Here’s a look at my Top 25 poll vote entering Week 12 (Nov. 15) in the weekly Examiner.com national Top 25.
“Examiners” that cover college football throughout the country vote in the weekly poll. My vote for this week is included here. Below that you will find a link to the National Examiner.com Top 25. Be sure to sign-up for e-mail alerts, so you never miss a post on Alabama or the SEC, by selecting subscribe on my main page.
Based on full body of work, I believe Georgia Tech deserves to be ranked higher than unbeatens TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State.
Here's a look at the quality wins each team has...Boise State-WAC (Oregon), Cincinnati-Big East (Rutgers, Oregon State, USF & West Virginia), TCU-MWC (Clemson, BYU & Utah), Georgia Tech-ACC (Clemson, North Carolina, Florida State, Virginia Tech and Duke.)
Georgia Tech has been challenged in and out of the ACC all season long. The only game they played where there wasn’t a threat for them to lose was the opener vs. Jacksonville State. 3 of their 4 non-conference games are against the SEC. At the moment, before the Georgia game, I think the Yellow Jackets have a better total body of work with one loss and a tougher schedule than TCU/Cincinnati/Boise State.
Those other three undefeated teams should not have their seasons defined based on one or two non-conference games. The fact is they aren't challenged most weeks, especially in conference. I know they want to play BCS conference teams but those are individual games. Until those conferences merge to make a better conference or we get a playoff, they should be penalized to a certain degree for the weak conference play. I realize Cincinnati is technically in a BCS Conference (Big East) but that conference right now is only slightly better than the Mountain West, top to bottom. My alma mater is in the Big East (USF) but I’m just calling it like I see it.
Alabama, for example, has 3 weak teams on its entire schedule (FIU, N. Texas and Chattanooga) while Boise State has 11 (everyone except Oregon.) So, they deserve to get an 8 game pass and be judged equally? One or two games, a few, maybe but 8? I don't think so.
Before you tell me about how Utah beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and Boise State beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, you're completely missing the point. Those are one-game exhibitions. We are judging teams for the polls based on an entire season's body of work. No one should be defined by one non-conference game and then get a pass on not only playing weak non-BCS conference teams but many bad teams in those conferences.
I'm not hating on them but in this screwed-up system we have in college football where the BCS standings are settled on computer hard drives instead of on the field, it's just something the weak conferences have to live with in my opinion. Get a new conference or get us all a playoff system where you can prove yourself on the field.
The good news for those three unbeaten teams with weak resumes is that, other than Georgia Tech, there are no other one-loss teams with strong enough resumes to warrant being above them (apologies to Pitt, who I think will beat Cincinnati.) It drops down to lots of inconsistent 2-loss teams. I'll listen to your arguments with a two-loss difference then. So, through process of elimination, one of those previously mentioned unbeatens could still slide in the back door, although I doubt it.
Vince Ferrara's Top 25 for Examiner.com - Week 12 (Nov. 15)
1. Alabama 10--0
2. Florida 10--0
3. Texas 10--0
4. Georgia Tech 10--1
5. TCU 10--0
6. Cincinnati 10--0
7. Boise State 10--0
8. Pittsburgh 9--1
9. Ohio State 9--2
10. LSU 8--2
11. Oregon 8--2
12. Oklahoma State 8--2
13. Iowa 9--2
14. Penn State 9--2
15. Wisconsin 8--2
16. Virginia Tech 7--3
17. Stanford 7--3
18. USC 7--3
19. Clemson 7--3
20. North Carolina 7--3
21. Miami 7--3
22. Oregon State 7--3
23. California 7--3
24. Arizona 6--3
25. Nebraska 7--3
Others Considered In No Order:
Ole Miss (7-3), BC (7-3), Rutgers (7-2)
Houston (8-2), BYU (8-2), Utah (8-2)
Compare the Examiner.com weekly college football poll to the BCS, Coaches, Harris & AP polls available on that page as well.
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Comments
I agree and like your assessment, but given that same argument how in the world do you rank Ohio State ahead of LSU??
Duke, N.Carolina, Virgina Tech (3 LOSSES EACH) Florida State...tougher schedule than TCU....give me a break. The fact remains that TCU is undefeated and beat 3 ranked teams.
