College Football 2012 AP Poll Dissection: Week Three
By Ty Duffy
Game of the Season. Glenn Guilbeau must have watched Oregon State 10-7 Wisconsin and been mesmerized. He is the only AP voter who included the Badgers (21) ahead of Kansas State and Louisville. He was so impressed with the Beavers he rocketed them up to (13) from outside the Top 25. He has them there, seven places ahead of Florida (20).
Funny How the Night Moves. Doug Lesmerises was watching some night games again. Last week he propelled UCLA, Arizona and ULM into the Top 13. This week he jumped Stanford and Notre Dame from outside his Top 25 to (4) and (5) respectively.
The Inimitable Jon Wilner. Not one to shy away from radical swings, Jon Wilner pushed Florida from (12) to (5). He raised Notre Dame from outside the Top 25 to (7). He still has Michigan State (11) and has Nebraska (18) ahead of Texas, Ohio State, Arizona and Clemson. Tennessee stayed in the Top 25 at (23) despite losing by 17 at home in a game where they were favored.
Scott Wolf Was Not Impressed. Scott Wolf did not let his banning affect his ranking of USC. The Trojans went on the road to his (22) ranked team Stanford and lost by a touchdown. They fell to (12). Notre Dame crushed his (12) ranked team Michigan State by three scores in East Lansing. The Irish barely cracked the Top 25 on his ballot (24) , one place ahead of Michigan State (25).
Fixed Perceptions. Carrie Anderson finally moved UCLA into the Top 25 at (22), two places behind Nebraska who never left. She did, finally, move Arizona (23) into the Top 25 ahead of the team they crushed (25) Oklahoma State. Beating her (2) team USC was not enough to vault Stanford (14) ahead of TCU (13).
Most Underrated Team. Florida (14). They are 3-0 with two SEC road wins. Their resume is much better than two teams in their division, South Carolina and Georgia, who are ranked significantly higher. Not to mention USC, Texas, Notre Dame, Clemson and West Virginia.
Most Overrated Team. TCU (16). What have they done to warrant this ranking? They beat down an overmatched Grambling team and failed to cover in a 20-6 road win at Kansas. Have they looked more impressive than UCLA and Arizona?
[Photo via Getty]