Few observations (sorry this became TLDR):
1. Most don’t think this, but I have heard here and there that Penn St isn’t that good of a team. The “computers” (metrics, models, etc.) disagree. Without home field (which in general Sagarin gives just over 2 points for this year), OSU and PSU are just about even. Top 3 is pretty darn good. Seems Vegas is giving us a little more due to coming off a bye week (and possibly due to the Urban revenge factor). This is obviously and absolutely a huge week.
2. OSU. Even after the loss, OSU has never fallen below 3 this year (Clemson held the 2 spot for a bit). Clearly a lot of respect to the Buckeyes despite having beaten teams ranked here as 49, 79, 123, 88, 69 and 61, and losing to 11.
3. Big Ten teams: 2 (OSU), 3 (PSU), 8 (Wisconsin), 21 (Michigan), 26 (MSU), 28 (Iowa), 34 (Northwestern), 47 (Purdue), 49 (Indiana), 57 (Minnesota), 61 (Nebraska), 69 (Maryland), 88 (Rutgers), 118 (Illinois). Pretty good showing. Illinois at 118 obviously leaves a bit to be desired. Compared to SEC: 1 (Bama), 5 (Georgia), 10 (Auburn), 17 (Miss St), 27 (LSU), 29 (TAMU), 37 (South Carolina), 42 (Florida), Ole Miss (66), Arkansas (68), Tennessee (70), Kentucky (72), Vanderbilt (80), Missouri (95). I’m not really one for conference pride, but (at least for rebuttal purposes), broken down pound for pound we look pretty good:
- OSU (2) < Bama (1)
- PSU (3) > Georgia (5)
- Wisconsin (8) > Auburn (10)
- Michigan (21) < Miss St (17)
- MSU (26) > LSU (27)
- Iowa (28) > TAMU (29)
- Northwestern (34) > South Carolina (37)
- Purdue (47) < Florida (42)
- Indiana (49) > Ole Miss (66)
- Minnesota (57) > Arkansas (68)
- Nebraska (61) > Tennessee (70)
- Maryland (69) > Kentucky (72)
- Rutgers (88) < Vanderbilt (80)
- Illinois (118) < Missouri (95)
4. ACC: 6, 13, 16, 18, 19, 22, 30, 32, 52, 53, 56, 58, 71, 82. ACC is a deep conference just without the starpower at the top.
5. Big 12: 9, 11, 12, 24, 25, 36, 38, 39, 96, 155; Pac 12: 7, 14, 20, 23, 33, 35, 40, 43, 45, 46, 67, 127 (computers still watch at night). Seems possible that the Big 12 and Pac 12 could get left out of the playoff (in lieu of the 3 other P5 champions plus Notre Dame if they win out, or maybe even a 1 loss Georgia or PSU, obviously if TCU doesn’t win out).
6. Florida (behind North Dakota State), Arkansas and Tennessee (FG favorite over YSU), Cincinnati (106), Illinois (118) and Kansas (155) are all varying levels of “good.”
