AP Poll Dissection Week Six: Yes, Glenn Guilbeau Has Washington Ahead of Notre Dame
By Ty Duffy
You’re a Weird One, Glenn Guilbeau: Guilbeau trends toward the bizarre. This week he does not disappoint. He has both Michigan State and Michigan in the Top 20. Extending that logic, he would hold Notre Dame in high esteem for holding those two teams to nine points. Instead, he’s the lowest voter on Notre Dame (15). He has them two places behind Washington (13). Washington! This would be the Washington team that is winless on the road, has not beaten an FBS team at home by 10 points and was not competitive against the team he covers LSU (11) or Oregon. He also has Nebraska ranked.
The Inimitable Jon Wilner: Wilner is the highest voter on Michigan (14) and Michigan State (18). He has LSU (7) above Ohio State (8) and West Virginia (10). He has Texas all the way down at (20), though he moved up both West Virginia and Texas after their game Saturday Night. He remains the only voter on Dooley’s bandwagon with Tennessee (23) and has Rutgers unranked.
Most Overrated: Clemson. Every voter has the Tigers at least 21st. Kirk Bohls has Clemson 9th. What have they done? Clemson got their doors blown off by Florida State, a now not so juggernautish-looking Florida State. Their toughest opponent besides FSU was Auburn – Yes, SRS 74 Auburn – and only beat them by a touchdown. It’s not clear what Clemson has done to inspire such unanimity besides being overrated to start the season and lingering by on inertia because they have not played anyone.
Most Underrated: Arizona State. Not your greatest resumé. We’re not holding a candle for Todd Graham to get some good publicity. That said ASU is 4-1 with three AQ conference wins. They beat down Illinois and Utah at home. They won by double-digits away at Cal. Their one loss was by four on the road at Missouri. Ranking 7th in total defense, they should have some staying capacity. The Sun Devils, however, are outside the Top 25 and were left off 50/60 ballots.
Most Accurately Ranked: Michigan. The Wolverines squeaked back into the AP Top 25 this week at 25. That’s dead on. It’s hard to fault Michigan’s losses to Alabama and to Notre Dame. Those teams have trailed a game for about 15 seconds combined this season. It’s hard crediting them for their wins too much. Their young defense bent considerably without breaking against Air Force. UMass was a body bag. They did look solid after the bye week though, covering the spread by 28 against a Purdue team many thought primed to upset them. They have the ability to be a Top 25 team. The stats, 31st in yards per play offense and 21st in yards per play defense, suggest they are in that discussion. They just haven’t quite proven it. Worth noting: SRS has Michigan at (25). FEI has Michigan at (24).
Our Rankings
It’s unfair to throw stones at others with no vulnerable edifice. Here is our shot at rankings. We find the 1-25 ranking system with the small data size arbitrary, so we organized the teams into tiers. Teams within the tiers are in no particular order.
The Leader: Alabama. [They have not let a team challenge them this season.]
The Contenders: Oregon, West Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Notre Dame
Just Off Contention: Ohio State, Kansas State, LSU, Georgia, Texas, Florida State
Very Good: USC, Stanford, Oregon State, Oklahoma
Top 25: Mississippi State, Arizona State, Texas A&M, Cincinnati, Louisiana Tech
Borderline: Michigan, Michigan State, Rutgers, Louisville
[Photo via Presswire]