Week 4 of the college football season was a rather chaotic affair, with several key upsets and other close calls. The polls have reacted accordingly, for better or worse, and we have a new set of rankings to dissect.
So who’s overrated and underrated? Who got too much credit for their exploits and who didn’t get enough? Let’s take a look.
The AP overcorrected on No. 18 Texas
Is Texas back? Well, some voters certainly think so, with the AP rewarding them with a ranking of No. 18 for their win over TCU. Lifting them ahead of an Oregon team that would have beaten Stanford if they had any semblance of ball control seems quite premature. The coaches have them back in the rankings at No. 22, which seems like a much fairer solution for the Longhorns than elevating them right back into the top 20. You have to wonder if some voters are a bit taken with the Longhorn brand.
The writers really need to slow down on No. 20 BYU
It’s fine if everyone is still impressed by that very surprising win at Wisconsin, but it’s somewhat jarring to see BYU still unranked in the Coaches Poll while the AP keeps throwing plaudits at them. The Cougars sat at No. 25 last week, but bolted up five spots to No. 20 this week. The reason? An emphatic win over, well, FCS side McNeese State. That’s worth a bump in the polls of that magnitude? No it isn’t. If you want to rank BYU in the very lowest ranks of the top 25, you could do worse, but the jump is strange.
The Coaches are too kind to keep ranking No. 21 Oklahoma State…
One thing the AP did do right was drop Oklahoma State from the top 25 entirely. That win over Boise State was nice, but a home loss to Texas Tech by 24 points undoes all that good. It’s hard to justify ranking the Cowboys after a loss that ugly. They have three winnable games coming up, and if they can work their way to 5-1, they’ll be back, but they don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt right now.
…and No. 24 Virginia Tech might not deserve to be there either
What does one factor into their poll vote? It’s really in the eye of the beholder. Virginia Tech’s loss to Old Dominion is one of the ugliest defeats you’ll see for a would-be top 25 team all season. The fact that they lost standout quarterback Josh Jackson for the foreseeable future is even worse. If you take that into account, the Hokies don’t deserve to be ranked right now. The AP did drop them, but the coaches have not yet, though they should have.
It’s far too soon for Wisconsin to jump back up to No. 13 in the Coaches Poll
Wisconsin stabilized on Saturday with a difficult victory at Iowa in a night game, which is never an easy environment. The coaches were certainly impressed, bumping the Badgers back up to No. 13. That puts them ahead of the likes of unbeaten UCF and a Michigan team that won far more impressively, albeit in a far easier game, but has a much better loss than Wisconsin does. The AP also bumped Wisconsin three spots, but only to No. 15, as they had them lower to begin with. The Badgers are, at least on the coaches side, still overrated.
Coaches can’t justify putting No. 19 Mississippi State in the top 20
The Bulldogs remain ranked — barely — in the AP poll, dipping down to No. 23 after their 28-7 blowout loss at Kentucky. The coaches have been more forgiving, keeping them in the top 20 at No. 19. That’s despite the loss and their lack of truly impressive wins — they won at Kansas State, and it’s really the only good victory on their resume. Mississippi State doesn’t really have the profile of a top-20 team, and they don’t deserve that recognition.
It’s time to flip No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 6 LSU in the Coaches Poll
Oklahoma endured a massive scare at the hands of Army on Saturday, requiring overtime to see off the Black Knights at home. There’s no reason to excessively punish them for it — a win is a win, no matter how ugly — but they probably don’t deserve to be ranked ahead of an LSU team with more impressive wins. In the AP poll, they aren’t; the Tigers sit comfortably at No. 5, one spot ahead of the sixth-ranked Sooners. In the Coaches Poll, things are reversed, with Oklahoma at No. 5 and LSU at No. 6. That should be brought in line with the AP, who have it right in this instance.
Miami is worthy of a return to the top 15
This is a slightly tricky one because it involves some forward projection. Yes, Miami hasn’t beaten anyone, although their only loss to LSU looks more and more explainable with each passing week. However, the Hurricanes switched to N’Kosi Perry at quarterback in a 31-17 win over FIU, and he looked very impressive, throwing three touchdown passes. Should that be taken into account? They’re probably good enough to be in the top 15 despite sitting at No. 16 in both polls.
