AP Poll - FSU Stays at 2, SEC West has 4 of the Top 5, Oregon Moves Ahead of Staee

Submitted by alum96 on

I am a bit surprised FSU did not pass idle MSU (NTMSU) with the win over ND.  I guess Midwest football just is not that respectable - for legitimate reasons.   Alabama's evisceration of A&M moved them up 3 spots - while A&M is a hoax this year, that was still most likely the most dominanting performance by any team this year vs a team with some form of pulse.   I had been confused why Oregon was behind Sparty all these weeks considering the head to head but voters rewarded them finally.

Only 3 Big 10 teams - OSU, Nebraska and MSU.  Minnesota is effectively #28

I'd also like to point out the Pac 12 South division which currently holds the #14, #15, #19, #20, #25 teams in the nation.  Not the SEC West but I think it's the second best division in the country right now - well ahead of the SEC East.  Utah is making a move like TCU - 3rd/4th year in the conference and starting to make noise.  In theory, Arizona or Arizona State (or hell Utah) - if they win out and beat Oregon in the Pac 12 championship game would be viable playoff teams with 1 loss each. 

Over in the Big 12 - in the new world order, Texas and Oklahoma are afterthoughts aa 2 of the best coaches in the country - Patterson & Snyder - take their 30th to 60th ranked classes into the top 12.  Baylor is also there but with their non conference essentially eliminated themself with the 1 loss.  KSU has an Auburn loss on its resume while TCU has a heartbreaker to Baylor. 

FSU just has to tread water and not screw up vs a Louisville or someone like that at this point.  Or have Winston be Winston.

 

 
1 Mississippi State
Record: 6-0
PV Rank
1
Points
1,480
2 Florida State
Record: 7-0
2
1,433
3 Mississippi
Record: 7-0
3
1,404
4 Alabama
Record: 6-1
7
1,235
5 Auburn
Record: 5-1
6
1,231
6 Oregon
Record: 6-1
9
1,142
7 Notre Dame
5
1,133
8 Michigan State
Record: 6-1
8
1,066
9 Georgia
Record: 6-1
10
1,055
10 TCU
Record: 5-1
12
962
11 Kansas State
Record: 5-1
14
905
12 Baylor
Record: 6-1
4
858
13 Ohio State
Record: 5-1
13
753
14 Arizona State
Record: 5-1
17
643
15 Arizona
Record: 5-1
16
639
16 Nebraska
Record: 6-1
19
537
17 Oklahoma
Record: 5-2
11
461
18 East Carolina
Record: 5-1
18
445
19 Utah
Record: 5-1
20
437
20 USC
Record: 5-2
22
356
21 Clemson
Record: 5-2
24
283
22 West Virginia
Record: 5-2
31
272
23 Marshall
Record: 7-0
25
184
24 LSU
Record: 6-2
27
177
25 UCLA
Record: 5-2
26
118

Others receiving votes: Duke 108, Oklahoma St. 91, Minnesota 61, Colorado St. 12, Louisville 4, Missouri 4, Stanford 4, Maryland 3, N. Dakota St. 3, Texas A&M 1

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snarling wolverine

October 19th, 2014 at 3:53 PM ^

This is a bizarre North American thing.  In most sports leagues around the world, the team in first place is the champion.  Here, we have this weird custom of playing a ton of regular-season games that mean almost nothing, and then play a tournament at the end that gives only the slightest advantage to the team that worked its butts off to gain the best record.  Even weirder is that people justify this as being "fair" to the teams with worse records than the #1 team, as though they deserve fairness more than the team that had the best season.  

College football had been a rare holdout from this craziness but is in danger of succumbing to these pressures.   I want the playoff to stop at four teams, but I fully expect it to be 16 within a decade.  There will be 9-3 and possibly even 8-4 teams given the right to compete for the national title.  

