The past week in college football turned out to be a bit calmer than the upset-riddled Saturdays of early October. Part of that was down to a good number of highly-ranked teams having a week off, which kept things quite stable at the top. There was no movement in the top six of either the AP or Coaches Poll.
Still, we have our fair share of gripes with the Week 9 polls, and there were some big games that will definitely impact how we look at some of the country’s major programs. Without further ado, here’s a look at eight things the college football polls got wrong this week.
Coaches should follow AP’s lead and rank No. 10 Notre Dame over No. 9 Oklahoma
The Fighting Irish’s 49-14 victory over USC was arguably the most impressive win of the weekend, no matter what you think about the Trojans. It was a total and complete dismantling of a team that, at one point, looked like a potential frontrunner for a College Football Playoff bid. Oklahoma has a great win too — going to Ohio State and winning is no small feat — but the Sooners needed a very late touchdown to escape at Kansas State. The AP poll has Notre Dame at No. 9, a spot ahead of the Sooners. The coaches have them reversed; they should be following the lead of the writers.
Coaches overrate No. 9 Oklahoma, underrate No. 12 Oklahoma State
This goes hand-in-hand with the previous complaint as well. We’ve already discussed that the Sooners are a touch overrated at this point given their recent performances, though they’re still a top-ten team on account of their win over the Buckeyes. Oklahoma State suffered a home loss to TCU, but at this point, the Horned Frogs are a top-five team at worst. The AP has the Sooners and Cowboys at Nos. 10 and 11, respectively, while the coaches place them at No. 9 and No. 12, keeping the Cowboys behind Washington. That should be changed.
Time for the coaches to dump No. 25 Michigan…
The AP has seen enough of the Wolverines. After two losses — one at home to a then-unranked Michigan State and the other an absolute pasting at Penn State — plus an unconvincing win over Indiana, Jim Harbaugh’s team is out of the AP rankings. The coaches, who had the Wolverines ranked higher to begin with, have offered him a reprieve, keeping Michigan at No. 25. Their best win is over a Florida team that simply hasn’t lived up to expectations either. There’s a more deserving candidate for their spot in the poll.
…and rank Memphis
The Tigers lost out to Michigan in this week’s Coaches Poll by just two points. The AP actually has them ranked comfortably at No. 24, which is an entirely fair spot for a 6-1 team with wins over UCLA and Navy. Both schools were ranked at the time of those games, though they aren’t any longer. Right now, Memphis is simply playing better football than Michigan is. The Wolverines should go, and the Tigers should take their spot at No. 25.
AP too eager on No. 16 Michigan State
Speaking of teams in Michigan, both the AP and Coaches Polls have showed some inconsistency the last two weeks. Indiana took Michigan to overtime a week ago, and the Wolverines were promptly punished in the rankings for their unconvincing performance. This week, it was Michigan State at home who had issues with the Hoosiers, only taking the lead for good very late on. Despite this, they rose one spot in the Coaches Poll and two spots in the AP poll to No. 16. The coaches are probably on the right track here, but with the Spartans unconvincing, they probably should’ve stayed right where they were before.
No. 8 Miami should go above No. 7 Clemson
The Hurricanes remain unbeaten, and while the common opponent test can be flawed, they did just see off the Syracuse team that handed Clemson their first defeat of the season a week earlier. Despite this, Miami sits behind Clemson in both polls. The coaches handled this particularly strangely, as they lifted the Hurricanes ahead of the Tigers a week ago, only to drop victorious Miami a spot and put them back behind Clemson, who were idle. That doesn’t make any sense.
The No. 19 Auburn recovery can begin
The Tigers look to have recovered from that LSU loss after a blowout win over Arkansas, and it’s time for them to start climbing back up the polls. They did rise two spots in both rankings this week, but there’s a case to be made that they’re a better team than Michigan State, whom they sit one spot behind in the Coaches Poll. Auburn’s ceiling is likely that of a top-15 team, which is where they were before their surprising loss. They’ll get there again, and they should probably be a spot closer or so already.
Writers should rank Texas A&M
The coaches have Texas A&M comfortably in the poll at No. 24, though their bye week didn’t do much to boost their status in the eyes of the AP voters. That’s a shame — they probably should’ve been ranked last week. It’s understandable that their win at Florida doesn’t exactly look impressive given the Gators’ struggles, but they stayed within one score of mighty Alabama and have been playing quite well since that season-opening collapse against UCLA. It’s time for them to be reintroduced to the top 25.
