CFB Rankings: What the Hell Do We Know?

Stanford
(Michael Arellano/ Daily Emerald)

I don’t know.

After Thursday, everything was thrown up in the air. Oregon lost to Stanford deflating everyone’s hardon for the impending BCS Championship Game against Alabama. Baylor beat Oklahoma which finally gave them an ounce of credibility. Florida State now has the inside track for that matchup against Alabama.

Except, what we found out on Thursday was that anything can happen from now until the end of the regular season. Take Alabama, for example. The only team that really put the fear of god in them this season was Texas A&M with that spread option offense. Who else runs that offense? Why, Auburn of course.

In fact, that Auburn offense that was led by quarterback Cam Newton and offensive coordinator Guz Malzahn was the only win by Auburn in the Iron Bowl in the last five years. So if Auburn wins that game, they go to the SEC Championship Game instead of Alabama. In other words, Alabama would not get a chance to get back into the BCS picture.

So Florida State goes to the game, right? Well they end their regular season having to go to the Swamp to face Florida. Florida is awful, sure, but it’s a rivalry game. Florida is fighting for the bowl lives having gone to 22 consecutive bowl games, the nation’s longest active streak.

Or maybe, it will be Alabama and Florida State in the title game.

That’s what makes November so much fun. Remember 2007, the year of the upset? Things were such a clusterfuck, South Florida was ranked No. 2 at one point. In late November there was a No. 2 vs No. 3 matchup between Kansas and Missouri. It was like everything we had known in life to that point didn’t exist.

It was beautiful.

Here’s the AP poll and below are my rankings.

Rank Last Week School Record AP Rank Comments
1 1 Alabama 9-0, 6-0 SEC 1 Like I said above, the Iron Bowl at the end of the month will dictate whether Bama gets a chance to 3-peat or signal Saban’s departure to Texas (???)
2 2 Florida State 9-0, 7-0 ACC 2 Nice time to have a bye week. And by “bye week” I mean their win over Wake Forest. They might get into some trouble if things get muddled up in the rankings.
3 6 Stanford 8-1, 6-1 Pac-12 5 Sure they lost at Utah, but they have looked more like themselves ever since. Yes they get bumped over Ohio State, and I damn near vaulted them over Florida State. I guess it will depend on how they do against USC next week.
4 4 Ohio State 9-0, 5-0 Big Ten 3 Ohio State had a real bye week to get ready against Illinois on the road. Excuse me as I drop to the floor and laugh hysterically.
5 5 Auburn 9-1, 5-1 SEC 7 They are what stands between Alabama and a chance to 3-peat. I don’t know why voters don’t like them as much. But I like them, and that’s really all that matters in my heart.
6 7 Baylor 8-0, 5-0 Big 12 4 Baylor passed their first test against Oklahoma. Their schedule gets harder from here on out, so they have a chance to impress. What raised my eyebrow on Thursday was their defense. That was pretty impressive.
7 3 Oregon 8-1, 5-1 Pac-12 6 Marcus Mariota cost himself the Heisman. Oregon cost themselves a spot in the BCS Championship Game. But sometimes when you anger the fashion gods, you get what you deserve. Let that be a lesson to everyone.
8 8 Missouri 9-1, 5-1 SEC 9 In that fabled 2007 season, Mizzou was ranked No. 1 heading into the Big 12 championship game. They lost 38-17 to Oklahoma in the Alamo Dome. West Virgina was ranked No. 2 and lost to unranked Pittsburgh in the Back Yard Brawl. Ohio State and LSU vaulted over them to play in the BCS Championship Game won by LSU.
9 9 Clemson 8-1, 6-1 ACC 8 For two weeks in a row, I have nothing to say about this team.
10 Oklahoma State 8-1, 5-1 Big 12 12 Aside from that lost in West Virginia, they’re pretty good. But like Baylor, things gets harder for them. At Texas and hosting Baylor and Oklahoma to end the season.