I agree that Oregon should rise despite its loss. Right NOW, there are only about four teams that would be favored over them on a neutral field. That's also why I'm ready to say that the Pac-10 actually is currently the best conference in college football. Its top three teams are simply better than the top three of any other conference. I'm sure a lot of people with residences between Louisiana and Florida would disagree but I can't see how any unbiased person would not come to the same conclusion.

Speaking of which, Florida lost (at home) to the same Auburn team that lost (at home) to South Florida. Using logic, I'm sure there are plenty of SEC fans ready to admit that the Big East is a better conference, right? Riiiiiiiight.

When was the last time both Texas AND Oklahoma entered the Red River Shootout with a loss?

Go Baylor.

Mandel, practice what you preach. In moving Oregon up you (rightly) use the justification that they would beat Wisconsin. But do you honestly think any of these teams
5 Ohio St.
6 Oregon
8 Oklahoma
14 Florida
would LOSE TO SOUTH FLORIDA?
Bull. Get off the USF bandwagon, dude!

I think we learned that there is more parity this year. It still remains to be seen whether LSU and USC are to remain in the elite status. I thought both would be beaten at least once this season. And we have learned that the early talk of Hawaii's weak schedule keeping it out of BCS bowl contention was hogwash. Hawaii will continue to be bumped forward week after thrilling week with its daredevil attitude towards scheduling championship level competition.

Two things:

There's no reason to delay the AP poll or stress out about it, because it's no longer used by the BCS anyway.

If I wanted to know what message board nitwits were saying, I know where to find them. Please quit writing about them (or lazily letting them write your column for you?).

Thanks Stew - I totally agree! It's absolutely unfathomable to me that Oregon drops while losing a nail-biter to the (now) number 3 team in the country. Oklahoma, Wisconsin, BC, South Carolina have no business being ranked higher than the Ducks, and for once I see what a joke the AP really is. Though I do agree with dropping my beloved Trojans to number 2. Perhaps that will light a fire under their belly (the Trojans are heretofore renamed the ToeJams until further notice after last nights' performance).

That it exactly why Preseason Ranking should not be official. If you pay close attention to the preseason top 10, you will noticed 7 out of 10 teams have already lost, two of them have two losses! The only three remaining is USC, LSU, and still struggling Wisconsin. That speak for itself.

Thanks Stu. If nothing you are at least consistent in your (il)logic. So, LSU beats 114th ranked Tulane, USC going 4-deep for its cornerback due to injuries, and suffering still more injuries on the road, at night, in the rain against a conference opponent ranked 46th (which BTW beat Syrcause, Louisville victors by 30), gets dropped to second. While you were correct re moving Oregon up, having South Florida moved higher than Ohio State, Oregon or Oklahoma is idiotic at best.

USC hag a horrible game but did what elite teams are supposed to do --win.

This is the difference between the SEC and every other conference. Cal and Oregon are both good teams and played a high level of football. NOw both get to coast through their schedule until they play USC and then no championship game. UF plays Auburn, LSU, Kentucky, Georgia, USC and FSU and that after playing Tennessee. Not even close and then if they win all those they still have to play a championship game....I would love to see Oregon rebound and travel to Alabama and the UGA, Kentucky, UF, LSU, and a weak Auburn or Tennessee at night. I mean Stanford, Washington St, Washington, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona St, and Oregon St...WOW THOSE ARE SOME POOWEr HOUSE PROGRAMS...HOw many national championships between them in the last 10-15 years????????

Hey posters,

all South Florida has done is win every game against BCS opponents thus far, including West Virginia and Auburn. Why not reward them with a significant bump? They are undefeated, they've beaten good competition, and many of the teams you've proposed bumping ahead of them just lost to lesser teams (e.g., Fla, Oklahoma). Face it, USF has a great and legitimate defense (just ask the Mountaineers). If USF had been playing those OK or UF teams yesterday, they WOULD have beaten them.

I think I can see your biases showing towards the more traditional programs.

Matt

I'm getting a little tired of the growing chorus of "drop John David Booty" from SC fans. Booty is not Carson Palmer and Booty is not Matt Leinart. But he is still a strong QB. As I recall from the game last night, most of the problems the Trojans had were not Booty's fault. Yes he overthrew a couple of times and was picked off, but I distinctly recall him connecting with receivers who couldn't hold onto the ball. And he wasn't even on the field for a sloppy turnover or two. Face it SC fans (myself included), he's the best we've got, and he's not going anywhere. And for Pete's sake, they won the game.