 

Joined: 12/14/2011

MGoPoints: 98243

ghost

October 19th, 2014 at 4:05 PM ^

That's simply not true.  The professional hockey and basketball teams in Europe all have playoffs.  Sports leagues in Australia have playoffs.   The Japanese baseball league has a playoff system.  Saying its a NA thing is just wrong.

So not in reality its the European soccer teams that are in your word "bizarre".

Joined: 09/02/2011

MGoPoints: 4140

BornSinner

October 19th, 2014 at 4:45 PM ^

Tbh soccer isn't bizarre either... There are six champions leagues around the world... Every domestic league team wants to get a spot into the champions league ... Then the winner of each champions league plays in the club world cup to determine a world champion club... So EVEN soccer has a "playoff" whether soccer fans wanna admit it or not....

Joined: 09/20/2014

MGoPoints: 14672

jbibiza

October 19th, 2014 at 4:47 PM ^

Actually the real champion of European football (soccer) is the winner of the Champions League which is an extended playoff system.  Yes, the winners of each league are champions of that league... just as the winner of the Big Ten is the champion of the league.  But the best teams go into the Champions League playoffs for the following year and THAT winner is the champion of European football.

Joined: 10/08/2009

MGoPoints: 7385

bluebyyou

October 19th, 2014 at 6:59 PM ^

Sometimes less is more, and I feel that way about the playoffs.  Four teams is fine, but it is going to be hard to fight the money interests.   If I remember right, someone did an analysis on MGoblog, or posted a piece here showing that you don't have to go very far down the list of ranked teams to find the teams who truly should be considered for the national championship.

I don't believe that in the vast majority of situations, that two or three loss teams should be in the NC conversation.  Then there are the logisitics.

Joined: 09/07/2009

MGoPoints: 18555

M-Dog

October 19th, 2014 at 4:48 PM ^

I'm in favor of eight teams and always have been.  But no more than that.

Eight gets in Power 5 champs and leaves room for 3 at-larges, one of which should be reserved for a non power 5 team.  No conference should get more than two.

This is going to eventually happen anyway because of politics and money.

I am one of the people that worships at the alter of CFB being so unique because every games matters.  I don't think eight changes that. 

The strawman argument against eight is that it becomes sixteen.  If you want to argue against sixteen, I'm right there with you with torches and pitchforks.  But eight stands on its own merits.

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257385

M-Dog

October 20th, 2014 at 12:12 AM ^

I could even live with conference champions not being guaranteed to get in if they are more than, say, 2 wins behind a viable competitor.

I'm OK with a 3 loss Big Ten team not getting in over a 1 loss Alabama for example.

So if a conference is really bad, I'm OK if they are left out.  Also, no conference should be allowed more than two.   Your conference is well represented enough with 25% of the teams in the playoff.

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257385

Mr. Yost

October 19th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^

...They'd play each other in the playoff, in an important game on a neutral field.

Who cares if the important game is late November or late December?

If all 4 teams were in, great...let them knock each other off on a neutral field in a playoff. It's not like they all go to their seperate bowl games and we never know who the better team is.

8 teams would be just fine...it wouldn't make the regular season any less compelling.

Think about this...for every game like the Egg Bowl that wouldn't matter because both teams are in...you'd have the Pac 12, B1G, Big XII regular season games matter MORE knowing that only their conference winner would be in.

Late conference games would be even more compelling with teams trying to get the automatic big knowing the SEC has all the at-large spots.

So either way you're going to have exciting regular season football.

Joined: 07/25/2011

MGoPoints: -9898220

gwkrlghl

October 19th, 2014 at 5:00 PM ^

Until another conference steps up or the SEC flops a few times in bowl season. Till then, they're assume to be the best and the whole conference feeds off of their preseason rankings. They just pass around top 10 rankings without ever having to do much outside of their conference.

I think they're the best conference. But they definitely get a little 'SEC bonus' in the rankings

Joined: 04/13/2012

MGoPoints: 72

M-Dog

October 19th, 2014 at 5:18 PM ^

One more year of not winning the NC will do it.

