As always, a note for the newbies: Two rules: Post your top ten before commenting on someone else's poll. We don't care what you think of our opinions if you're not willing to show yours. And make sure you read the next paragraph to get a feel for why we do this. Please understand that this is a poll among us BigSoccer members where we vote on the ten best teams, in order, right now. The reason we do this is because a few of us believe that teams are not properly ranked by the AP, USAToday..., and BCS nationally and would like to see how things work out compared to those polls if people were allowed to vote according to the simple rule of who is the best team in the nation right now and not giving in to the standard of autimatically moving up a team for any win and automatically demoting a team for a loss - but rather consider opponents strength and how impressive a team looks on a week by week basis. Feel free to read all the previous threads to get an idea for how we do things around here. Here's my poll: 1) Miami. Idle. (#1 in my poll last week.) 2) Oklahoma. Nothing slowing them down this week. Simply unchallenged. (#2 in my poll last week) 3) Iowa. Another impressive win for far and away the best team in the BigTen. (#4 in my poll last week) 4) Washington State. Idle. (#6 last week in my poll) 5) Ohio State. Lucky once again that a higher team lost so they don't fall any further this week. (#5) 6) Texas. simply out gunned this week. Horrible that they even we held close today, let alone beaten. (#3) 7) Alabama. Simply looking awesome right now. Most impressive win of the week, I think. (#10) 8) USC. Kinda shakey against a team that is falling apart at the seems. (#7) 9) Michigan. Again looking kinda shakey this week in a win. They will need a perfect week on offense coupled with a complete collapse of Ohio State's defense to pull out a win next week, which I highly doubt can happen. (#8) 10) Texas Tech. On frickin' fire with their last two huge wins. I really don't care about what their record is, they belong here now. (NR) Dropped out: Notre Dame Okay, kids. Let's see 'em.
My take: 1) Miami - Didn't do anything to make me drop them, as they're idle. Ken Dorsey does NOT deserve the Heisman. Willis McGahee is the better player this year, but you know who I want to win it. 2) Ohio St. - Another game, another win. I'd agree with AFL if they had lost a couple games along the way, but sometimes, a team is really good and yet does not blow anyone out. Just a defensive juggernaut. 3) Iowa - Down come the goalposts as they clinch the Big Ten title. The Big Ten does not recognize co-champions, rather each team gets a trophy that says Big Ten Champions. The scary part of today's win is that the only thing really clicking was the running game and they still kicked the crap out of Minnesota in the dome. Brad Banks for Heisman, but it was Fred Russell's day. 4)Washington St. - Yeah, I know, a flip flop from last week, especially since they didn't play. However, I really think they'd beat Oklahoma, the more I think about it. Feel free to tell me I'm an idiot if you wish. 5) Oklahoma - Yeah they won big, but it was Baylor. Those chinks in the armor are looking big enough to be exploited at the moment. Bob Stoops is a great coach, though. 6)Georgia - Huh. I seem to have been wrong about them. They pulled it together for the win, despite all the injuries that I thought would sink them, and they're in the SEC championship game. 7)Notre Dame - The worst of the one loss teams. Still have to play perfect football to win, but they do so on a consistent basis thanks to great coaching from Willingham. That said, I hope he gets beat out for Coach of the Year by Ferentz, but both have done masterful jobs. 8)Michigan - A very good team in a conference that happens to have two great teams. Some years, this team would win the conference title, but not this year. We'll see what they can do at Ohio St. next week. 9)USC - Still lighting up the PAC 10, and Palmer is looking good while doing it. I think they'd lose to Washington St. if they played them again, so they're down here, but definitely a good team. 10)Texas - As I said in each of the previous AFL college football polls, this team lacks heart. Don't pin the blame for this loss on Chris Simms, though, as he had a good game. Look instead at an extremely porous secondary, then go and watch film of last year's Alamo Bowl for ways to stop Kliff Kingsbury. AFL, this is still your poll, so do you want to do the tabulation this week? If not, I can do it again, though either way, I'd like to set a deadline for accepting peoples' entries. And once again, please don't be stupid. All opinions, comments, etc. are invalid until your top 10 is posted. Thank you.
1. Miami 2. OSU, just find a way to win, need Clarrett to play. 3. Iowa, on a roll 4. Wash. State too bad they laid an egg in the Second half against OSU. 5. Oklahoma 6. USC, they are hot 7. Georgia 8. Alabama 9. Notre Dame 10. Florida, its a reach but Zook has that team playing.
