem & I’ll explain it right here:

Let them play if their ranked high enough a good many times. If I’m not mistaking, Boise State gained a good many fans by beating Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. What if it happens again? They’ll pick up more fans & then if they got into another future BCS Bowl game, guess what? More people will watch on TV, more people will be excited to go to the game. It’s called developing a team.

Now, suppose it goes the other way & they let them play & Boise gets crushed consistently. I have a solution to that, as well. If that were to happen, their BCS Standings are INFACT crap & they need to adjust them so Boise State won’t be sitting at #9 for what they do. Either Boise State is the 9th best team in the nation this year or they’re not & they should be ranked much lower OR they’re better than #9 as I have them!

All I’m asking is that the BCS believe in their own rankings that they use to decide who goes to the National Championship game. How can anyone be comfortable with a system that the BCS themselves just throw out the window when they choose to? If they want to end talks of having a playoff, prove to us that YOU, YOURSELVES, THE BCS, believe your own standings that you produce. Otherwise, PLEASE revise them so that we don’t have a #9 team at the end of the season that has NO SHOT at even making a BCS Bowl & EVERYONE knows it.

Finally, when I say below my rankings that I did not consider anyone else, it doesn’t mean that I don’t think there are some teams to look at below those Top 25.. One team that I am really looking hard at is Western Michigan. I watched them play Ball State & this team is up & coming, guys. I really like what I see from them. What is it with me & these non-BCS teams??!?! Oddly enough, they’re Broncos too! Boy, I’d love to see them play Boise State! I’d also like to see Boise State vs. Ball State, they’re trying to actually make that one happen! What a game that would be! It really would be some kind of exciting! So yeah, don’t be surprised if you see Western Michigan climb into my Top 25 if they win their bowl game, I see some good things in this team.

It’s almost Bowl Time: It’s almost USC time!!!

Yeah, I was going to hold off until Monday when I post my usual rankings for my next blog.. But, I haven’t done anything special lately, it’s Thanksgiving & I had a discussion that made me realize a blog that I just couldn’t pass up..

The discussion was about some things that could happen this year & what has already happened in College Football & how teams should be ranked.. The guy I was having this discussion with was explaining how USC should be the team in the National Championship game over the likes of say, Florida.. I found this interesting & so here’s the blog..

So, I’m thinking about my response to him when he told me this.. I said something like “Well, I think that in a bowl game, USC would beat any team in the nation over 50% of the time out of 100 games”.. Earlier in the day, I had said that I thought that “when it’s bowl time, it’s USC time”.. So, it made me realize something.. He’s right, for the most part.

He explained to me that once you have abunch of teams with 1 loss, that it becomes the most important as to who the teams lost to.. USC, of the 1 loss teams, has the most respectable loss. However, when you have undefeated teams, like Utah, Boise State & Ball State, that’s when you look at who beat who & by how much & all of that stuff, but, it matters less when you’re talking about 1 loss teams.. That’s a very interesting way of thinking & you know, I think he’s right. I ALWAYS compare teams full seasons & count it against them when they have a close game against someone who I thought they should’ve beaten by more. He doesn’t see it that way, he said “a win is a win” & when you’re talking about 1 loss BCS teams, that’s true. He went on to say that even a win over say, Indiana, is a win over a big time program. That’s true.

What I see when I look at USC are some unimpressive wins against the likes of California & such. He sees a one loss team that lost early in the season that has proven that they win games against BCS opponents & even some quality ones, at that, such as Ohio State.. He admits that when you’re looking at two undefeated teams that you have to basically give more weight to close wins & blowouts & the like, but, when it’s USC & Florida & they both have 1 loss, you shouldn’t give as much weight to all of that & you should look at the losses & the impressive victories that they have to rank them.

I have to say.. I learned from both what he explained from his view to me & what I had said myself, that he has a strong point & he’s probably right.. USC belongs in the National Championship game. With that said, do I stick by my ranking of them? Ofcourse.. Still, to me, they’re the #8 team in the country & Florida is better than them.. What my main point of this blog is, is that both my opinion & his opinion are both very strong on the matter & that if you combine those two trains of thought, that makes for an even better overall opinion of things.

I guess that’s why the AP Poll is so interesting. It’s 65 different opinions all thrown into one! I think if you combine my rankings with the rankings of the guy that I had that discussion with, that my rankings would become even better (imagine that)!

So, after all the games have been played (including the bowl games), I would love to bring to all of you a combined two man poll, if you will, with my rankings combined with his. I think it would be a better overall view of College Football.. Also, if you’re lucky, maybe I can have my sister throw in her opinion as well! So, maybe it will be an end of the season 3 awesome people poll.. Yes, I think that will be the title for that, haha!

