The Troglodyte Top 12 for the Week of 11/26/12

Everybody held serve, except Mississippi St. who got spanked by Ole Miss and bounced out of the ranking, accordingly, which allowed Oregon St. back into the ranking. That was pretty disappointing because I really wanted to have the argument that a 3-loss team deserves to not be excluded from the Top 12 if those all those losses happened to be against Alabama, LSU, and Texas A&M. Oh, well.

As for Oregon St., I just can't truck an ACC, or a Big Ten, team in the ranking, yet, so the other bubble teams are frozen out. We'll see how Championship Week goes, I guess. Interestingly, after the Big 12, the SEC, and the Pac-12, there's a bit of a drop off to the next 3, but Jeff Sagarin has the hapless Big East rated as stronger than the ACC.

Ranking (Previous)

1. Notre Dame (1)
2. Florida (2)
3. Alabama (3)
4. LSU (4)
5. Kansas St. (5)
6. Oregon (6)
7. Oklahoma (7)
8. South Carolina (8)
9. Texas A&M (9)
10. Georgia (11)
11. Stanford (12)
12. Oregon St. (Bubble)
Bubble: Clemson (Bubble), Nebraska (Bubble), Florida St. (Bubble)
Out: Mississippi St. (10)

This Week's Big Match-up

Alabama (3) vs. Georgia (10) @ Georgia Dome (SEC Championship)

The Troglodyte Top 12 for the Week of 11/19/12

The big changes this week, of course, are a result of the top two BCS teams getting dropped (Kansas St. by Baylor on the road and Oregon at home to top 12 team Stanford). From a ranking point-of-view, the question is which is worse, particularly given the thumping dished out by Baylor and the fact that it took overtime for Stanford to beat Oregon.

While many say Kansas St.'s margin of loss should be more detrimental, which it is, it is moderated by three factors: The Wildcats' loss was a conference game on the road, KSU played closer to form than how much Oregon was knocked off their game at home by Stanford, and the drop-off in quality after the top three or four teams in the Pac-12 is steeper than that of the Big 12. In the end, the significant difference I had between the teams before last week is now down to a very slight advantage for Kansas St.

So after Notre Dame, we're back to dominance by the SEC at the top (and the bottom), although I think the relative differences among the entire top 12 have collapsed. Things have remained pretty firm with no one getting bounced and the bubble teams really feeling like they are a little on the outside looking in.

Ranking (Previous)

1. Notre Dame (2)
2. Florida (3)
3. Alabama (5)
4. LSU (6)
5. Kansas St. (1)
6. Oregon (4)
7. Oklahoma (7)
8. South Carolina (8)
9. Texas A&M (9)
10. Mississippi St. (10)
11. Georgia (11)
12. Stanford (12)
Bubble: Oregon St. (Bubble), Clemson (Bubble), Nebraska (Bubble), Florida St. (--)

This Week's Big Match-ups

It's rivalry week, so just about every game is a big match-up for somebody. The big ones within the ranking are:

Oregon (6) at Oregon St. (Bubble)
Florida (3) at Florida St. (Bubble)
South Carolina (8) at Clemson (Bubble)

The Troglodyte Top 12 for the Week of 11/5/12

Both big match-ups went to form (A&M over Mississippi St. and Bama over LSU), so no changes out of the rankings there. However, Texas Tech did fall at home to un-ranked Texas, bouncing them all the way out, including the bubble.

Ranking (Previous)

1. Alabama (1)
2. Kansas St. (2)
3. Notre Dame (3)
4. Florida (4)
5. Oregon (5)
6. LSU (6)
7. Oklahoma (7)
8. South Carolina (8)
9. Texas A&M (10)
10. Mississippi St. (11)
11. Georgia (12)
12. Louisville (Bubble)
Bubble: Stanford (Bubble), Oregon St. (Bubble), Clemson (--), Nebraska (--)
Out: Texas Tech (9), West Virginia (Bubble)

This Week's Big Match-ups

Oregon St. (Bubble) at Stanford (Bubble)
Texas A&M (9) at Alabama (1)
Mississippi St. (10) at LSU (6)

From the E-mail Bag...