1. Miami (1) - idle this week so their impressive win on Rocky Top dominates my assessment, tbough I am not completely convinced about this team. 2. Oklahoma (2) - Looked impressive against an overmatched Baylor squad. 3. Georgia (5) - 10-1 in the SEC East and a ticket to the SEC title game is good in my book. Winning at Jordan Hare at the last minute is more impressive than winning in overtime at Illinois. 4. Alabama (7) - Two tight losses to UGA and Oklahoma. Thrashed the Bayou Bengals yesterday. Too bad they are on probation. They are hot right now. 5. Southern Cal (NR) - I mistakenly omitted them from my top ten last week. They are a hot ticket right now. Too bad they had a slow start. 6. Texas (3) - Tough loss to Texas Tech knocked them out of contention, but they are still one of the top ten in the country. Second best 2-loss team in my book (after Alabama). 7. Washington State (6) - drop only because I am impressed with Alabama and Southern Cal enough to jump them over Washington State. 8. Iowa (8) - Best team in the Big (11). 9. Ohio State (4) - Overrated undefeated team. They have a tough game at Michigan State. If they had to play Iowa too I think they would end up with two losses. 10. Notre Dame (10) - Don't like this team, but I can't think of any reason to drop them out of the top ten, especially with Louisiana State getting dismantled by the Tide. Dropped Out: Louisiana State 11. Florida
Ludahai, quick note. Ohio St. plays Michigan next week, not Michigan St., and the game is in Columbus.
the kid is in china and he is ranking teams he has not seen play...his opinion means nothing... and he has been claiming ohio state is going to lose to michigan state for a few weeks now...just cant seem to get a grasp on this college football stuff. poor kid.
Ok all, time for me to weigh in on this dilema. 1. Miami 2.tie Iowa 2.tie Oklahoma 4. Ohio State 5. Washington State 6. Georgia 7. Alabama 8. USC 9. Notre Dame 10. Michigan
Thanks. Hard following some of this stuff from 13 time zones away. I depend on what I read, unfortunately, because this has apparently been an exciting football season.
A couple of things. True, I am in China (Taiwan specifically). Despite this, I am currently in second place in the Big Soccer group (only City Ice Man is ahead of me) on ESPN predicting the results of games this seasn. Third: None of our opinions truly matter as none of us have a vote. I have just as much right to voice an opinion as y'all, and at least I go ahead and put my pics against others every week on ESPN.com, and despite the fact I haven't seen a game all year, I am doing pretty darn well, thank you very much.
1. Miami - I think Pitt poses much more of a threat than Virginia Tech to them. Pitt is a very very good team and they may look past them. I am excited for that game. 2.Oklahoma - Think the pollsters will have them above Texas now? 3. Iowa - Great, great team. Too bad Banks wasn't hyped for the Heisman earlier, he's the real deal. 4. Ohio St. - I really wanna put this team lower. I have a feeling that Michigan will give me a reason to come Saturday. 5. Wash St. - I wish they could rematch Ohio St, I know they feel they could win. Then again, Purdue, and Illinois probably feel the same. 6. Notre Dame - I am not positive but I think I read somewhere they fumbled the ball 6 times on saturday and they didn't even play. 2 more wins and they will be in a BCS bowl, maybe even 1 will do the job. Thanks Ty. 7. Georgia - The SEC isn't wahat it used to be, and I have the feeling if they played tomorrow Alabama would get them. 8. USC - Damn they make me nervous as an ND fan. 9. Texas - I want to believe in this team every year. Every year they lose to Oklahoma and someone else that they should handily beat. I don't get it. 10. Pitt - They will show they belong by giving Miami a hell of a game.
Anyone who has Ohio State lower than second and has Texas in a top ten poll, has no idea about college football. Period. For those that do, thanks for your opinion, but Beano Cook already has a job for some reason. Here's mine: 1. Miami 2. Ohio State (there here, cause they haven't lost) 3. Washington State (unbeaten in PAC 10, OSU beat them) 4. Iowa (unbeaten in Big Ten, didn't beat Iowa State) 5. Oklahoma (lost.) 6. Georgia (lost.) 7. Norte Dame( lost at home) 8. Alabama ( Roll Tide) 9. USC (will beat ND) 10. Maryland (best of the rest)
Almost exactly the same as last week. 1. Miami (Last week = 1) Pitt's not really a threat. 2. Ohio State (LW = 2) This week, if form holds, they will lose to Michigan and drop to #6 or #7. But until then, they just keep winning. If Miami can be #1 after FSU misses a game-winning FG at the end, OSU can be #2. 3. Iowa (LW = 3) Could Iowa beat OSU? Yes, probably, but they won't get the chance. Such are the perils of big conferences. If the people who tout Iowa don't like it, they should petition to have Northwestern and one other team (take your pick - Purdue? Indiana?) thrown out of the Big Ten so that teams can play each other every season. 4. Oklahoma (LW = 4) 5. Alabama (LW = 5) I feel like I'm getting a bit of vindication with my high ranking on Alabama in the first week's poll. 6. USC (LW = 7) 7. Washington State (LW = 8) 8. Michigan (LW = 9) 9. Georgia (LW = not ranked) 10. Notre Dame. Come on Scarlet Knights! (LW = 10) Dropped out: Texas
1. OSU 2. Miami 3. Iowa, on a roll 4. Wash. State 5. Oklahoma 6. USC, they are hot 7. Georgia 8. Colorado 9. TExas 10. Michigan
1. Miami 2. Iowa 3. Ohio State 4. Washington State 5. Oklahoma 6. Texas 7. USC 8. Notre Dame 9. Georgia 10. Michigan
