Good thing USF didn't play today

[Jamie]

There was something weird going on in college football today and I'm glad USF was sitting on the sidelines so they didn't get caught up in all of it. I can't remember such carnage with so many good teams playing so badly, and such confusion about who should be a ranked team and who shouldn't. Seriously, how many teams deserve to be ranked on their own merits right now? Maybe 15?

[MikeG]

I've been saying the same thing all day --- strange day indeed and I'm glad we got to rest an just sit back and watch.

I think our team learned alot about the whisker thin thread that even good teams tread in any game. There is a lot of parity out there in college football--- no better time for that "finish strong" thought to be running through our teams head.

go get em Bulls-- play every down to the whistle.

[USF03]

Strange day... to add to a strange season.  Many big boys are going down the season.

[JoeB]

15 is about right.  The Top 5 are all good (USC, LSU, Oklahoma, UF, WVU).  Next 5 in my opinion (PSU, BC, Oregon, Cal, Texas) are OK.  After that its pretty slim (Clemson, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Hawaii).  

Out of these 15 teams, only a handful have wins on the road so far (USC, WVU, LSU, BC, Oregon, Texas, OSU), and probably the best road win would be USC (over Nebraska) or BC (over GT).  

USF could compete with any of those teams 5-15.  And we know we can beat WVU already.  

[MikeG]

you just have to take it one game at a time and not concern yourself with how everyone else is doing

rankings are meaningless until the end of the season.

[windbane]

you just have to take it one game at a time and not concern yourself with how everyone else is doing

rankings are meaningless until the end of the season.

If you don't concern yourself with any other teams you must have had a very boring week.  Myself, I do care if USF gets ranked so this was an entertaining, if disappointing, day of football.

Rankings are not meaningless.  The players and recruits care very much about rankings.  That number next to your name gets peoples' attention.

As for this week being weird...yeah...it's weird not watching USF play...I'd much rather have a USF game to watch.

[MikeG]

lighten up already-- are most recruits making early commits at this point in time based on some coaches poll or the AP? I doubt it.

Players care that they are respected-- through the polls and otherwise of course-- but if they aren't ranked, are they that much hungrier to prove the press/coaches/country just how good they are?

I guarantee you that if we beat UNC and then WVU-- we will be ranked. We might be ranked after this week-- who knows.  We might be ranked after UNC-- who knows. Worrying about it is not going to change things.

I am keeping up with the other teams and trying to see if we are moving up just like you are-- but it is not something we can control and on top that, it is not a measure of success during a bye week.

Bottom line-- being ranked just outside the top 25 is still impressive and it bodes well for our national perception and all the other things that impact recruiting and future success you have mentioned elsewhere.

[Jamie]

If you made me fill out a Top 25 ballot I think mine would look like this:

1. USC

2. LSU

3. Oklahoma

4. Florida

5. West Virginia

6. California

7. Ohio State

8. Texas

9. Oregon

10. Penn State

11. Wisconsin

12. Boston College

13. Rutgers

14. Clemson

And then I would really, really start to struggle. USF would be in that 15-25 range. I know of two teams I absolutely would not put in my poll - Texas A&M (wildly overrated) and South Carolina (I'm sorry, I think that Georgia win was a fluke).

On the other hand, a couple teams that should be getting more love are Kentucky and Texas Tech.

[windbane]

lighten up already-- are most recruits making early commits at this point in time based on some coaches poll or the AP? I doubt it.

Players care that they are respected-- through the polls and otherwise of course-- but if they aren't ranked, are they that much hungrier to prove the press/coaches/country just how good they are?

I guarantee you that if we beat UNC and then WVU-- we will be ranked. We might be ranked after this week-- who knows.  We might be ranked after UNC-- who knows. Worrying about it is not going to change things.

I am keeping up with the other teams and trying to see if we are moving up just like you are-- but it is not something we can control and on top that, it is not a measure of success during a bye week.

Bottom line-- being ranked just outside the top 25 is still impressive and it bodes well for our national perception and all the other things that impact recruiting and future success you have mentioned elsewhere.

Being ranked is better than not being ranked.  We'd probably get more people to go to the game against UNC if we were ranked.  Players being respected includes being ranked when we should be. 

I just don't think saying "just win" sounds like you actually care if we are ranked.  A lot of people are saying they don't care if we're ranked in a thread where the discussion is about being ranked.

[bulldozier1]

Strange day? How about strange season so far. Small schools putting up big scores on the big programs. The first week big upset, Mich and App. St.  Last week UL and Middle Tenn. 58 - 42, UF and Troy 59 - 31, Clemson and Louisiana-Monroe 49 - 26. This week Wisconsin and Citadel 45 - 31, Texas and UCF 35 - 32, UCLA blown out by Utah 44 - 6. What's next, the Bucs beaten the Saints and the Colts. This is  truely the Twilight Zone season.