Although I would have loved to see my Trojans keep the #1 spot this week, I'm not all that upset about LSU taking over by the tiniest of margins. There is still nothing keeping the Trojans from the BSC title game except for the Trojans themselves. Just keep winning games and earn the trip. Nothing wrong with that. And don't be surprised if that #1 spot goes back and forth a couple more times before the season is over. The Trojans are perfectly capable of winning all of their games. No, it won't be easy. They just have to do it. That's what champions do.

I'm glad to see Cal & Oregon get the props they deserve.

Finally, a general comment on "bias." Fans love to accuse sports writers of terrible bias when they disagree about their team. But the fact is that any fan on any given day displays more irrational bias than all the sports writers put together. If you don't like what a writer says about your team or you think your team doesn't get the praise and attention they deserve, your team is perfectly capable of earning it by winning their games and proving the writers wrong. And if they can't. . . well then.

That the Big 12 North is back! (Finally.)......so that is like being the smartest kid on the short bus.
Great so Nebraska, whose defense could stop a 2 yr old on a tricycle, gets to play the winner of Texas-Oklahoma...which is still Texas or Oklahoma getting a warm up for their BS....err sorry BCS game. The Big 12 North will continue to be the also rans in the Big 12 for a few more yrs.

Kentucky has beaten an SEC West team on the road and a Top 10 Big East team at home. South Florida has beaten an SEC West team on the road and a Top 10 Big East team at home. Yet, USF is 5 and UK is 12? Seriously, how does that make sense?

Also, Georgia, a team in the SEC East, has 1 loss. Kentucky, a team in the SEC East, is undefeated. The last time these two team played, UK won. Yet, UGA is ranked higher than UK? Once again, it doesn't make a lot of sense.

Kentucky vs. USF would be a game that would probably be won by the home team. But, based on what they've done this year, I don't understand the huge difference you have for them in the rankings.

The last thing anyone should be saying after this week is "Do you honestly think this team would beat that team?" How many people honestly picked Colorado to beat Oklahoma?

The fact is, South Florida is a Big East school (a BCS conference) and therefore shouldn't be derided for their season. Kentucky is #8 right now and they are typically one of the doormats for the big-time SEC schools.

As for #1, I still don't see how USC can be penalized for a close game against a recent Top 25 team. Despite the final score, Tulane played LSU close, and thus their victory was just as unimpressive if not more so than USC's.

thanks Stew.... But watch out for the Buckeyes. Not because they are the best team in the country but because they have the most favorable schedule in the country. They have already proven they are a team to be reckoned with with the lopsided victory over Washington that gave USC such a difficult time. Yes, they play Michigan who had a difficult time with Northwestern, a team OSU was up 35-0 by the beginning of the second qtr. Wisconsin comes to the horseshoe this year and thats an automatic +10. Penn State is in a death spiral. Who does that leave? Purdue, Kent State and Michigan State. Of the three, Michigan State will present the biggest challenge with Dantonio's history here but again they are playing at the horseshoe. This is a classic Jim Tressel season and why he has won 4 national championships and been in the championship games many more times. We all remember Florida last year but they aren't the same team and neither is OSU. The real question is who is getting the most out of the replacements in this reloading year??

USF would have beaten anybody (except LSU) in the country Friday night. They have MUCH TOO MUCH speed for Ohio State or any Big Ten school.

I really don't understand the continued USF skepticism. Taylor Holland even included Florida among the list of teams that I'd be nuts to think would "LOSE TO SOUTH FLORIDA."

Well, let's see here. USF beat Auburn on the road. Florida lost to Auburn at home. ... So how is it unfathomable that USF could beat Florida???

I just read Trey's comment and wanted to respond. Every team he mentioned (except maybe Oregon St)from the Pac-10 has won the Pac-10 championship in the last 10-15 years. In many of those years, that team was highly ranked and in some instances got passed over by some teams that only got ranked high because so many writers are from the East. You can only really claim that there are three bad teams in the Pac-10, about the same ratio as bad teams in every major conference.

