Welcome to the SportsRatings College Football Top 25 for the week ending October 23, 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.
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It's time for all the undefeated teams—there are seven remaining—to be ranked above everyone else. There are no pretenders; every one has either proven itself either a very strong team, or has a good résumé, or both.
If we look at pure performance, apart from quality wins, Oregon, Boise State, TCU, and Utah are performing like top 5 teams, while Missouri is at least top ten. Auburn and Michigan State definitely lag behind. For résumés, no one is close to Auburn, which is why they'll be #1 among the BCS computer composite Sunday night; they have four wins over teams in our Top 25. Oregon, Missouri, and Michigan State also have a win over a 1-loss team.
Oregon and Boise State have been the most dominant teams, and Oregon regains the top spot this week. It wasn't so much their 60-13 crushing of UCLA as Boise's lack of a top 25 win, which at this stage prevents a team from being #1. TCU is playing nearly as well, especially on defense, and actually gains a top 25 win as Baylor joins, but it's not enough to stop Auburn from advancing to #3 from #5. The Tigers have a win over 1-loss LSU, and three wins over 2-loss SEC teams. How good are they really? Pretty much all of those wins have been close, and the Tigers could have been 6-2 or even 4-4 right now. They seem to be getting better each week; as long as they win, they'll stay high in the rankings.
#5 Missouri has made rapid leaps up the rankings as they begin to prove they're for real. First they had some strong performances that showed they were a strong team, and now they have a signature win to back it up. Utah has proven itself like Missouri did, and it's hard to determine whether the Utes or the Tigers are the stronger team, but their schedule has been weak so they're #7, behind #6 Michigan State. The Spartans appear to be the weakest of the undefeated teams but their win over Wisconsin legitimizes them. All three of these teams will be tested in the coming weeks: Missouri against Nebraska, Michigan State against Iowa, and Utah against TCU.
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SportsRatings Top 25 - week eight 2010 (thru 10/23/2010)
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Team
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Losses/important wins
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| 2 | 1 | Oregon | 7-0 | wStanford 52-31 |
| 1 | 2 | Boise State | 6-0 | |
| 5 | 3 | Auburn | 8-0 | wLSU 24-17, SCar 35-27, Ark 65-43, @MissSt 17-14 |
| 4 | 4 | TCU | 8-0 | wBaylor 45-10 |
| 11 | 5 | Missouri | 7-0 | wOklahoma 36-27 |
| 7 | 6 | Michigan St | 8-0 | wWisconsin 34-24, @Nwest 35-27 |
| 9 | 7 | Utah | 7-0 | |
| 8 | 8 | Alabama | 7-1 | [email protected] 35-21; [email protected] 24-20 |
| 13 | 9 | Wisconsin | 7-1 | [email protected] 34-24; wOSU 31-18, @Iowa 31-30 |
| 3 | 10 | Oklahoma | 6-1 | [email protected] 36-27; wFSU 47-17 |
| 6 | 11 | LSU | 7-1 | [email protected] 24-17; wMissSt 29-7, WVA 20-14 |
| 12 | 12 | Stanford | 6-1 | [email protected] 52-31 |
| 14 | 13 | Florida St | 6-1 | [email protected] 47-17; [email protected] 45-17 |
| 15 | 14 | Ohio State | 7-1 | [email protected] 31-18; wMiami 36-24 |
| 16 | 15 | Nebraska | 6-1 | L Texas 20-13; [email protected] 51-41, @KState 48-13 |
| 17 | 16 | South Carolina | 5-2 | [email protected] 31-28, @Aub 35-27; wBama 35-21 |
| 10 | 17 | Oklahoma St | 6-1 | L Nebraska 51-41 |
| 18 | 18 | Arkansas | 5-2 | [email protected] 65-43, Bama 24-20 |
| 19 | 19 | Miami FL | 5-2 | [email protected] 36-24, FSU 45-17 |
| 21 | 20 | Arizona | 6-1 | L OregonSt 29-27; wIowa 34-27 |
| 22 | 21 | Mississippi St | 6-2 | [email protected] 29-7, Aub 17-14 |
| 25t | 22 | Nevada | 6-1 | [email protected] 27-21 |
| -- | 23 | Baylor | 6-2 | [email protected] 45-38, @TCU 45-10; wKState 47-42 |
| 24 | 24 | Iowa | 5-2 | [email protected] 34-27, Wisc 31-30 |
| 20 | 25t | Kansas St | 5-2 | [email protected] 47-42, Nebraska 48-13 |
| -- | 25t | Syracuse | 5-2 | L Pitt 45-14, @Wash 41-20; [email protected] 19-14 |
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| 23 | -- | West Virginia | 5-2 | L Syracuse 19-14, @LSU 20-14 |
| 25t | -- | Northwestern | 5-2 | L Purdue 20-17, MSU 35-27 |
As for the teams with losses, I'm ranking them pretty much by résumé but team strength still holds a bit of sway with the 1-loss teams. Alabama has a win over 2-loss Arkansas and a loss to 2-loss South Carolina, but still gets the nod as the top team with a loss. You could argue that #9 Wisconsin and #10 Oklahoma have better qualifications, as each has lost to an undefeated team and beat a 1-loss team, but Alabama has looked stronger overall. LSU's close loss to Auburn drops them from the top ten, but they remain ahead of Stanford, whose lack of big wins holds them back.
At #13, we put Florida State ahead of Ohio State. This is a good case where pre-season ranking influences the national polls. Each team has a road loss to a top ten team, and the Seminoles' road win over Miami was much more impressive than the Buckeyes' home win. It's true that FSU's loss was more of a beatdown, but the AP, USA, and Harris polls have Ohio State 5-7 spots ahead. The only reason is pre-season ranking; if FSU had started higher, they'd probably still be higher or at least very close.
#15 Nebraska knocked Oklahoma State from the ranks of the unbeaten, but their loss to Texas holds them back. Likewise, South Carolina's loss to Kentucky prevents them from being in the top ten. Arkansas and Miami hold at #18 and #19; both have losses to two teams ranked ahead of them. Arizona slides up to #20, and Mississippi State to #21, with Nevada the lowest-ranked 1-loss team.
It was hard to rank the rest of the 2-loss teams. Baylor gets in by beating Kansas State, but the Wildcats still had one of the better résumés of the 20 or so 2-loss teams, as both losses are to ranked opponents. There aren't many options; nearly all of the 2-loss teams have a poor loss, or a loss to another 2-loss team, and the pecking order leads up to 6-2 Virginia Tech, who lost to I-AA James Madison. So Kansas State remains in for now, as does Iowa, who holds at #24 for their 1-point loss to Wisconsin. And because they beat a ranked team, Syracuse gets to be in the top 25 this week. They earned it, even if their schedule has been a bit laughable. Both Maine and Colgate?
West Virginia falls out for losing to Syracuse, while Northwestern is edged out by their loss to Michigan State. Both are pretty high in the 2-loss-team pecking order and could get back in fairly easily. Other 2-loss teams higher in the "others receiving votes" column include Hawaii (beat Nevada), USC (beat Hawaii, lost to Stanford), Michigan (lost only to Iowa and Michigan State), and San Diego State (lost by 3 to BYU and Missouri). Virginia Tech, too, is on the verge of getting back in, which will help Boise State; with wins over East Carolina and North Carolina State, they could be pushed into the rankings fairly soon.
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