Michigan #17 in AP Poll; #16 in Coaches Poll, #15 in BCS Standings
Michigan is #17 and #16 in the AP and coaches poll respectively. Anyone else worried(If we win) that we might not get to #14 after OSU to qualify for a BCS Bowl? Give me your thoughts
EDIT: Good points. Beat Ohio
Link: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/rankings
And in the newly released BCS Standings, we are at 15
November 20th, 2011 at 1:56 PM ^
Georgia and South Carolina play Georgia Tech and Clemson next week respectively. It wouldn't even take a crazy upset to see both of them lose.
November 20th, 2011 at 5:50 PM ^
As far as the polls are concerned, only the SEC matters. Even the last place team there should be ranked ! So a loss to an SEC team is not a loss unless you are from outside the SEC, but then you are in a "weak" conference.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:22 PM ^
These rankings don't matter. The goal is to beat ohio.
This Is MICHIGAN.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:28 PM ^
The goal is to win the Big Ten Championship, not to beat Ohio. I don't think an 1-11 season with a win against Ohio would be acceptable.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:56 PM ^
I would take a lot of joy in that one win...
November 20th, 2011 at 5:56 PM ^
You forgot beating sparty. But 1-11 with a win against OSU would still be OK.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:23 PM ^
i'm sort of surprised that a beatdown of a higher ranked team didn't move us more in each poll. that being said, after reviewing the comments above, I tend to agree that if we beat osu, we shouldn't have trouble making it to the top 14. remember, the AP poll isn't in the BCS and the computers count too. I bet the computers view us more favorably than the coaches and AP poll.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:26 PM ^
that CBS site has projections of the BCS rankings and we're projected 16 there, but I'll bet we'll be 15 or 14 once the computer actual scores are run. We'll probably be 16 or 17 in the Harris poll, but I don't think that's out yet, either. Need to take care of that school down here, then see what happens. Also note, the 2 Big Ten teams in Indy will likely be above us (I'm assuming Wiscy and MSU), then the loser will drop below us in all likelihood with a 3rd loss (here's hoping that's MSU).
November 20th, 2011 at 2:08 PM ^
November 20th, 2011 at 1:27 PM ^
CBS Sports has us as 13 playing against undefeated Houston in the Sugar Bowl as long as it is an LSU Alabama rematch for the national title. As ridiculous as it sounds, I'd rather have 2 SEC teams playing again for the national title and allowing us to play a C-USA team in a BCS bowl instead of having to play Alabama in the Sugar Bowl...
November 20th, 2011 at 1:37 PM ^
Back to back games against Alabama? Whoa.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:41 PM ^
Agreed. I would love this pick. It would be a fascinating case study in conference hierarchy. It would also likely be an easier game. If we win a BCS game this year, I would be very, very happy with the completion of our season.
November 20th, 2011 at 3:52 PM ^
November 20th, 2011 at 1:27 PM ^
I was expecting us to be at least #14 now, not after a win against tSIO.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:33 PM ^
We may be 15 or 16 in the BCS. We were ranked 18th last week. I think the BCS had us ranked highest of the three.
November 20th, 2011 at 2:43 PM ^
I agree, for the first time this season i feel like we are underrated in the polls. That was Nebraska we demolished!
November 20th, 2011 at 1:31 PM ^
I feel like we're vastly underrated.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:43 PM ^
I wouldn't say vastly, necessarily, but I would definitely say underranked by a couple. Mostly this is because a number of programs are presently overranked. (Virginia Tech is the first on my list.)
November 20th, 2011 at 3:09 PM ^
I'd place us above
Kansas State (same record, blown out by 41 points at home against Oklahoma, who isn't THAT good)
South Carolina (same record, one impressive win by 3 against Georgia a long time ago, doesn't compare to us beating Notre Dame/Nebraska)
Georgia (same record, one impressive blowout over Auburn, ton of close wins against bad teams)
Oklahoma (8-2, maybe the worst loss of any ranked team when they lost to TT, the only reason they are even sniffing the Top Ten is who they are)
Virginia Tech (10-1, pathetic schedule, lost their only game against a ranked opponent by 20)
Boise State (10-1, one impressive win over Georgia, pathetic schedule, lost their only other game against a ranked (decent?) opponent in TCU)
I'll give MSU credit for beating us and having the same record, though I think getting blown out twice shows they aren't as good as their record suggests. I still think Wisconsin is the best team in the Big Ten and their only two losses are on the road on Hail Marys, so they get the nod. Houston....ugh. Hawaii 2007 wants their season back, but you are undefeated...
November 20th, 2011 at 1:32 PM ^
We must win first or the rest is irrelevant. Go Blue. Thanks Brady!