Stop speaking to the "top-to-bottom" and concentrate on the teams individually. I don't think many of those SEC teams would really like to have to go face Oregon, Cal, USC, and UCLA out west right now just as much as I don't think the Pac-10 teams would like to do the same with the SEC.

This is why matchups like Cal-Tennessee are great no matter the score. You have two teams that could potentially contend for championships risking it right at the beginning of the season. More conferences should do things like this more often instead of scheduling teams like Florida International (no offense to FIU, but until you win much in your own conference the SEC shouldn't be given credit for beating you).

I agree that USF has come a long way. They are a team that will do well for a long time but as for speed? Check the defensive rankings, look at where the Buckeyes are? This is a reloading year for the Bucks who lost 8 people to Sunday football but if anything has improved its there speed. I would love to see a USF vs OSU BCS bowl game. I would still have to take the Buckeyes by 14. But I have great admiration for what USF has done and will do in the years to come.

To be fair... i dont think Booty has had any really impressive passing games in his tenure... most of his completions come from wide open receivers... If carroll trully favors competition, lets check out what sanchez has to offer.

To whoever said "when was the last time OU and Texas had both lost going into their game" ... try last year. OU lost (maybe) to Oregon at Autism stadium and Texas lost on the road to Ohio State.

Seriously, stop ripping Stewart for his opinion. Until you are distinguished enough to get a vote in the AP poll, a bi-weekly column on a nationally (globally?) recognized sports site, and a book published your opinion is meaningless. The guy knows his stuff and is not biased, unless "biased" is code for "he said bad things about my school because they lost".

My thoughts on the current top 10, copied from another message board:

Among the teams which are likely to be among the top 10 in tomorrows polls, the following matchups remain

-USC vs. Cal
-USC vs. Oregon
-LSU vs. Florida
-Ohio State vs. Wisconsin
-South Florida vs. West Va.
-Kentucky vs LSU
-Kentucky vs. Florida (consecutive weeks, BTW)
-SEC Championship game (possibly a rematch of Florida-LSU)

Lots of games are left and anything can happen. Don't get all upset and take it out on Stewart or the other (anonymous) posters here. There is still a lot to be decided this season.

yes, South Florida has more speed then Ohio State. I guess thats why S.F. has more people in the NFL. Oh wait, they dont. i love when people say OSU is slow because of 1 game they had 2 months off with. Even pros said they couldnt play with that big of a layoff, and they are professionals, they were 21 yr kids.

OK, now let all the dumb azzes come on disagreeing, basically saying they know more then NFL scouts. your right mr couch potatoe, OSU is slow, and those NFL scouts know nothing haha idiots.

that said, South florida is a good team and would prob give anyone a run.

To whoever says "do you really think [fill in team here] will beat [fill in any traditional power]" they show how little they know about football...To say USF or anything upstart would have no chance against Ohio State, Okla., or any other team must still be living in the 70's...Its a new world and after seeing the speed of the USF defense neutralize my Mountaineers, I nor anyone else can say they would or wouldnt lose to anyone

Lets deal with the facts which normally lead us to the truth:

Ohio State Run defense #4 USF #28
Ohio State Total defense #2 USF #18
Ohio State Pass Defense #6 USF #25
Ohio State Scoring #25 USF Not in the top 50

USF is gaining ground in a hurry but legacy in not created in one season. Like I mentioned, I would love to see a OSU vs USF BCS Bowl Game.

Frankly, I'm a bit tired of all the talk about which conference is "the best." Honestly, who cares? Until the AP and coaches start to make a joke out of those rankings as well, I can't see how it matters. (And if the debate makes it that far, my best guess is that the discussion has already become inconsequential anyway.)

I know Mandel uses his Power Rankings each week as a sort of "snapshot" of where each team is at the current time, but I'm going to agree with previous posts and call him out on South Florida at #4. Is there any way USF is the fourth best college team in America right now? Probably not. Several teams ranked lower (namely Ohio State, Georgia, Oklahoma, Florida, and likely even West Virginia in a rematch) might clobber USF at the moment. Perhaps in another 5 weeks we'll have a clearer (muddier?) picture of how the season's going to finish.

To BuckiJerry -- as a fellow Buckeye, I agree completely with your call for an OSU v. USF BCS game. But then again, I also got excited when Florida made the title game last year over Michigan ...

