Ranking teams by what they've done, not by what we think they can do. This week, we'll start calling this the "Dennis Green Index," because a lot of teams lived up (or down) to where I put them last week. In a memorable rant: "They were who we thought they were!"
1. LSU (last week = same)
Ho, hum... I suspect that the coaches and sportswriters will start giving these guys a few more #1 votes after the Trojans' narrow miss vs Washington. I've had LSU here for a while.
2. Cal (lw = same)
Not necessarily convinced that they are better than Southern Cal yet, not saying they are not either, but they keep beating better teams. The national polls had them sixth last week and will doubtlessly be moving them up quite close to where I had them to begin with.
3. Southern Cal (lw = same)
This is where they get dropped to when Southern Cal beats them. I'm just getting a head start.
4. South Florida (lw = same)
Ahem.... 18th? The national polls will surely now be bumping them into whispering distance of the top five. I had them here last week -- and fifth the week before.
5. Ohio State (lw = #11)
This is social promotion as much as anything. They keep beating all that is laid before them. Also, that win over Washington is looking better and better as Washington looks pretty scrappy against a brutal sked.
6. Wisconsin (lw = #18)
Finally, and unfortunately, a real win.
7. Boston College (lw = same)
The wreckage of the conventional polls' previous top 10 this weekend and BC's sleepwalking win over UMass is probably enough to get them vaulted out of the teens and into the top 10. I've had them here for two weeks. The 3-0 conference record is looking quite BCSish at this stage, but always beware of the multi-car pile-up that the ACC is poised to become.
8. Kentucky (lw = same)
Another, like BC, about to get promoted out of the teens in the conventional polls after playing a nobody. They earned the spot last week, however, and the week before. Ask Arkansas. And Louisville.
9. Florida (lw = same)
And here's the flipside of our Dennis Green Index. The conventional polls had the Gators in the top 5 last week and will doubtlessly drop them after the cliffhanger loss to Auburn. Maybe they go out of the top 10, maybe not. But I think I parked them more correctly to begin with.
10. Oregon (lw = #6)
Here the conventional polls got them right, somewhere in the #11-#12 range. Though, I suspect they'll drop them further after the Cal loss. I'll keep them here.
11. Oklahoma (lw = #5)
Colorado? And Texas lost to Kansas State? The Big 12 Norris Division is looking feisty. Which explains why you won't find Nebraska anywhere near this poll for quite a while.
12. Rutgers (lw = same)
They deserved this last week because they hadn't done anything yet. Losing to Maryland is pretty much treading water with what I thought of them.
13. West Virginia (lw = same)
Obviously, a favorite for the DGI. I put them here last week because I thought that #5 ranking was better reserved for the team that would beat them -- South Florida. So, both teams did exactly as expected and stay where they were.
14. Texas (lw = same)
Yet another team that lived down to my expectations. More DGI love. I welcome all of the poll voters who had them #7 last week.
15. South Carolina (lw = same)
Conventional polls had them 16th or 21st. They might get a nice bump from beating Mississippi State. It would be wrong to put them any higher than this.
16. Clemson (lw = #10)
The ACC is who we thought they were .... last year: A smash-up derby, Hobbesian war of all against all, where life at the top is nasty, brutish and short, and the end of season goal is every team finishing 8-4, with a dozen bowl invitations and nobody ranked higher than 20th.
17. Arizona State (lw = same)
The tree falling in the woods team. If they play nobodies and beat nobodies, should it make a sound?
18. Purdue (lw = NR)
My only new entrant this week. The win over Notre Dame actually means something to me because, paradoxically, beating Notre Dame gets harder and harder as chaos theory will eventually overcome the offensive mind of Charlie Weis. The Irish at some point will beat somebody, so the priceof playing them gets higher and higher for every decent team that confronts the prospect of a classic "trap game" loss. Also, of course, Purdue is 5-0 and putting up playstation scores on everyone they play.
19. Missouri (lw = same)
They beat Illinois State 38-17. That's basically a bye week. The win over the real Illinois looks pretty good because Illinois is looking... pretty good.
20. Cincinnati (lw = same)
Still the most boring "interesting storyline" in college football. 5-0? Great. Beat somebody. PLAY somebody. Make me care.
Notes:
1. I ditched my Penn State stock last week. That looks better and better, though I'm not yet ready to buy Illinois -- but getting close.
2. Still not convinced on Hawaii. They're Cincinnati with even less hope for proving otherwise because of the silly sked.
3. Alabama, previously #16 on this list, is the only team I dropped this week.
4. Though counting in the conventional top 20's, Virginia Tech is not included because they lost their only big game badly (LSU) and haven't played anyone else. Michigan State and a few others not counted in my poll would deserve it more.
5. Georgia, also in the conventional poll top 20, isn't here because I didn't have room. Thought long and hard about adding them and booting ... who? Missouri? Cinncinnati? Purdue? Basically, it came down to to many SEC teams on the board already.
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