Our rankings, unlike the AP and Coaches polls, are based on actual results and logic. A bad loss counts much more than a big win, but other than than, we evaluate the teams based on the number and quality of good wins and the number and quality of their losses. A bad loss is defined as losing to a team not under consideration, while a quality win is defined as a win over any other team being considered.
We start with each team being equal, then move them up or down based on their season performance vs. that of the teams around them. We separate them by record and then evaluate them against each other, starting with undefeated teams and moving down. When we compare teams with the same record, the ones with any bad losses are always going to be ranked lower, and those with quality wins are going to be ranked ahead of those without. A team with a worse record can be ranked ahead of another if they have less bad losses and/or more quality wins.
Often, especially late in the year, we have situations where a trio of teams have 2-1 records against each other, so the head-to-head matchup is essentially tied between those three. In those cases, we break the tie with the evaluation of their best wins and losses and season records.
Texas A&M held on to #1 despite their close win against a losing team at home. The Aggies have no losses and three Top 25* wins, including two wins over Top 15* teams. Ohio State still hasn't played a team in the Top 20, but does have three nice wins.
Oklahoma scored a huge win over Alabama, and Texas's loss cleared the way for the Sooners to make a nice move. They have been held back because the two teams had the same record and Texas defeated Oklahoma. Texas cannot be ranked too high because of its really Bad Loss to Florida, by far the Worst Loss of any team ranked in the Top 20 last week.
Meanwhile, Alabama took a big tumble as their Bad Loss to Florida State has hampered their position all year. Alabama has to be ranked behind Oklahoma with the on-the-field loss at home, and Georgia (which lost to Alabama) which has been held back by that on-the-field loss is now free to move up.
Miami of Florida has been held down all season by a loss to Louisville and their Bad Loss to SMU. But with the Cardinals' third loss of the season and SMU's improved lot, that allowed both Miami (and by extension Notre Dame, which lost to Miami), to move up a bit. A loss to North Carolina State (which is the case for Georgia Tech and Virginia) now looks worse than Miami's loss to SMU. Why did both Miami and Notre Dame pass Georgia Tech? That Bad Loss now looks better than Tech's loss to NC State and both Miami and Notre Dame have two Quality Wins while Tech has zero.
Note that Notre Dame cannot be ranked ahead of Miami as they lost on the field to the Hurricanes and the two teams have the same record. So Notre Dame will continue to be held down by Miami until the Hurricanes lose.
The coaches and media mistakenly had Alabama #4, apparently forgetting that the Crimson Tide lost to a 4-5 team, Florida State. Even Boise State has not lost to a losing team.
All year, the coaches and media have insisted that South Florida was better than Navy, and they've never ranked Navy, preferring to put teams like South Florida, Tulane and North Texas ahead of the Midshipmen. They are shocked that Navy beat South Florida, but they shouldn't be. Had they checked the Blue Football Through and Through Top 25*, they would have seen that Navy was ranked #23, even after last week's loss, and South Florida was ranked #34. As the game was at Navy, that's an easy call...for us. #23 Navy 41, #34 South Florida 38.
Most Important: If a team beats another, they cannot ever be ranked below them as long as that team has the same or worse record. In other words, we rank them logically.
Here are the Top 25*:
1-1-1-1 Texas A&M (10-0) came back from a 30-3 halftime deficit to survive South Carolina 31-30, (Quality Wins: #9 Utah, #13 Notre Dame and #22 Missouri)
2-2-2-2 Indiana (11-0) whipped Wisconsin 31-7, (Quality Wins: #6 Oregon and #28 Illinois)
3-3-3-3 Ohio State (10-0) cruised to a 48-10 win over UCLA, (Quality Wins: #23 Texas, #27 Washington and #28 Illinois)
12-6-4-4 Texas Tech (10-1) upended UCF 48-9, (Quality Wins: #5 BYU, #9 Utah and #24 Houston, Lost to #26 Arizona State)
5-4-5-5 BYU (9-1) bumped TCU 44-13, (Quality Wins: #9 Utah, Lost to #4 Texas Tech)
7-5-6-6 Oregon (9-1) blasted Minnesota 42-13, (Quality Wins: None; Biggest Win: Iowa, Lost to #2 Indiana)
9-9-8-7 Georgia (9-1) took care of #23 Texas 35-10, ( Quality Wins: #8 Mississippi, #23 Texas and #25 Tennessee, Lost to #16 Alabama)
11-10-9-8 Mississippi (10-1) came from behind to beat Florida 34-24, (Quality Wins: #10 Oklahoma and #28 Tulane, Lost to #7 Georgia)
14-8-10-9 Utah (8-2) blitzed Baylor 55-28, Quality Wins: #26 Arizona State, Lost to #4 Texas Tech and #5 BYU)
