The Bulls come out of the bye week with some ups and downs in the rankings.  

 Up first, the AP Poll.

1              Alabama 2              Clemson 3              Penn St 4              Georgia 5              Washington 6              TCU 7              Wisconsin 8              Washington St 9              Ohio St 10           Auburn 11           Miami FL 12           Oklahoma 13           USC

14           Oklahoma St 15           Virginia Tech 16           Notre Dame 17           Michigan 18           South Florida 19           San Diego St 20           NC State 21           Michigan St 22           UCF 23           Stanford 24           Texas Tech 25           Navy

 

USF has managed something very difficult to accomplish in the AP Poll.   With all of the upheaval around them, they have remained at #18 for three weeks in a row, regardless who they play or beat or if they don’t play at all.  UCF, who joined the top 25 a week earlier, has moved up to 22 after humiliating Cincinnati on the road.  Navy joins the Florida schools to bring the AAC representation in the top 25 to three.  Incidentally, that’s more than any other non-playoff conference and the same as the number of teams ranked from the SEC.  Memphis is the only other team from The American that is getting any votes.  They received the 35^th most votes in the poll.

The Coaches like USF better than the media. 

1              Alabama 2              Clemson 3              Penn St 4              Washington 5              Georgia 6              Wisconsin 7              TCU 8              Ohio St 9              Washington St 10           Miami FL 11           Auburn 12           Oklahoma 13           USC

14           Oklahoma St 15           South Florida 16           Michigan 17           Virginia Tech 18           San Diego St 19           Notre Dame 20           NC State 21           UCF 22           Michigan St 23           Utah 24           Navy 25           Stanford

 

The Bulls continue their three week rise to number 15 in the USA Today Amway Coaches’ Poll.  The difference between the two polls amounts to whether or not the voters believe USF is better than Notre Dame, Michigan, and Virginia Tech.  The coaches do.  The AP does not.   The nearby Knights move up several spots to #21 and Navy debuts at 24.  No other AAC team is ranked.  Memphis is still getting votes, one spot lower than Troy at an unofficial 34.

 

 

After beginning the season with four ranked teams from the state of Florida ranked in the two major polls for the first time in history, there are only three Florida teams ranked at present.  USF, UCF, and Miami are carrying the banner for the state in the absence of Florida and FSU.  This is the first year that five teams from Florida have been ranked during the same season.

 

 

As for the rest of the rankings covered in this segment, the Bulls move up in two systems and down in three others.  The Congrove CCR129 ranks USF higher than anyone else at #11.   The ESPN Football Power Index continues rate the Bulls poorly at 45^th, which is way beyond the fringes of the outliers.  Interestingly, UCF has rocketed up the FPI to 21^st, with an even weaker strength of schedule as defined by the FPI, 84^th compared to USF’s 73^rd.   

 

 

blog comments powered by Disqus