Those teams (TCU, Boise State, Cincy) are already being punished for weak conference schedules. Look where they are. There is no way that any of them will be in the national championship game. The interesting thing is that nothing is said about the weak non-conference games that especially Texas and Florida have played this year - and so late in the year. What bugs me most about the current bowl system are all the conference tie-ins. The playoff argument could be dissipated greatly if the bowls chose by ranking instead of conference tie-ins. As it is, its just one big beauty contest with six sets of judges.
Anyone that has actually seen TCU play would say they are probably the best team in the country right now. In the last month they've beaten 2 ranked teams by an average of 31 points. They scored 55 against a good Utah team. They are as fast as any team in America and they play awesome defense.
North Carolina, Duke and Florida State is listed as quality wins. Has the person who wrote this article watched college football this year?
even though FSU, and UNC are not great teams...they have far more talent than almost all the teams on TCU,BSU, and Cinncy's schedules. TCU beat a good clemson team and is a great team but GT has the 12th toughest schedule in the nation...per sagarin rankings. They play 11 FBS schools...and three schools from the SEC. TCU is on fire right now and deserves the ranking but GT should be ranked ahead of cincy and bsu....hopefully pitt and nevada take care of those two schools so the computers dont have too.
russ miller, GT has beaten 3 teams that are CURRENTLY ranked
Thanks for the vote of confidence in my alma mater, but I'm gonna have to disagree with you. GT *may* deserve to be ranked higher than Cinci or Boise, but TCU certainly has shown to be as competent as any FBS school by their shear margin of victory.
Duke, UNC, and FSU do not deserve to be counted as "quality wins" They are mediocre teams.
It seems that your article hinges on the idea that non-BCS conferences are, by default, inferior to the BCS conferences. Your top 25 is just listing teams by record and then throwing GT above the "minor" unbeatens.
"Live with it" is not an acceptable solution. College football needs a playoff system. That is the only way to give smaller conferences a fair shot at proving themselves. If this season produces more than 2 unbeaten teams (which it will) then a team deserving a shot at a championship has been given the shaft.
For those of y'all that haven't noticed, UNC is 7-3 with wins over VT and Miami, and is currently ranked in the coaches' poll. And GT pounded them.
I agree that Duke is not a quality win. However FSU can score on anyone, has arguably the toughest schedule in the nation and has several quality wins including destroying the BYU team that accounts for one third of TCU's quality wins.
Vince, as a GT alum and also a Tide fan (Bama being my beautiful wife's alma mater), thanks for the vote of confidence! Go Jackets and RTR!
I agree with Matt. And you obviously have not watched TCU play at all this year. And if you're listing Duke and NC as quality wins, which is complete bs, you need to say that TCU over SMU is a quality win, bc they're slated to win CUSA this year.
The ACC is weak, no offense. TCU has earned the ranking. Would be fun to see GA Tech and TCU in a bowl game.
TCU has beat three ranked teams, yes, but Utah and BYU should not be ranked. Utah's best win is over Air force, who is also the only team they've beaten with a winning record. They've lost to both good teams they've played. BYU, likewise, has beaten one team with a winning record, Oklahoma. And Oklahoma is decidedly mediocre this year. The Mountain West is getting some extreme mileage out of the Sugar Bowl win and the brand name power of Oklahoma. In reality, Clemson is the only good team that TCU has beaten.
Thanks for the vote of confidence in my alma mater, but I'm gonna have to disagree with you. GT *may* deserve to be ranked higher than Cinci or Boise, but TCU certainly has shown to be as competent as any FBS school by their shear margin of victory.
Duke, UNC, and FSU do not deserve to be counted as "quality wins" They are mediocre teams.
It seems that your article hinges on the idea that non-BCS conferences are, by default, inferior to the BCS conferences. Your top 25 is just listing teams by record and then throwing GT above the "minor" unbeatens.
"Live with it" is not an acceptable solution. College football needs a playoff system. That is the only way to give smaller conferences a fair shot at proving themselves. If this season produces more than 2 unbeaten teams (which it will) then a team deserving a shot at a championship has been given the shaft.
Hey, if FSU and Duke are quality wins, so are Boise State's wins over Idaho (7-4) and Fresno (6-4). I stopped reading your biased article at that point. The rest was probably even more absurd.
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