The overall push in the rankings is upward and onward after the Bulls posted another blowout win over ECU. Even though the defense allowed a season high 31, the 61 points scored on offense seems more than enough to move the needle.
As usual, the Associated Press media poll, which has been explained on USF Blog in the past, leads the way.
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1 Alabama 2 Clemson 3 Oklahoma 4 Penn St 5 Georgia 6 Washington 7 Michigan 8 TCU 9 Wisconsin 10 Ohio St 11 Washington St 12 Auburn |
14 USC 15 Oklahoma St 16 Virginia Tech 17 Louisville 18 South Florida 19 San Diego St 20 Utah 21 Notre Dame 21 Florida / Notre Dame 23 West Virginia 24 NC State 25 UCF |
The AP poll is a human poll and it is the only ranking system in this segment where USF did not change position in ranking. They are at 18 for the second week in a row. Joining the Bulls in top 25 is neighboring UCF, who debuts at #25. They essentially replaced 1-2 FSU, who was dropped from the poll. The entrance of the Knights keeps four Florida teams in the top 25. San Diego State, who had threatened to pass USF, struggled with an unranked opponent for the second week and a row, beating 2-2 NIU by just six points. Navy is the next highest ranked AAC team, behind UCF. They are a would-be 31st. Memphis is still getting votes, despite being obliterated by UCF. Memphis receives the 33rd most votes.
The other important major poll is the USA Today Amway Coaches’ Poll, whose methodology was defined on USF Blog, previously.
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1 Alabama 2 Clemson 3 Oklahoma 4 Penn St 5 Washington 6 Georgia 7 Michigan 8 Wisconsin 9 Ohio St 10 TCU 11 Washington St 12 Miami FL 13 Auburn |
14 Oklahoma St 15 USC 16 South Florida 17 Louisville 18 Utah 19 Virginia Tech 20 Florida 21 San Diego St 22 Notre Dame 23 West Virginia 24 NC State 25 UCF |
The Bulls move up one spot to #16 in the USA Today Amway Coaches Poll. UCF has also gotten noticed by the coaches after taking care of business against Memphis. The coaches disagree with the AP about USF, putting them higher than Louisville and Virginia Tech. Also, where the AP sees USF just one spot higher than San Diego State, the coaches have them five spots lower. FSU was also dropped from this poll, replaced by UCF to keep the Florida school total at four. Navy is an unofficial 29th and Memphis is an unofficial 37th.
The CBS 130, as discussed on a prior edition of USF Blog , is up next.
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1 Alabama 2 Clemson 3 Oklahoma 4 Penn State 5 Southern 6 TCU 7 Georgia 8 Washington 9 Michigan 10 Wisconsin 11 Virginia Tech 12 Ohio State |
14 Miami 15 Auburn 16 San Diego State 17 Washington State 18 Utah 19 Louisville 20 Notre 21 Mississippi 22 South Florida 23 West Virginia 24 Duke 25 Florida
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USF still trails San Diego State, who moved up to 16, while the Bulls moved up to 22nd. UCF is just outside their top 25, in the 26th spot. Memphis is 30th and Navy is 37th.
The Congrove ranking is one that, along with the two major polls, is a factor in the Massey Composite ranking, which is featured below. USF Blog has explained Congrove on previous segments.
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1 Alabama 2 Penn St 3 Clemson 4 Oklahoma 5 Wisconsin 6 Washington 7 Georgia 8 Ohio St 9 Washington St 10 Miami FL 11 TCU 12 South Florida 13 Auburn |
14 Georgia Tech 15 Oklahoma St 16 Virginia Tech 17 Michigan 18 USC 19 Utah 20 Navy 21 San Diego St 22 UCF 23 Florida 24 Notre Dame 25 Kansas St
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Of all of the ranking systems featured in this series, Congrove is the only one that seems to logically fit the trajectory of the USF season. They started the preseason at 22 and dropped to 24 after struggling with Stoney Brook. After that, every week was an increase of at least two positions, showing credit for each win. They currently sit at #12 in this ranking system, which is one of the highest ranks for USF to be found.
The ESPN Football Power Index uses, among other factors, strength of schedule to determine the caliber of a team, which has been detailed on USF Blog, previously. Unfortunately, this system puts so much weight on how a team performs against its strength of schedule that ends up being mostly a rank of schedules. A good team with a weak schedule will always rank low with this system.
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1 Alabama 2 OSU 3 Oklahoma 4 Clemson 5 Washington 6 Penn State 7 Wisconsin 8 Auburn 9 Georgia 10 Notre Dame 11 TCU 12 FSU 13 Oklahoma State 14 Stanford 15 USC 16 Miami 17 Oregon 18 Michigan 19 VT 20 NC State |
21 Miss St. 22 Washington St. 23 Texas 24 Louisville 25 UCF 26 Georgia Tech 27 Kansas State 28 Florida 29 LSU 30 UCLA 31 Texas Tech 32 Duke 33 Wake Forest 34 Texas A&M 35 Iowa 36 West Virginia 37 Northwestern 38 South Carolina 39 USF |
The Bulls jump up eight spots in the ESPN Football Power Index, which still tends to be a lagging indicator of where USF is when compared to most other rankings. This system punishes teams for weak schedules while rewarding teams for winning tough schedules. Until USF plays for a conference championship and wins it, this ranking will likely remain low due to the poor quality of opponents on their schedule.
The Massey Composite is one of the most important ranking systems as it combines the results of dozens of other computer and human based rankings to create one final ranking. A more detailed explanation is available on other USF Blog postings.
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1 Alabama 2 Clemson 3 Georgia 4 Penn St 5 Oklahoma 6 Michigan 7 TCU 8 Washington 9 Ohio St 10 USC 11 Miami FL 12 Wisconsin 13 Notre Dame |
14 Oklahoma St 15 Washington St 16 Auburn 17 UCF 18 Virginia Tech 19 San Diego St 20 Florida 21 Louisville 22 Stanford 23 South Florida 24 Oregon 25 NC State
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Surprisingly, the Massey Composite shows a one spot drop for the Bulls, to number 23. It’s difficult to see any significant reason for the drop in the composite score. This will probably resume upward as the season progresses.
The Bulls are up in the Sagarin system, explained on an old USF Blog article.
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1 Alabama 2 Clemson 3 Ohio St 4 Oklahoma 5 Penn St 6 Georgia 7 Washington 8 Auburn 9 Wisconsin 10 Notre Dame 11 Oklahoma St 12 Florida St 13 Michigan 14 USC 15 TCU 16 Miami FL 17 Virginia Tech 18 Stanford 19 Washington St |
20 Oregon 21 Georgia Tech 22 Mississippi St 23 UCF 24 Louisville 25 Kansas St 26 Texas 27 Michigan St 28 Florida 29 NC State 30 LSU 31 Utah 32 Texas A&M 33 Texas Tech 34 Iowa 35 Duke 36 Wake Forest 37 South Florida |
The USF ranking keeps moving upward in the Sagarin computer ranking. Excepting one week, upward has been the trend. This week, they’re 37th. UCF is the only AAC team ranked higher, at 23.
