Given the moderate amount of chaos that occurred yesterday and since a lot of us are cooped up indoors while Florence puts a damper on things I thought it would be fun to try and predict this week's AP poll. This isn't necessarily what I would vote if I had a ballot, but rather how I think the overall poll will shake down.
Go ahead, tear it up. We're all suckers for rankings even though we hate on 'em fairly often.
| Ranking | Team | Last Week |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Alabama | 1 |
| 2. | Ohio State | 4 |
| 3. | Clemson | 2 |
| 4. | Georgia | 3 |
| 5. | LSU | 12 |
| 6. | Oklahoma | 5 |
| 7. | Stanford | 9 |
| 8. | Washington | 10 |
| 9. | Notre Dame | 8 |
| 10. | Penn State | 11 |
| 11. | Auburn | 7 |
| 12. | Virginia Tech | 13 |
| 13. | West Virginia | 14 |
| 14. | Michigan | 19 |
| 15. | Miss State | 16 |
| 16. | Oklahoma State | 24 |
| 17. | Wisconsin | 6 |
| 18. | UCF | 18 |
| 19. | Oregon | 20 |
| 20. | Miami (FL) | 21 |
| 21. | TCU | 15 |
| 22. | Boise State | 17 |
| 23. | Michigan State | 25 |
| 24. | Boston College | (28) |
| 25. | Texas A&M | (27) |
Bold teams were spot on, italicized teams were +/- 1 spot.
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Comments
WVU was behind us by literally 1 vote last time. As much as the rankings should "stay in order" in theory I find it hard to believe FSU crapping the bed isn't going to result in at least a few people giving them the votes to get past us.
We should move to 10-11...probably overrating us. We'll probably start the same or fall. Wouldn't be surprised if Wisconsin stayed ahead of us (cause AP votes make no sense).
My thoughts are that in a perfect world this would be the first week any polls should be assessed.
In that world, there's no way PSU it ND would be top 10 teams.
And I don't see VT as a top 15 team given the level of competition they've faced. Outside of their dance game, FSU is approaching UVA levels of suck.
"FSU is approaching UVA levels of suck"
That is savage! I almost feel bad for them but F FSU! Can you imagine the meltdown going on with their fan base? Willie must be in deep shit after only 3 games in. This puts our problems and gripes into perspective for sure. Hopefully we never lose another in-state prospect to free shoe U again!
I would hope that the FanBase would understand how much they missed on their offensive line problems. It's by far one of the reasons Jimbo Bolted.
That requires fans to be reasonable. I will take the under on that bet!
It's also Jimbo's fault!
You guys should check out their 247board, they even have a thread titled "would we be 1-2 with Fuente"
Total meltdown in semenole nation
https://247sports.com/college/florida-state/Board/36/Contents/Would-we-be-1-2-with-Fuente-121910084/
Saw a tweet that 3 separate Go Fund Me accounts have been started to fund Willie's buyout. Delusional fanbase is a mild statement.
Idk about you, but sometimes in hiring, some people sell you some goods and you may be in a desperate hiring situation so you bring em on. Only to find out pretty quick that this job might be too much or not the right fit for them. Sometimes you can handle it if their demeanor is right and say the right things, but Willie sounds good when he's winnning, the same shit sounds pathetic when he's not. Scott Frost's or guys like Kevin Sumlin when things aren't/weren't going their way still gave you a bit of confidence in them from how they spoke. Even with the delusional fanbases.
Basically sometimes you realize right away you hired the wrong person right away and it's better to cut ties sooner rather than later.
At the tailgate for FSU (which was entirely FSU donors and alums), I went for the easy #hottake and said Taggart wouldn't last 3 years because the fans there don't have the patience to allow him to succeed, even assuming he is as good a coach that people think. Everyone vehemently argued against that notion and laughed at the idea. I got a text today from the girl I was with that said I wasn't welcome back at her parents' place because I was right about Taggart.
