Saturday, December 13, 2008

Teenage Wedding | by Jay

A quick check-in on the Pick Six while we're in a holding pattern until the final AP Poll, issued after the bowls wrap up. Take a look.

This football season featured some surprising upstarts, and also exposed some overated pretenders. Take a look at the current AP standings juxtaposed with the preseason AP poll. It's a bit stunning to see how far some of the preseason mighty have fallen (and just how non-predictive the preseason polls really are.) At least the preseason top 5 are all still ranked; some years, it's much more embarrassing.

Current AP Poll, 12/13/08
Rk Team Record Pts Pts PRE. Change
1 Florida (50) 12-1 1602 1415 +187
2 Oklahoma (9) 12-1 1540 1444 +96
3 Texas (6) 11-1 1530 966 +564
4 Alabama 12-1 1410 89 +1,321
5 USC 11-1 1372 1490 -118
6 Penn State 11-1 1259 293 +966
7 Utah 12-0 1225 53 +1,172
8 Texas Tech 11-1 1193 786 +407
9 Boise State 12-0 1101 17 +1,084
10 Ohio State 10-2 1069 1506 -437
11 TCU 10-2 921 0 +921
12 Cincinnati 11-2 863 44 +819
13 Oklahoma State 9-3 853 0 +853
14 Georgia Tech 9-3 761 0 +761
15 Oregon 9-3 710 366 +344
16 Georgia 9-3 599 1528 -929
17 Brigham Young 10-2 477 590 -113
18 Pittsburgh 9-3 428 85 +343
19 Michigan State 9-3 423 21 +402
20 Mississippi 8-4 389 0 +389
21 Virginia Tech 9-4 318 578 -260
22 Northwestern 9-3 262 0 +262
23 Ball State 12-1 249 0 +249
24 Oregon State 8-4 163 5 +158
25 Missouri 9-4 150 1266 -1,116

Boston College 9-4 95 32 +63

Florida State 8-4 13 41 -28

East Carolina 9-4 12 0 +12

West Virginia 8-4 12 1116 -1,104

California 8-4 8 59 -51

Rice 9-3 6 0 +6

Nebraska 8-4 5 2 +3

Tulsa 10-3 2 7 -5

Iowa 8-4 4 0 +4

Rutgers 7-5 1 32 -31
Preseaon AP Poll
Rk Team Pts Pts Now
Change
1 Georgia (22) 1528 599 -929
2 Ohio State (21) 1506 1069 -437
3 USC (12) 1490 1372 -118
4 Oklahoma (4) 1444 1540 +96
5 Florida (6) 1415 1602 +187
6 Missouri 1266 150 -1,116
7 LSU 1135 0 -1,135
8 West Virginia 1116 12 -1,104
9 Clemson 1105 0 -1,105
10 Auburn 968 0 -968
11 Texas 966 1530 +564
12 Texas Tech 786 1193 +407
13 Wisconsin 771 0 -771
14 Kansas 707 0 -707
15 Arizona State 631 0 -631
16 Brigham Young 590 477 -113
17 Virginia Tech 578 318 -260
18 Tennessee 509 0 -509
19 South Florida 496 0 -496
20 Illinois 483 0 -483
21 Oregon 366 710 +344
22 Penn State 293 1259 +966
23 Wake Forest 227 0 -227
24 Alabama 89 1410 +1,321
25 Pittsburgh 85 428 +343

South Carolina 84 0 -84

Fresno State 83 0 -83

California 59 8 -51

Utah 53 1225 +1,172

Cincinnati 44 863 +819

Florida State 41 13 -28

Michigan 36 0 -36

Boston College 32 95 +63

Rutgers 32 1 -31

Michigan State 21 423 +402

Boise State 17 1101 +1,084

Arkansas 14 0 -14

North Carolina 14 0 -14

Connecticut 10 0 -10

Tulsa 7 2 -5

UCLA 6 0 -6

Oregon State 5 163 +158

Mississippi State 4 0 -4

Virginia 4 0 -4

Arizona 3 0 -3

Nebraska 2 5 +3

Notre Dame 2 0 -2

Hawaii 1 0 -1

Washington 1 0 -1

If you go by AP points, it looks like LSU, Mizzou, Clemson, West Virginia and Auburn turned out to be the biggest flops this year, although Georgia (or maybe those who picked them) should get a special boobie prize, having garnered 22 preseason 1st-place votes but ending up with three losses and a rousing #14 ranking. On the positive side of the ledger, Alabama, Utah, Boise State, Penn State and TCU were the biggest surprises.

It goes to show you never can tell.