Welcome to the SportsRatings College Football Top 25 for the week ending September 11, 2010. This is a subjective ranking, not a computer power rating. It does attempt to use several rules some of which include honoring head-to-head results whenever possible, and giving more consideration to teams with wins over other top 25 teams.
Week two saw a total of four FCS (I-AA) teams beat their FBS (I-A) brethren: In addition to James Madison's shocking 21-16 win at former #11 Virginia Tech, South Dakota beat Minnesota 41-38, Gardner-Webb beat Akron 38-37 in overtime, and Liberty beat Ball State 27-23. The first results knocked Virginia Tech (now 0-2) out of the rankings and spoils #1 Boise State's marquee win. The Broncos didn't play this week and remain number one for now, but as the season progresses it will be hard to justify keeping them there as other teams gain important wins. #2 TCU is in the much the same boat, depending on how the Mountain West teams do this year. Both have to win very convincingly, with little or no room for an "off" game.
The rest of the top ten made good cases for belonging there, starting with #3 Oregon and #4 Oklahoma who both jump a few spots after convincing wins over Tennessee (48-13) and Florida State (47-17). They even nudge Alabama down a spot despite the Tide beating Penn State 24-3, a game that could have been a lot closer without several Nittany Lion mistakes. Regardless, Alabama deserves a top five ranking unlike Arkansas who hasn't looked quite as good. They beat Louisiana-Monroe 31-7 but led just 7-0 at halftime and 14-0 starting the 4th quarter, and they fall from #3 to #6. They get tested at Georgia next week then host Alabama so they'll have a chance to prove themselves. Ohio State holds at #7 after beating Miami as expected .
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SportsRatings Top 25 - week two 2010 (thru 9/11/2010)
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lw
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#
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Team
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Rec
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Losses/important wins
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1
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1
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Boise St |
1-0
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[email protected] |
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2
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2
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TCU |
2-0
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|
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5
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3
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Oregon |
2-0
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|
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6
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4
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Oklahoma |
2-0
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wFSU47-17 |
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4
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5
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Alabama |
2-0
|
|
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3
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6
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Arkansas |
2-0
|
|
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7
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7
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Ohio State |
2-0
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wMiami36-24 |
|
9
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8
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Nebraska |
2-0
|
|
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8
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9
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Florida |
2-0
|
|
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18
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10
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Stanford |
2-0
|
|
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13
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11
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Texas Tech |
2-0
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|
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12
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12
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Wisconsin |
2-0
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|
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16
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13
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Texas |
2-0
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|
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14
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14
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Auburn |
2-0
|
|
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22
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15
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Texas A&M |
2-0
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|
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19
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16
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South Carolina |
2-0
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|
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20
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17
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LSU |
2-0
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w=UNC30-24 |
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10
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18
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Miami FL |
1-1
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[email protected] |
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21
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19
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Clemson |
2-0
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24
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20
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Utah |
2-0
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|
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--
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21
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Air Force |
2-0
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wBYU35-14 |
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17
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22
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Florida St |
1-1
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[email protected] |
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25
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23
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North Carolina |
0-1
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L=LSU30-24 |
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--
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24
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California |
2-0
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|
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--
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25
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Iowa |
2-0
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out: | |||
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23
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--
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BYU |
1-1
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[email protected] |
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15
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--
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Georgia Tech |
1-1
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[email protected] |
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11
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--
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Virginia Tech |
0-2
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L Boise33-30,JMadison21-16 |
Nebraska and Florida swap places at #8 and #9. I let the rankings be very fluid early on and Nebraska's first two results are more impressive, though Florida put away South Florida handily, 38-14. Stanford rounds out the top ten with a big jump from #18 as they blanked UCLA 35-0 on the road Saturday night.
Texas Tech, Wisconsin, and Texas all took care of business to varying degrees this weekend and rank #11 to #13. They, as well as #14 Auburn who just slipped past Mississippi State 17-14, will have to distinguish themselves with important wins to reach the top ten.
Texas A&M jumps from #22 due to blasting Louisiana Tech 48-16 and to several teams above them falling. All of the falling teams are from the ACC: Virginia Tech falls out along with Georgia Tech, a 28-25 upset victim to Kansas (who themselves were upset by I-AA North Dakota State last weekend). Miami drops eight spots and Florida State falls from 17 to 22. All of this helps South Carolina and LSU climb three notches each. Clemson, the only ranked ACC member to win this weekend (defeating Presbyterian 58-21) inches up to #19.
Air Force suprised BYU with a convincing Mountain West conference win, 35-14, and replaces the Cougars in the rankings at #21. With the pair of ACC teams falling out due to big upsets, two slots open up and I've replaced them based on both pre-season rankings and early results. #24 California started only at #37 but has defeated two opponents by a combined 104-10, including Saturday's 52-7 destruction of Colorado. This is similar to how they started last season, so if they look mediocre at Nevada expect them to get whacked hard by Arizona the next week. At #25 is Iowa, who began at #27 and has won 37-7 and 35-7.
Next weekend #4 Oklahoma visits #21 Air Force, while #14 Auburn hosts #19 Clemson. But the game of the week might be in the Big Twelve as #13 Texas travels to #11 Texas Tech. Most of the polls have Texas in the top five with Texas Tech not in sight but don't be shocked if the Raiders win or at least give the Longhorns a lot of trouble.
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