College football rankings: Top 25, week 11

November 12, 2012 by 2 Comments

 

Alabama Crimson Tide and Louisville Cardinals lose in week 11

The Alabama Crimson Tide and the Louisville Cardinals saw their perfect seasons come to an end in week 11 (Photos: Getty)

Tailgater Top 25 Rankings, Week 11

From six to four.  Alabama’s defeat at the hands of Texas A&M was the most resounding loss of the weekend, but Louisville also tumbled from the ranks of the unbeaten.  Now Kansas State, Oregon, Notre Dame, and Ohio State are the only unbeatens left standing.

It’s possible that all could finish with perfect records.  That is to say that none of them play one another.  However, with the way the Irish have looked of late, it’s tough to imagine them getting past USC.  Oregon and K-State have clearer paths, although Texas is playing better and could be a problem for the Wildcats.  The Ducks have a fairly tough road on paper, with Standford, Oregon State, and most likely UCLA all looming.  But none of those is a real threat unless Oregon forgets itself.

Meanwhile, not much changes in the SEC despite A&M’s upset.  Alabama still controls the West and is still likely to play Georgia for the SEC title.  Alabama is therefore still a good bet to go to the BCS, but will its role be Sugar Bowl contestant rather than title contender?  That remains to be seen.

Here are our updated college football rankings for week 11.

Zach Bigalke John Mitchell Matt Strobl

1. Kansas State
2. Oregon
3. Notre Dame
4. Ohio State
5. Alabama
6. Georgia
7. Texas A&M
8. Florida State
9. Clemson
10. Louisiana Tech
11. Stanford
12. Kent State
13. Florida
14. Oregon State
15. Rutgers
16. Louisville
17. Northern Illinois
18. UCLA
19. Oklahoma
20. Nebraska
21. LSU
22. Texas
23. Boise State
24. Utah State
25. USC
1. Oregon
2. Kansas State
3. Notre Dame
4. Ohio State
5. Alabama
6. Georgia
7. Florida State
8. Florida
9. LSU
10. Texas A&M
11. Clemson
12. South Carolina
13. Stanford
14. Oklahoma
15. Louisiana Tech
16. UCLA
17. Nebraska
18. Texas
19. Oregon State
20. Louisville
21. Kent State
22. Rutgers
23. Northern Illinois
24. USC
25. Wisconsin
 1. Kansas State
2. Oregon
3. Ohio State
4. Alabama
5. Notre Dame
6. Georgia
7. Clemson
8. LSU
9. Texas A&M
10. Florida
11. Florida State
12. Oklahoma
13. South Carolina
14. Louisiana Tech
15. Texas
16. Stanford
17 Oregon State
18. UCLA
19. Nebraska
20. Kent State
21. Rutgers
22. Louisville
23. Oklahoma State
24. USC
25. Northern Illinois 

Bigalke:
1-10: My top two, unlike most people’s ballots, doesn’t change this week after I preemptively felt the need to drop Alabama from the top spot. K-State remains #1 after a 23-10 win over TCU, Oregon stays #2 after routing Cal, and moving up to #3 is Notre Dame following their defeat of Boston College. Ohio State sits #4, with the Tide slotting in at #5 after losing to Texas A&M. Georgia and the Aggies follow, a trifecta of strong SEC teams (as opposed to the six-pack the BCS will try to tell you belongs there). 8 and 9 belong to ACC talents Florida State and Clemson, while the top ten sees BCS Buster hopeful Louisiana Tech benefit both from A&M’s victory (LT’s only loss came 59-57 vs. A&M in Shreveport) as well as losses above them.

11-20: Stanford won a punchers’ duel over the Beavers and hover just outside top ten. After seeing Florida play Ragin’ Cajuns, could they really knock off Kent State? Thus the Golden Flashes sit ahead of the Gators, who are #13. Oregon State drops in defeat to 14th, Rutgers joins the top 15 and Louisville (no longer undefeated) drops just below their Big East rival. Northern Illinois continues to impress, UCLA remains in position to earn a return trip to the Pac-12 Championship in legitimate fashion, and former Big Eight rivals Oklahoma and Nebraska have become top 20 teams as much because of defeats above them as anything noteworthy they have done.
 
21-25: LSU heads the final five, sitting just ahead of the Longhorns; these two teams could potentially square off in the “Cotton Bowl” Classic (now played at JerryWorld) in January. At #23 is everyone’s former favorite to bust the BCS, Boise State, who crushed Hawaii in Honolulu. Utah State remains in position to challenge Louisiana Tech for the final WAC title. And in the final spot of my ballot, I debated two different USCs before settling on the Pac-12 version.
 
