Revolutionary rankings: USC, Bama, Mizzou
Today we debut a new way to rank college football teams. Instead of ranking teams by what I think they will do, I’ll rank them by what I think they have done. In other words, what have Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio State, West Virginia and LSU done so far? Squat. All defeated lower-division teams.
So that means they are not in this first rankings. Do I think they will get there? Sure. But if you want predictions, go to the more traditional polls. That’s what they are based on. If you want an accurate reading of what has transpired so far in college football, this is your list:
1. Southern Cal: A 45-point victory over a solid Virginia program.
2. Alabama: Routed Clemson 34-10 on a neutral field.
3. Missouri: Beat a good team (Illinois) on a neutral field (St. Louis) in a rivalry game, 52-41.
4. UCLA: Winning at home is not as impressive, but Tennessee was the best team to lose in Week 1.
5. Utah: Beat Michigan in the Big House. If I had thought to do this last year, it’s quite possible that Appalachian State would have been No. 1 for at least a week.
6. East Carolina: Beat Virginia Tech on a neutral field (Charlotte, N.C.). If the Pirates win Saturday at West Virginia, they will be No. 1 in my rankings and should be No. 1 in every poll.
7. Fresno State: I think Rutgers is solid, and Fresno won going away; 3,000 miles from home.
8. Kentucky: Beat an arch-rival and more-successful rival (Louisville) on its home field.
9. Bowling Green: Pitt was overrated, but still, impressive to Heinz Field and win.
10. Arkansas State: Won at Texas A&M, prompting Pat Jones to ask, who’s the best team in Arkansas? Answer: Not the Razorbacks. Not this week.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
Nice list. I have a couple questions though. Where would you rank OSU after their win over WSU? Also, what about Stanford beating Oregon State (predicted by many to be a Top 25 team this year) or South Carolina for blanking NC State? La Tech for beating Miss St? Or Cal for beating Mich St? I think you got a GREAT list…but maybe you should increase your list to the Top 20? But then again, I think you got a 10 might be a better number. But I think maybe Stanford belonged in there instead of Kentucky.
Great thinking, maybe the idea behind your system is that it would force teams to stop scheduling East Podunk as their first game!!
Hmmm. Maybe trying to get Berry to cast a vote in the AP poll was not a well thought out idea…
Kidding aside, it’s a good idea to rank teams based more on their accomplishments than on just a simple-minded combination of “where were they last week” and “who won or lost”.