Sunday, November 10, 2024

The Nation's Best Are Beginning To Take Shape

The upsets which characterized last week crept up again as # 3 Miami of Florida and #16 Texas A&M fell.  #2 BYU had to rally in the last seconds to defeat Utah and #4 Boise State had to recover an onside kick to defeat hapless Nevada.

There are now just four unbeatens, and #1 Oregon and #2 BYU continue to have the most impressive resumes among them.  #5 Indiana slipped because #18 UNLV is now in the Top 25, giving Boise State two wins over Top 25 teams, while the Hoosiers have none.  Indiana is ranked ahead of the final unbeaten, Army, by virtue of Indiana's biggest win (Texas Tech) while the Cadets' biggest win is over North Texas.  One-loss teams #6 SMU and #7 Penn State are ranked ahead of Army because they own impressive wins (marked in bold). 

Georgia had to take a tumble after losing to Mississippi.  The Rebels are prevented from rising too much because of their loss to Kentucky, one of the worst losses in that range.  Clemson had to fall right with Georgia even though the Tigers beat Virginia Tech yesterday.  Georgia owns a win over Clemson and must be ranked ahead of them.

Pittsburgh's dream season has fallen on tough times.  The Panthers reached as high as #5 two weeks ago before consecutive losses to #6 SMU and Virginia.  

Of the two-loss teams, #12 Alabama has the best resume with three impressive wins (#17 Missouri, #20 Georgia and #28 LSU) and no bad losses.  Note that the Crimson Tide are ahead of #13 Miami of Florida and #14 Notre Dame because the latter two have bad losses.  Logic demands it.

Texas A&M is the next-best two-loss team.  They are ranked behind Notre Dame because they lost on the field to them, and as a result must always be ranked behind the Fighting Irish as long as Notre Dame has the same or better record.  A&M gained ground despite a loss as several teams ahead of them also lost and they have a very impressive resume with no bad losses.  The Aggies have always been held back because of the loss to Notre Dame.  

Georgia and Clemson also do not have any bad losses, but must always be ranked in the order of Mississippi-Georgia-Clemson as long as they have the same records, because Mississippi beat Georgia and Georgia beat Clemson.  Georgia and Clemson will be held back by Mississippi unless or until the Rebels lose another game.  The Rebels had a bad loss to Kentucky.

Missouri and UNLV are thus ranked ahead of that trio, and ranked by their bad losses.  Missouri has neither no bad losses nor any impressive wins, while UNLV has a bad loss to Syracuse and no impressive wins.  Colorado has a bad loss to Nebraska and no impressive wins.  Nebraska is a slightly-worse loss than Syracuse, and a better loss than Mississippi's loss to Kentucky.  Pittsburgh, Kansas State are the next-best two-loss teams, with losses to Virginia and Houston, respectively.  Colorado has a bad loss to Nebraska and no impressive wins, and would be ranked ahead of both Pitt and K-State, but because of a loss to Kansas State must logically be ranked behind them.

As you can see, other than Georgia and Clemson, which have to logically fall behind Mississippi, and Colorado, which logically must be behind Kansas State, the two-loss teams are appropriately ranked.  Alabama (no bad losses)-Texas A&M (no bad losses)-Missouri (no bad losses)-UNLV (loss to Syracuse, which is better than), -Mississippi (loss to Kentucky, which is better than)-Pittsburgh (loss to Virginia, which is better than-Kansas State (Houston).

One-loss Louisiana has to be ranked where it is because they have no impressive wins and a loss to #28 Tulane.  Even though it isn't a bad loss in retrospect, it still is an anchor on them which is not offset by impressive wins.

Arizona State had to fall despite a win because Cincinnati (because they fell out of consideration) is now a second bad loss for the Sun Devils.


Here is the new Top 25!


1-1-1-1-1.  Oregon 10-0, mashed Maryland 39-18 (Impressive Wins:  Beat #3 Ohio State, #4 Boise State, and #30 Illinois, Losses:  None, Bad Losses:  None) 

2-2-2-2-2  BYU 10-0, came from behind in the final seconds to beat rival Utah 22-21 (Impressive Wins:  Beat #6 SMU and #19 Kansas State, Losses:  None, Bad Losses:  None)

10-13-9-6-3.  Ohio State 8-1, blanked Purdue 45-0 (Impressive Wins:  Beat #7 Penn State, Lost to #1 Oregon, Bad Losses:  None)

7-7-7-7-4  Boise State 8-1, prevailed over Nevada 28-21, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #9 Washington State & #18 UNLV, Lost to #1 Oregon, Bad Losses:  None)

4-5-4-4-5.  Indiana 10-0, squeezed by Michigan 20-15 (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Beat Nebraska, Losses:  None, Bad Losses:  None)

11-14-12-5-6.  SMU 8-1, did not play (Impressive Wins:  Beat #22 Louisville and #23 Pittsburgh, Lost to #2 BYU, Bad Losses:  None)

3-3-3-9-7.  Penn State 8-1, whipped Washington 35-6  (Impressive Wins: #30 Illinois, Lost to #3 Ohio State, Bad Losses:  None)

17-19-16-13-8.  Army 9-0, grounded out a 14-3 win over North Texas (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Beat North Texas, Losses:  None, Bad Losses:  None)

