GoldenBlogs Top 25 - Week 12 - California Golden Blogs

GoldenBlogs Top 25 - Week 12

by ragnarok on Nov 18, 2008 2:54 PM PST in Football

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Texas Tech	--
2	Alabama	--
3	Florida	--
4	Texas	--
5	Oklahoma	--
6	Southern Cal	--
7	Penn State	--
8	Utah	--
9	Ohio State	1
10	Oklahoma State	2
11	Georgia	2
12	Missouri	1
13	Boise State	2
14	TCU	--
15	Michigan State	2
16	Brigham Young	3
17	Ball State	1
18	Oregon State	4
19	LSU	1
20	Cincinnati	3
21	Pittsburgh	--
22	Maryland	4
23	North Carolina	8
24	Miami (Florida)	2
25	Mississippi	1

Dropped Out: Florida State (#20), California (#25).

The top 8 stay the same this week, and most of the rest of the ballot only experiences minor shuffling. Of course, this is what you'd expect after a week in which none of the top teams were challenged, only one pair of AP ranked teams played each other (#25 South Carolina @ #4 Florida), and only a couple minor upsets occurred (both in the who-wants-to-win-it-not-me-how-about-you? ACC).

This weekend, however, promises a much better slate and a few more answers in several conference races.

- Penn State hosts Michigan State with the Land Grant Trophy and a Rose Bowl berth on the line. If Sparty can pull the upset, it would create a three-way tie atop the Big TEleveN, and probably send Ohio State to Pasadena.

- Texas Tech visits Oklahoma in a HUGE Big XII tussle. A Tech win gets them in the conference title game, whereas a loss creates a 3-wie tie atop the Big XII South. I really don't know who comes out on top there.

- BYU visits Utah in a game with BCS implications. Utah would basically secure a BCS bid with a win, while a loss would create, in what appears to be something of a recurring pattern, a 3-way tie for first.

- Oregon State puts its improbably Rose Bowl run on the line against Arizona in Tucson, a place where, in recent years, BCS dreams have gone to die.

- Some games will be played in the ACC. Favorites will lose, and I will continue to not pay any attention whatsoever.

- Meanwhile, Cincy and Pitt lead the Big East, and meet this weekend in Cincinnati to decide the front-runner. What bugs me about the Big East is that, because they only have 7 conference games, they can schedule up to 5 non-conference games, meaning if they line up a string of patsies, they can almost guarantee themselves a bowl berth. I don't care how tough your conference is, if you have a 1-6 conference record, you don't deserve to play in a bowl game.

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Ole Miss over Oregon?

Really?

...nuh nuh nuh gone

by Thoroughbred on Nov 18, 2008 3:08 PM PST reply reply 0 recs

And... Yes, I have looked over the schedules and seen Ole Miss play a bunch

I woulda put them at 27

...nuh nuh nuh gone

by Thoroughbred on Nov 18, 2008 3:11 PM PST up reply reply 0 recs

it was close

and entirely due to my vote. i think they’re close, and the difference isn’t that great. i guess i just don’t love oregon that much.

So, basically, you gotta Go Bears!

by ragnarok on Nov 18, 2008 3:50 PM PST up reply reply 0 recs

Ball St in the rankings is one of the worst examples of polling.

People are in love with an undefeated season no matter the competition.

The Maharg makes me look like an idiot.

by carp on Nov 18, 2008 3:21 PM PST reply reply 0 recs

I know

What would you estimate Ball State’s record would be if they played the same schedule as Washington, Texas, USC, or Georgia?

...nuh nuh nuh gone

by Thoroughbred on Nov 18, 2008 3:28 PM PST up reply reply 0 recs

Honestly?

I have no idea. They wouldn’t be undefeated, I can tell you that. They might be 8-3, though, which would put them in the late teens / early twenties. I think they’d give teams like BYU, Pitt, and Oregon State a very challenging matchup, but it’s hard to say with any certainty, given their competition.

It’s similar to the problem that admissions officers have when they try to compare kids from rigorous magnet high schools to kids who finished 1st in a class of 20 way out in Podunk High. Until you get them in direct (or comparable) competition, comparison is almost meaningless.

So, basically, you gotta Go Bears!

by ragnarok on Nov 18, 2008 4:01 PM PST up reply reply 0 recs

I defer to your knowledge

having watched zero Ball St. football this year.

I wonder if this should be a rule:

You must beat a “quality” BCS team to even enter the Top 25 as a non-BCS team. It is up to the voters to determine if the BCS team was a quality team or not.

Applied to this year, this would eliminate TCU and Ball St., while keeping Boise St and Utah. BYU would be on the fence; they beat Washington, whipped fUCLA, lost to TCU, and narrowly beat Colorado St. Ball St beat Navy and Indiana, the latter of which is 3-8. Not good enough. Utah almost lost to a bunch of Mountain West teams and almost blew it against Oregon St.

I’m sick of these mediocore to good teams non-BCS teams playing no one (whether it’s their fault or not) and getting over-ranked. It’s terrible.

The Maharg makes me look like an idiot.

by carp on Nov 18, 2008 4:27 PM PST up reply reply 0 recs

The Mountain West’s top teams are stronger this season than the Pac-10’s.

by BearsNecessity on Nov 18, 2008 9:33 PM PST up reply reply 0 recs

yeah...that may be

certainly wouldn’t have been the case last year. They might be a lot better than the ACC, Big 10 and Big East teams as well. But we’ve hardly had sustained excellence from the Mountain West.

and, if they are that good, they should beat a “quality” team. So…Utah would still be in.

The Maharg makes me look like an idiot.

by carp on Nov 18, 2008 9:40 PM PST up reply reply 0 recs

I don’t really know about that…BYU is by far the closest UW has been to a win this year and OSU should have won on the road against Utah.

I’d definitely take USC over Utah and OSU over BYU and/or TCU. Probably Cal over BYU and TCU, too.

Sheriff of the Welcome Team.
Welcome.
But Stop Arguing Nate vs. Kevin.

by Spazzy Mcgee on Nov 18, 2008 10:01 PM PST up reply reply 0 recs

Should have is debatable, that game was at least going to OT. BYU is arguably the third or fourth best team in the conference. TCU crushed a decent ’Furd squad.

The fact that we can even compare the Pac-10 and the MWC is a sign of how weak the conference looks this year.

by BearsNecessity on Nov 19, 2008 1:14 PM PST up reply reply 0 recs

Big 12 South Tiebreaker

According to Jake Curtis of the Chronicle, the tiebreaker for a 3-way tie in the Big XII South is highest BCS ranking.

Of course, if Oklahoma beats TT their BCS ranking will rise.

TTU will likely be dealt a deathblow with a loss.

The big question is whether OU rises far enough to pass Texas (assuming Texas wins its last game versus A&M) with wins over TT and Oklahoma State. It could be quite a barnburner, but I’d give a slight edge to Texas. The pollsters probably wouldn’t put OU ahead of Texas based on the results of their head to head matchup.

by markdash on Nov 18, 2008 4:11 PM PST reply reply 0 recs