| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oregon | -- |
| 2 | LSU |  1 |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 1 |
| 4 | Missouri | 2 |
| 5 | West Virginia | -- |
| 6 | Ohio State |  4 |
| 7 | Georgia | 2 |
| 8 | Arizona State | 1 |
| 9 | Kansas | 1 |
| 10 | Boston College | 2 |
| 11 | Virginia Tech | 3 |
| 12 | Southern Cal | 1 |
| 13 | Texas | 2 |
| 14 | Clemson | 8 |
| 15 | Virginia | 5 |
| 16 | Illinois | 3 |
| 17 | Florida | 1 |
| 18 | Cincinnati | 8 |
| 19 | Michigan | 7 |
| 20 | South Florida | 4 |
| 21 | Wisconsin | 5 |
| 22 | Connecticut | 11 |
| 23 | Penn State | 2 |
| 24 | Tennessee | 2 |
| 25 | Auburn | 8 |
Dropped Out: Florida State (#23), Alabama (#24), California (#25).
One change: USC drops back a bit after SMQB points out their stunning lack of schedule strength in an email, though I'm inclined to blame that more on the Pac-10's round robin -- this blog's new obsession, evidently -- and, of course, the implosions of Nebraska and ND than actual malice.
On Kansas: SMQB ponders the placement of KU in a theoretically just universe, concluding that it's not one or two but leaving exactly where they go open to discussion. Meanwhile, Gunslingers takes a different view, noting that KU has not played any team better than around #40 in the computer polls and that, depending on your poll of choice, somewhere between 21 and 29 other teams can make the claim that they have not lost to a team ranked #40 or lower. I mean, look at this:
Not that this matters because they will lose by two touchdowns to Missouri unless there is a flukish outburst of turnovers.
One change: USC drops back a bit after SMQB points out their stunning lack of schedule strength in an email, though I'm inclined to blame that more on the Pac-10's round robin -- this blog's new obsession, evidently -- and, of course, the implosions of Nebraska and ND than actual malice.
On Kansas: SMQB ponders the placement of KU in a theoretically just universe, concluding that it's not one or two but leaving exactly where they go open to discussion. Meanwhile, Gunslingers takes a different view, noting that KU has not played any team better than around #40 in the computer polls and that, depending on your poll of choice, somewhere between 21 and 29 other teams can make the claim that they have not lost to a team ranked #40 or lower. I mean, look at this:
Colley: 105th toughest schedule (only Texas Tech is worse among BCS conference teams)It's nice they're undefeated, really, it is. But I think Gunslingers is right:
GBE: 98th toughest schedule (only USC is worse among BCS conference teams)
Sagarin: 97th toughest schedule (worst among BCS conference teams)
Team Rankings: 117th toughest schedule (worst among BCS conference teams)
CBS Sports: 73rd toughest schedule (only ahead of USC, Texas Tech, and Miami (FL) among BCS conference teams)
NCAA (warning - PDF): 86th toughest schedule (only ahead of Texas Tech, Miami (FL), and USC among BCS conference teams)
In sum, if you are ranking Kansas highly, you must be placing a lot of emphasis on not losing, without regard to how bad or mediocre the opposition is. And if you are placing a lot of emphasis on not losing to bad or mediocre opposition, there are about two dozen other teams who also haven't lost to bad or mediocre opposition (but several of them have played and beaten good or great opposition).Kansas played awful cupcakes in a year when Texas and Oklahoma weren't on their schedule and absolutely should not be rewarded for that; I won't be ranking them over one-loss Oregon or LSU teams that played way, way harder schedules, period.
Not that this matters because they will lose by two touchdowns to Missouri unless there is a flukish outburst of turnovers.
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