Ohio State hasn't had any real tests yet, so I'm going to save my unbridled enthusiasm until after a couple of primetime Big 10 road games in October.

Stewart... take it easy and don't worry too much about your rankings.The fact is no one cares about AP polls anymore as they are not part of the BCS rankings. And the readers should also realize this and stop complaining about Stewart's ballots...Let the BCS rankings come out and then we can start our fights... Till that, let AP pollsters like Stewart come up with their rankings because... WHO CARES??? I just hope that Stewart did not lose his sleep on this...

ok, jerry, I agree that a USF vs OSu BCS game would be a good one. However the facts you presented are not fair. OSU(And I say this with some resignation as a Buckeye fan myself) has not played anyone real yet. They knew this would be a rebuilding year and thusly scheduled cupcakes early to help a team that certainly would be loaded with underclassmen. To a point I dont disagree with the decision, that BCS money looks great coming in when your school is going to recieve the lion's share. However, even though I am excited at the prospect of them being #4, I dont honestly believe they arethe 4th, 5th or even 6th best team in the country right now.

The remainder of this season will prove what the buckeyes are really made of. Starting with Purdue (current #23) on the road (always a tough game, ask the 2002 natl champ team), 5 of the last 6 opponents could be ranked at game time as opposed to 0 of the first 5. Penn State might not be if they continue their slide, but I see, Michigan State, Wisc, Illinois and yes Michigan being in the top 25 at kickoff. The Big Ten isnt as strong as it was a few years ago, but it isnt as bad as advertised either. Condsider the fact that potentially 8 of the teams in the conference could be ranked for at least a week during the season and that even with Michigan's disasterous start, they have had 3 seperate top 5 teams in the polls, a statement no other conference can yet boast, not even the vaunted SEC.

I know the arguements are coming and I welcome them....that is exactly what these forums are for and exactly why i love college football above all other sports. Passion and team/conference pride drive us to defend our team or conference even in the face of blantant adversity.

And should LSU lose next week, OSU will jump them in the polls despite the fact I dont think on any field even the Shoe itself, could OSU beat LSU. but given the nature of the polls and the fact that a loss very often (obviously not always) destroys your hopes of a natl title. What a great sport!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ohio state md 2009, well said. Like you said, USF is probably not the 4th best team in the land, but they are getting their reward of the moment for what they have done so far (beating Auburn at their place and handling WVU at home) this season, and no matter what conference or team has your allegiance, that isn't too bad.

As always, time will tell as the majority of the top fifteen teams will be different come December because they all play each other.

Then, the play on the field will decide it (for the most part anyway) like it always does.

And for the record, USF, West Virginia, Kentucky, or others like them might lose more matchups than they win with the likes of USC, LSU, etc., but they could just as easily whack them on any given Saturday as well. But then again, that could be said of just about anybody. So where does that leave it all. Yea, play the damn games.

To buckijerry

OU Run defense #7 CU #29
OU Pass defense #40 CU #13
OU Total Defense #6 CU #14
OU Scoring #3 CU #76 (but amazingly Michigan is lower than that)

The point is this, you look at these stats and you would have to assume that Colorado more than likely was going to get smacked around. But that didn't happen. You can't just look at the stats right now to judge who may win.

First to Shriram....Stewart has a right to stress over it because even though the AP is not involved in the BCS, it does form the base in which the Harris and Coaches polls are voted on (check them side but side when all are available, with some minor changes here and there)...Second, thanks Stewart for having a poll that makes sense (except for Oklahoma over West Virginia). I don't know why the rest of the writers couldn't have seen the logic that you had in your choices....And lastly, is it me or did we just see the first days of BCS Armageddon go down this weekend?

Mandel,

You should really read your own column (blog). What you have already written about and know is that to win any college football game is a tough task. In making your AP rankings you need to follow that. You are doing is the absolute thing that you are writing about. Your AP ballot should reflect each teams performance each week on the FIELD and NOT who this team beat and how big this win is over that win.

The ABSOLUTE #1 criteria each week is DID THE TEAM WIN. No matter who they play. Did they win?

