How lame is this college football season? We have a team in negative B Points in the Top 25 for about the second or third time since I started keeping track. It’s possible no game this weekend will affect the national title game, meaning if Georgia wins the SEC Title Game, we’ll have two teams playing for the national championship and neither won their conference. It’s not a lack of one-loss alternatives; it’s just that no one trusts an Oklahoma State team that lost to Iowa State, a Stanford or Boise State team that won’t win their conference either, a Virginia Tech team that would win a conference no one trusts and doesn’t have the parity of years past, or a Houston team that hasn’t even won the respect of a BYU, Boise State, or TCU.
This week’s rankings are a bit later than I would have liked because I lost the USB drive containing the database I use to calculate the rankings last week.
How the C Ratings are tabulated: First, A Ratings are tabulated by multiplying the total score ratio, which is expressed by (points-opponents’ points)/points, by the winning percentage. Score ratio minimizes the effect of running up the score. Next, B Points for each game are tabulated by (margin of victory)/(opponent’s A rating)+/-1 for wins, and -(margin of loss)/(1-opponent’s A Rating)+/-1 for losses. The “+/-” is + for road games and – for home ones. The total number of B Points is multiplied by the A Rating to get the B Rating. Finally, the C Rating is tabulated by taking one-tenth the difference between the team’s B Rating and the average of his opponents’ B Ratings and taking the result off the B Rating. The three ratings go A, B, C across. Click here to see the complete ratings.
| 1 |  LSU |
SEC #1 | ’06 Boise St. | ||||||
| 12-0 | LW: #1 | A Rat: .831 | B Rating: | 62.549 | C Rating: | 54.630 | AP: 1 | BCS: 1 | |
| Can LSU avoid complete BCS embarassment in their opponent’s home state? | |||||||||
| 2 |  Alabama |
SEC #2 | BCS Title | ||||||
| 11-1 | LW: #2 | A Rat: .780 | B Rating: | 53.170 | C Rating: | 45.803 | AP: 2 | BCS: 2 | |
| Alabama pummeled their rivals right out of the polls. Now comes the wait to avenge their one loss. | |||||||||
| 3 |  Oklahoma State |
B12 #1 | BCS Title | ||||||
| 10-1 | LW: #3 | A Rat: .643 | B Rating: | 43.721 | C Rating: | 36.214 | AP: 3 | BCS: 3 | |
| The Cowboys have their best chance in years to beat Big Brother – and while a win sends them to the Fiesta, would they even go to the Cotton over K-State? | |||||||||
| 4 |  Boise State |
MWC #1 | Bowl Position | ||||||
| 10-1 | LW: #4 | A Rat: .687 | B Rating: | 43.078 | C Rating: | 36.125 | AP: 9 | BCS: 7 | |
| What good will a #7 BCS ranking do for the Broncos? How about a trip to the Poinsettia Bowl. | |||||||||
| 5 |  Wisconsin |
B10 #1 | Big 10 Title | ||||||
| 10-2 | LW: #8 | A Rat: .668 | B Rating: | 43.762 | C Rating: | 35.344 | AP: 15 | BCS: 15 | |
| Wisconsin pummeled a good Penn State team into the ground, but the polls barely noticed. Will they notice if the Badgers avenge their loss to the Spartans? | |||||||||
| 6 |  Oklahoma |
B12 #2 | Big 12 Title | ||||||
| 9-2 | LW: #5 | A Rat: .605 | B Rating: | 41.816 | C Rating: | 34.593 | AP: 13 | BCS: 10 | |
