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JP Top 25: Week 6

Submitted by jpg on 10/05/2008 - 19:42

Tags: ACC Now | JP Top 25 | UNC | Virginia Tech | Wake Forest

Note: J.P. Giglio is one of 65 voters in the AP Top 25. This is his ballot.

• JP Top 25 archive
• AP Top 25

Where’s UNC? The short answer is No. 26.

The long answer is the Tar Heels lost at home. You get extra credit for road wins and lose points for home losses in my book.

Then why Wake at No. 20? Wake’s two good wins (at Florida State, vs. Ole Miss) are better than UNC’s (at Miami, vs. UConn).

For the record, I did not rank UConn last week.

Oklahoma State edged out UNC for the last spot because the Cowboys are unbeaten (5-0). They also have to play Missouri this week, so if UNC beats Notre Dame, there will likely be an opening.

Along the same road loss/home loss lines of reasoning, I should have had USC in front of both Georgia and Florida last week. The Trojans are there this week, which was kind of a no-brainer after they routed Oregon.

I’m still unpopular in Provo and BYU still hasn’t beaten anyone. Patience, Cougars fans, patience.

1. Alabama

Record: 6-0
Last week: 1 (beat Kentucky, 17-14)
Next: Ole Miss (Oct. 18)

Did Alabama win? Yes. Did they look great doing it? No.

Did they look great trouncing Georgia at Georgia? That's why the Tide's still No. 1 here.

2. Oklahoma

Record: 5-0
Last week: 2 (beat Baylor, 49-17)
Next: vs. Texas @ Dallas

The Sooners beat Baylor by 32 points and pick up eight first-place votes. And you think my ballot is screwed up.

3. LSU

Record: 4-0
Last week: 3 (off)
Next: @ Florida

Time to see if LSU's overrated or underrated.

4. Missouri

Record: 5-0
Last week: 4 (beat Nebraska, 52-17)
Next: Oklahoma State

Starting to think everyone with a Missouri to win the BCS title ticket, at 15-1, is smarter than the rest of us.

5. Penn State

Record: 6-0
Last week: 6 (beat Purdue, 20-6)
Next: @ Wisconsin

And so it begins for the Nits. They're at Wisconsin on Saturday, where they're just 2-5 since joining the Big Ten. Then they get Michigan (nine straight losses) at home and go to Ohio State (zero wins in Columbus, 0-7).

6. Texas

Record: 5-0
Last week: 7 (beat Colorado, 38-14)
Next: vs. Oklahoma @ Dallas

Strong win for the Horns at Colorado, taking care of business before Oklahoma and a string of four straight ranked opponents.

7. Texas Tech

Record: 5-0
Last week: 8 (beat Kansas State, 58-28)
Next: Nebraska

What? Texas Tech played a real opponent. Finally. And the Raiders cranked out 58 points. At some point they'll have to play defense, too, but not this week against Nebraska.

8. USC

Record: 3-1
Last week: 12 (beat Oregon, 44-10)
Next: Arizona State

Predictable bounce-back from the Trojans and the revenge tour should continue against the rest of the Pac-10.

9. Georgia

Record: 4-1
Last week: 9 (off)
Next: Tennessee

Coming off a bye and craptacular performance against Alabama, you better believe Tennessee's getting the fastball on Saturday. Plus, the Vols kept UGa out of the SEC title game last season.

10. Florida

Record: 4-1
Last week: 10 (beat Arkansas, 38-7)
Next: LSU

We'll see how far Florida's defense has come in two weeks. The Tigers' offensive line will be the toughest test the Gators see before the SEC title game, if they get there.

11. Ohio State

Record: 5-1
Last week: 14 (beat Wisconsin, 20-17)
Next: Purdue

A last-minute comeback on the road? There's the heart I was looking for against USC. Penn State is Ohio State's best friend right now. The better PSU looks, the better OSU has a chance to sneak back into the BCS title picture.

12. Vanderbilt

Record: 5-0
Last week: 20 (beat Auburn, 14-13)
Next: @ Mississippi State

I'l admit I wasn't sold on Vandy until Saturday's win. Not only did the Dores come back to beat Auburn, they did so with all the hype and hullabaloo that comes with the ESPN GameDay crew.

13. Utah

Record: 6-0
Last week: 13 (beat Oregon State, 31-28)
Next: @ Wyoming

What is it with Mountain West teams and Pac-10 officials (see BYU vs. Washington)? The MWC will take it, and so will the Utes, who own a win over a team that beat USC.

14. BYU

Record: 5-0
Last week: 16 (beat Utah State, 34-14)
Next: New Mexico

You're still behind Utah because Utah has better wins. Beating New Mexico, which beat Arizona, will qualify as your best win of the season.

