Dissecting the AP Poll Week Seven: Six Voters Left Texas Tech Outside Top 25
By Ty Duffy
Texas Tech: Six voters have 5-1 Texas Tech unranked. That’s just absurd. All six voters have West Virginia in their Top 18. Two have West Virginia as high as 14. All three have Oklahoma in the Top 15. Tech’s only slight is a Top 15-loss. They beat a team all six voters thought was in the Top 18 by 35! It would have been 42 had Holgorsen not been gunning to save face on a pointless touchdown drive. We won’t even get to the fact 24 voters have West Virginia ranked higher.
The Inimitable Jon Wilner: Wilner jumped Kansas State to No. 2 ahead of Florida and Oregon. That 27-21 win in Ames really was majestic. He’s the lowest Voter on Notre Dame at No. 8 and the highest on Michigan at No. 15. He likes the cut of Louisville’s job at No. 13 but left Cincinnati and Rutgers off the poll entirely. He also busted West Virginia down to 22.
Going Normal: Glenn Guilbeau stuck near the consensus. No Washington. No Wisconsin. His only bold moves were putting Oregon State at No. 5 and keeping Stanford up at No. 14 after the not awarded overtime touchdown
First Time Appearance: Jeremy Sampson had an interesting take. He dropped South Carolina all the way down to No. 13 after their two-point loss at LSU, four places below Georgia. Oregon State is 5-0, with four SRS Top 50 wins (three of those on the road). He has them at No. 12, below four one-loss teams.
High on Stanford: Josh Kendall loves him some lunchpail football, keeping Stanford at No. 9. This led to some other bizarre rankings. He’s the only voter with 3-3 teams Washington (No. 20) and Arizona (No. 25) both in the Top 25. Curiously, he didn’t extend the Stanford boost to USC who sit at No. 13.
Not a Buckeye Fan: Fort Wayne’s Pete DiPrimio has Ohio State at No. 22. He’s the only over with them lower than No. 15 and one of two voters with them lower than No. 12.
Most Overrated: Clemson. 41/60 voters have the Tigers in the Top 15. They have yet to beat a good FBS team or even beat a bad one in emphatically. Justification?
Most Underrated: Arizona State.The Sun Devils are 5-1. They have two wins, Utah and California, better than any of Clemson’s. Their one loss was by four points at Missouri before they got beat up. A majority of voters have them unranked.
Here are our rankings…
Wearing the Belt: Alabama
In With a Shout: Oregon, Florida, South Carolina, LSU, Oklahoma, Notre Dame
Not Quite There: Kansas State, Oregon State, USC, Florida State, Ohio State,
Very Good: West Virginia, Texas Tech, Stanford, Louisville, Georgia
Top 25: Rutgers, Cincinnati, Texas A&M, Arizona State, Mississippi State, Michigan
Borderline: Iowa State, Louisiana Tech