College Football Top 25: Boise State, Top 5?

1. Alabama
2. Oklahoma
3. Texas
4. Florida
5. Boise State
6. Utah
7. Penn State
8. USC
9. Ball State
10. Texas Tech
11. Oklahoma State
12. Georgia
13. Missouri
14. Ohio State
15. Cincinnati
16. TCU
17. Oregon State
18. Boston College
19. BYU
20. Oregon
21. West Virginia
22. Mississippi
23. Georgia Tech
24. Michigan State
25. Florida State

Also considered: Who really cares at this point?

The answer is… YES!! Boise State is now a Top 5 team in my view.. They’re not like Hawaii of last year, no way. Hawaii needed every last gasp to beat Washington last year, who was the worst team in the PAC-10.. Boise State has defeated Oregon this year, that’s better than anything Hawaii did last year..

So, you may question.. Why Boise State ahead of Utah? It’s all in the results.. Sure, Utah has faced a few tougher in-conference tests than Boise State has had to, but, 2 of Utah’s closest 4 games came against teams with losing records. There’s really not much difference between the WAC & the Mountain West except at the top.. The Mountain West has Utah, BYU & TCU while the WAC has Boise State & well, that’s it. Although, don’t let Fresno State fool you, they’re much better than their record would suggest.

Alot of people get caught up in Utah’s conference schedule compared to the WAC & think, oh my, that means Utah is better than Boise State.. But, do they really take the time to look at the close calls Utah has had against losing teams? Some will ofcourse say that Utah had Michigan beat badly & then Michigan rallied back late to make it seem close, yet, they’re quick to point out now that Boise State had a close one with Nevada..  There’s a couple of problems with that.. The first is that Nevada isn’t a losing team, they’re bowl eligible. The second is that Boise State led that game 41-24 with less than 5 minutes to go in the game.. So, if you wanna talk about the Nevada game for Boise State.. I’m more than happy to talk about the Michigan game & yes.. If Toledo can beat Michigan, so can Nevada.

The bottom line is that just because Boise State plays in the WAC where you aren’t forced to play TCU & BYU, doesn’t mean they’re not as good as Utah.. A team’s quality really isn’t measured by it’s schedule, it’s measured by it’s performance on the field against the schedule that they have.. Boise State performs better than Utah, in my eyes. Utah scores points for being battle tested. So, it’s close between the two, I give the edge to Boise..

Top 25: James Madison = GONE?!!?!?

1. Texas Tech
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Oklahoma
5. Florida
6. Boise State
7. USC
8. Penn State
9. Utah
10. Ball State
11. Oklahoma State
12. Georgia
13. Missouri
14. Ohio State
15. BYU
16. Cincinnati
17. TCU
18. Michigan State
19. LSU
20. Oregon State
21. Pittsburgh
22. Boston College
23. Oregon
24. Miami (FL)
25. West Virginia

Also considered: North Carolina, James Madison, Maryland

Yet Another College Football Top 25!

1. Texas Tech
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Oklahoma
5. Florida
6. Boise State
7. USC
8. Penn State
9. Utah
10. Ball State
11. Oklahoma State
12. Georgia
13. Missouri 
14. Ohio State
15. Cincinnati
16. North Carolina
17. BYU
18. TCU
19. Michigan State
20. LSU
21. Pittsburgh
22. Air Force
23. Florida State
24. Oregon State
25. James Madison

Also considered: Tulsa, South Carolina, Arizona

 

Few things I’d like to explain here.. Utah only moved up a spot in my rankings for two reasons.. #1. They had to, there was nobody that could jump them that would be reasonable, seeing as teams ahead of them lost. #2. They did beat a ranked team of mine, that does count for something.

Next up, James Madison did hang on to their #25 ranking.. They were idle & nobody did anything to jump them.

Finally, I figured it’s time to stop goofing around with Ball State & give them the respect they deserve.. They’re playing every bit as good as Utah, if not better.. The only difference is the conference in which they play. Ball State is legit.

Top 25 in College Football: The Bottom Shakes Up Again!!!

All year long, the bottom of my rankings have been changing so quickly.. Teams shuffle in & out every week.. I really just feel like there are maybe about 11 legit teams & the rest are all just “whatever”..