I'll go through this quickly. Last week's in ( ) 1)Miami - duh! (1) 2)Ohio State - Undefeated is undefeated. however, they will get killed by Miami - it's just a bad match-up (2) 3)Oklahoma - It's not their fault they played Baylor this week. (3) 4)Iowa - see 'ya in Pasadena. (4) 5)Georgia - what a win in Auburn. Not an easy place to play. Great guts. Just pick ONE QB and use him though. (7) 6)Washington State - Don't confuse high-powered offenses with good football teams. (6) 7)Kansas State - Manhattan may be the toughest place to play. They put a godalmight whippin on the Huskers and the Cyclones. (UR) 8)USC - You'll never go too high with Pete Carroll at the helm. He'll choke UCLA or ND. (9) 9)ND - I'm still trying to block out Navy. Especially after UConn blanked them 38-0 (8) 10)Pitt - Their season is Thursday in the Orange Bowl N.B - I tend to rank teams that win ugly higher than better looking teams with losses (i.e Ohio State v Texas). Maybe it's the old Crazy Gang/Vinnie Jones/Wimbledon fan rubbing off on me. Again, defense wins championships. Also note I feel that Alabama is a Top 10 team, but I refuse to put them in the rankings becasue they are cheaters - I don't reward teams that are punished this stringently by the NCAA. End Rant. BCS - I don't see this changing for the rest of the year, unless Michigan beats Ohio State Fiesta - Miami v Ohio State Orange - Oklahoma v Notre Dame Sugar - Georgia v Florida State Rose - Iowa v Washington State
I cannot believe that Kansas St is a top 10 team. I'm sorry, I just can't. Have they even beat a tope 10 team in the past few years? K State gets hype in the same way that ACC basketball schools get hype. Every year you will see teams like Wake Forest or Virginia ranked in the top 10 but all they are is great by association with other great teams. That isn't to say K State is a terrible team. They are quite good, but they are not an elite program.
Nobody has said they are an elite program. Their coach (is it Bill Snyder) gets about as much out of his teams as Frank Beamer does down in Blacksburg, especially considering that they are viewed as being below Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, A & M, as far as tradition goes. IIRC they were godawful (we're talking Baylor-bad folks) for eons. Honestly, after Georgia, you could plausibly lump about 10-15 teams in one group. K-State been the hottest team IMO.
After reading some posts, I have to update mine. Sorry, I didn't realize they should have been CRAZY POLL PICKS! For no rhyme or reason here's my real crazy poll for the week. 1.Miami...not because they’re undefeated this year, but because they were shafted a few years back when they didn’t get to play for the national title. They’ve only lost one game in 8 years. They’re good. 2.Iowa...throw out the Iowa State game and Banks wraps up the Heisman while playing the Canes in Tempe. But hey, throw out the Heisman voting in 86 and Chuck Long wins. Chuck Long is good. 3.Oklahoma...by far the best one loss team. I mean Kyle Field is like Baghdad on a good night. It’s amazing the Sooners didn’t lose two games that day. It just demonstrates OU’s ability to lose one game at a time. 4.Washington State...gotta forget that game in Columbus...Gesser is pure magic. Would beat OSU by 800 now if they Clarett and OSU's defensive line. If only we could replace the WSC logo helmets for ones that are gray. Oh, and we give them these little stickers when they play well. And we dot the "i" in script Washington at halftime. The Cougars are good. 5.Texas Tech...Kliff would be the man now if he got another shot at OSU. Did you see him outgun the Horns last week? Brother can sling it, which after that big win they jump up to five. 6.Texas...hands down the best of the two loss teams. And since the two teams they lost two are in the top five, well, the Horns top the bottom half of the top ten. 7.Texas A & M...brought down Oklahoma, so you have to hand it to them. They also almost beat Virginia Tech when the Hokies were good. Missouri is a tough road team. 8.Notre Dame...if it wasn’t for the Green Uniforms we’d all be drinking green beer on January 3rd. That defense is awesome. It overcomes their lack of offense. The Irish are good. 9.Kansas State...they have put a whoopin on Nebraska, a team Texas only beat by three. So I have to say “WOW” This is a good team who unfortunately have to play in the same league as Oklahoma and Texas. Plus, once in awhile they have to go to Kyle Field...ouch. KSU is no Missouri. 10.Ohio State...very lucky to be hanging on in the top ten. Can you believe this team is undefeated? How does that happen? Seriously? Haven’t they lost yet? Thank God Michigan comes to town, a team that ALWAYS (except for last year) beats the Buckeyes and knocks them down to around Indiana’s ranking, where they should be. Close this week: Baylor; SMU; UTEP; Houston; North Texas; rest of the Big 12 There now I know how to play.
1) Miami 2) Ohio State 3) Oklahoma 4) Iowa 5) Washington State 6) Georgia 7) Kansas State 8) Alabama 9) Michigan 10) Penn State (Yes I am biased. I'd like to point out they have only one loss in regulation time.) I really think this would be a great year for a 8/16 team playoff. There is no dominant team this year.
Amen to the stick with one QB comment. Greene was awesome in the second half. For those doubting UGA's strength of schedule, there is no one in the top five of the BCS who has a higher ranked schedule than Georgia.