dropped out: Illinois, Notre Dame, Northwestern

Okay, here are my Week 7 rankings and justifications.  Charlie’s can be found here.  Like Charlie, I found it difficult to distinguish between all the one-loss teams and the undefeated mid-majors.  Either way, here are my musings on the poll.

Movin’ on Up:

Penn State isn’t the only team that gets this treatment, as we have some big jumps being made this week.  First, the obvious.  Oklahoma State picks up 17 spots, jumping from #21 to #4 on the strength of their win at Missouri.  That win compares with Alabama’s domination at Georgia as the biggest win of the year, going on the road to beat a top-ranked team.  Same goes for Texas, who I will admit that I sold short.  Wake Forest makes a big jump into the rankings, debuting at #17.  I got a chance to watch the entire Wake/Clemson game, and though the offense was underwhelming to say the least, I was thoroughly impressed with their defense.  Florida gets the predictable bounce for beating a top-10 team.  UNC and Michigan State bounce up on the strength of wins over ranked teams.  Ball State and Minnesota make their debuts at #23 and #24, and Minnesota has been a very pleasant surprise.  Ohio State moves up after an uninspiring win against Purdue because of their defense.  Their defense actually beat Purdue, 7-3.  That’s an impressive stat.

Come on Down

Not just a “Price is Right” catchphrase anymore, I’m bringing LSU, Missouri, Vandy, and South Florida down this week.  I already had LSU ranked very low, at #9, but they got absolutely blown out by Florida.  Now, Florida is a good team, #4 in our rankings, but I was thoroughly unimpressed by LSU’s play on both sides of the ball.  Vanderbilt, too, really dissapointed me.  I was a big fan of the Commodores, ranking them all the way up at #5 last week, but they really don’t have any major wins and losing to Mississippi State isn’t what a top team does.  An uncerimonious drop, yes, but a valid one.  Missouri lost a tough game to a good team, but I’ll still drop them below the other one-loss teams because I’m suddenly unimpressed with their resume.  And why drop South Florida four slots without them playing a game?  I went back and looked at their schedule and they’re just an unimpressive team.  Yeah, they beat Kansas, but you’ve got to take care of business against Pitt.

Watch Out For:

We have annoyingly few big matchups this week, but some to look out for: Georgia can knock Vandy right out of this poll, same goes for Oklahoma and Kansas.  A suddenly awesome Virginia team could cause problems for UNC coming off a big win against the Golden Domers.  And the almighty SEC loves to beat itself up, so even the should-be-wins, like Alabama this week against Ole Miss, might be a dogfight.

On the flip side, California would move into this poll with a convincing win against Arizona.  Same goes if Boston College can pull off the upset against Virginia Tech.  A nice win in Death Valley would be promising from Georgia Tech.

It’s too early to talk about potential BCS matchups, but I’m in the same boat as Charlie when it comes to these midmajor teams making it to a BCS bowl.  For every Boise State over Oklahoma a couple years back there is a Hawai’i getting decimated by Georgia.  I’d love to see these teams do what TCU did, go out and schedule a team like Oklahoma.  Even if that is a loss, you’re at least getting some national recognition.  Fresno State, too, for getting Wisconsin.

Releated Posts:

1. Week 7 NittanyWhiteOut Poll Preliminary Ballot
2. NittanyWhiteOut’s Top 25
3. Week 9 Ballot: Devon’s Top 25
4. Movin’ on Up, Part II
5. Week 3 Blogpoll has Penn State #9, Evans and Koroma