This week, James Madison did INDEED break through into my Top 25 & yes, it is a legit ranking for them.. Why? Yes, they’re an FCS school with 1 loss, that loss was to Duke.. However, look at the rest of their schedule.. They’ve creamed teams.. Yes, they’re FCS opponents.. But, Georgia Tech BARELY beat Gardner-Webb who aren’t even that good for an FCS team.. Am I supposed to rank them ahead of James Madison when Georgia Tech lost to both Virginia Tech & Virginia as well as BARELY BEATING GARDNER-WEBB?!?!?! I don’t think so.. James Madison crushes those kinds of teams..

I’m beginning to think more & more that Boise State is a Top 5 team.. Their win over Oregon doesn’t look as impressive now.. But, they’re still winning & winning like they’re supposed to over their opponents.. Boise State is a VERY consistent team, that’s why I rank them so highly.. Plus, I’m a big fan of theirs.. But really, I let that influence me very little, if at-all.. Boise State distanced themselves from Utah in my eyes this week.. Utah had a close game with New Mexico that shouldn’t have been that close.. Simply put, Boise State is the best non-BCS conference team & far more consistent than most BCS conference teams, that’s why I have them ranked so highly & think so much of them. GO BRONCOS!!!

Now, I must painfully speak of the Georgia Bulldogs.. To lessen the pain, I’m going to first state that I wasn’t wrong about them.. They would be undefeated right now & on their way to a National Championship if not for injuries (yeah, excuses, but, I’ll hang my hat on them to make me feel better)! Anyway, Georgia lost the two biggest games on their schedule, but, they did not just lose them, they got CRUSHED in both of them.. Personally, the Alabama loss was much more painful as a UGA fan just because it was during a Blackout. I seriously doubt the fans at the UGA/Florida game were as pumped as the ones at that UGA/Alabama game, the fans were absolutely electric there & so were the UGA players even when they were losing big. But, the Florida loss does knock UGA out of National Title hopes, however, UGA was knocked out of National Title hopes when they lost many of their starting players.. So yes, I stand by that the Alabama loss was definitely the more gruesome defeat as a fan.

Now that I’ve gotten all of that out of the way, here are my Top 25:

1. Texas Tech
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Oklahoma
5. Penn State
6. Boise State
7. Florida
8. Oklahoma State
9. USC
10. Utah
11. TCU
12. Georgia
13. Missouri
14. Ball State
15. LSU
16. Ohio State
17. BYU
18. Michigan State
19. North Carolina
20. California
21. Cincinnati
22. West Virginia
23. Air Force
24. Pittsburgh   
25. James Madison

Also considered; Tulsa, Georgia Tech, Maryland

College Football Rankings: Top 25…

Ok, we are well into the College Football season, so, I’ve been keeping track of my Top 25 teams & all preseason bias is out of my rankings, so, no pre-conceived notions influence these rankings..

Before I show you these rankings, I want everybody to understand that these are not meant to predict anything.. These are my view of what teams have done thus far given their schedule.. I take many intangibles into account as well, for example: UGA’s injuries.. Also, I give non-BCS teams credit for what they do.. I firmly believe that Utah could bust the BCS this year & win, as well as Boise State.. I will always rank LSU ahead of Ohio State, I will also rank most other top SEC schools ahead of Ohio State, as well.. Why? Because just being Ohio State isn’t good enough, just because you come in 2nd in the Big Ten doesn’t make you all that wonderful in my eyes.. The Big Ten should have their conference name changed to the Small Compared To The SEC 2.. No, I’m not one of those SEC elitist, I’m just a realist.. The realization of the matter is that the Big Ten Champion over the past fews years hasn’t proven that they can beat a top SEC team.. Until they prove that they can, they are viewed just like a WAC team to most others.. Yes, I believe Utah or Boise State could lay the smack down on Ohio State this year.. I believe Boise State could hang in there with Penn State..

Finally.. James Madison is every bit as worthy of a Top 25 ranking as Maryland is!!! No? Ok, MAYBE not..

Ok, so, without any further adieu, here are my Top 25, enjoy:

1. Texas
2. Penn State
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma
5. Texas Tech
6. Georgia
7. Boise State
8. Oklahoma State
9. Utah
10. USC
11. Florida
12. TCU
13. Missouri
14. Ball State
15. Tulsa
16. BYU
17. Florida State
18. Minnesota
19. LSU
20. Ohio State
21. Oregon
22. North Carolina
23. Troy
24. Michigan State
25. Connecticut

Also considered: Air Force, James Madison (yes, I said this may happen & it will next week if teams don’t quit playing so bad), Maryland

Season Openers: Best time to schedule a difficult game!

I just wanted to take a look at College Football teams who scheduled tough season openers against teams who did not & explain why the teams that did this are likely to be better teams than those who scheduled cupcakes.

