Notes:
- Despite an ugly win by Notre Dame and finally the defeat of a good team by Alabama, Notre Dame maintains a very slight lead. Beating LSU < An Entire Season of Defeating Good Opponents. Remember, because it's the network of wins and losses, how the teams that Notre Dame and Alabama defeat then perform says a lot about their future ranking. There was an exchange by Corso and Herbstriet on Gameday yesterday on this topic. Corso says ND has shown the most evidence and should be #1, Herbstreidt says Alabama wins the "look test". Unfortunately, the "look test" (the same reason Herbstriet believe USC was the number 1 team at the beginning of the season) is the problem. We can't compare "the look" of winning in death valley at night to a cold home game against Pitt anymore than we can compare a game played in Ireland with a game in Tuscaloosa against Western Kentucky. Just count the wins and losses Herbstreit, and it'll work itself out by the end of the season.
- Ohio State is higher up because they've played 10 games, while everyone else has played nine. Yes, other than Nebraska and Penn State, they've played a bunch of scrubs. I don't adjust for bye weeks and number of games since it works itself out in the end, but you can take Ohio State in the three spot with a grain of salt because of the one game bonus they're currently getting.
- Oregon is slowly inching up. The problem with the USC win is that USC wasn't that amazing to begin with (unlike LSU for Bama). So it's beginning to look like Oregon needs a little help (ND or Bama have to lose).
- K State has a bigger Oregon problem than Oregon as the teams in the Big 12 beat up on one another. And so, they hold their place in a distant number 7.
- Big loser is inconsistent Arizona - crushed by UCLA.
- Big Winner this week is Texas A&M, jumping up the list with a good win against Mississippi State. The Aggies play Bama this Saturday. Here's Bama's chance to prove they're number 1.
Explanation: a fair ranking on the network of wins and losses.
Top 25 (Full Rankings)
Each team's win score (value of wins) minus their loss score (cost of losses) in parentheses.
- Notre Dame (44.62)
- Alabama (43.94)
- Ohio State (40.27)
- Florida (39.07)
- Oregon (38.27)
- LSU (37.47)
- Kansas State (36.44)
- Georgia (36.39)
- Louisville (34.14)
- South Carolina (34.11)
- Texas A&M (30.55)
- Louisiana Tech (30.04)
- Oklahoma (29.17)
- Mississippi State (26.21)
- Stanford (20.83)
- Oregon State (20.83)
- Tennessee (19.25)
- Texas Tech (17.64)
- Texas (15.56)
- Nebraska (15.43)
- Clemson (14.64)
- Iowa State (14.04)
- West Virginia (13.85)
- UCLA (13.81)
- Washington (13.5)