Any criteria after that can be debated but week after week you don't do that. You keep ranking teams based on YOUR INTERPRETATION of how strong they are based upon common teams, etc. Get back to basics and use the #1 criteria "DID THE TEAM WIN OR NOT", then go an play analyst.

Ranking 1 and 2-loss teams really says that these teams have free passes to lose games and still get ranked high. A LOSS IS A LOSS. Ask Michigan. Unless the writers or NCAA start mandating schedules you cannot penalize a team if NO ONE WANTS TO PLAY THEM. If you poll coaches or AD's from the BIG conferences NO WAY would they willingly schedule or play the Boise St's, Hawaii's, or Cincinnati's? NO WAY. So if a team play's "nobody", rank them higher according to their play on the field and MAYBE the big boys will start to play the mid-majors DURING the season.

Nothing against the SEC or all the major conferences but Mandel and all the other AP writers need to establish a solid #1 criteria for voting. DID THE TEAM WIN.

A TRUE Football fan tired of teams not playing it out on the field...

That's right...who cares about which conference is best (even though almost half the AP top twelve are SEC teams--count'em, FIVE.

What matters in Baton Rouge, LSU is at their rightful place in the AP Poll (the one that dissed us in 2003, although we still have that big trophy).

Ironically, the coaches haven't come around yet.

As for Cal, I guess someone has to be third, but they give up almost four touchdowns per game and they've played one team still ranked. But then no one in the PAC 10 plays defense but USC and they're pretty average.

BTW, LSU has given up four touchdowns in their last--what is it?--22 quarters and that includes three ranked opponents.

We've had our red zone penetrated four times this year--and we're complaining about that.

If you want to beat us, you'd better hold us to ten points or so, cause you're probably not going to get much more than that.

BTW, we can play offense too.

South Florida lacks respect b/c they are the new team on the block. Even though they are the second (maybe first b/c all Florida has is Tebow up the middle and nothing else) best team in Florida. They have only beat 3 ranked teams in their last six games!
Kdog - if you are watching the game right now (Giants vs. Eagles) then you see Mitchell on the Giants playing OLB and Reed on the Eagles returning kicks from THE University of South Florida. We also have Henry on the Cowboys and have 5 or 6 more on other teams that do not start. Not bad for a team only a decade old. Look for Mike Jenkins and Trae Williams to be playing cornerback in the NFL soon along with others.

buckijerry - those OSU stats are great but you have not played anyone yet. Those stats include Akron and Youngstown State. South Florida has played Auburn and West Virginia with two Heisman hopefulls on offense (even though Slaton has done nothing in 3 years against us. Pro scouts may need to realize that Slaton cannot deal with South Florida's speed). That being said I would not want to play OSU at home but hopefully South Florida can keep rolling and they will play an "old" established school in a bowl game. A lot of games to go for that to happen though.

I am estatic that South Florida is number 6/9 in the country but I hope they stay focused and not let it go to their head.

To Florida fans - Why will you not play us in Tampa? Miami signed on for five years of games in Tampa and Miami on Thanksgiving. You guys signed on only to play at the swamp. Do you guys ever play an away game outside of your conference? You seem to have 8 home games a year. There should be rules about this but I still think it would be a great game this year. Your one and only weapon Tebow against our fast defense. If Grothe played well you would be very worried. I may be bias though since I HATE Florida.

Go Bulls!!!!

The polls are bogus in the first place. After the (somewhat) legitimate preseason polls, it all rests on wins and losses. There is no better example of it than West Virginia this week. A top six team, national title contender, loses ONE GAME to a RANKED TEAM ON THE ROAD and drops TWELVE SPOTS. So they are below Kentucky, Boston College, and a whole host of other teams who are good but not West Virginia good. Florida also dropped significantly after losing to a good Auburn team (yes, it was a home loss, but it was an SEC loss). Is it just me who doubts USF, Kentucky, and BC as top ten teams? Top 20, yes. But I like to consider myself a pretty avid college football fan and i haven't heard of one player on Kentucky's defense. And why is South Carolina ahead of Virginia Tech? They both have up in the air QB situations, but VT has a dominating defense while South Carolina has one dominating linebacker..who is gone for the season. Why is it about wins and losses instead of common sense? Missouri better than Texas? Cincinnati better than Rutgers? Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Florida are much better teams than Boston College, Kentucky, and South Carolina. There are too many examples in this current poll, which might be the most inaccurate ballot I have ever seen. The fact that your standing in the poll can hinge so much on one loss is absurd.

