JD's Fabulously Logical, Inarguably Perfect, College Football Rankings: 10/6/08

[jdcord]

Here we are for this season's second installment of this poll;  time again for "your's truly" to assess and indubitably rank the top college football teams in the country.  And not - as the morons in other polls do - according to how those teams rate in relation to their previous  rankings in some dubious, wholly contrived, specious, "Pre-season" polls, ... but instead, according to how each team rates in relation to the following criteria:


1)    How  well have they actually played?

2)    Whom  did they play?  And how well does that other team rate in its own right? 

2-a)  Also, have they played at least two reasonably formidable opponents?  (the requirement for now is roughly 40-50% of their opponents must be "reasonably formidable")

...... and finally,
 
3)    Where  did they play?


Just to clarify, my poll is not a "beauty contest", nor is it a "who do I think will end the season with the best record" contest.  However, in the case of a close call between placing one team above another, I do take into consideration the whole question of, "which team do I think would win if they played on a neutral field, next weekend?"  To consider two teams a close call in the first place they have to have similar qualifications in the above three criteria;  but if one team's resume outclasses the other at the current point of the season, then the "close call" question won't come into play.  In other words, it's all based on what they've done so far, regardless of how I think they'll do next week, or even where I think they'll end up at the end of the season.


Ok, so here we go: 


1.    The University of Alabama, Crimson Tide    (queue the school's fight song)

They still have the best resume for this season, so far.  In case you missed it the last time around, ... these guys have pummeled Clemson, Arkansas, and Georgia, and done so at Clemson, at Arkansas, and at Georgia!  .... They have clearly established themselves as the #1 team, and they have done so on the field (where it counts);  and more amazingly they have done so on the road! 

They went on the road again last weekend and beat Kentucky;  and while the final score was closer than it should have been, you have to take into account the small "hangover" the team must have had after that monumental game at Georgia the week before.  Regardless, they won again, and did so on the road, .... again.  Can you imagine when they finally start to play some home games?  That could get ugly.


2.    Penn State

They crushed Oregon State (the same Oregon State that smacked mighty USC in the mouth), they also beat Illinois, and they rolled Purdue 20-6 last weekend (at Purdue).


3.    Vanderbilt     

Yep.  .... Vanderbilt.  That's right.  They've beaten South Carolina, Ole Miss., and now Auburn.  I'd have them tied with Penn State, but I think that Paterno's boys would win if they played on a neutral field.  But that's still a very nice looking resume for this point of the season.  We'll learn more in two weeks when they travel to Georgia to play the Bulldogs.


4.    LSU Tigers

They didn't play last weekend.  They had a bye week, so to speak.  A good win at Auburn (although at this point I'm still not quite sure how good Auburn is), and they beat Miss. State the week before.  We'll learn more in the next 3 weeks (at Florida, at South Carolina, then against Georgia at home).


5.    Missouri

Tabled with their earlier win against Illinois, the Tigers' latest win at Nebraska finally gives them a resume worthy of a ranking.  However, awaiting them in the next two weeks are games against undefeated Okie State, and a biggie at Texas.


6.    Texas

I suppose I should include these guys, seeing as they've won against Arkansas, and now at Colorado.  However, I'm starting to rethink counting Arkansas as a quality win for anybody;  they seem to have become everyone's favorite punching bag this season.  What's up with that?


7.    Utah

If I don't include them this week, they'll never make it on here (not with the cupcakes on their remaining schedule - save for that last game against BYU, that is).  The Utes have won at Michigan, at Air Force, and they beat Oregon State last weekend.  Not bad for a "mid-major".    *L*    ... and speaking of Mid-majors, ...


8.    BYU Cougars

They went to Washington and beat the Huskies, then crushed UCLA and Wyoming by a combined score of 103-0  ....... (yes, you read that correctly).  And they won again last weekend for good measure.


Honourable Mention:   Northwestern.  Wins against Syracuse, at Duke, and at Iowa.  Let's see how things shape up after they host Michigan State and Purdue over the next two weeks.


Teams that didn't make the list because their schedules have thus far been littered with patsies:    Oklahoma (my second favorite team, if you can believe it). 

Thus far, they've whooped up on Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Washington (who are just plain "God-awful" this year), TCU and Baylor.  It's amazing that they're being given so much credit for those wins, with everyone thinking they are so "dominant" this season.  ..... How on earth do you know?  How can you possibly tell if they're any good when you've only seen them go up against sparring partners?  Of course they've looked dominant so far - teams are supposed to look dominant when they play against The Sisters of the Poor.  But next weekend is the start of a heavily back-loaded schedule, so now we'll start to see if this year's Sooners really are "All That".  (and hey!, I hope they are!  .... Go Sooners!)