The SportsRatings Top 25 is our answer to the AP and coaches' polls. This subjective "poll" properly reflects head-to-head results and give additional consideration to teams who have victories over other top 25 teams.
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No Doubt Now: After being one of the few places to have Notre Dame #1 last week, we're sure to be in the mainstream when the new national polls are out. Notre Dame blanked Wake Forest 38-0 while the other significan undefeated teams lost, leaving the Irish as the only choice at #1. From there it gets tricky. Georgia, 45-14 winners over Georgia Southern, takes the #2 spot. Is there any chance that the Bulldogs are the 2nd best team in the nation? No, but Notre Dame isn't the best team, either. Both earned their spots by winning, however.
Georgia, though, doesn't have the 2nd best résumé in the country—that goes to #3 Florida, who beat Jacksonville State 23-0 Saturday. The Bulldogs are above the Gators due to head-to-head competition. Most of the pollsters—and the BCS standings—have Alabama above both Florida and Georgia, and we disagree. Sure, Alabama might very well be the best team in the nation, but they don't deserve to be ranked ahead of Florida. The Tide's only significant victim is LSU, and Florida beat them as well. The Gators also beat Texas A&M, the team that beat Alabama. And they have a solid win over South Carolina to boot.
But Alabama will play Georgia in the SEC title game, and if the Tide crush the Bulldogs—the one team to beat Florida—then there might be reason to rank the Tide higher. But if Florida wins out as well, they'll have a marquee win over Florida State. We don't see jumping Alabama ahead of the Gators unless the latter loses. The BCS sees things differently, and Alabama or Georgia will play Notre Dame for the title—unless Notre Dame loses to USC. Then we could have another all-SEC showdown, even another rematch if Georgia upsets the Tide. In that case, root for FSU, who would sneak in if they beat the Gators, despite their current low BCS ranking.
Alabama beat Western Carolina 48-0 Saturday during the SEC's cupcake weekend. We put Ohio State at #4, up from #7, one spot ahead of Alabama. The Buckeyes deserve credit for going undefeated so far, and have their first top 25 win now that Nebraska finally joins our list. The Buckeyes aren't a very solid top 20 team in reality, and needed overtime to beat Wisconsin 21-14. But they keep winning. Maybe Michigan will put the Buckeyes out of their misery next weekend, and spare us any ridiculous arguments that Ohio State could have been national champs without probation.
Florida State is #6, as we're seeing their 1-point loss as less and less of a liability, while #7 LSU struggled to beat Mississippi 41-35. FSU beat Maryland 41-14. We dropped Kansas State to #8, as their résumé matches Florida State's but with a 4-touchdown loss at Baylor (52-28) instead of a 1-point loss. Texas A&M moves up to #9; they beat one of the best FCS teams, Sam Houston State, 47-28. And #10 Clemson rolled to a 62-48 comeback win over N.C. State.
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SportsRatings Top 25 - week 12 2012 (thru 11/17/2012)
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Résumé: Losses; important wins
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| 1 | 1 | Notre Dame | 11-0 | w@Oklahoma 30-13, Stanford 20-13ot |
| 4 | 2 | Georgia | 10-1 | L@SCar 35-7; w=Florida 17-9 |
| 5 | 3 | Florida | 10-1 | L=Ga 17-9; wLSU 14-6, TexAM 20-17, SCar 44-11 |
| 7 | 4 | Ohio State | 11-0 | wNebraska 63-38 |
| 6 | 5 | Alabama | 10-1 | L TexAM 29-24; w@LSU 21-17 |
| 9 | 6 | Florida State | 10-1 | L@NCState 17-16; wClemson 49-37 |
| 8 | 7 | LSU | 9-2 | L@Fla 14-6, Bama 21-17; wSCar 23-21, @TexAM 24-19 |