November 20th, 2011 at 1:36 PM ^
with a WIN over OSU..several of the ranked teams in front of us will knock each other out in the next couple of weeks...for instance..MSU vs Wisc.(assuming b10 title game)..somebody has to lose...etc... there are actually many of those coming and if this weekend is any indication there could be ALOT of ranked teams still to go down..Beat OSU and Michigan is BCS BOUND
November 20th, 2011 at 1:35 PM ^
November 20th, 2011 at 1:40 PM ^
beat Texas with 120 yards of offense last night, which is unfortunate for us. South Carolina has to play Clemson, so one of those two teams will finish ahead of us. We likely won't leapfrog Georgia. I think with an OSU win we'll probably eek in, but I don't think it's guaranteed.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:36 PM ^
Beats OU, and whoever loses between Wisconsin and msu will cause both (OU, Msu or Wisc) to drop below us. Just win and everything will play itself out.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:40 PM ^
That is unbelieveable that we only move up one spot especially with all the top 25 losses.
November 20th, 2011 at 2:03 PM ^
Oklahoma's best OOC win was a close game against a 7-4 FSU team that had its QB injured. They lost at home to 5-6 Texas Tech and @Baylor. They've won 8 games rather than 9 (having only played 10 times so far). The blowout win @K-State is by far their most impressive in conference.
And that leads us to K-State. They surrendered 58 points in a blowout home loss to OU and 52 in a loss at Ok. State. Their best OOC win was a 4 point victory over 6-5 Miami. They beat Eastern Kentucky by a score of 10-7. They beat Baylor by 1, 6-5 Missouri by 7, 5-6 Texas Tech by 7, 6-5 Texas A&M by 3, and 6-4 Texas by 4. Their only convincing wins were against 2-9 Kansas and 5-6 Kent State.
On the other hand, Michigan's best OOC win was against 8-3 Notre Dame (currently ranked #22 in the AP poll). The losses came @ 9-2 MSU and @ 7-4 Iowa. Both games saw Michigan inside the opponent's ten yard line with an opportunity to tie the game late in the 4th quarter. Other than that, Michigan has not played a competitive game all season. No one has stayed within three scores, including #22 Nebraska and bowl-bound teams from Illinois (on the road), Northwestern (also on the road), SDSU, and (probably, assuming a win over IU) Purdue.
How you can look at those resumes and not have Michigan ranked comfortably ahead of both of those teams is pretty mind boggling.
November 20th, 2011 at 2:37 PM ^
A very strong argument, my friend. If you look at it as team A and team B there is question who looks better
November 20th, 2011 at 3:01 PM ^
You could do the same thing for South Carolina and Georgia. Both miss LSU and Bama on the schedule. Georgia also misses Arkansas (South Carolina lost big to the Razorbacks).
Georgia's best win came against 7-4 Auburn. Their most impressive OOC performance is getting beat down in a virtual home game (Georgia Dome in Atlanta) against Boise State. They beat 5-6 Tennessee by 8. 5-6 Vanderbilt by 5. 6-5 Florida by 4. And 4-7 Kentucky by 9.
South Carolina's only win over a ranked opponent came against the aforementioned Georgia Bulldogs. Their most impressive OOC win came against the 5-6 ECU Pirates. They were beaten soundly @Arkansas and lost at home to 7-4 Auburn. They beat 5-6 Miss. St. by a score of 14-12. They beat 5-6 Tennessee 14-3. They beat 6-5 Florida 17-12. They beat 4-7 Navy by 3.
Again, I don't see how these teams are ranked ahead of Michigan.
November 20th, 2011 at 4:40 PM ^
You make an extremely well thought out and convincing argument; I agree with it wholeheartedly. Now let's hope we actually beat Ohio or this whole arguement is completely moot.
November 20th, 2011 at 2:47 PM ^
Arkansas' best OOC win was against A&M by 3 points... Arkansas at #3 is a complete joke. Seriously. Next week playing LSU should clear that up though....
November 20th, 2011 at 1:41 PM ^
doesn't matter but only one of PSU, MSU, and Wis can stay at 2 losses so we should move up at least 1 and maybe 2. clemson & sc play so we could move up 1 there. also whichever team plays lsu prolly ends up with 3 losses and that should drop them. i don't see ksu staying ahead of us if we win.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:42 PM ^
we'll probably get into the necessary range with an OSU win. lot of teams still have games to lose ahead of us as well.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:46 PM ^
Here's a comprehensive breakdown. This is all assuming we beat OSU, obviously. Also assuming we are currently ranked BSC #16
Before the end of the season:
Clemson (17) plays South Carolina (12)
VT (5) plays Virginia (8-3, unranked)
ND (22) plays Stanford (6)
Georgia (14) plays GT (23)
Wisconsin (15) plays PSU (18)
Houston (9) plays Tulsa (8-3, unranked)
Kansas State (11) plays upset-specialist Iowa State (6-4, unranked)
Oklahoma (10) plays upset-specialist Iowa State (6-4, unranked)
Oklahoma (10) plays Oklahoma State (4)
Also,
SEC champ: Georgia (14) vs LSU (1)
B1G champ: MSU (13) vs Wisconsin/PSU (will be 15 by gametime)
Pac12 champ
So that's 4 spots guarenteed, with a possibility for 8. We would be in for sure.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:56 PM ^
We'll finish ahead of all but the B10 champion, from our conference, and I hadn't considered that Georgia would have to play in the SEC title game, so that's two spots, but I dont see anymore guarantees. Either way, I guess that's enough.