First of all, let me just say that I know that some teams just don’t want to take risks on the first game of the year. Understandable, sure, the smartest thing to do? Not in my view! Here’s why:

When you schedule a cupcake team (or weak team) for your season opener, you’re doing a few things; First of all, you’re not allowing yourself to properly evaluate your team early on.. Just because College Football doesn’t have preseason games like the NFL, doesn’t mean that the first few weeks aren’t very much like preseason games. Something else that you’re doing is setting your team up for a potential early loss. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: “Well, if you schedule a tough team, you’re DEFINITELY setting yourself up for an early loss, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING??!??!?”

Allow me to explain. If you play a cupcake team & trounce them easily. Easily being the key word there.. That means that you’re probably not concentrating all that hard for the most part of the game. So, then next week comes along against a mediocre team & lets just say that your team is actually one of the Top 10 schools.. Well, if this doesn’t become a trap game at this point now, NOTHING does! You just finished squashing a cupcake, you’re feeling good, you have a false evaluation of your team now & so you’re heading into this game not REALLY KNOWING how good your team is, great.. Blind squirrel has stumbled upon what it thinks to be a nut!

Now, lets say you schedule a ranked opponent for your season opener or atleast a pretty good team. Well, you’re giving yourself the shot to do EVERYTHING that you CAN’T do when you schedule a cupcake. You get a proper evaluation of how good your team is, with this information you can carry it into next week & truly improve, you quicken your season preparation process (again, first week or two is like NFL Preseason for College teams).

But, if you’re worried about an early loss, well, guess what? The other team is also just starting the season!! It’s a fair game.. It’s just like if it were scheduled in the middle of the year, the only difference is, it shortens the length of time you have to wait before you TRULY know how good your team ACTUALLY is.

So, to put these thoughts into action for this season.. I’m going to say this:

Missouri & Illinois deserve props for opening against each other. Missouri will be scary from here on out, Illinois has set itself up for another good year, despite the loss.

Ohio State has set itself up for a loss against USC in Week 3.. Yes, I’m calling it.

Michigan knows what kind of season they’re in for.

Alabama knows what they’re capable of, they have a better chance at having a good year now, rather than if they had scheduled a cupcake, squashed them & then played the Clemson game! Could’ve been a whole different story.

Virginia Tech knows that they have ALOT of work to do…. East Carolina is now poised to be non-BCS party crasher to the teams figuring on being the BCS party crashers! Yes.. I’m saying it.. East Carolina could be the next Boise State!

 

So, I’m going to wrap this up.. The bottom line is: Scheduling a cupcake for your season opener in College Football isn’t a very bright thing to do. You learn ZILCH about your team, you set yourself up for disappointment, you lengthen your preparation for the season ahead when you play REAL games. Oh & you leave yourself open to pulling a Michigan, why? Because it’s the first game of the year!! Appalachian State would have NEVER beaten Michigan in mid-year.. NEVER!

Dawg Pounding To The National Championship (Football)

That’s right… The Georgia Bulldogs will be barking their way up the right tree this year.. What’s the advantage? They start at the top!

Oh & it also doesn’t hurt to be one of the most talented teams in the nation, if not THE most talented. Sure, there are some tough teams with weak schedules (namely; Ohio State & Missouri) that if the Dawgs don’t get walked enough, don’t get their doggie bowl filled all the way up to the top or act more like hound dogs & just loaf around too much, especially with them sporting the toughest schedule in the nation (in my opinion), could move right on up & take a National Championship spot away from them!

Still, I say that these Georgia Bulldogs will either go undefeated or finish up with just 1 loss & that loss would come at the hands of their nightmare that is the Florida Gators. Either of those, I feel, should keep them in National Championship contention, considering that toughest schedule in the nation & the fact that I believe Ohio State will stumble to USC, Oklahoma will stumble to somebody, not sure who & Missouri will make a mistake somewhere, most likely at Texas.

Having said that, who do I think will be in the National Championship game with Georgia? Well, that would be Oklahoma. The only test for Oklahoma will probably be Missouri in the conference championship game. Oklahoma has Missouri’s number, Oklahoma doesn’t fear Missouri, Missouri fears Oklahoma! Oklahoma will beat Missouri again & that will put them at #2 in the BCS & secure a National Title game spot!

Why do I think Georgia will defeat Oklahoma? It’s simple… Oklahoma doesn’t Knowshon! Oklahoma is all bark & no bite!! They can’t win the big game & their coach has a fitting last name… Stoops.. Yeah.. After they finish their business there, they’ll take a big bite out of the Sooners & become the National Champions!!!