7. I get it, they are undefeated, but TCU is overrated at 4. Same with Miami at 8.
———————
Sagarin Ratings (AP in parenthesis):
1 Alabama A = 103.28 (1)
2 Ohio State A = 97.46 (6)
3 Penn State A = 97.06 (2)
4 Notre Dame A = 93.95 (9)
5 Georgia A = 93.70 (3)
6 Clemson A = 93.39 (7)
7 Washington A = 91.02 (12)
8 Wisconsin A = 90.64 (5)
9 Oklahoma State A = 90.61 (11)
10 Auburn A = 90.09 (19)
11 Oklahoma A = 90.03 (10)
12 TCU A = 89.78 (4)
13 Virginia Tech A = 88.19 (13)
14 Stanford A = 86.46 (20)
15 Central Florida(UCF) A = 86.19 (18)
16 Miami-Florida A = 85.82 (8)
17 Mississippi State A = 84.81 (28)
18 Georgia Tech A = 83.59 (30)
19 NC State A = 83.35 (14)
20 Southern California A = 83.12 (21)
21 Michigan A = 82.92 (27)
22 Florida State A = 82.86 2
23 Washington State A = 82.07 (15)
24 Iowa State A = 81.76 (25)
25 Texas A = 81.70
26 Michigan State A = 81.02 (16)
27 LSU A = 80.27 (23)
28 Iowa A = 79.12
29 Texas A&M A = 78.73 (26)
30 Wake Forest A = 78.37
31 South Florida A = 78.30 (17)
32 Louisville A = 77.93
33 Arizona State A = 77.59
34 Northwestern A = 77.21
35 Arizona A = 77.00
36 Texas Tech A = 76.84
37 South Carolina A = 76.65 (31)
38 West Virginia A = 76.50 (22)
39 Kansas State A = 76.45
40 UCLA A = 76.18
41 North Dakota State AA = 75.91
42 Florida A = 75.71
43 Oregon A = 75.62
44 Boise State A = 75.33
45 California A = 74.93
46 Utah A = 74.71
47 Purdue A = 74.55
48 Fresno State A = 74.52
49 Indiana A = 74.48
50 Memphis A = 74.04 (24)
51 Toledo A = 73.88 (33)
52 Syracuse A = 73.52
53 Duke A = 73.47
54 James Madison AA = 72.61
55 Navy A = 72.57
56 Boston College A = 72.48
57 Minnesota A = 72.17
58 Pittsburgh A = 71.93
59 San Diego State A = 71.90 (29)
60 Colorado State A = 71.83
61 Nebraska A = 71.44
62 Houston A = 70.82
63 Marshall A = 70.16 (32)
64 SMU A = 69.89
65 Northern Illinois A = 69.89
66 Mississippi A = 69.47
67 Colorado A = 69.46
68 Arkansas A = 69.45
69 Maryland A = 69.36
70 Tennessee A = 69.32
Others to note:
71 Virginia A = 68.67
72 Kentucky A = 68.64
75 Youngstown State AA = 66.82
79 Army West Point A = 66.41
80 Vanderbilt A = 66.27
82 North Carolina A = 64. 72
88 Rutgers A = 64.04
95 Missouri A = 62.90
96 Baylor A = 62.29
106 Cincinnati A = 58.94
118 Illinois A = 57.53
123 UNLV A = 56.24
127 Oregon State A = 55.26
155 Kansas = 49.07
1. Most don’t think this, but I have heard here and there that Penn St isn’t that good of a team. The “computers” (metrics, models, etc.) disagree. Without home field (which in general Sagarin gives just over 2 points for this year), OSU and PSU are just about even. Top 3 is pretty darn good. Seems Vegas is giving us a little more due to coming off a bye week (and possibly due to the Urban revenge factor). This is obviously and absolutely a huge week.
2. OSU. Even after the loss, OSU has never fallen below 3 this year (Clemson held the 2 spot for a bit). Clearly a lot of respect to the Buckeyes despite having beaten teams ranked here as 49, 79, 123, 88, 69 and 61, and losing to 11.
3. Big Ten teams: 2 (OSU), 3 (PSU), 8 (Wisconsin), 21 (Michigan), 26 (MSU), 28 (Iowa), 34 (Northwestern), 47 (Purdue), 49 (Indiana), 57 (Minnesota), 61 (Nebraska), 69 (Maryland), 88 (Rutgers), 118 (Illinois). Pretty good showing. Illinois at 118 obviously leaves a bit to be desired. Compared to SEC: 1 (Bama), 5 (Georgia), 10 (Auburn), 17 (Miss St), 27 (LSU), 29 (TAMU), 37 (South Carolina), 42 (Florida), Ole Miss (66), Arkansas (68), Tennessee (70), Kentucky (72), Vanderbilt (80), Missouri (95). I’m not really one for conference pride, but (at least for rebuttal purposes), broken down pound for pound we look pretty good:
- OSU (2) < Bama (1)
- PSU (3) > Georgia (5)
- Wisconsin (8) > Auburn (10)
- Michigan (21) < Miss St (17)
- MSU (26) > LSU (27)
- Iowa (28) > TAMU (29)
- Northwestern (34) > South Carolina (37)
- Purdue (47) < Florida (42)
- Indiana (49) > Ole Miss (66)
- Minnesota (57) > Arkansas (68)
- Nebraska (61) > Tennessee (70)
- Maryland (69) > Kentucky (72)
- Rutgers (88) < Vanderbilt (80)
- Illinois (118) < Missouri (95)
4. ACC: 6, 13, 16, 18, 19, 22, 30, 32, 52, 53, 56, 58, 71, 82. ACC is a deep conference just without the starpower at the top.
