College Football Rankings: Hits and Misses in Week 4 Top 25
Sep 19, 2015; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; Auburn Tigers quarterback Jeremy Johnson (6) reacts after a turnover to LSU Tigers during the third quarter of a game at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Who is Ranked Too High in the Week 4 College Football Rankings?
Coming in at No. 25, with 79 points – four ahead of West Virginia – Auburn clung to a spot in the Top 25 of the Coaches Poll. It’s a clear example of the silliness that fills the Coaches Poll each week, simply based on the fact that college football coaches don’t have the time (or likely, the desire) to watch many – if any – other teams play on Saturday.
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Basically, a head coach’s time is booked solid from the time he wakes up on a gamely until several hours after the game ends. Even if it’s an early kickoff, a coach won’t have an opportunity to watch another game until the early evening – which means that few, if any coaches had a chance to see just how badly Auburn looked during their 3:30 Eastern game against LSU.
Plus, even if a coach does have some time to catch another game or two on TV, he would probably rather eat a nice dinner with the family he rarely sees or catch up on some much-needed sleep. Or, if he’s a true workaholic like most, a coach is already watching film of that day’s game to make corrections for the following game, or perhaps is taking an early peek next week’s opponent.
So it’s easy to see why coaches don’t always make the most well-informed decisions when it comes to filling out their ballots – if they even fill them out at all. The chore of ranking a head coach’s Top 25 usually falls to the school’s Sports Information Director – who also is quite busy and probably doesn’t get a chance to watch many other games. That helps explain why a name brand team like Auburn can stick in a poll in which they no longer belong.
But, the AP also ranks teams too high. Missouri certainly doesn’t look like a Top 25 team, and the Tigers dropped three spots in both polls, but are still ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll and No. 23 by the coaches. Also, it’s very odd that the USC Trojans are ranked ahead of Stanford in both polls despite beating USC 41-31 on Saturday.
Next: Who is Ranked Too Low? Who Got Left Out?