8-10-10-10-9.  Washington State 8-1, waltzed past Utah State 49-28 (Impressive Wins:  None:  Biggest Win:  Beat Texas Tech, Lost to #4 Boise State, Bad Losses:  None)

6-18-17-14-10  Texas 8-1, throttled Florida 49-17 (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Beat Oklahoma, Lost to #21 Georgia, Bad Losses:  None)

21-17-14-12-11.  Tennessee 8-1, put away Mississippi State 33-14 (Impressive Wins:  Beat #12 Alabama, Lost to Arkansas, Bad Losses:  Arkansas)

22-32-21-17-12.  Alabama 7-2, scored a lopsided 42-13 win over #30 LSU (Impressive Wins:  Beat #17 Missouri, #20 Georgia and #28 LSU, Lost to #11 Tennessee and #28 South Carolina, Bad Losses:  None)

14-6-6-3-13.  Miami of Florida 8-1, lost to Georgia Tech 28-23 (Impressive Wins:  Beat #22 Louisville, Losses:  Lost to Georgia Tech, Bad Losses:  Georgia Tech)

32-25-19-16-14.  Notre Dame 8-1, ran it up on Florida State 52-3 (Impressive Wins:  Beat #16 Texas A&M, #22 Louisville and #27 Navy, Lost to Northern Illinois, Bad Losses:  Lost to Northern Illinois)

_-_-_-31-15. Louisiana (8-1) walloped Arkansas State 55-19 (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Wake Forest, Lost to #28 Tulane, Bad Losses:  None)

33-26-20-18-16.  Texas A&M 7-2, lost to #28 South Carolina 44-20 (Impressive Wins:  Beat #17 Missouri and #28 LSU, Lost to #14 Notre Dame and #29 South Carolina, Bad Losses:  None)

34-29-26-21-17 Missouri 7-2, topped Oklahoma 30-23 (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Beat Vanderbilt, Lost to #12 Alabama and #16 Texas A&M , Bad Losses:  None)

31-28-30-26-18.  UNLV 7-2, prevailed over Hawai'i 29-27  (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:   Oregon State, Lost to #4 Boise State and Syracuse, Bad Losses:  Syracuse)

37-36-33-28-19.  Mississippi 8-2, humbled #20 Georgia 28-10 (Impressive Wins:  Beat #20 Georgia 28-10 and #29 South Carolina, Lost to #28 LSU and Kentucky, Bad Losses:  Kentucky)

23-12-11-11-20.  Georgia 7-2, lost to #19 Mississippi 28-10  (Impressive Wins:  Beat #10 Texas and #21 Clemson, Lost to #12 Alabama and #20 Mississippi, Bad Losses:  None)

24-21-18-19-21.  Clemson 7-2, got by Virginia Tech 24-14 (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Beat North Carolina State, Lost to #20 Georgia and #22 Louisville, Bad Losses:  None)

35-38-31-22-22.  Louisville 6-3, shocked #27 Clemson 33-21 (Impressive Wins:  Beat #22 Clemson, Lost to #6 SMU, #13 Miami of Florida, and #14 Notre Dame, Bad Losses:  None)

15-9-5-8-23.  Pittsburgh 7-2, lost to Virginia 24-19 (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Wins:  Beat Syracuse and Cincinnati, Lost to #6 SMU, Bad Losses:  Virginia)

18-15-13-23-24.  Kansas State 7-2, was upset by Houston 24-19  (Impressive Wins:  Beat #21 Colorado and #26 Tulane, Lost to #2 BYU and Houston, Bad Losses:  Houston)

_-31-25-24-25 Colorado 7-2, came from behind to beat Texas Tech 41-27 (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Wins:  Beat Cincinnati and Texas Tech, Lost to #24 Kansas State and Nebraska, Bad Losses:  Nebraska)



Dropped Out of Top 25: 

Iowa State, LSU and Syracuse



Also Considered:


_-_-_-32-26 Tulane (8-2) ripped Temple 52-6  (Impressive Wins:  #15 Louisiana, Lost to #24 Kansas State and Oklahoma, Bad Losses:  Oklahoma

13-4-22-30-27.  Navy 7-2, turned back South Florida 28-7 (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Beat Memphis, Losses:  Lost to #14 Notre Dame, Bad Losses:  Rice)

25-22-24-20-28.  LSU 6-3, lost at home to #12 Alabama 42-13  (Impressive Wins:  Beat #19 Mississippi and #29 South Carolina, Lost to #12 Alabama,  #16 Texas A&M, and USC Bad Losses:  Lost to USC)

_-37-34-29-29. South Carolina 6-3, took care of Vanderbilt 28-7, (Impressive Wins:  #16 Texas A&M, Lost to #12 Alabama, #19 Mississippi and  #28 LSU,  Bad Losses:  None)

12-8-15-34-30.  Illinois 6-3, lost to Minnesota 25-1(Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Wins:   Beat Nebraska, Lost to #1 Oregon, #7 Penn State and Minnesota, Bad Losses:  Minnesota)

_-16-23-_-31.  Memphis (8-2), beat Rice 27-20 (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  North Texas, Lost to #27 Navy and Texas-San Antonio, Bad Losses:  Texas-San Antonio

19-35-32-27-32.  Arizona State 7-2, eked out a 35-31 win over UCF (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Beat Utah, Lost to Cincinnati and Texas Tech, Bad Losses:  Cincinnati and Texas Tech)


Dropped Out of Consideration:  Iowa State and Syracuse

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