| The Sooners demolished the team that beat the Cowboys and actually lost ground in the polls. The Big 12 may no longer have a title game, but Bedlam will serve the same purpose. | |||||||||
| 7 |  Houston |
USA #1 | BCS Bowl | ||||||
| 12-0 | LW: #7 | A Rat: .785 | B Rating: | 44.168 | C Rating: | 33.706 | AP: 7 | BCS: 6 | |
| C-USA has never sniffed the BCS. Now their title game pits two ranked teams with one playing for a BCS spot. How huge is that? It’s getting the ABC treatment. | |||||||||
| 8 |  Oregon |
P12 #1 | Pac-12 Title | ||||||
| 10-2 | LW: #6 | A Rat: .605 | B Rating: | 33.005 | C Rating: | 27.381 | AP: 8 | BCS: 9 | |
| Too many points allowed to a three-win team to avoid slipping. | |||||||||
| 9 |  Stanford |
P12 #2 | BCS Title | ||||||
| 11-1 | LW: #10 | A Rat: .686 | B Rating: | 27.597 | C Rating: | 21.118 | AP: 4 | BCS: 4 | |
| Big win to a ranked Notre Dame team – the last exclamation point on Andrew Luck’s Heisman campaign? | |||||||||
| 10 |  Michigan |
B10 #2 | Bowl Position | ||||||
| 10-2 | LW: #9 | A Rat: .590 | B Rating: | 25.000 | C Rating: | 20.688 | AP: 17 | BCS: 16 | |
| Just a little too close for comfort against a team that’s barely bowl-eligible, but all the Wolverines fans care about is finally getting the Buckeyes’ goat. | |||||||||
| 11 |  Virginia Tech |
ACC #1 | Prncton/Yale | ||||||
| 11-1 | LW: #13 | A Rat: .635 | B Rating: | 20.023 | C Rating: | 15.459 | AP: 5 | BCS: 5 | |
| Virginia isn’t terribly great, but they were poised to steal the division with a win and V-Tech blew them out of the water. Now they get a shot at revenge against the one team to beat them for a trip to the Orange Bowl. | |||||||||
| 12 |  Georgia |
SEC #3 | SEC Title | ||||||
| 10-2 | LW: #15 | A Rat: .586 | B Rating: | 14.379 | C Rating: | 10.167 | AP: 12 | BCS: 14 | |
| Big win over a good G-Tech team makes it all the more plausible the Bulldogs could pull the Upset of the Century. | |||||||||
| 13 |  USC |
P12 #3 | ’09 Boise St. | ||||||
| 10-2 | LW: #17 | A Rat: .559 | B Rating: | 13.898 | C Rating: | 9.650 | AP: 9 | SBNBlog: 13 | |
| Not even the conference commissioner likes this title game. Couldn’t we have Oregon and USC play and just send Oregon or Stanford to the Rose Bowl should USC win? | |||||||||
| 14 |  TCU |
MWC #2 | MWC Title | ||||||
| 9-2 | LW: #12 | A Rat: .579 | B Rating: | 14.515 | C Rating: | 9.150 | AP: 18 | BCS: 18 | |
| The Horned Frogs slip for idle hands, but only UNLV stands in the way of going undefeated in-conference. | |||||||||
| 15 |  Arkansas |
SEC #4 | Bowl Position | ||||||
| 10-2 | LW: #11 | A Rat: .545 | B Rating: | 13.296 | C Rating: | 9.078 | AP: 6 | BCS: 8 | |
| The appraisals of the Razorbacks come back down to Earth after getting blown out by LSU, and not even the Capitol One Bowl looks like a sure thing the way Georgia’s been playing. | |||||||||
| 16 |  South Carolina |
SEC #5 | Bowl Position | ||||||
| 10-2 | LW: #18 | A Rat: .560 | B Rating: | 11.993 | C Rating: | 8.982 | AP: 14 | BCS: 12 | |
| Big win over a Clemson team headed to the ACC title game sends the Cocks streaming up the rankings. Hey, you think they might meet again New Year’s Eve in the Georgia Dome? | |||||||||
| 17 |  Notre Dame |
Bowl Position | |||||||
