2016 TRS Football Rankings - Week 9

For all the noise about unbeaten's falling last weekend, there weren't a lot of surprises.

Texas over Baylor was a minor surprise, but winning on the road in conference is a tough thing to do.
To me, the biggest upset was South Carolina over Tennessee.  Something is not right in Knoxville.  They are an immature team, and the cracks might be showing with Jalen Hurd announcing his transfer.  When I have had the opportunity to watch the Volunteers over the last 2 years, it was clear that Hurd was the heart and soul of that team.  For all the talk about their Rocket Scientist at Quarterback,they were at their best with Hurd was rolling and generating emotion.

What this week did give us was a bit more clarity.  The teams who looked to be second tier, but who had managed to not lose a game yet, well...they lost a game.  We no longer have to worry about if they were going to muddy the waters.

Oh, the BCS Rankings came out.

I know that we lost the SEC, but the Aggies?  Really?

I have nothing against the Aggies, but I wouldn't put them in the top 5.  The scary bit there is that they are in and their only game they won't be strongly favored in left is LSU.  If you don't think they should be in, you might be pretty upset here in a few weeks.  LSU to close will be tough, but otherwise their only risk is Ole Miss, who has been reeling.

On to the rankings.

1. WASHINGTON HUSKIES

This is a situation where the point differential is really coming into play.  Washington has not played the caliber of schedule that the other top teams have played, but they have drilled so many teams.  

They got a good test playing a salty Ute team this week and got a nice win.  I don't expect them to stay this high as the other top contenders continue through their respective meat grinders, but Washington can play folks.  Don't think they can't.

2. CLEMSON TIGERS

Clemson may have gotten a little help from the Zebras, at least if you listen to Jimbo.  Whether or not you buy into that being a big play in the game depends on how much credit you give to big Mo.

This is college football, and we tend to give Momentum a lot of credit, and it was a brutal call at a time that FSU was looking to pile on.  BUT, they did score on the drive.  

I am a fan of the Noles.  I have been my whole life, and I have not hidden that fact.  My 2 cents.....that O-Line is a HUGE.GLARING.WEAKNESS.  They couldn't hold their water at the end of the game, and they could not pass block against Clemson's dynamic D-Linemen.  

All the debate means nothing though. What does matter?  Clemson won again, and they won against a quality squad.

3. ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE

Alabama fell a bit because they had a bye.

It's not slight to them.  If they win out, they will be #1, which is where most of the believe they should be.  Handle your business and and we will see you in the playoffs.

4. OHIO STATE BUCKEYES

The Buckeyes look to have a bit of a hangover.  They are as talented as anybody in the country.

They need to get healthy on their O-Line, but they are loaded, and they need to get their swagger back.  If you are the Buckeyes, and you want to win the title, you have to beat on teams like Northwestern.  You can't just win. You have to BEAT them.

They have some tough games left.

Nebraska just lost their first game and has their sites set on the Big 10 title game.

Michigan State is a team that they cannot overlook.  They did that last year and it cost them.

And then is the big game. Michigan-Ohio State should be a elimination game for the playoffs.

5. LOUISVILLE CARDINALS

Louisville was not dominant against Virginia.

They are holding on by the skin of their teeth, and they need to realize that they still have a lot to play for.  If they don't step it up, they could easily drop 2 of their last 4.

2016 TRS Football Rankings - Week 8

Yes, I know, there was a week between the last 2 posts of the rankings.

Things got away from me a bit, damn the real life.

In the meantime, things have changed a lot in the last 2 weeks.

What has changed you ask? Well.

We have a new number 1 after Ohio State choke.......err......lost in Happy Vally.  Isn't that the strangest name for an actual place?  Seriously, it sounds like it should be the title to either a children's book, a very sad Romance Novel where one of the characters has terminal cancer but the find love despite it, or the worst horror film ever.  Wait, those last 2 might be able to be joined.  hmmmmm....Maybe I should write that.....

Oh hell, I don't have time to post regularly, I would never get that book done.

Back to football.

3 of the top 10 dropped out, with Tennessee dropping like a stone.

6 teams dropped out of the rankings entirely, including some programs which were expected to be strong: Miami of Florida, Arizona State, Ole Miss, and Arkansas.

