Other day(s) in Review!

So, let's take a look at the 2 games that took place thus far this week, AND what's wrong with the present rankings! First, the games:

#5 Boise State-28, Tulsa-21

OK, so much was made of this game, since it might be the last challenge Boise faces until they play in a bowl. In addition, much was made of the fact that Boise barely beat Tulsa (and didn't look great doing so). The reason that a mountain was made of that mole hill is because Oklahoma played (and killed) Tulsa. Allow me a moment of defense for the Broncos:

The fact that Oklahoma crushed Tulsa is just about totally meaningless. Simply put, college football is wildly unpredictable, making it nearly impossible to gauge one victory compared to another. In this case, we mustn't make the mistake of looking at the Boise/Tulsa game and the Oklahoma/Tulsa game and calling it a day. We must also look at Oklahoma's losses, specifically the loss to BYU. OU lost to BYU by 1 during a neutral site game. BYU lost to Florida State by 26 points at home. This was after Florida State had lost to Miami by 4 at home. By this logic, Miami should have killed Oklahoma, since a team they defeated beat the team that beat Oklahoma. Instead, OU stuck with the Hurricanes, losing by 1 on the road.

My point? In college you must, for better or worse, compare the body of work and not head-to-head matchups. Boise is 1-0 against ranked teams, OU is 0-2. Just because OU buried Tulsa in Norman and Boise barely skirted past defeat in Tulsa doesn't mean that the Sooners are somehow better than the Broncos. But if Boise loses 1 game, then they're out of the BCS. Oklahoma has already lost 2 and can still easily make a BCS bowl (Well, not "easily." They basically have to win out.). Oh well, life's not fair

As for the game, the real salient feature for me was the last-second sideline penalty on Tulsa. While it wound up being meaningless to the final outcome of the game, it was a flag that needn't have been thrown. Coaches run onto the field to scream at refs or talk to players. In this case, a ref and a coach bumped into one another on the sidelines (off camera, I might add) and the flag got tossed. I'm sorry, but if actual (if unintentional) physical contact is what it takes to get a flag, something is wrong! Plus, of all the times to throw the flag, why pick a time with under 3 minutes left in the 4th? Let's move on...

#8 Cincinnati-34, #21 USF-17

Winning on the road against a ranked school is hard to do. I will (legitimately!) tip my cap to Cincinnati before I mock them. This game was a matchup of the only ranked schools in the Big East. Provided that the rankings mean anything (let's be honest, at this stage of the season that's anyone's guess) this game probably was for the Big East title. Cincy played the only (currently) ranked team on their schedule, played them on the road, and beat them rather badly. Looking at it from a non-USF fan's perspective, however, the Bulls shouldn't have been ranked.

Why? Well, their schedule, for one thing. South Florida's best win is probably their road victory against then-inexplicably-ranked-Florida State. USF beat nobody (including 2 1-AA nobodies and a team that moved up to 1-A last season) on their way to a #21 ranking. They were undefeated in non-conference play, but of the teams they beat, 2-3 Charleston Southern has the best record. (Charleston Southern note: And only 1 of their wins was against a 1-AA team!) In essence, South Florida was ranked simply because they were one of 8 teams without a loss. That number is now down to 7...

Don't get me wrong, Cincinnati has no business being ranked this high, either. By virtue of this win, they'll either stay a Top 10 team or go even further up, since 6 of the teams ranked above them have at least the potential to lose this week in a non-cupcake matchup. (Those 6 being Florida, Texas, Alabama, Virginia Tech, Southern Cal, and Ohio State)

The point here is simple: Cincy, like Southern Cal in recent years (No, not this year or last. Please just read and don't be so critical of my criticism), is benefiting from playing in a nobody conference. That their best non-conference game was a road trip to Oregon State is just icing on the cake. Look for Cincinnati to win the Big East, and potentially go undefeated up until they inexplicably make it into the National Title game. Then look for them to get beaten by 40 by the winner of this year's Florida/Alabama SEC game. But, hey, I've been wrong before! (And I hope I am again...about this whole paragraph.)

Rankings Rant

I still don't understand why Iowa is 11th. Cincinnati is undefeated, has played worse teams, and is ranked 8th. Virginia Tech has played similarly ranked teams, has lost a game, and is ranked 4th. Texas, also undefeated, has played no one and is 3rd...

So Oklahoma wins a game and drops a slot? That's just wrong. Sure, the win was against Baylor, but I'll say it again: The team ranked right below them (South Florida, if you forgot...) played Wofford, Western Kentucky, Charleston Southern, Florida State, and Syracuse. Forgive me if I'm unimpressed.

Utah, Notre Dame, and Houston are all ranked again...I'm fine with this so long as none of 'em make the Top 10...

OK, that's all for this week, we'll be taking a look at Saturday once Saturday, you know, actually happens...