| 2 | 8 | Kansas State | 10-1 | L@Baylor 52-24; w@Oklahoma 24-19 |
| 10 | 9 | Texas A&M | 9-2 | L FLA 20-17, LSU 24-19; w@Bama 29-24, @LTech 59-57 |
| 12 | 10 | Clemson | 10-1 | L@FSU 49-37; wBallSt 52-27 |
| 11 | 11 | Oklahoma | 8-2 | L ND 30-13, KSt 24-19; w=Tex 63-21 |
| 3 | 12 | Oregon | 10-1 | L Stanford 17-14ot |
| 13 | 13 | South Carolina | 9-2 | L@LSU 23-21, @FLA 44-11; wGeorgia 35-7 |
| 14 | 14 | Louisville | 9-1 | L@Syr 45-26; wCincy 34-31ot |
| 16 | 15 | Stanford | 9-2 | L@Wash 17-13, @ND 20-13ot; w@Ore 17-14ot, OreSt 27-23 |
| 17 | 16 | Kent State | 10-1 | L@Kentucky 47-14; w@Rutgers 35-23, BallSt 45-43 |
| 18 | 17 | Rutgers | 9-1 | L KentSt 35-23; w@Cincy 10-3 |
| 19 | 18 | Oregon State | 8-2 | L@Wash 20-17, @Stan 27-23; wUCLA 27-20 |
| 20 | 19 | N. Illinois | 10-1 | L=Iowa 18-17; w@BallSt 35-23, Toledo 31-24 |
| 24 | 20 | UCLA | 9-2 | L@Cal 43-17, OreSt 27-20; wNeb 36-30 |
| -- | 21 | Utah State | 9-2 | L@Wisc 16-14, @BYU 6-3; wLaTech 48-41ot |
| 15 | 22 | Louisiana Tech | 9-2 | L TexAM 59-57, UtahSt 48-41ot |
| 23 | 23 | Texas | 8-2 | L WVa 48-45, =OK 63-21 |
| -- | 24 | Nebraska | 9-2 | L@UCLA 36-30, @OhioSt 63-38 |
| 25 | 25 | Ball State | 8-3 | L@KentSt 45-43, NIU 35-23, @Clem 52-27; w@Toledo 34-27 |
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| 21 | -- | Toledo | 8-3 | L@Ariz 24-17ot, BallSt 34-27, @NIU 31-24; wCincy 29-23 |
| 22 | -- | Cincinnati | 7-3 | L@Toledo 29-23, @Lou 34-31ot, Rutgers 10-3 |
Oklahoma can no longer claim they have lost only to undefeated teams, and they struggled to beat West Virginia 50-49; the Sooners hold at #11.
Pac-12 has 4 teams from #12 to #20: Oregon drops all the way from #3 to #12, as they have no solid wins. They have played some of the best football around and lost in overtime (17-14), so a few good wins could see them back in the top 5. They won't get the Pac-12 title shot in all likelihood, as #15 Stanford will be the North representative if they can beat #20 UCLA next week. Win that, and they will play UCLA again. Don'tcha love conference title games? The Bruins handled USC 38-28 and move up to #20, while #18 Oregon State crushed Cal 62-14.
South Carolina holds at #13 after beating Wofford 24-7—note how poorly these SEC teams played against the FCS competition. It's hard to imagine teams motivated this late in the year when facing a lower-division opponent. The only advantage I see is that teams can heal injuries in this "week off," before the final push. It also makes the beginning of the year more interesting, as the SEC is playing real games while the rest of the country is taking on the FCS. Idle Louisville holds at #14.
Weekly MAC update: Kent State beat Bowling Green, 31-24 and rose to #16; #19 Northern Illinois topped Toledo, knocking the Rockets out of the top 25. Ball State beat Ohio and remained #25 as their only top 25 win (Toledo) evaporates.
Rutgers beat Cincinnati 10-3, knocking the Bearcats out of the rankings and moving the Knights up to #17. Utah State took a huge lead but needed overtime to beat Louisiana Tech 48-41. It was very much the same as Texas A&M's win over the Bulldogs, as in both cases the Aggies took a huge lead (27-0, and 27-3) only to see Louisiana Tech roar back and turn the game into a shootout. Utah State is back in the rankings at #21 while the Bulldogs fall from #15 to #22. Idle Texas held at #23.
Next Weekend:
- The four ranked Pac-12 teams square off: #12 Oregon travels to #18 Oregon State, and #15 Stanford faces #20 UCLA.
- Florida visits Florida State. One of these teams is back in the BCS title picture if Notre Dame loses to USC.
- South Carolina visits Clemson in another ACC/SEC matchup. Neither team has title aspirations but a Clemson win bolster's Florida State's chances in the event of a Notre Dame loss.
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