Yes, 1/5 of the ranked teams 2 weeks ago, are no longer ranked teams.  Boy do we have a big number of mediocre teams this year.

There is still 1 independent team ranked, but it's not Notre Dame,

So, on to the rankings

1. ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE
Bama is rolling, pun intended.  They have played the last 3 weeks against teams who were ranked at the time, 2 of them on the road.  they won by a combined score of 131-54.  They are, once again, the most consistently outstanding team.

2. CLEMSON TIGERS
Clemson almost got caught looking past a decent North Carolina State team.  By all rights, they should have lost, buuuuuuuuuuuut they didn't so they still get credit for winning.  It also helps that the Auburn win is looking better and better.  That said, they are not 1b right now.

3. OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
Penn State?  Really?

Come on guys.

4. WASHINGTON HUSKIES
Is this the week that Washington finally gets a test in the Pac 12?

I really need to know if they are as good as they look.  They are thumping folks, and they have talent, but the Pac is not the ACC, let alone the Big 10 or SEC.  That said, Utah and Washington State are ranked, Cal can score with anyone, USC is likely about to be ranked again behind Sam Darnold.  This is the toughest stretch they are going to see.  If they can't finish this run, I will gladly drop them like a stone.  Well, not too gladly.

5. LOUISVILLE CARDINALS
So, Louisville was not happy about people picking at them about the Duke game.  They walked in against the Wolfpack team that should have beat Clemson and stepped on their neck.

I think that's only figurative, but as bad as it was, it might have been literal....the neck stepping I mean.

Damn

6. MICHIGAN WOLVERINES

This. Is. A. Squad.

For the season, their combined score is 341-70.  That's an average of 48.7-10.

Now, it hasn't been murderers row, but Colorado is decent, Penn State beat OSU, Wisconsin is tough, and....well the meat is coming.  They should beat the Spartans, but I expect that Sparty will be up for this game, though so will the Wolverines after last year's game.  Maryland is getting better-ish, and they finish with Ohio State.

You know, after Michigan and Ohio State,Wisconsin, the Big Ten is kind of meh.

Pausing to appreciate excellence before we worry about the other 'good teams'

TRS College Football rankings after week 14

Sorry about the disappearing act, life got in the way for a few weeks.

Anyway, during my absence, we saw College Football turn itself upside down, and boy was it fun.  Auburn performed round 2 of their Cinderella act with their second miracle win of the season.  I guess having Alabama fall out of the national title picture isn't that huge a change, but everyone was working under the assumption that they were a shoo-in and everyone else was playing for second place that Auburn's was a return felt round the country.

So, a very real question for you College footballs out there; Can we have a national title game without a representative from the SEC?  As odd as it sounds, it is tough to argue with the Buckeyes and the Noles squaring off, assuming they can hold court this week. 

Bama's D just isn't want we are used to.

Auburn is incredibly lucky to be in the position that they are.

Missouri is very good, but I don't know that anyone believe that they are better than either of the top 2 team in the BCS. 

Then again, what do we care about those 'other' rankings?

TRS College Football Rankings after Week 6

We got a good slate of games this last week.  With the conference seasons really firing up, we starting to separate the wheat from the chafe. 

What did we learn?

Well, Maryland is not near a complete team.

Northwestern is a legitimate Big 10 contender, or were before they lost a tough one to the Buckeyes.

OU is a different team with Blake Bell at quarterback.

Georgia State's AD is a sadist who scheduled a vicious gauntlet for his young program.

These games did give us a bit of a shuffle in the rankings, so without further ado........

NCAA Football TRS Top 25 after week 5

My apologies, I intended to get the initial TRS rankings for the season out before week 5's games, but didn't get it done in time.

So, I have updated the rankings, and they are looking pretty well trued up.  That's expected, and exactly the reason that I don't publish until we get a month into the season. 

For those of you who are not familiar with the concept I built my ranking system on, here is an overview of the facets I focus on, in order of importance.

1. Who did you play?
2. Did you win?
3. What was your margin?

I judge teams on what they have accomplished to that point, not on any expectation.  The more data we get, the closer to the final answer we get.  So, with no further ado, here are the TRS rankings following week 5 of the College Football Season.