Don't go ragging on Kentucky now... They've fought very hard to get to their current position, and are led by arguably the best Quarterback in the nation.

Simply put, their offense puts them in a position to win every game they play. To assert that Florida, or any team for that matter is instantly better than Kentucky simply because of their traditional status is ignorant.

With that said, I think we'll see soon enough how "real" this Kentucky team is, with 3 big upcoming challenges in South Carolina, LSU, and Florida. The way I see it, Kentucky has an opportunity to walk away from that series with only 1 loss.

Stewart,

I don't get all the dumping on UNC. I mean, at 1-4, I don't exactly expect you to call the team "good," and "young and inexperienced" certainly fits, but this team is too intriguing to be just "bad." Despite all the dumping on the talent level, Bunting did leave behind two top 25 recruiting classes from the last four years. T. J. Yates is a serious star in the making, and has three top shelf wideouts to throw to. Yes, the OL and the RBs are all babies, but they're also showing measurable improvement every game, as is the very young defense.

I'm not saying we're (oops, sorry -- they're) even going to make the Hormel Meats/Quikie Mart Bowl, but I would give them a better than average chance of upsetting South Carolina or Miami or Georgia Tech (Chan Gailey's always good for a choke job) this year. The yardage totals at VT weren't flukes.

To trey1030 and all of the football = life southern folks, So when did Arkansas, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Kentucky won lately and Georgia and Ole Miss haven’t won anything since 60’s and 70’s. I admit that the SEC has had more winners but comparing Alabama and Oregon as equals is stretch at best. Oh and Washington split a national championship 17 years ago so you might leave them out :)

as painful as it was to watch the USC game, in some ways a sophisticated college football observer would have to be impressed. To play your 5th string CB, 3rd string LB, have 2 starting o-linemen injured on the same play in the 1st qtr (the center no less - leading to a fumble snap giving WA a TD), in the rain, against a team wearing 1960 WA throwback jerseys, creating 16 penalties (a couple key ones unwarranted) - have 2 RBs gain over 100 yards, didn't even give up 200 yards- don't know how a voter changes their vote given LSU was sluggish early against a very weak opponet - unless of course the voter actually didn't watch the game. Teams lose these games, and USC won. Impressive. i feel sorry for Stanford next week.

Granted, I am a South Carolina homer, but ranking UGA over SC and Kentucky in your extreme makeover AP edition is ludicrous. SC beat UGA at UGA. UGA has beaten and average Alabama team and Ole Miss but who else. KY stands on the shoulders of a road win at Arkansas and a Louisville team that fields a JV defensive squad.

Furthermore, South Florida #4? Come on. The AU team that beat on the Plains wasn't quite the same team that beat UF last night. And they beat an over-rated WVU team without their starting QB.

And ranking FSU? Who have they beaten?

You can't survive in the best conference in the nation (SEC) without a running back. We finally saw how good Tim Tebow is when he goes up against a legit SEC defense. He cant run the ball 30 times a game and be successful. Eventually they start to catch on. If he tries to do that against LSU, Kentucky, or Georgia his ass will be in the dirt ALL DAY!!!

To Jonathan,

UGA won a nat'l championship in 1980. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's after the 60's and 70's. And while there were no national championships in the early 2000's, they did post a string of 1-2 loss seasons (including SEC championship and bowl games, making 13 total games). Lumping them with Ole Miss shows some serious ignorance, as the two programs are not even in the same ballpark.

South Florida beat WVU with Pat White in the game. He played the first half of the game and WVU only scored 3 points. The backup played better than he did.

And of course it wasn't the "same" Auburn team that lost to South Florida AT home as was the one that "beat" Florida. Give me a break. Maybe South Florida's defense is that good that it makes good teams not so good.

Once again...South Florida has beaten 3 ranked teams (1 at home and 2 on the ROAD!) in their last six games. Is there another team that can say that?

Maybe South Carolina should be rated higher than South Florida b/c they have beat who other than Georgia? Nothing against South Carolina b/c i like to watch them and actually like Spurrier now since he is not with the Gators!

