Up to #11 in AP, up to #10 in the Coaches poll

For what it's worth, we are number 3 according to Joel Klatt

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a lot of guys have us in the top 5 in their AP ballots (notably ones who have shaded us in the past). i think there are more that think were top 5 than not. plenty of time to prove it though.
 
it really doesn't matter if we take care of business - but still fun to speculate


won't be much movement in the next 2 weeks, we *should* win our next two games - Ball State and USF (that might be tougher than we though)


oregon's (#9) next 2 games:
@oregon state (should be a W)
@UCLA (should be a W)

Penn State's (#8) next 2 games:
home vs kent state (should be a W)
home vs Illinois (might be dicey)

Tennessee's (#7) next 2 games
home vs kent state (W)
@ Oklahoma (15)

Missouri's (#6) next 2 games
home vs BC (might be dicey)
home vs Vanderbilt (might be dicey)

Ole Miss' (#5 next 2 games) - lol at non conference scheduling by ole miss

@wake forest (W)
home vs GA. Southern (W) --

Alabama's (#4) next 2 games:
@wisconsin (playing tvd - that's a W for bama)
home vs UGA (likely L)

Ohio State's (#3) next 2 games:
Home vs Marshall (W)
@ Michigan State (W)

Texas' (#2) Next 2 games:

Home vs UTSA (W)
Home vs UL Monroe (W)


Georgia's (#1) next 2 games:

Home vs Kentucky (W - Kentucky is not the same Kentucky)
@ bama ( likely W)


considering our lack of quality opponents next 2 weeks, It's likely we'll stay at 10 or move up slightly to 9 if bama gets owned by UGA or someone else is upset

games to watch that could impact our movement:

tennessee / Oklahoma in 2 weeks
bama / UGA in 2 weeks
Penn state / Illinois - sneaky upset game IMO
Missouri vs BC next weekend


side note, bama, texas, ole miss, and tennesee (4 teams ranked ahead of us) all play Georgia this year
****! Uga schedule might tougher then the crocodiles!...didn't they play Clemson and Kentucky already!!
 
They are hyping up a logo and not a performance in Alabama. I am not unconvinced of their #4 spot from the games I've seen.

Georgia struggles @Kentucky for three quarters--lost a spot.
Alabama struggles with USF @home until 5 minutes left in the game--stays at #4.

Are they grading everyone the same? Doesn't seem that way. Tennessee and Miami are the next teams down the list that look better than Alabama in their first three games.
 
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If we come out on Friday and put VT away quickly. Maybe hang a 50 burger on them and dominate them defensively then I think we bounce up into the top 5/6. Especially considering VT was high up on a lot of peoples lists as a dark horse in the ACC (I never believed the hype looking at their performance last year).
 
If we come out on Friday and put VT away quickly. Maybe hang a 50 burger on them and dominate them defensively then I think we bounce up into the top 5/6. Especially considering VT was high up on a lot of peoples lists as a dark horse in the ACC (I never believed the hype looking at their performance last year).
They just lost to Rutgers though. I think we will continue to get the “they ain’t played nobody” narrative.
 
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Just keep winning baby. The rest will take care of itself. Early rankings don’t mean chit if the season win totals don’t fit.

Just go 1-0 every week, & we’ll be just fine.


I get it, and I'm not asking for them to "mean" anything right now.

But I'm sure as **** going to observe the voting behavior and apparent rationalizations of the writers and the coaches.

It's all we have right now. We sure as **** aren't playing anyone good or anyone in our conference.
 
Once again. Hate the “don’t complain about early season rankings, it will work itself out” attitude. Missouri plays one decent team this year in Bama but because they started out the year horribly overrated they may just walk into the playoffs even if they get stomped in that game. Early rankings shape narratives, and when subjective rankings determine who gets a chance at a championship (yes, auto bids help but there’s still a majority of at large) it’s one hundred percent worth complaining about.
 
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Agree these non official polls are meaningless. That said, if you just looked at the facts from this year with no bias from last year, ww'd be ahead of alabama. Same opponent---usf---alabama at home us away. we win by more and put 200 more yards on usf. In faIrness, aalabama gave up 50 fewer on defense.

Alabama vs georgia on saturday could tell everyone a lot.