Mitchell:
1-10: A shakeup this week with Alabama’s upset loss to Texas A&M. Oregon is the new #1 team as they continue to maul everyone in sight despite numerous injury issues against California. Kansas State slides in at 2, followed by fellow unbeatens Notre Dame and Ohio State. The Crimson Tide drop to 5 as the best one-loss team. Georgia is at 6 after clinching the SEC East. Alabama/Georgia in the SEC Title game could easily turn into a play-in game with a little help. Florida State leaps rival Florida after the Gators looked quite average against Louisiana Lafayette. LSU and Texas A&M round out the Top-10 to give the SEC half the Top-10.
 
11-20: Clemson sits on the outside looking in of the Top-10. The fact is, the Tigers have played one legitimate opponent this season and they lost. South Carolina makes it six out of the top twelve for the SEC. Stanford moves up to 13th after an impressive win over Oregon State. Oklahoma struggled more with Baylor than I expected, but they still appear to be the second best team in the Big 12. Louisiana Tech is the best of the non-AQ’s, and their close loss to Texas A&M looks better with each passing week. UCLA and Nebraska at 16 and 17 with the Bruins edging the Huskers thanks to their head-to-head victory. Texas is getting better each week, and they could provide a big test for Kansas State on December 1st. Oregon State drops to 19th after their second loss, and Louisville falls all the way to 20th after getting throttled by Syracuse for their first loss of the season.

21-25: Kent State only has one loss, but that one was a 33 point blowout at the hands of SEC bottom feeder Kentucky. Rutgers slots in right behind the Golden Flashes with their one loss coming against Kent State. Northern Illinois holds steady after a bye week. USC jumps back into the Top-25 after beating down Arizona State. USC’s showdown with rival UCLA next week will decide the Pac-12 South. Wisconsin effectively clinched the Big Ten’s Leaders Division in their 62-14 thumping of Indiana. The Badgers are finally looking like themselves again. 
Strobl:
1-10: With Alabama’s loss the top 5 undergoes a shake-up, although I’m not giving the one most fans expect.  Kansas State and Oregon are now in the driver’s seat as far as the National Championship goes, but if last year taught us anything its that one loss in the SEC doesn’t preclude a title shot.  I’m aware that putting Alabama in front of Notre Dame will ruffle some feathers, but despite Notre Dame’s “undefeated” record, Alabama has been the better team with the better body of work.  The fact is that the Irish did nothing to win against Pitt and did everything to lose; the outcome was entirely out of their hands, and only an astounding bit of good fortune saved them from what would have been the worst loss of any suffered by any of the major one-loss teams.  Going over their season game by game, Notre Dame could easily have three losses right now, but for a play or two.  And in several cases, they needed external intervention to escape.  So, no.  Notre Dame, even at 10-0, is not one of my top four teams.  The rest of the best in the SEC populate the remainder of the top 10 with Clemson rising to the top of the one-loss group courtesy of Florida State’s close call (yes, another one) against a vastly inferior Virginia Tech team.  Florida hangs on to the tenth spot, but that was simply a process of elimination, not an acknowledgement of anything good that the Gators have done lately.
  
11-20: The other top two-loss teams hold steady here, along with Louisiana Tech and Kent State.  There’s not much to say about this order; unless and until some other teams lose, it will be difficult for these guys to move up.  We have a logjam just behind the elite.
 
21-25: I was tempted to drop Louisville entirely after its putrid showing against Syracuse, but that would have been punitive.  At least the Cardinals are no longer overrated.  Rutgers gets the nod in the Big East by virtue of the better loss, but these two play one another to end the season.  It’s too bad that matchup isn’t sooner.  That would allow me to drop one of them from the top 25.  Oklahoma State and USC, arguably the top three-loss teams, are still lurking at the fringes.
Filed Under: College Football Tagged With: ,
About Matt Strobl

Matt is a lifelong sports fan with a passion for writing and analysis. He has written for and edited a variety of printed and online publications, covering a range of sports but focusing on baseball, football, and basketball. Born in Cincinnati, Matt still pulls for his "native" teams including the Buckeyes, Reds, Musketeers, and Bearcats. Nearly two decades in New England got him irrevocably hooked on the Red Sox, Patriots, and Bruins as well. He enjoys following the statistical aspects of sports and is an admitted sabermetric junkie. You can follow him on Twitter @mmstrobl and circle him at Google+

Leave a comment

*

Comments

  1. Rob White says:
    November 12, 2012 at 4:24 pm

    What’s it going to take for one of you guys to rank Michigan? A win over Iowa or are wins over Iowa and Ohio State required?

    Reply