I know South Florida will not get any respect b/c you have had to have a football team for the past 100 years to be taken seriously. All they can do is keep playing and hopefully keep on winning.

Go Bulls!

So let me get this straight....You move USF to #4 (I wouldn't go that high, but top 10 mos def.), Florida St. joins the bunch, K-State, CU, Clemson, and Cincinnati all come in. And you leave Nebraska out? I mean really, THEY LOST TO USC! Had a bad rebound against Ball State (Who is handling opponents very well atm) and they smother ISU. There is no way that CU or KSU beat Nebraska this year, seeing how they both come to Lincoln. Florida beats 'bama (which is reeling and not as good maybe as we all thought). Either you can't stand to have half of the BIg 12 in the rankings or you are seriously ill. I've stuck by your writing and analysis, but this is pushing the loyalty line a bit Mandel. Think about it again.

stevendungan,

Reread what you wrote and think about what common sense actually means, please: "Why is it about wins and losses instead of common sense?" By your thinking, Notre Dame would probably be ranked, right? If college football, heck all of sports, isn't about wins and losses, what exactly is it about?

This to kdog and his comments - THE University of South Florida graduate Kawika Mitchell (#55) OLB for the Giants just scored a touchdown on a fumble! Only 7 seasons in Div. I and South Florida DOES have some players in the NFL. (see prior posting)

Go Bulls!

I'm transplanted Pacific Northwesterner currently living in Columbus, and I get a chuckle out of seeing all these Buckeyes trumpeting their esteemed football team. In my estimation, 95% of all Buckeye supporters are complete homers with little care or understanding of football around the country. It's a crime that anyone is ranked ahead of the Buckeyes, but they can't tell you who besides USC and LSU (yep, their football knowledge extends to schools that have recently won championships)is ranked ahead of them. Just last year a colleague walked into my office and asked "do you know what the most popular college football team in the country is?" My response: "wouldn't that be Notre Dame?" After a brief silence he said, "errr, yeah, but there was THIS survey that has Ohio State #2". Number two in Ohio maybe. In the five other cities that I've lived in the US, noone gives a hoot about the Buckeyes. Must've been a survey of his dad and brother. Just the other day I ran into four or five OSU fans debating the merits of their beloved Buckeye. Of course, noone knows how this little no name school name Cal dares to be ranked ahead of the Bucks. None of them even knew that Cal is the athletic name of UC Berkeley. Even more amazingly, none of them even knew where Berkeley is, or that it's only the best public university in the nation. They don't care, because their lives revolve around football.

You've probably gathered up to this point that I don't think much of Ohio State's ranking. A slow team playing in the slowest major conference in the country need to be ranked in the teens until the bowl season.

nice poll....i pretty much agree with all of your rankings, as opposed to this weeks Coaches Poll (which does count in the BCS)..

How is K-State unranked and Texas is 16th, Virginia Tech 14th, and Nebraska 23rd? If the coaches would've watched games the last few weeks of these teams, then they'd realize that they just need to re-set their polls, and assess everything from the games that have been played.

Marc,

You'd rank K-State? They beat a overrated Texas team and lost to Auburn, no matter if the Tigers are 2-2 (they beat Florida at home, so call it a bad 2 weeks). But I do agree with the rest of your comment.

SEC fans crack me up. They keep saying ... "look who we have to play." Well guess what, Florida, Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Kentucky are all overrated. Quite acting like every weekend is a big game.

Florida lost at home to a team that lost its too previous games to South Florida and Miss State.

Georgia is ranked for beating an Alabama team that was ranked for beating Arkansas. None of those teams really ever beat anyone out of conference. It's just a bunch of mediocre conference teams that keep bumping each other off and trading rankings.

The two wins that catapulted Kentucky? Louisville (how big was that win really? - see: Syracuse) and Arkansas (see above).

Had these teams not been overrated in the first place, there would only be two or three SEC teams in the polls right now.