Just win, baby.
 
I get it, and I'm not asking for them to "mean" anything right now.

But I'm sure as **** going to observe the voting behavior and apparent rationalizations of the writers and the coaches.

It's all we have right now. We sure as **** aren't playing anyone good or anyone in our conference.
Coaches poll has always been dog doodoo. The most meaningless poll there is.
 
I get it, and I'm not asking for them to "mean" anything right now.

But I'm sure as **** going to observe the voting behavior and apparent rationalizations of the writers and the coaches.

It's all we have right now. We sure as **** aren't playing anyone good or anyone in our conference.

All we have to do is take care of biz. Same rhetoric was said about UW last season, & they took care of business. We can’t control our schedule, but we can control our wins. As these SEC teams & B1G teams start beating up on each other, we’ll automatically move up regardless of how the voters feel about our schedule.

We’re going to be just fine, my brotha. Keep beating the **** outta these bums, & be in the CFP easy.
 
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rankings DO matter, maybe not to where we want to end up at the end of the season, but teams ranked in the top 10 get talked about significantly more than those ranked in the top 25 in the media - leading to brand awareness and perception

that jumps up another tier in the top 5

all could come crashing down, but the higher ranked we are the more we'll get talked about which will impact recruiting, attendance at games, and public perception
 
The US LBM Board of Coaches for the 2024 season:

Tim Albin, Ohio
Major Applewhite, South Alabama
Tim Beck, Coastal Carolina
Mike Bloomgren, Rice
David Braun, Northwestern
Jeff Brohm, Louisville
Fran Brown, Syracuse
Neal Brown, West Virginia
Troy Calhoun, Air Force
Jamey Chadwell, Liberty
Bob Chesney, James Madison
Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan
Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech
Spencer Danielson, Boise State
Ryan Day, Ohio State
Kalen DeBoer, Alabama
Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State
Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri
Mike Elko, Texas A&M
Tony Elliott, Virginia
Jedd Fisch, Washington
James Franklin, Penn State
Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame
Willie Fritz, Houston
Alex Golesh, South Florida
Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky
Mike Houston, East Carolina
Butch Jones, Arkansas State
Brent Key, Georgia Tech
GJ Kinne, Texas State
Chris Klieman, Kansas State
Dan Lanning, Oregon
Rhett Lashlee, SMU
Clark Lea, Vanderbilt
Lance Leipold, Kansas
Pete Lembo, Buffalo
Sean Lewis, San Diego State
Mike Locksley, Maryland
Mike MacIntyre, Florida International
Gus Malzahn, Central Florida
Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio)
Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee
Joey McGuire, Texas Tech
Bronco Mendenhall, New Mexico
Jeff Monken, Army
Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh
Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State
Barry Odom, UNLV
Gerad Parker, Troy
Brent Pry, Virginia Tech
Kirby Smart, Georgia
Mark Stoops, Kentucky
Jon Sumrall, Tulane
Lance Taylor, Western Michigan
Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio



55 coaches (out of 134 FBS schools, so 41% representation)

ACC - 7 out of 17 schools (41% representation of its conference)
SEC and Big 12 - 6 out of 16 schools (37.5% representation of its conference)
Big 10 - 6 out of 18 schools (33.3% representation of its conference)
Notre Dame is just Notre Dame

So of the 55 votes, 26 are from P4 (plus ND) and 29 are from non-P4.

Which means that 53% of the voters are from outside the P4. And the Top 25 is dominated by P4 teams (only 2 non-P4 teams in the Top 25).

And before someone says "yeah, but that's snobbery", keep in mind that the P4 are playing 8 conference games out of 12, and when you factor in 1 or 2 games against OTHER P4 teams, it means that those 29 non-P4-voters BARELY EVER get to see any of the P4 teams play.

So for 29 coaches to vote on Miami, not one of whom has actually see us play in person (and Golesh will be the only non-P4 coach who eventually gets to see us play), it just seems like this is not a very good pool of voters.

All the coaches are actually WORKING on Saturdays, and cannot see the other 132 teams play, while at least you can argue that the AP voters can watch MULTIPLE games as a part of THEIR jobs. So at least the AP voters might be able to watch a dozen or more teams play on Saturday prior to casting their votes.
They have their aides vote.
 
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