Wow
I think Jimbo knew what was coming. They didn't do so well last year.
There are already a bunch of go fund me pages to help raise Taggert's buyout..which is like $23 mil
I could more or less agree with this
All I know is BC IS BAK!
yea they are...that Wake game was good and then in the 4th they just turned on the overdrive
I completely have changed how close that game will be for us now
I'm ok with that. They're gonna help out our schedule as long as they're good.
Wow, saying BC is back is like saying the flowbee is back
Or the Shamwow guy
Tech is 15 or 16. Wiscosin and Ohie State will be above us. Miss State and WVU will decide how far down we go
WVU didn't play, but they were only one vote behind us so even one person seeing FSU's implosion should easily drop us. Mississippi State might jump us, though they merely took care of business. I don't see anyone else that could jump us, and we should jump Wisky, so 13-14 seems right.
Side note, Duke should be just outside the rankings, probably #26 or #28, setting up for a potential top-25 matchup in 2 weeks.
I dont think Miss. St jumps us, just WVU jumping us and Wisc falling behind after losing at home as 24 pt favorites so we stay at 13.
The Duke comment is interesting. With a down ACC, I would love for us to beat a ranked (#25 probably) Duke and maybe BC (they could only have 1 loss coming into playing us). That's along with a ranked Notre Dame and Miami. Keeps SOS up.
WVU gets the Heisman force pushing their ranking up
Wisconsin is tough call, that far up in a close game, of course same should be said of ND's game
And who exactly has WVU beaten that is better than FSU? UT? Sure FSU sucks, but people only use the "you haven't beaten anybody" argument when it's convenient. Alabama and UGA haven't beaten anyone yet either. I'm not saying that we're as good as Bama, but I bet they don't drop in the polls every time Louisville loses this year.
They started the year ahead of us. So, like it or not, assuming that their blowout of UT is equivalent to our blowout of FSU, and their blowout of an FCS team is equivalent to ours, then it makes sense that they'd be ahead of us.
Only reason we jumped them was because everyone thought FSU was actually going to be good.
I'm not surprised they jumped us. I even stated in the game cancellation thread that they would look better than us in their canceled game and jump us. I just get frustrated at people trying to explain polls. Polls are just opinions of who the voters think is a better football team. Don't feed me a bunch of reasons that only apply when they are convenient for the outcome. Just say I think wvu is a better football team. But hey, that's probably why we still have polls. That gives ESPN something to explain and debate all week. In my opinion, we are ranked higher than I thought we would be before the season started. But this defense has really surprised me so far. Here's to hoping they continue to surprise and we win some big games this year.
Lol, you were the one that replied to my comment, questioning my prediction. Not sure what spawned that rant, since in general I agree with your main points (that the polls are based on the opinions of human voters and are therefore easily biased), except for the fact that I don't see what's wrong with speculating about how the voters will react based on the events of a given weekend (especially when said speculation turns out to be true :P)
Ohio State has been above us, not sure where Wisconsin falls though. A loss AT home to byu had to hurt.
Whoops OKie State
Wisconsin wasnt a complete blowout and BYU isnt a bad team
Wisconsin was a complete blowout when you look at the spread.
I could see this happening, but I think we drop behind WVU, and I'm pretty sure Boise is gone. If you're a G5 team, you can't get boat raced like that and expect to hang around.
I think Florence blows in somewhere around 9 or 10. I mean, taking out eight teams in one weekend is pretty impressive.
For what it's worth, VT coming in hot at #10 in the useless Coaches Poll.
http://sportspolls.usatoday.com/ncaa/football/polls/coaches-poll/
Damn, no votes for FSU?
Willie Taggart doesn't get to submit a ballot.
Apparently the coaches figured out we decimated that team! Not sure if the sportswriters will feel the same way; we've been rising in the coaches and dropping in the AP since the FSU game
Boston College at 25.
Duke is well positioned to move into the top 25 next week. We may have an opportunity at a road win over a ranked team.