5. Big 12: 9, 11, 12, 24, 25, 36, 38, 39, 96, 155; Pac 12: 7, 14, 20, 23, 33, 35, 40, 43, 45, 46, 67, 127 (computers still watch at night). Seems possible that the Big 12 and Pac 12 could get left out of the playoff (in lieu of the 3 other P5 champions plus Notre Dame if they win out, or maybe even a 1 loss Georgia or PSU, obviously if TCU doesn’t win out).
6. Florida (behind North Dakota State), Arkansas and Tennessee (FG favorite over YSU), Cincinnati (106), Illinois (118) and Kansas (155) are all varying levels of “good.”
7. I get it, they are undefeated, but TCU is overrated at 4. Same with Miami at 8.
———————
Sagarin Ratings (AP in parenthesis):
1 Alabama A = 103.28 (1)
2 Ohio State A = 97.46 (6)
3 Penn State A = 97.06 (2)
4 Notre Dame A = 93.95 (9)
5 Georgia A = 93.70 (3)
6 Clemson A = 93.39 (7)
7 Washington A = 91.02 (12)
8 Wisconsin A = 90.64 (5)
9 Oklahoma State A = 90.61 (11)
10 Auburn A = 90.09 (19)
11 Oklahoma A = 90.03 (10)
12 TCU A = 89.78 (4)
13 Virginia Tech A = 88.19 (13)
14 Stanford A = 86.46 (20)
15 Central Florida(UCF) A = 86.19 (18)
16 Miami-Florida A = 85.82 (8)
17 Mississippi State A = 84.81 (28)
18 Georgia Tech A = 83.59 (30)
19 NC State A = 83.35 (14)
20 Southern California A = 83.12 (21)
21 Michigan A = 82.92 (27)
22 Florida State A = 82.86 2
23 Washington State A = 82.07 (15)
24 Iowa State A = 81.76 (25)
25 Texas A = 81.70
26 Michigan State A = 81.02 (16)
27 LSU A = 80.27 (23)
28 Iowa A = 79.12
29 Texas A&M A = 78.73 (26)
30 Wake Forest A = 78.37
31 South Florida A = 78.30 (17)
32 Louisville A = 77.93
33 Arizona State A = 77.59
34 Northwestern A = 77.21
35 Arizona A = 77.00
36 Texas Tech A = 76.84
37 South Carolina A = 76.65 (31)
38 West Virginia A = 76.50 (22)
39 Kansas State A = 76.45
40 UCLA A = 76.18
41 North Dakota State AA = 75.91
42 Florida A = 75.71
43 Oregon A = 75.62
44 Boise State A = 75.33
45 California A = 74.93
46 Utah A = 74.71
47 Purdue A = 74.55
48 Fresno State A = 74.52
49 Indiana A = 74.48
50 Memphis A = 74.04 (24)
51 Toledo A = 73.88 (33)
52 Syracuse A = 73.52
53 Duke A = 73.47
54 James Madison AA = 72.61
55 Navy A = 72.57
56 Boston College A = 72.48
57 Minnesota A = 72.17
58 Pittsburgh A = 71.93
59 San Diego State A = 71.90 (29)
60 Colorado State A = 71.83
61 Nebraska A = 71.44
62 Houston A = 70.82
63 Marshall A = 70.16 (32)
64 SMU A = 69.89
65 Northern Illinois A = 69.89
66 Mississippi A = 69.47
67 Colorado A = 69.46
68 Arkansas A = 69.45
69 Maryland A = 69.36
70 Tennessee A = 69.32
Others to note:
71 Virginia A = 68.67
72 Kentucky A = 68.64
75 Youngstown State AA = 66.82
79 Army West Point A = 66.41
80 Vanderbilt A = 66.27
82 North Carolina A = 64. 72
88 Rutgers A = 64.04
95 Missouri A = 62.90
96 Baylor A = 62.29
106 Cincinnati A = 58.94
118 Illinois A = 57.53
123 UNLV A = 56.24
127 Oregon State A = 55.26
155 Kansas = 49.07
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