November 20th, 2011 at 7:35 PM ^
one of those teams is going to have another loss. UM jumps a 3 loss OU team and OSU would probably take a decent tumble if they lose to OU - not sure if it would be enough for UM to jump them though.
If VaTech beats Virginia, Clemson or VaTech is guaranteed another loss. UM jumps a 3 loss Clemson.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:47 PM ^
I must have missed some important changes. What is the significance of being 14th or lower in the BCS rankings? Are the top seven bowl games considered BCS now? I was under the impression that Michigan wanted to be in the top 10. It used to be the best and biggest bowls were the Rose, Orange, Sugar, Cotton and Fiesta.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:53 PM ^
To be selected for one of the 4 BCS bowls (of which the Cotton is not one), a team must be in the top 14 in the BCS standings. This is not a guarantee of being selected, it's a minimum requirement. When you factor in the top 2 are in the National title game, that gives the bowls 12 teams (#3-14) to select for 8 spots.
November 20th, 2011 at 7:33 PM ^
The top 14 applies to teams trying to get an large berth from an automatic qualifying conference. The Big East champ hasn't been in the Top 14 in a while and more than likely won't be again this year.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:55 PM ^
Top fourteen allows a BCS at-large berth. The BCS is the national championship, plus the Rose, Sugar, Fiesta and Orange, and if we finish in the top fourteen we're going to play in either the Sugar or Fiesta as an at-large against (probbaly) one of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State or Houston.
November 20th, 2011 at 2:06 PM ^
Thanks for clearing that up to both you and JClay.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:55 PM ^
Anybody suprised USC jumped 8 spots? I know beating Oregon on the road was huge but that seems to beat a very significant jump considering the PAC 12 isn't all that good.
November 20th, 2011 at 2:24 PM ^
There was a lot of coverage during the last week stating that USC was very underrated in the polls. Herbstreit basically said the same thing throughout the game last night. I think the Trojans were due for a jump of a few spots no matter what and then the win just got them a few more.
November 20th, 2011 at 2:36 PM ^
USC is ineligible for bowls, so they don't even get ranked in the BCS. So that alone moves us up one spot for sure.
November 20th, 2011 at 5:37 PM ^
USA Today (Coaches) and Harris poll do not include USC. Any computer poll that includes USC or other ineligible teams (FCS, Div II, Div III) just has those teams skipped over when calculating the top 25 teams per computer poll. Of course, neither the BCS, nor ESPN, their only outlet for posting BCS results, explicitly note this rule. No bump for us from where USC ends up.
November 20th, 2011 at 2:36 PM ^
USC is even more underrated, imo, given the post-season ban. Hate Lane Kiffin all you want, but give him some credit for motivating a team that doesn't have anything to play for except pride.
November 20th, 2011 at 2:45 PM ^
a win against Ohio will solidify our chances. those ahead of us will choke and the BCS Bowls would much rather have us than most other schools.
November 20th, 2011 at 2:46 PM ^
For the first time in quite awhile, I feel like we're underrated in the polls. I like it.
November 20th, 2011 at 3:17 PM ^
... (and not totally far-fetched) would have M finishing as the only B1G team with 2 or fewer losses, as follows:
- M, Wisconsin, and Northwestern all win on Saturday (all three are playing at home).
- MSU beats Wisconsin in B1G title game.
Presumably, M is highest ranked B1G team going into bowl season in this scenario. But, it worries me a bit in that a 3-loss Wisconsin may *still* be considered by MSM to be the best team in the B1G and would get a BCS spot over M.
EDIT: actually, this scenario works regardless of who wins Penn State @ Wisconsin on Saturday. If M beats OSU, NW beats MSU, and MSU wins title game, M is only team in B1G with 2 or fewer losses.
November 20th, 2011 at 3:10 PM ^
Well considering we are probably around 16th in the BCS tonight, I believe we will be somewhere at 12-14 by the end of Championship week if all goes well. Georgia is gonna get smacked by whoever is in the title game. South Carolina needs to lose to Clemson which can happen. Clemson and Virginia Tech will hopefully beat the other one out of the top 12 in ACC title game. We jump Michigan State or Wisconsin, whoever loses. That should be enough for the 12 spot. Then if Notre Dame (cant believe Im mentioning this) can knock off Stanford, who is succeptible to a good offense, then we might be in. I think the whole key to this formula for us to get into the BCS Fiesta Bowl is Stanford loses to Notre Dame. Everyone else will knock each other off and we get in. If Stanford wins, we are out since Oregon will most likely not fall to ASU or Oregon State. Reality projection for UM = Michigan vs Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl.
November 20th, 2011 at 3:20 PM ^
A 10-2 Michigan teams with wins over OSU, Nebraska, and Notre Dame plus two close losses better be ranked in the top 12 by the end of the year.