Many voters in the AP and Coaches polls were shocked, simply shocked, that Texas and Alabama lost, but readers of this blog would not be, because, through the use of logic, they knew that Texas was not #1 but ranked sixth, and even that turned out to be too high. And they knew that Alabama was not ranked much higher than Tennessee (as they were in the "famous" polls), but below Tennessee.
Oregon and BYU continue to have the most impressive wins without a loss and remain at the top. Georgia also has two very impressive wins but have a loss to a team that is way down at #32 (Alabama), which lost to #37 South Carolina and that loss (both for Georgia as well as Alabama) is far worse than others in their range.
Navy jumped all the way to #4 as their win over Memphis looks great after the Tigers knocked off North Texas. The Mean Green had not been considered in the Top 25, but now it's two losses (to Memphis and Texas Tech) look better than other teams previously considered. All games are interrelated and every result matters.
Even though Iowa State won, they fell hard because the one previously impressive win that was propping them up (Iowa) fell all the way to #41 after a loss, making the Cyclones' win over Iowa no longer as impressive. A team can fall that far despite a win as teams on their schedule are analyzed each week.
For those seeing our Top 25 for the first time, teams are analyzed based on their respective schedules, looking specifically at their biggest wins and worst losses. The worst losses are the most important--losing to an unranked team is the most devastating, as it should be. The #1 consideration for teams with equal records is head-to-head play; if they didn't meet, the next factor is which has the worst loss or losses. If those are fairly even, the next factor is the most impressive win, and finally if neither has an impressive win, they are ranked based on the quality of their biggest win.
Clemson is behind undefeated Army and Liberty because the Tigers don't have an impressive win yet, so an undefeated team is always going to be ranked ahead of a one-loss team unless that one-loss team has an impressive win and no bad losses.
The worst losses by teams being considered are to Baylor and Kentucky, and as a result, Texas Tech and Mississippi are two of the lowest-ranked teams with two losses. The Red Raiders fell precipitously from #9 to #33 as a result. Note that Texas Tech could not fall below North Texas nor Arizona State because they own wins over both and all three have two losses.
As Stanford continues to lose, that makes Notre Dame's loss to Northern Illinois better than Syracuse's loss to Stanford, so the Fighting Irish debut in the Top 25. Texas A &M, held back only because they lost to Notre Dame and therefore must be behind them, also advanced past Syracuse.
No teams fell from consideration--Arkansas was the closest but they do own a win over #17 Tennessee.
1-1. Oregon 7-0, blanked Purdue 35-0 (Impressive Wins: Beat #7 Boise State and #13 Ohio State, Losses: None, Bad Losses: None)
2-2. BYU 7-0, survived Oklahoma State 38-35 (Impressive Wins: Beat #14 SMU and #15 Kansas State, Losses: None, Bad Losses: None)
3-3. Penn State 6-0 was idle this week (Impressive Wins: Beat #9 Illinois, Losses: None, Bad Losses: None)
13-4. Navy 6-0, rolled it up on Charlotte 51-17 (Impressive Wins: #16 Memphis, Losses: None, Bad Losses: None)
5-5. Indiana 7-0, clobbered #23 Nebraska 56-7 (Impressive Wins: Beat #23 Nebraska, Losses: None, Bad Losses: None)
14-6. Miami of Florida 7-0, held off #37 Louisville 52-45 (Impressive Wins: #38 Louisville, Losses: None, Bad Losses: None)
7-7. Boise State 5-1 was off this week (Impressive Wins: Beat #10 Washington State, Lost to #1 Oregon, Bad Losses: None)
12-8. Illinois 6-1, knocked Off #40 Michigan 21-7 (Impressive Wins: #23 Nebraska and #40 Michigan, Lost to #3 Penn State, Bad Losses: None)
15-9. Pittsburgh 6-0, did not play (Impressive Wins: #30 Cincinnati, Losses: None, Bad Losses: None)
8-10. Washington State 6-1, ripped Hawai'i 42-10 (Impressive Wins: Beat #33 Texas Tech, Lost to #7 Boise State, Bad Losses: None)
4-11. Iowa State 6-0, outlasted UCF 38-35 (Impressive Wins: #41 Iowa, Losses: None, Bad Losses: None)
23-12. Georgia 6-1 beat #18 Texas 30-15 (Impressive Wins: Beat #18 Texas and #20 Clemson, Lost to #32 Alabama, Bad Losses: None)
