2012 SJ.com College Football Poll -- FINAL poll finally posted on page 12!

Re: 2012 SportsJournalists.com College Football Poll -- UPDATED, Nov. 26 poll posted on Page 11!

Basically, after each voter listed Nebraska, it was a free for all.

And regarding Kent State (and Northern Illinois) ... I'd love to see the winner of that game matched up against, say, Boise State or Fresno State. It would give us a better idea who is king of the "mid majors" this season.

 

Re: 2012 SportsJournalists.com College Football Poll -- UPDATED, Nov. 26 poll posted on Page 11!

Just like everyone else, the last 10 picks have been more difficult than the first 15 the last few weeks.

 

Re: 2012 SportsJournalists.com College Football Poll -- UPDATED, Nov. 26 poll posted on Page 11!

1. Notre Dame
2. Alabama
3. Georgia
4. Florida
5. Oregon
6. LSU
7. Stanford
8. Texas A&M
9. Ohio State
10. Kansas State
11. South Carolina
12. Florida State
13. Oklahoma
14. Nebraska
15. Clemson
16. UCLA
17. Northern Illinois
18. Kent State
19. Michigan
20. Northwestern
21. Boise State
22. Utah State
23. Texas
24. Vanderbilt
25. San Jose State

 

Re: 2012 SportsJournalists.com College Football Poll -- UPDATED, Nov. 26 poll posted on Page 11!

Kent beat then-ranked Rutgers, although they lost to Kentucky. Northern Illinois beat Kansas and lost to Iowa. Both schools beat Eastern Michigan (but then, who didn't? Oh yeah, Western Michigan didn't, right slappy?).

On that basis, I put Kent ahead of Northern Illinois.

 

Re: 2012 SportsJournalists.com College Football Poll -- UPDATED, Nov. 26 poll posted on Page 11!

Ouch!

 

Re: 2012 SportsJournalists.com College Football Poll -- UPDATED, Nov. 26 poll posted on Page 11!

Hate to single out just one voter, but this is an example that might answer something I questioned after seeing this week's poll:

Penn State got 10 votes, three of which came from me. Less than teams such as Utah State, Boise State, San Jose State, etc. Don't get me wrong, I understand there are only so many "obvious" top-25 teams right now, of which Penn State is not one, but this team won eight of its last 10 games, could have beat Nebraska if not for a terrible call, and doesn't get more votes than San Jose State? I know the Big Ten is average, but wow. And they beat Northwestern head to head.

The purpose of this isn't to encourage the PSU vote, however. I'm curious why people left the team off their ballots? Still punishing them for weeks one and two? For the down league? For Sandusky? Because they're out of sight, out of mind because of the sanctions?

 

Re: 2012 SportsJournalists.com College Football Poll -- UPDATED, Nov. 26 poll posted on Page 11!

Utah State won its last six games. Its two losses, at Wisconsin and at BYU, came by a combined five points. It beat San Jose State pretty easily and won its conference with a perfect record. (The MAC champion will be the only other team able to claim this.)

Boise State has won nine of its last 10. Its two losses, at Michigan State and vs. San Diego State, came by a combined six points. It beat BYU and Fresno State.

San Jose State opened the season with a three-point loss at Stanford. It's 10-1 since. The WAC had a pretty strong year, at least among its top-four teams. San Jose State beat San Diego State, Louisiana Tech, BYU, Navy and Texas-San Antonio.

You can say the first two losses should be scratched off Penn State's resume, but then you also should scratch off a loss for all three of those teams. Virginia is the worst team any of these teams lost to. I voted for Penn State, but I had Utah State and San Jose State higher and should have put Boise State in my poll but honestly forgot to add them back. They wouldn't have been very high, anyway, and I'll get them next time.

 

Re: 2012 SportsJournalists.com College Football Poll -- UPDATED, Nov. 26 poll posted on Page 11!

These are probably the two reasons for me, Dragon. Ohio ended up being the fourth or fifth-best team in the MAC, and Virginia ... ugh.

I only voted for two Big 10 teams this week (Ohio St. and Nebraska) because the league is down overall.

Michigan's the next best team, but the Wolverines have four losses — granted, all of them to top-20 teams. Since they didn't play the Nittany Lions, you have to compare nonconference losses, and that's where Michigan received votes and Penn State didn't.

In my humble opinion ...

 

Re: 2012 SportsJournalists.com College Football Poll -- UPDATED, Nov. 26 poll posted on Page 11!

Northwestern went 9-3 and is one of four teams to beat Vanderbilt. The other three were Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.

 

Re: 2012 SportsJournalists.com College Football Poll -- UPDATED, Nov. 26 poll posted on Page 11!

Michigan gets votes because two loses are to the only two undefeateds by 7 and 5 points, on the road, a neutral site loss, a blowout, to the No. 2 team, and a road loss to No. 14 when their quarterback missed two and a half quarters.

There are are worse arguements for one, two and three loss teams.

 

Re: 2012 SportsJournalists.com College Football Poll -- UPDATED, Nov. 26 poll posted on Page 11!

Pretty much what Versatile argued, plus a little oversight by myself.

 

Re: 2012 SportsJournalists.com College Football Poll -- UPDATED, Nov. 26 poll posted on Page 11!

1. Notre Dame
2. Ohio State
3. Alabama
4. Oregon
5. Georgia
6. Kansas State
7. Florida
8. Stanford
9. LSU
10. Texas A&M
11. South Carolina
12. Oklahoma
13. Florida State
14. Clemson
15. Oregon State
16. UCLA
17. Northern Illinois
18. Utah State
19. San Jose State
20. Boise State
21. Nebraska
22. Michigan
23. Penn State
24. Northwestern
25. Louisville