Sunday, November 16, 2008

The McTop 25: November 16, 2008

Thoughts:

1. The SEC sucks. After watching Georgia struggle to beat Auburn (!) and watching LSU spot Troy a 21-point lead in the 4th quarter, who cares if they “won” the games? They lost face, and this conference is pathetic. Florida is good; ‘Bama is alright. Georgia is tolerable. The rest are barely worth mentioning.
2. The Pac-10 is better than advertised. One great argument for a tournament has always been about getting your team to peak at the right time, and the Pac-10 has two teams who are very hot right now.
3. The Big Ten isn’t good. 8-3 Northwestern struggles to beat 3-8 Michigan? And as someone noted, that Wisconsin-Minnesota game was just unwatchable. Sparty is vastly overrated, and we saw what USC did to Ohio State. Penn State: slightly the best of a mediocre bunch. It is a good thing they won’t make the title game.
4. The ACC is better than advertised; THEY are truly beating each other up this year. Six teams are 7-3. How do you separate them?
5. The Big XII is overrated. I am going to predict that the conference’s bowl record will be slightly embarrassing this year.
6. The Big East is the Big Least for 2008. Not much else to say there.
7. Yay, I don’t have to rank Tulsa anymore! Anyone who gives up 70 points in a single game won’t sniff my rankings.

Rankings:

1. Texas Tech (10-0): Good time for a bye week, eh? I think they’re the best of the undefeated teams, and I’d like to see them go undefeated, even if means Florida or USC misses their rightful spot in the BCS “title” game. And unlike Oklahoma, they can play a little defense.
2. Utah (11-0): Laid the wood to San Diego State. That’s what good teams do to bad teams. Take note, Alabama.
3. Boise State (10-0): Laid the wood to Idaho. That’s what good teams do to bad teams. Take note, Alabama.
4. Alabama (11-0): Seriously, a 12-7 halftime lead at home over Mississippi State? What a joke the SEC is if this is their “No. 1” team right now. Everyone knows this team is the equivalent of 2007 Kansas, right? Except because of the SEC bias, no one has noticed. But really, who have they beaten? Georgia and Clemson suck, as does LSU. Look at their SOS: not very good. They’ll lose the SEC title game and get an undeserved BCS bid, where they’ll get mauled by some ACC team.
5. Ball State (10-0): If they had beaten Miami-OH by more than two TDs, I’d have put them ahead of Alabama, too.
6. Texas (10-1): How many teams are going to be fighting for those BCS at-large bids? This will get ugly, especially if Mack Brown is involved in the politicking. But I think their defense is … suspect.
7. Oklahoma (9-1): After Texas Tech beats them, they’ll become irrelevant in this discussion. But for now, I need to keep them here to be consistent.
8. USC (9-1): Oregon State may win out. Do the Trojans even get an at-large BCS bid? My two favorite teams this year are ranked No. 8 and No. 10 in my own system. Sucks to maintain objectivity, doesn’t it?
9. Penn State (10-1): Since they’ve only been to the Rose Bowl once since they joined the Big Ten, this should be a nice reward for JoePA.
10. Florida (9-1): They still have the worst loss of any of the BCS one-loss teams, and it should cost them. Oh, except for the SEC love affair currently en vogue. Complete hypocritical turnaround from 2007 if they end up in the title game, deserving or not. Every year, the criteria changes to whatever suits the SEC. Completely transparent and bogus. And I really LIKE Florida. But if the BCS was consistent, Florida would be NOWHERE near the title game. Why was South Carolina even ranked? Two words: SEC bias.
11. BYU (10-1): Can they spoil Utah’s season? Stay tuned.
12. TCU (9-2): Only two losses to Oklahoma and Utah. Not a bad resume.
13. Ohio State (9-2): Another team I don’t think anyone would want to play in a tournament right now. They’ll make it five in a row or whatever is now against Michigan. No sweat. It might even be ugly. Considering their only losses were to USC and Penn State …
14. Georgia (9-2): I’m only ranking them here, because based on their talent, they should beat the rest of the two-loss teams below. But this team is just not good. Matthew Stafford? Pathetic. How could they even let Auburn sniff a chance in that game? AUBURN! Both these teams had no business being ranked in the Preseason Top 10. This SEC crap is just laughable, and if the media had any shame, they’d admit their idiocy now. They look good on paper, but since they got HAMMERED in both their losses …
15. Michigan State (9-2): The quality in this poll dropped off at #10.
16. (tie) Cincinnati (8-2) & Pittsburgh (7-2): No, this isn’t the AFC Central, circa 1975. But they will break the stalemate atop the Big East this upcoming weekend when they face each other. That’s good enough for now.
17. Oklahoma State (9-2): I really don’t want to rank them, but their only losses are to Texas and Tech. Why are they so low? Because they gave up 50+ points. Sure, Sparty gave up 45 to Ohio State, but there’s a big difference at that 50-spot threshold.
18. Missouri (9-2): No defense. I have a feeling they will get smoked in the Big XII title game. But if they pull off the upset to put USC into the title game against Florida, I’d be happier than a clam. But are clams really happy? That is a fixed smile; nature has shafted the clam with a fake smile.
19. Oregon State (7-3): They have two tough games left. Winning in Tucson won’t be easy, and defeating the Ducks in the Civil War is never a cakewalk. Stay tuned.
20. Northwestern (8-3): They have an inexcusable loss to Indiana, but I’d still take them over LSU on a neutral field. Or in the snow.
21. Oregon (8-3): They lost to Boise State, USC and California. No shame there.
22. Miami-FL (7-3): Best combination of record, conference mark and SOS in the ACC.
23. Maryland (7-3): Second-best combination of record, conference mark and SOS in the ACC.
24. Georgia Tech (7-3): Here via virtue of their win over Florida State. Subject to change, week-to-week, in the topsy-turvy ACC.
25. West Virginia (6-3): Still have an outside shot at the Big Least title if Pittsburgh beats Cincy.

Others receiving acknowledgement: Florida State, North Carolina, Boston College, Connecticut, Air Force, LSU

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