top 25 vote...

If Miami is a Top 25 team, we need to go back to voting for just 20 spots.

 

Or a new batch of voters. Louisville struggled more with Kansas State and Middle Tennessee State than it did the Canes.

 

MTSU is a sleeper though.. kinda like New Mexico.

 

So what do you suggest? Should WVU have simply not shown up in Starkville yesterday, but instead driven the bus to Gainesville and demanded a game with the Gators?

Unless you're Bill Snyder, you can't intentionally "load up" a schedule with creampuffs -- I would hope you've been around the game long enough to know that football schedules are set years in advance, that there is a serious lack of fluidity and flexibility. This isn't basketball. Can't just wake up one day in the preseason and say, "Wow, we need a tougher game this season -- Hey USC, wanna play?"

Case in point -- The WVU-Mississippi State series was scheduled in spring 2004, when the prevailing opinion was that Croom would have the Bullies at least competitive in his third year. Shocking that it's turned into the Slytanic -- but WVU can't help that.

And it's not like WVU's ducking anyone in the future -- they've got home-and-homes with Auburn beginning next season, Michigan State in a couple of years and Florida State and Notre Dame in 2011ish. And Wisconsin was on the schedule a couple of years ago.

So what's the solution? Start breaking contracts? How would WVU have looked if they had broken off the deal with Mississippi State -- can you imagine the outcry, "Wah, WVU's afraid to play the big, bad SEC?" No thanks.

 

West Virginia's got a light schedule. That's just a fact. It's not really their fault, but they haven't beaten anyone this year, and shouldn't be ahead of similarly undefeated teams with wins over good opponents, like Florida and Michigan. If/when they beat Louisville, they get in the conversation for No. 2. Until then, I just don't see it.

 

Ok so they scheduled on potential. How about scheduling someone you know is going to be strong? Or were Eastern Washington, East Carolina and Marshall supposed to have good programs by now as well? OK scratch Eastern Washington, they were a late add for the behemouth that is Buffalo, who dropped out on WV.

The thing is people are looking at what West Virginia did in one game at the end of last year and including it in this years rankings. It's good to see that as many people are seeing through them. Despite two first place votes they dropped again in the poll this week.

Now, kudos to the Mountaineers for scheduling opponents they know are going to be tough down the line. I'm not so jaundiced I can't say they're trying to schedule tougher. But I can't cut them a break for this schedule because they're trying for next year. By then, this season will be over.

My over-riding point here is that WV is beating teams like Mississippi State by smaller margins and producing less total offense than teams like LSU, who last I checked have two losses in the SEC. Comparitive results are all we have to measure the Moutaineers on right now, and those comparitive results while somewhat impressive don't strike me as evidence to think of the Mountaineers as a top 5 team right now.

Louisville went out and whipped Miami with backups. WV has nothing on its resume nearly as impressive.

 

West Virginia is an example of a team that got a good preseason ranking, has beaten everyone it was supposed to beat, hasn't played a team it was supposed to lose to and has shot up the rankings because others have lost to better teams than West Virginia has played.

It does not necessarily mean West Virginia is better than all but one or two teams in the country.

 

Scratch Marshall as well. WVU has to play them every year, per the governor. And they used to play Tech every year before they bailed for the ACC. This year's schedule is not their fault. All they can do is play the opponent in front of them, and they've done it and done it well. What more do you want?

 

I want people to acknowledge the fact their performances are not making a case for them being a National Title contender, as Mr. Whitlock's ballot would have us believe they are.

There are better teams that have beaten better opposition who are behind WV on some people's ballots because of a game played last season.

 

Yes, I agree Michigan should be ranked number two because they have played tougher opponents then all the teams above them and did so winning in convincing fashions. Secondly, The Ohio State University will win the national title after beating 3 previously ranked number two's.

 

Michigan had to work to beat Vanderbilt.

 

And East Carolina is, actually, a fairly regular opponent of the Mountaineers. And they're not exactly Temple or UL-Monroe either.


GB Hack: Isn't that the case every season? Maybe Missouri and Rutgers are the best teams in football and we don't know it, because their ratings are based on where they were slotted in the preseason. Even if we said "no polls until Week X", there'd still be enough unofficial polls out there that the voters would inevitably be influenced by them to the point that they'd probably still have West Virginia in the top five and Missouri/Buttgers in the lower reaches of the top 25.