The media is all about the last 5 minutes.  We think they are biased because they inherently love the SEC.  But what they really love is an easy new narrative that they can provide "insight" into for the great unwashed masses.

They will eat up a storyline of:  "Has the SEC fallen from its pearch on top of college football?  Discuss."

 

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257385

bronxblue

October 19th, 2014 at 6:18 PM ^

I get that; it's just annoying to see it play out each week.  Ole Miss and Miss. St. have big wins against other SEC teams and that's it, and those teams get the benefit of "good losses" against said teams.  So everyone is winning and losing exhibitions and in the end 2 SEC teams will be left standing for the playoffs, then probably FSU, and then everyone else will be fighting for one more spot.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171381

bo_lives

October 19th, 2014 at 3:34 PM ^

Would probably have to entail a 2 loss team getting in which seems unlikely... but the SEC love is about as high as it can possibly get this season

Joined: 04/10/2011

MGoPoints: 7867

M-Dog

October 20th, 2014 at 12:15 AM ^

Trust me, if they get two in, the other conferences will revolt.  Especially if ND gets in.  That would leave only one Power 5 conference outside the SEC represented in the CoFoPo.  All hell would break loose.

I actually hope that happens.  We don't have a dog in the hunt, so I'll just sit back and eat popcorn and watch the whole thing implode.

The faster it happens the better.  The cure for too many SEC teams in the playoff is too many SEC teams in the playoff.  It will only happen once, then they'll change the whole system.

They already did the last time it happened.

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257385

DealerCamel

October 19th, 2014 at 3:58 PM ^

After accepting that Michigan isn't going to do much this year and therefore the polls are irrelevant where we're concerned... I'm enjoying all the other great football being played throughout the nation.  Without a dog in the fight, all these games featuring awesome teams suddenly become a lot more enjoyable.  Not to mention the playoff speculation actually becomes exciting rather than stressful.

Joined: 07/25/2012

MGoPoints: 7598

LSAClassOf2000

October 19th, 2014 at 4:02 PM ^

ESPN's estimate of the playoff picture is here - LINK

In their opinion, if we started the playoff today, 3 SEC teams and 1 ACC team (guess who) would be in it. The 3 SEC teams would be Mississippi State, Alabama and Ole Miss. The next four out would be Auburn, Notre Dame, Oregon and Michigan State. Interestingly, the resume ranks on ESPN are quite varied, to say the least. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

MGoPoints: 130603

alum96

October 19th, 2014 at 4:16 PM ^

Right.  If it ended today you'd have 2 undefeated SEC west teams - both would go  And one undefeated reigning champion.  So that's 3.  So it  would be 1 open spot up to debate.

But the playoff is not today  it is at end of year.  What ESPN should be doing is projecting out to the end of the year - Bama and Auburn cannot absorb another loss, that would be 2 losses in a world too many other teams have 1 or 0.

It is interesting how few teams this year are undefeated halfway through the season, generally there would be more at this point (more like 6-8 rather than 3).

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82384

Muttley

October 19th, 2014 at 5:36 PM ^

has a pretty good shot at making the Playoffs.

Presently, there are 14 one-loss Power 5 teams w/ a whole lot of cannabalizing to go.

Watch as the one-loss-or-better Power 5 club shrinks rapidly from 17 over the next few weeks.

I think Nebraska has a better chance of making the Playoffs if it were to run the table than it does at running the table.

Joined: 07/07/2009

MGoPoints: -73245

mjf34g

October 19th, 2014 at 4:07 PM ^

What else is great (and sobering) in watching all these quality teams is realizing just how far M is from being even close to being to being relevent. The gap is startling and its getting bigger. We're closer to being a middle of the road MAC team than being even a upper echelon Big10 team and even further from a team that might have a shot at a playoff berth. If the powers that be can't see it it just confirms to me that they have NO interest in ever competing.

Joined: 10/22/2009

MGoPoints: 101