30-24-20-10 Oklahoma (8-2) humbled #16 Alabama 23-21, Lost to #8 Mississippi 34-26, (Quality Wins: #16 Alabama, #17 Michigan and #25 Tennessee, Lost to #8 Mississippi and #23 Texas
24-13-11-11 North Texas (9-1) defeated UAB 53-24, (Quality Wins: #18 Navy, Lost to #35 South Florida,)
17-16-15-12 Miami of Florida (8-2) mashed North Carolina State 41-7, (Quality Wins: #13 Notre Dame, Lost to #36 Louisville and SMU, Bad Loss: SMU)
18-17-16-13 Notre Dame (8-2) pounded #37 Pittsburgh 37-15, (Quality Wins: #14 USC, #18 Navy and #37 Pittsburgh, Lost to #1 Texas A&M and #12 Miami of Florida)
23-18-17-14 USC (8-2) scored a 26-21 win over Iowa, (Quality Win: #19 Michigan, Lost to #15 Notre Dame and #28 Illinois)
4-15-12-15 Georgia Tech (9-1) survived a scare from 1-10 Boston College, 36-34, (Quality Win: none; Biggest Win: Wake Forest, Lost to North Carolina State, Bad Loss: North Carolina State)
8-7-7-16 Alabama (7-2) lost at home to #10 Oklahoma 23-21, (Quality Wins: #7 Georgia, #19 Vanderbilt, #22 Missouri and #25 Tennessee, Lost to #10 Oklahoma and Florida State), Bad Loss: Florida State)
31-25-22-17 Michigan (8-2) nudged Northwestern 24-22, (Quality Win: #27 Washington, Lost to #10 Oklahoma and #13 USC)
6-14-23-18 Navy (8-2) nipped #35 South Florida 41-38, (Quality Win: #35 South Florida; Best Wins: Air Force and UAB, Lost to #11 North Texas and #13 Notre Dame)
10-21-19-19 Vanderbilt (8-2) did not play, (Quality Wins: #22 Missouri, Lost to #16 Alabama and #23 Texas)
15-11-13--20 Virginia (9-2) dumped Duke 34-17, (Quality Win: #36 Louisville, Lost to #38 Wake Forest and North Carolina State, Bad Loss: North Carolina State)
22-19-21-21 James Madison (9-1) jumped all over Appalachian State 58-10, (Quality Wins: None; Biggest Win: Old Dominion, Lost to #36 Louisville)
20-22-24-22 Missouri (7-3) downed Mississippi State 49-27, (Quality Wins: None; Biggest Wins: Kansas, Auburn and South Carolina, Lost to #1 Texas A&M, #16 Alabama and #19 Vanderbilt)
29-20-18-23 Texas (7-3) lost to #8 Georgia 35-10, (Quality Wins: #10 Oklahoma and #19 Vanderbilt, Lost to #3 Ohio State, #7 Georgia and Florida, Bad Loss: Florida)
13-29-26-24 Houston (8-2) was idle this week, (Quality Win: #26 Arizona State, Lost to #4 Texas Tech and West Virginia, Bad Loss: West Virginia)
19-30-27-25 Tennessee (7-3) trounced New Mexico State 42-9, (Quality Wins: None; Biggest Win: Mississippi State, Lost to #7 Georgia, #10 Oklahoma and #16 Alabama)
Dropped from Top 25*: #14 Louisville and #25 Cincinnati
Also Considered:
----35-29-26 Arizona State 7-3 held off West Virginia 25-23, (Quality Win: #4 Texas Tech, Lost to #9 Utah, #24 Houston and Mississippi State, Bad Loss: Mississippi State)
32-26-30-27 Washington (7-3) whipped Purdue 49-13, (Quality Win: #28 Illinois, Lost to #3 Ohio State, #17 Michigan and Wisconsin, Bad Loss: Wisconsin)
33-31-31-28 Illinois (7-3) turned back Maryland 24-6, (Quality Win: #18 USC, Lost to #2 Indiana, #3 Ohio State and #27 Washington)
21-37-32-28 Tulane (8-2) toppled Florida Atlantic 35-24, (Quality Wins: #34 Memphis; Biggest Wins: Duke and East Carolina, Lost to #8 Mississippi and UTSA, Bad Loss: UTSA)
-------------29 Arizona (7-3) closed out a 30-24 win over #31 Cincinnati, (Quality Win: #31 Cincinnati, Lost to #5 BYU, #24 Houston and Iowa State, Bad Loss: Iowa State)
26-27-25-31 Cincinnati (7-3) lost to #29 Arizona 30-24, (Quality Wins: None; Biggest Win: Iowa State, Lost to #9 Utah, #29 Arizona and Nebraska, Bad Loss: Nebraska)
---------30 East Carolina (7-3) tripped up #34 Memphis 31-27, (Quality Win: #34 Memphis, lost to #5 BYU, #28 Tulane and North Carolina State, Bad Loss: North Carolina State)
27-23----32 LSU (6-4) edged Arkansas 23-22, (Quality Wins: None, Biggest Win: Clemson and Florida, Lost to #1 Texas A&M, #8 Mississippi, #16 Alabama and #17 Vanderbilt)
---------33 Old Dominion (7-3) blanked Troy 33-0, Quality Wins: None, Biggest Win: Virginia Tech, Lost to #2 Indiana, #21 James Madison and Marshall, Bad Loss: Marshall
35-33-33-34 Memphis (8-3) lost again, this time to #30 East Carolina, 31-27, (Quality Win: #35 South Florida, Lost to #30 East Carolina and UAB, Bad Loss: UAB)
36-34-35 South Florida (7-3) lost to #18 Navy 41-38, (Quality Win: #11 North Texas, Lost to #12 Miami of Florida, #17 Navy and #34 Memphis)
16-12-14-36 Louisville (7-3) lost again, this time to Clemson 20-19, (Quality Wins: #12 Miami of Florida, #21 James Madison and #37 Pittsburgh, Lost to #20 Virginia, California and Clemson, Bad Losses: California and Clemson)
----36-28-37 Pittsburgh (7-3) was outclassed by #13 Notre Dame 37-15, (Quality Wins: None; Biggest Win: North Carolina State, Lost to #13 Notre Dame, #36 Louisville and West Virginia, Bad Loss: West Virginia
---------38 Wake Forest (7-3) walloped North Carolina 28-12, Quality Win: #20 Virginia, Lost to #15 Georgia Tech, North Carolina State and Florida State, Bad Losses: North Carolina State and Florida State)
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