15. Boise State

Record: 4-0
Last week: 17 (beat Louisiana Tech, 38-3)
Next: @ Southern Miss

Watched the Broncs pick apart La. Tech on Wednesday. How is it possible that a college in Idaho can continually find a capable college quarterback and two-thirds of the ACC can't?

16. South Florida

Record: 5-1
Last week: 5 (lost to Pitt, 26-21)
Next: Syracuse (Oct. 18)

Apparently Dave Wannestedt is going to beat the Big East front-runner every year. The Bulls certainly didn't look like the team against Pitt that we saw in Raleigh.

17. Kansas

Record: 4-1
Last week: 15 (beat Iowa State, 35-33)
Next: Colorado

The writing is on the wall for the Jayhawks after they needed a miracle comeback to beat Iowa State. Last year was a one-in-a-million. This team is just good, not great, or even sufficiently motivated.

18. Virginia Tech

Record: 5-1
Last week: 18 (beat Western Kentucky, 27-13)
Next: @ Boston College (Oct. 18)

The Hokies are just not capable of beating anyone with any kind of style. Ugly wins are still wins, though. Watch out for the Noles on Oct. 25.

19. Ball State

Record: 6-0
Last week: 21 (beat Toledo, 31-0)
Next: Western Kentucky

Many thanks to Ball State. I was the first voter on the Cards' bandwagon and they picked me up, unlike Washington, my preseason No. 25.

In my defense of Washington, how different would its season be with a win over BYU?

20. Wake Forest

Record: 3-1
Last week: 22 (off)
Next: Clemson (Thursday)

Big game in the Dash on Thursday, despite both Wake and Clemson coming off losses. Tommy Bowden will really have to out-do himself to out-coach Jim Grobe and make chicken salad out of that offensive line against Wake's defense.

21. Auburn

Record: 4-2
Last week: 11 (lost to Vanderbilt, 14-13)
Next: Arkansas

Maybe Auburn shouldn't be here but the Tigers' two losses are by a combined six points and they were to the No. 3 and No. 12 ranked teams.

22. Tulsa

Record: 5-0
Last week: 24 (beat Rice, 63-28)
Next: @ SMU

The class of C-USA (and, in my opinion, better than UNC).

23. Cal

Record: 4-1
Last week: Not ranked (beat Arizona State, 24-14)
Next: @ Arizona (Oct. 18)

Willing to forgive the road loss to Maryland because the Bears beat Michigan State.

24. Michigan State

Record: 5-1
Last week: 25 (beat Iowa, 16-13)
Next: @ Northwestern

At some point the Spartans will need more than Javon Ringer, like a strong game from Brian Hoyer.

25. Oklahoma State

Record: 5-0
Last week: Not ranked (beat Texas A&M, 56-28)
Next: @ Missouri

Mike Gundy's a man!

In: Cal (23), Oklahoma State (25)
Out: Wisconsin (19), Ole Miss (23)

Comments

UNC

Wed, 10/08/2008 - 08:18 — Adam (not verified)

Somone mentioned to me that if I read one of your articles just once I would never bother to do so again. He was correct. Whether you rank UNC or not is neither here nor there, its one guys opinion and you're entitled to it. However, when you explain it the way you do here I see that you opinion is simply not anything I'm interested in.

Bye

Wed, 10/08/2008 - 11:18 — JPDOhio

Don't let the door hit you...

Tar Heels undeserving?

Tue, 10/07/2008 - 12:28 — pmeyer (not verified)

How does a team that barely lost to a ranked team after losing their starting QB come back to win two in a row out of state after twenty straight out of state losses, lead the NCAA in interceptions, and dominate special teams in both blocking AND returning and still you feel like they are undeserving of a ranking. 22, the higher of their rankings (vs. 26) isn't incredible, and if it were Wake in the same situation having played the same games I'm sure you'd say they're deserving of a ranking. You simply want a reason to doubt UNC in football because they aren't "supposed" to be good. Next time put a little more thought into losses versus a ranked opponent (even if their offense is lacking, they are still winning, so it shouldn't really matter) versus a loss against a team like Navy or Maryland. You can overlook Cal's loss to MD, but not a loss to a ranked VT. You can overlook two Auburn losses because they were close and to ranked teams (one at home), but not the Heels. Maybe you should overlook for a new job.

FSU

Mon, 10/06/2008 - 22:02 — Perry (not verified)

FSU should be in there somewhere between 22-25. We lost to wake, but kept them to FGs, no TDs. And they were ranked. But it's ok. The 'Noles don't require your respect. We will let our game speak for us. GO NOLES!!!