I think Miami is being undervalued, even with the loss (considering the opponent). I think Duke could've been ranked now but still a risky vote without a bigger sample.
Miami lost a neutral site game to LSU and dropped 13 spots. Auburn lost a home game to LSU and dropped 2 spots. Wtf?
Miami also lost in a blowout against a team which at the time was perceived to be a speculative top 25 team.
Auburn had a Quality Loss (tm).
If you'd watched the Auburn game, you'd know you were watching 2 SEC-quality top-10 teams playing. Obviously.
Seriously though, Miami looked awful against LSU, and didn't look a whole lot better against Toledo. I honestly don't have much issue with them being where they are.
Auburns QB hasn't impressed me at all
He's light years ahead of Miami's QB
Or a road loss... just saying regardless of what they're ranked they're looking like an opponent to take seriously.
That's why I said opportunity at a road win, and not just a road win.
We didn't drop...which is all I wanted considering we didn't play and how bad FSU apparently is. I hope for Duke to keep on winning and set up back to back weeks of playing ranked opponents.
Duke just has to beat NC Central and hope for a 20-25 team to lose, so I'm feeling pretty good.
Well, they're effectively #28, so they need to jump 3 spots, but that could easily happen as #17 TCU plays Texas, #18 Wisconsin plays (#26) Iowa, #20 Oregon plays #7 Stanford, #22 aTm plays #1 Bama, and #24 Michigan State plays Indiana. Wisky-Iowa essentially guarantees that they move up one spot, and aTm beating Bama would be a huge surprise, so realistically we only need one of the other 3, or another unforeseen upset.
None of this matters... Everyone is chasing the #2 spot. I don't think I've ever seen a team like Alabama... Ever.
Yeah they're good, like leinart bush usc good. They've always had an elite defense but esstentially game managers at QB. Now they have a legit Playmaker at QB to take adavantage of their playmakers on the outside and that grind-you-down running game.
I mean I'm trying to remember their recent QBs and they all never made any significant noise in the nfl or were cut right fairly quick in the league during the Saban era. They've been so loaded they just needed a QB that wouldn't blow it and make a throw here and there.
John Parker Wilson
AJ McCarron
Greg McElroy
Blake Sims
Jacob Coker
Jalen Hurts
I recall some very stout USC teams, but you have to go back to the days of Juice, Marcus Allen and Mike Garrett to get there. Archie Griffin era OSU also had some unbelievable teams as did Earl Campbell era Texas and Elvis Peacock era Oklahoma (again, all many moons ago). Joe Namath era Bama was also VERY good.
Nebraska 95, Miami 01, USC 03 (or was it 04?). Best three teams I've seen.
This Bama team is right there. Only teams that can beat them are UGA and Bama beating themselves.
After last year, I'd never count out Auburn until they've actually played either of those teams.
I wasn't a college football fan in 95 but I was by 2001 and that Miami team was better than anyone for my money. USC 04 was tight, but I think the only team in history that could beat the best of this Alabama dynasty would probably be Miami 01
I think Miami 01 gave up one sack all year. The nfl talent in that team was ridiculous
In all fairness Syracuse should be in the top 25, they only received 2 votes. Not comparing the wins against FSU, but not sure we should be ranked way higher than them considering they have atleast another win against FBS Western Michigan in addition to an FCS blowout and blowout win over FSU. I think if this exact situation was reversed we'd be bitching on here about how we are not ranked and have done atleast the same if not more to atleast be in the 20-25 range.
The FSU team we beat and who they beat aren't equals. If you watched the games, it's clear FSU is broken and it's probably us who broke them.
Francois has no confidence. Rewind the first half of our game, he made a number of good plays. Their OL couldn't block Don Zimmer right now. Dickerson being out is a part of it. Against SU, they made more mental mistakes than any team I've ever seen. They didn't do that against us.
And SU played them at home, not on the road at night.
