TCU’s W/L figure is wrong. Their record is 9-1, so they shouldn’t be tied with the undefeateds with a score of 1.

Southern Cal is still dragging anchor by having played only 8 games so far. Even though they’ve only lost 1, they’re in the category of only 3 teams at 7-1, which is giving them a W/L score of 13 rather than 8. If you ignore my first comment, a score of 12 would put them between Boise St. and Ohio St. Any score from 8 to 11 puts them between Florida and Boise St. at #8.

So the computer is basically penalizing USC 3 spots due to the lack of a 9th game. The reason that USC lags a game is because they don’t have a conference title game to worry about. They shift the UCLA game over to that spot and add in an additional bye week into the schedule. Very sneaky, I might add. Yet one more reason for the PAC-10 and Big 11 to get their conference numbers up to 12 and get those conference title games in.

Texas is getting killed on their PED. They have played the #2, 4 and 9 teams in PEO in Ok. State, Ok, and Texas Tech respectively, which is partly the blame.

Fortunately for Texas, the rest of the schedule is much, much easier than their recent gauntlet. Assuming their numbers improve as their opposition declines, that will fix itself. (Right now, increasing the PED from 80 to 59 puts Texas above Penn State. Considering that the PED is the 3rd most important variable, that’s not really much difference at the top.)

There’s nothing wrong with leaving Texas alone for right now. They can make up that ground pretty easily.

Florida suffers from the same condition as USC. If their W/L number was bumped to 8, they’d be a solid #3 ahead of Oklahoma. #9 puts them just behind OU; #10 virtually ties them with Penn State (but just behind, again); #11 virtually ties them with Texas (but just ahead).

So Florida is getting penalized as many as 4 spots (potential 3 down to 7) for not having played a 9th game yet. I’ll blame this on that late-term major nonconference game against Florida State – a rarity in the NCAA.

Getting killed because their conference is weak.

Moving them would be a meh to me. Their SoS is weak partly due to the conference. But I don’t know of too many significant teams who would be willing to schedule them, particularly after their Fiesta Bowl. There’s too much downside and not enough upside for teams like Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, etc. to schedule them. Kudos to Oregon for taking them on, but they paid the price for it.

I don’t mind midmajors getting seemingly high results because of the scheduling trap unless you can demonstrate that they’re actively avoiding significant teams. With Oregon on the slate, it’s a hard argument to make against BSU, so I’m fine with them where they’re at.

8 games again.

If they had played and won a 9th (and the rest of the numbers stood pat), they’d be in a virtual tie with Georgia (but about half a point behind). They are receiving an effective 10-game penalty for not playing 9. The reason this is so much greater than Florida or USC is that there are far more teams bunched up with relatively close scores in that area of the poll. A few points makes a huge difference.

buoyed by the #2 SoS. They finish with Kentucky, Auburn and Ga. Tech. Of those, only Ga. Tech has promise of helping their SoS. That number should drop from 2 to somewhere around 15-20 by the end of the season. That’s not enough to move them, but it would give a chance for other teams to elevate.

On that note, Georgia’s ranking is actually very robust to decreases in numbers. You have to drop their SoS to 31 to get them into a tie with Missouri, for example. I’m beginning to think they deserve their spot, even with the fiasco, because their early numbers are still very good. It’s the late numbers that are their worst (with the exception of PED).

2 losses, 9 games. The 2 losses to OSU (34-21) and N’western (24-17) respectively. Lost of decent wins in there, but no other major names yet. They get Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa up next, which should lower their SoS a bit. It’s a matter of a very middle-of-the-road kinda schedule that they’ve been largely successful with.

You might check to see how the Montana State game is figured in, but it’s hard to knock their schedule.

As is customary, I’ll toss my support behind ranking Ball State higher. Undefeated, not even challenged. Explosive offense, decent defense. Are they Top 10? Probably not. But I can’t name 20 teams I would give the edge to.