10-13. Ohio State 5-1, was off this week (Impressive Wins: #41 Iowa, Lost to #1 Oregon, Bad Losses: None)
11-14. SMU 6-1 blasted Stanford 40-10 (Impressive Wins: Beat #38 Louisville, Lost to #2 BYU, Bad Losses: None)
18-15. Kansas State 6-1 blew away West Virginia 45-18 (Impressive Wins: #31 Colorado, Lost to #2 BYU, Bad Losses: None)
---16 Memphis 5-1, toppled #34 North Texas 52-44 (Impressive Wins: #34 North Texas), Lost to #4 Navy, Bad Losses: None)
21-17. Tennessee 6-1, defeated #32 Alabama 24-17 (Impressive Wins: Beat #32 Alabama, Lost to #42 Arkansas, Bad Losses: None)
6-18. Texas 6-1 was upset by #12 Georgia 30-15 (Impressive Wins: #38 Oklahoma, Lost to #12 Georgia, Bad Losses: None)
17-19. Army 7-0, held off East Carolina 45-28 (Impressive Wins: None, Biggest Win: Beat Temple, Losses: None, Bad Losses: None)
16-20. Liberty 5-0, was off this week (Impressive Wins: None, Biggest Win: Temple, Losses: None, Bad Losses: None)
24-21. Clemson 6-1, rolled over Virginia 38-31 (Impressive Wins: None, Biggest Win: Beat North Carolina State, Lost to #12 Georgia, Bad Losses: None)
25-22. LSU 6-1 beat #39 Arkansas 34-10 (Impressive Wins: Beat #36 Mississippi, #37 South Carolina and #42 Arkansas, Lost to USC Bad Losses: Lost to USC)
20-23. Nebraska 5-2, lost to #5 Indiana 56-7 (Impressive Wins: #31 Colorado, Lost to #5 Indiana and #8 Illinois, Bad Losses: None)
27-24. Duke 5-1, did not play (Impressive Wins: None, Biggest Win: North Carolina, Lost to Georgia Tech, Bad Losses: Lost to Georgia Tech)
32-25. Notre Dame 6-1, turned back Georgia Tech 31-13 (Impressive Wins: Beat #26 Texas A&M and #38 Louisville, Lost to Northern Illinois, Bad Losses: Lost to Northern Illinois)
Also Considered:
33-26. Texas A&M 6-1, nudged Mississippi State 34-24 (Impressive Wins: Beat #29 Missouri and #42 Arkansas, Lost to #25 Notre Dame, Bad Losses: None)
28-27. Syracuse 5-1, was idle this week (Impressive Wins: Beat #28 UNLV, Lost to Stanford, Bad Losses: Lost to Stanford)
31-28. UNLV 6-1 upended Oregon State 33-25 (Impressive Wins: None, Biggest Win: Oregon State, Lost to #27 Syracuse, Bad Losses: None)
34-29 Missouri 6-1, nipped Auburn 21-17 (Impressive Wins: None, Biggest Win: Beat Vanderbilt, Lost to #26 Texas A&M, Bad Losses: None)
---30 Cincinnati 5-2, downed #35 Arizona State 24-14, (Impressive Wins: Beat #35 Arizona State, Lost to #9 Pittsburgh and #33 Texas Tech, Bad Losses: None)
---31 Colorado 5-2, drubbed Arizona 34-7, (Impressive Wins: None, Biggest Win: Arizona, Lost to #15 Kansas State and #23 Nebraska, Bad Losses: None)
22-32. Alabama 5-2, fell to #17 Tennessee 24-17 (Impressive Wins: Beat #12 Georgia, Lost to #17 Tennessee and #37 South Carolina, Bad Losses: None)
9-33. Texas Tech 5-2, lost to Baylor 59-35 (Impressive Wins: #30 Cincinnati, #34 North Texas and #35 Arizona State, Lost to #10 Washington State and Baylor, Bad Losses: Baylor)
---34. North Texas 5-2, fell to #16 Memphis 52-44 (Impressive Wins: None, Biggest Win: Tulsa, Lost to #16 Memphis and #33 Texas Tech, Bad Losses: None)
19-35. Arizona State 5-2, lost to #30 Cincinnati 24-14 (Impressive Wins: None, Biggest Win: Beat Utah, Lost to #30 Cincinnati and #33 Texas Tech, Bad Losses: None)
37-36. Mississippi 5-2, did not play (Impressive Wins: Beat #37 South Carolina, Lost to #22 LSU and Kentucky, Bad Losses: Kentucky)
---37 South Carolina 4-3 beat #39 Oklahoma 35-9, (Impressive Wins: #39 Oklahoma, Lost to #22 LSU, #32 Alabama and #36 Mississippi, Bad Losses: None)
35-38. Louisville 4-3, lost to #6 Miami of Florida 52-45 (Impressive Wins: None, Biggest Win: Beat Virginia, Lost to #6 Miami of Florida, #14 SMU, and #25 Notre Dame, Bad Losses: None)
30-39. Oklahoma 4-3, lost to #37 South Carolina 35-9 (Impressive Wins: None, Biggest Wins: Houston and Auburn, Lost to #17 Tennessee, #18 Texas, and #37 South Carolina, Bad Losses: None)
38-40. Michigan 4-3, Lost to #8 Illinois 21-7 (Impressive Wins: None, Biggest Win: Beat USC, Lost To #8 Illinois, #18 Texas and Washington, Bad Losses: Washington)
29-41. Iowa 4-3 lost to Michigan State 32-20 (Impressive Wins: None, Biggest Win: Washington, Lost to #11 Iowa State, #13 Ohio State and Michigan State, Bad Losses: Michigan State)
36-42. Arkansas 4-3 lost to #22 LSU 34-10 (Impressive Wins: Beat #17 Tennessee, Lost to #22 LSU, #28 Texas A&M and Oklahoma State, Bad Losses: Oklahoma State)
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