Don't diminish what we did, it was spectacular.
I like Dungey, Dino and SU a lot this year. That looks like a bowl team to me. They beat Clemson last year and us the year before, they need to prove they can be more consistent so those highs mean something. I expected they do that this year.
Agreed. They put all their eggs into showing the world they were on the right track against us and we embarrassed their offense in Doak. Absolutely shut them down and exposed how bad it is. We took their will away, which was apparent against Samford and on display yesterday.
They aren't making a bowl this year. They aren't finishing top half of that division. This was supposed to be a resurgent year and now reality is hitting that they're staring a multi year rebuild in the face with a team that honestly sucks right now. And seeing this happening is going to drive away all those recruits they usually get.
Things are about to get ugly down there.
while I want to agree with you, we absolutely will not get that benefit of the doubt like Alabama did last year.
Uhhh, Don Zimmer is dead...which makes this assertion even funnier.
RIP
Zimm was a Sox and a Yankee. Loved by all.
They probably would be if they started ranked at the beginning of the season. We've been in the same situation before when we were unranked, but it is what it is. That's why recruiting classes and how you end the previous season, etc. impacts where teams start in the ranking and being there at the beginning helps where you end (if you don't lose).
At the very least, the Carrier Dome should be up there.
THIS. Even if FSU had a competent offense, I'd highly doubt they would have won, especially if Clemson couldn't last year and we couldn't in 2016. The carrier dome is what makes the Cuse good.
What is it about the carrier dome that makes it unique?
It's a basketball court disguised as a football field, named after a corporate sponsor that manufactures air conditioners, yet doesn't have one installed in the building.
In the Beamer and Fuente eras, VT is 1-6 at the Carrier Dome. The only win was with Michael Vick. (We're 5-2 in Blacksburg over the same time.)
via Gfycat
How does this not go plaid in 10 min or less?
If would have played this week and won handily we would have been #10
Doubt it. ECU is a bad program, and waxxing them wouldn't move the needle. That being said, whip ODU and beat Duke, and yeah... I think we'll have a Top 10 matchup with ND.
That's also assuming ND can get past a good Stanford team the week before they come to Blacksburg.
Stanford plays #20 Oregon this week. Should they lose that game, I'm not sure they really fall further than to 12 or 13. ND would move up to 7, or higher. I'm thinking ND at that point would possibly fall to 10, and assuming we beat ODU and Duke, you could see an 8 vs 10 or 9 vs 10 kind of matchup?
If we keep going 1-0 it'll all work out
People gonna hate but I think Miami should be ranked above us right now, they're only loss turned out to be against the 5th ranked team, were 2-0 and we beat a low power 5 team and a D2 team. Miami beat a very good G5 team and scored points against LSU. I think Toledo would blow out FSU at this point
They scored garbage time points. That game was 33-3 in the 4th quarter before LSU called off the dogs. Miami looked like straight garbage that night. Wins over Savannah St and Toledo aren't enough to overlook just how badly outclassed they looked against LSU. I'm surprised they're even ranked right now, to be honest.
^^ This. There was only about a drive and a half in the Miami-LSU game where Miami looked like a competent football team that could turn it into a game.
Not saying I disagree with you, but how many drives outside of the first one and a half would you say our offense looked competent against FSU. One more, maybe two?
Quick Edit: You did say football team, which implies Miami's defense is poop too. Our defense looked pretty freaking good against FSU.
This is a top tier Q U A L I T Y L O S S take.
I don't think they should be above us but maybe they should be ranked higher. LSU may be one of the top teams in the country by the end of the year, and FSU might be one of the worst, in which case their loss won't look as bad and our win won't look as good.
We got rankings as high as 7, and as low as 15. No game didn't hurt us, but didn't help. I'll take it. Let's go 1-0 this week.
If we win all our games, we go to the CFP. That's all that matters. We haven't had a game that really tests us (given how bad FSU turned out to be).