NOT

Mon, 10/06/2008 - 20:36 — HMM.. (not verified)

I'm not a Tar Heel fan at all but theres no way UNC isnt as good as Tulsa. Period... UNC wins- Mcneese State (yeah ok..not huge) at Rutgers, at Miami, number 22 UCONN, hows that not biggger than New Mexico and Rice and the Class of CUSA gets nothing .. class of ACC gets BCS and no im not saying UNC is class of ACC but they are top 3 and just repeating im not a UNC fan..at all

Tulsa better than UNC, is it because of thier great wins over Ne

Mon, 10/06/2008 - 16:47 — Anonymous (not verified)

Tulsa better than UNC, is it because of thier great wins over New Mexico and Rice ?

Not just Provo

Mon, 10/06/2008 - 14:14 — BWrenn (not verified)

Don't sell yourself short JP, you're pretty unpopular in Chapel Hill as well.

does EZU still play football?

Mon, 10/06/2008 - 13:54 — izzykareem

Or did everyone just convert over to needlework and crochet

Hypocrite

Mon, 10/06/2008 - 12:41 — Anonymous (not verified)

Give me a break J.P. You STILL have Auburn ranked, despite the fact they have two losses, and a resounding 3-2 road win over Mississippi St. I guess you and Tudor must be getting together to create new and exciting ways to not give the Heels their props. Wake has a home loss to Navy, and you're talking about us losing at home to Virginia Tech? I guess the fact we lost our starting QB doesn't factor in to your thinking hey J.P. It's nice to know that there MIGHT be a spot for us in your top 25 if we beat Notre Dame.

Michigan St. vs. UNC

Mon, 10/06/2008 - 11:39 — Tim Diette (not verified)

I understand the road win/home loss bit, but where does quality come into play? It is not clear what Michigan St. has done. While their loss is on the road, it was to a team you have 5 spots below Va Tech.
So are they living off a home win over Notre Dame? I'm just curious on where they impressed you?
I'm also not clear on your logic of "there will be an opening" with Ok St. playing Missouri. I realize this is the sad game that most pollsters play, but I thought you were an advocate of putting in the best teams (and not being concerned with prior week rankings). Not clear why a loss to #4 would prove that OK St. isn't #24?? Wouldn't this be a "better" loss than at Cal or at home to Va Tech?
Thanks, I enjoy your work.

UW Huskies

Mon, 10/06/2008 - 11:05 — CFBFAN (not verified)

"In my defense of Washington, how different would its season be with a win over BYU?"

They'd probably still only have one win. There are 14 team categories in which the teams are ranked nationally. UW doesn't rank higher than 73 in any of them (pass offense). UW ranks 87th or worse in all of the rest and is 104th or worse in 10 of them and dead last in two. (pass efficiency defense and punt returns). UW is 118th in another (total defense, ahead of only Idaho) and 117th in another (scoring defense).

You obviously didn't watch

Mon, 10/06/2008 - 13:56 — Anonymous (not verified)

You obviously didn't watch the FSU-Miami game if you think they are close to equal. The only thing that came close to being equal in that game was the score. FSU dominated on both offense and defense - rushed for 5 times as many yards as Miami and was in their QBs face all game. The only reason the score was close was because of fluke mistakes on special teams by FSU in the monsoon that came down in Dolphins Stadium.

FSU's only loss this year was to Wake Forest (in our first real game of the year) with 6 starters suspended.

Miami has lost the past 12 of their last 15 ACC games and did not go to a bowl game last year (and may not go this year).

Well put, could not agree

Mon, 10/06/2008 - 15:52 — Anonymous (not verified)

Well put, could not agree more.

Argument against UNC a little weak

Mon, 10/06/2008 - 09:57 — Anonymous (not verified)

So you say Wake's two best wins (FSU and Ole Miss) are better than UNC's wins - that's certainly debatable. FSU and Miami are pretty close to equal (as seen in this week's game) and beating a ranked UConn team (regardless of whether you ranked them) handily is certainly in the same ballpark as squeaking by Ole Miss at home. When you add in UNC's impressive game against Rutgers, their wins are certainly comparable to Wake's. Now you look at losses - Wake lost to Navy, who lost to Duke. That's A LOT worse loss than barely losing to VT, where UNC dominated most of the game and lost primarily because their starting QB was knocked out of the game. I could see giving Wake a slight edge based on what they've proven the last few years, but there's no way to support putting Wake at No. 20 and not ranking UNC. The argument that a spot will open up for UNC next week if they beat Notre Dame is silly...that has nothing to do with this week's rankings.