And keeping with the college football theme (and a nice dose for the SEC):

• Ohio State's Urban Meyer on one of his players: "He doesn't know the meaning of the word fear. In fact, I just saw his grades and he doesn't know the meaning of a lot of words."
• Q: Why do Tennessee fans wear orange? A: So they can dress that way for the game on Saturday, go hunting on Sunday, and pick up trash on Monday.
• Q: What does the average Alabama player get on his SATs? A: Drool.
• Q: How many University of South Carolina freshmen football players does it take to change a light bulb? A: None. That's a sophomore course.
• Q: How did the Georgia football player die from drinking milk? A: The cow fell on him.
• Two West Virginia football players were walking in the woods. One of them said, "Look, a dead bird." The other looked up in the sky and said, "Where?"
• A University of Cincinnati football player was almost killed yesterday in a tragic horseback-riding accident. He fell from a horse and was nearly trampled to death. Luckily, the manager of the Wal-Mart came out and unplugged the horse.
• Q: What do you say to a University of South Carolina football player dressed in a three-piece suit?" A: "Will the defendant please rise."
• Q: If three Florida State football players are in the same car, who is driving? A: The police officer.
• Q: How can you tell if an Auburn football player has a girlfriend? A: There's tobacco juice on both sides of the pickup truck.
• Q: What do you get when you put 32 Arkansas cheerleaders in one room? A: A full set of teeth.
• University of Michigan Coach Brady Hoke is only going to dress half of his players for the game this week;..... the other half will have to dress themselves.
• Q: How is the Indiana football team like an opossum? A: They play dead at home and get killed on the road.
• Q: Why did the Nebraska linebacker steal a police car? A: He saw "911" on the side and thought it was a Porsche.
• Q: How do you get a former Illinois football player off your porch? A: Pay him for the pizza.
• Q: What are the longest three years of a University of Alabama football player’s life? A: Freshman I, Freshman II, and Freshman III.

The Troglodyte Top 12 for the Week of 10/29/12

Four big match-ups within the rankings last week, but three of the four games went to form, so no major shake-ups in this week's overall ranking, other than the surprising result that all three of the big match-up losers (Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and Mississippi St.) actually rose in the ranking because of Oregon St.'s loss to a middle-of-the-road Washington team.

Ranking (Previous)

1. Alabama (1)
2. Kansas St. (3)
3. Notre Dame (4)
4. Florida (2)
5. Oregon (5)
6. LSU (6)
7. Oklahoma (8)
8. South Carolina (9)
9. Texas Tech (10)
10. Texas A&M (11)
11. Mississippi St. (12)
12. Georgia (Bubble)
Bubble: West Virgina (Bubble), Stanford (Bubble), Oregon St. (7), Louisville (--)
Out: USC (Bubble), Rutgers (Bubble)

This Week's Big Match-ups

Texas A&M (10) at Mississippi St. (11)
Alabama (1) at LSU (6)

The Troglodyte Top 12 for the Week of 10/22/12

We're starting to see some separation of the top three from the rest of the pack, but the overall ranking largely remains unchanged. There were a couple of big losses this week (South Carolina and West Virginia), but, as past Top 12 watchers know, losses to teams you're supposed to lose to (those of higher rank) don't affect your ranking much, if at all, because they should already be baked in. Otherwise, what the heck does a ranking even mean?

That said, there can be exceptions, and this week is one of them: Despite playing a tight game in Death Valley the week before, South Carolina was dominated thoroughly by Florida in The Swamp, thus they slide three spots, but remain in the top ten. They've shown they can play on par with anyone when in Columbia, but failed their two tough tests on the road and won't have a chance to redeem themselves on that count until the end of the regular season at Clemson.

Ranking (Previous)

1. Alabama (1)
2. Florida (2)
3. Kansas St. (3)
4. Notre Dame (4)
5. Oregon (5)
6. LSU (6-tie)
7. Oregon St. (8)
8. Oklahoma (9)
9. South Carolina (6-tie)
10. Texas Tech (10)
11. Texas A&M (11)
12. Mississippi St. (12)
Bubble: West Virgina (Bubble), USC (Bubble), Georgia (Bubble), Stanford (Bubble), Rutgers (--)

This Week's Big Match-ups

Florida (2) at Georgia (Bubble)
Texas Tech (10) at Kansas St. (3)
Notre Dame (4) at Oklahoma (8)
Mississippi St. (12) at Alabama (1)

Is the Big-12 the Dog, or the Tail?

I'm sure the money deal a mega-conference could pull is compelling. Regardless, I'm with Craig James, what kind of sallies they got running the Big-12? Why aren't they the ones talking about poaching the other BCS conferences rather than being poached?

Rats! We Don't "Need" No Stinkin' Playoffs!

Memorial of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

After the Fiesta and Sugar Bowls it appears that the BCS may have gotten it right for tonight's national championship game. The down side is that there likely will be less controversy this year. Oswald Sobrino has buzzed by one of my pet themes, that discord is not inherently an evil. One of the joys of college football is the uncertainty that makes every week important. Similarly, there can be grace in the persuasion of honest debate; having a mind open to reason. I guess we'll have to wait until next year, unless the powers that be mess it up with a playoff system.

Boomer! Sooner! Go OU!

Update:

Unfortunately for Sooner fans, there is no question about the national champion, nor about the Heisman winner. I guess we'll have to wait until next year, but it's gonna be tough with 3/4 of the starters departing.