| 8-4 | LW: #14 | A Rat: .402 | B Rating: | 8.998 | C Rating: | 6.181 | — | — | |
| Had they not opened the season with a three-point loss to South Florida and a four-point loss to Michigan, the Golden Domers might be going to a BCS bowl. | |||||||||
| 18 |  Southern Miss |
USA #2 | C-USA Title | ||||||
| 10-2 | LW: #16 | A Rat: .576 | B Rating: | 12.161 | C Rating: | 5.514 | AP: 24 | BCS: 24 | |
| Big win, but over one of the worst teams in the country. But it got Southern Miss back in the polls for the huge showdown with Houston. | |||||||||
| 19 |  Toledo |
MAC #1 | Bowl Position | ||||||
| 8-4 | LW: #21 | A Rat: .412 | B Rating: | 7.918 | C Rating: | 4.481 | — | — | |
| Big win over Ball State, but the Rockets have nothing to show for their only loss by more than five coming to Boise State thanks to one very ill-timed loss. | |||||||||
| 20 |  Florida State |
ACC #2 | Bowl Position | ||||||
| 8-4 | LW: #23 | A Rat: .470 | B Rating: | 7.603 | C Rating: | 3.905 | AP: 25 | Coaches: 24 | |
| The Seminoles finally pick up a win over Florida and await their bowl fate. | |||||||||
| 21 |  Nebraska |
B10 #3 | Bowl Position | ||||||
| 9-3 | LW: #24 | A Rat: .475 | B Rating: | 4.843 | C Rating: | 2.998 | AP: 20 | BCS: 19 | |
| Big win over Iowa, but thirty-point losses to Michigan and Wisconsin mean it matters little. They just have to wait for their bowl fate. | |||||||||
| 22 |  Texas A&M |
B12 #3 | Bowl Position | ||||||
| 6-6 | LW: #20 | A Rat: .310 | B Rating: | 5.221 | C Rating: | 2.173 | — | — | |
| Two overtime losses, another three losses by a combined seven points, a total four losses against teams ranked in the polls at the time, and one fired coach. | |||||||||
| 23 |  Michigan State |
B10 #4 | Big 10 Title | ||||||
| 10-2 | LW: #33 | A Rat: .562 | B Rating: | 3.094 | C Rating: | -.640 | AP: 11 | BCS: 13 | |
| Sparty’s rating has always been deflated by a combination of blowout losses, their best road win being either Ohio State or Iowa, bad nonconference opponents, and beating Minnesota by only 7, but they punched their title game ticket with a bang against Northwestern. | |||||||||
| 24 | Penn State (9-3, .456, -.343, -1.656) |
B10 #5 | Bowl Position | ||||||
| 25 |  Louisiana Tech* |
WAC #1 | WAC Title | ||||||
| 8-4 | LW: #31 | A Rat: .415 | B Rating: | 1.617 | C Rating: | -1.704 | — | — | |
| With Boise State gone, Louisiana Tech wrapped up their WAC championship campaign in dominating fashion over New Mexico State. Their four losses all came at the start around an OT win over Central Arkansas, but included both C-USA title game participants (and OT to Mississippi State). | |||||||||
2010 TCU Title: #45 Baylor (8-3), .411, -7.648, -9.197
Off Top 25: #27 Rutgers (was #22), #31 Clemson (was #25)
Other Positive B Ratings: #29 Northern Illinois, #33 Ohio, #34 Arkansas State (*=Newly Positive)
No Longer Positive: #24 Penn State, #27 Rutgers, #28 Utah State, #31 Clemson, #35 Tulsa, #39 Arizona State, #40 Miami (FL), #42 Iowa, #44 Georgia Tech
Bottom 10: #111 Indiana, #112 Colorado, #113 UAB, #114 UNLV, #115 Kansas, #116 Florida Atlantic, #117 Memphis, #118 Tulane, #119 New Mexico, #120 Akron
Best game of week: Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State, 5pm PT, ABC