Chris said "Florida lost at home to a team that lost its too previous games to South Florida and Miss State."
You always forget to look at what the SEC does out of conference, year in and year out. That Auburn team you mentioned that lost 2 (not too) games at home also beat Kansas St.

b-

obviously, yes, it's about winning and losing. i was writing quickly so let me clarify. in the polls, coaches/writers look at a few things- overall record, conference record, strength of schedule- but week in and week out the two things that determines a team's poll position is what the team did that week and what the team's overall record are. In an ideal voting world, pollsters would judge a team's position using their 3 most recent games, in conjunction with their overall season performance and a splash of common sense. Obviously, if voters were instructed to do this, it would be mass confusion- what if a team opens a season being blown out but is 3-0 the last 3 games?- but it would lead to clearer, more thought out votes, as opposed to the standard "they lost, so drop them down ten spots" method used now. Michigan, for example, is obviously not the top 5 team people thought they were. But they are a top 20 team. Maybe even a top 15 or top 10 team. however, in the current system, if everyone in front of them wins, it wouldn't be "fair" to jump michigan over Smallconference State just because they don't lose. Michigan had a horrible two weeks to open the season, but I'd bet if writers were to start from scratch with their ballots and look at the last three weeks, they'd see a Michigan team that shut out a poor but not FIU-poor Notre Dame team, beat Penn State using outstanding defense, and beat Northwestern while showing their QB situation isn't nearly in the shambles people thought it was. Another consequence is that West Virginia would not be punished so severely for losing at Southern Florida if they win 63-20 two weeks in a row. And if Southern Florida starts losing games in the thick of their Big East schedule, it's going to look a little premature making them a top-6 (or top-4) team.

Maybe you got this or maybe you didn't or maybe you thought it was just plain stupid. But the point I'm making is if you're going to rank teams based on the "what have you done for me lately" school of thought, one week is not a large enough sample size. West Virginia did not suddenly not become a top five team just because they lost at Southern Florida.

There is a reason most consider the SEC the best conference. Because year in and year out. We defeat most of our opponets out of conference or we post a very solid bowl record. Do we win everygame...No. But we dont let teams embarass us and usually we hold it down pretty good. GO look at our last years bowl record. The proof is in the pudding. The only other conference with any real consideration is the teams out west. They are lightning quick on offense. They have zero D but you have to outscore them to beat them. It is SEC 1 with the Pac 10 not to far behind. Its a mute point with most because everyone is biased to the conference they pull for but its college football and as we seen this weekend. Anything can happen.

Football Ranking

#1 LSU
#2 USC
#3 Cal

Nobel Laureates

LSU ranked so low they call it "third tier". Nobel Laurates? ZERO

USC ranked #27 as an educational institute with ONE Nobel price winner

Cal ( University of California Berkeley ) ranked 21st and with 20 TWENTY Nobel Laurates.

I don't envy anyone who had to complete a ballot this week so everyone gets a pass. But the only poll that really matters is the one at the end of the season.

The rabid fanatics crack me up . . . everyone, especially 21 year olds are allowed to have bad days. And more often than not, it is the game plan rather than the execution that is at fault.

When ranking conferences, I compare the current year's team to the prior year's. In the Pac 10, Oregon, UCLA, USC, ASU, Cal, Washington and Stanford appear better than last year with OSU, AZ and WSU looking worse. The Big 12 North has stepped it up and the ACC will be conference to watch next year. They've improved incrementally, but with all the coaching changes I expect more improvements next year rather than this year. The SEC fanatics may be annoyed, but it looks as if AR, TN and FL have weakened. MI, Vanderbilt, Miss St., SC, KY and GA remained about the same and AL and LSU improved (mostly due to improved confidence). I'm not sure about Auburn yet, but before this week they would have been on the 'gotten worse' list.

BUT WHAT A GREAT YEAR IT'S BEEN SO FAR!

Regarding Stewart Mandel's comment about delaying polls until after October 1, it would make make much more sense to eliminate them entirely as a means of determining the National Champion. Polls amount to beauty contests that have very little bearing in what would actually happen if the teams were actually able to square off against one another in a tournament. If you don't believe this, you only have to look at NCAA basketball where there are polls and a tournament. Since seeding started in 1979, teams ranked #1 in the nation in at least one major poll going into the tournament have only won the championship 5 times. In this same time period, number 1 seeds have only squared off against one another in the championship final 5 times. In all other cases since 1979, some lower ranked team won the NCAA basketball championship including two teams that were unranked going into the tournament - Villanova in 1985 and Kansas in 1988. What this all adds up to is that pollsters, whoever they are, have very little idea of who the best teams are. The is very little reason t