McMisanthrope's Top 25: November 23, 2008

Thoughts:

1. How could Oklahoma lose to Texas?
2. Since no one, single game can determine a team’s worth, it’s even more important to have a tournament.
3. Coaching decisions in-game are quite amusing to watch.
4. Maybe Mississippi is better than Iowa, but I doubt it. So does Jeff Sagarin. Either way, Oregon State is better than them both.
5. Teams that lose from here on out? Choke artists.

Rankings:

1. Utah (12-0): They beat Oregon State, TCU and BYU. I don’t if any other team has three such quality wins.
2. Alabama (11-0): Their singular impressive win (Georgia) is slightly better than Boise State’s singular impressive win (Oregon), but at least they play a BCS schedule.
3. Boise State (11-0): On paper, they don’t look at good as the 2006 team, but the talent on this 2008 team is greater than that of two years ago. And if two years ago, they could beat a big boy in a BCS bowl, they could do it again this year. I am afraid they won’t get the chance, and that’s just pure ridiculousness.
4. Ball State (11-0): They have no impressive wins over anyone notable.
5. Oklahoma (10-1): They played like thugs on Saturday night, and Bob Stoops just lost a lot of respect in my corner. But they ambushed a Tech team that should have been able to play better after a bye week. So again, how did the Sooners lose to Texas?
6. USC (9-1): Why does their loss to Oregon State hurt them more than Florida’s home loss to Mississippi? I have yet to understand why the pollsters currently and conveniently ignore realities they demanded as fact last year.
7. Texas (10-1): How did they lose to Tech when Oklahoma was able to score 65 points on them?
8. Penn State (11-1): Again, a road loss should always be weighted less than a home loss. Always. But the SEC can do no wrong, evidently. By the way, does Paterno even coach from the box? Every shot ABC showed of him yesterday, he looked like he was drooling. Does he even speak into the faux headset he was wearing?
9. Florida (10-1): I am going to echo the thought that even scheduling The Citadel shows how pathetic the SEC is as a conference. But the pollsters moved Florida up after they pounded a nothing team. Oklahoma pounds an undefeated team? It doesn’t matter. But I am sure it will matter when Florida pounds Alabama. This subjective favoritism toward the SEC will end the BCS up in court; watch.
10. Texas Tech (10-1): All lubricant jokes aside, I don’t know what Mike Leach did to prepare his team for that game, but such coaching incompetence is just shocking.
11. Ohio State (10-2): If Michigan isn’t careful, they’re going to find themselves on the wrong side of an eight-game losing streak in this series in November 2011.
12. TCU (10-2): Their only losses are to Oklahoma and Utah. Heck of a season that deserves more than the crappy bowl they’ll end up in.
13. Georgia (9-2): Yawn.
14. BYU (10-2): Only losses are to Utah and TCU. Again, a heck of a season that deserves more than the crappy bowl they’ll end up in.
15. Cincinnati (9-2): Is someone finally in the driver’s seat for the Big East title? And Brian Kelly is doing it all with someone else’s recruits. I guess he can coach his way to Tennessee if he wants, but I wouldn’t touch the Vols job with a ten-foot pole.
16. Oklahoma State (9-2): An overrated team that still beat Missouri.
17. Missouri (9-2): An overrated team that still lost to Oklahoma State.
18. Tulsa (9-2): Yawn.
19. Oregon State (8-3): They didn’t go down due to a missed extra point, and you have to winder if Mike Stoops is really a worthy coach. Arizona blew this game, big-time.
20. Michigan State (9-3): The only two games they played this year against good teams? They got hammered by a combined 94-26. Has Sparty really turned a corner? In 1999, they lost two games by a combined 92-38 but still finished 10-2 and launched Little Nicky to stardom elsewhere. Will history repeat?
21. Pittsburgh (7-3): Doh.
22. Boston College (8-3): At some point on TV yesterday, the talking heads noted that unranked ACC teams were 11-3 against ranked ACC teams this year. They really do just beat each other up.
23. Georgia Tech (8-3): Did I stutter?
24. Oregon (8-3): They have a big game coming up next week in the Civil War. It’s going to be hard for the Beavers to get to Pasadena, but if they do, they will have done it the old-fashioned way.
25. Northwestern (9-3): Nice season under the radar for the Wildcats. It’s always good to see the smart kids in purple win a lot of games.

Also considered for a starring role this week: Connecticut, Florida State, West Virginia