Power Rankings 9/25/18

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Welcome Back!

We have now had 4 full weeks college football, and the rankings are shaking up a little, especially in the middle. We will explore the rankings a little, and what they mean.

First, a few clarifications about the rankings.  I assign a point value to each win and loss.  Depending on how far away a team is from the ones above or below, and how those teams did, a team may move up or down, or may not move at all.  For example, despite FSU's loss to Virginia Tech in week 1, they did not move down.  This was due to the fact that they played a quality opponent, and that they had a relatively large lead over the team behind them, Boise State.  That difference has been whittled to almost nothing, and another loss, assuming the teams below them win, could drop them 2-4 spaces.

Some general observations:
The only change in the top 15 was Ohio State and Oklahoma switching places.  There is one tie: Colorado State and Rutgers at #96.  In the past, I have talked about how close some teams are to the ones above or below.  There are also quite a few gaps.  The biggest are between #1 Alabama and #2 Clemson, #2 Clemson and #3 Georgia, #4 Washington and #5 Ohio State, #14 Notre Dame and #15 USC, #15 USC and #16 TCU, #84 N Texas and #85 Wyoming, #85 Wyoming and #86 W Mich, and #129 Texas St and #130 San Jose St.  This means these teams aren't apt to switch places anytime soon.  Most of the rest of the rankings are close enough to move up or down multiple places if the teams around them do the opposite.  Also, it was not a good week for teams with Tech in their name, as Va Tech, La Tech, and Ga Tech all went down 3 or more spots.

When we get about halfway through the season, I will deemphasize the preseason rankings, which means teams may make big jumps at that time.  Or maybe not.  We'll have to see.

The biggest winners were:

Purdue +5
Kentucky +4
App St +4
Virginia +4
Miami, Ohio +4
Florida +3
Texas Tech +3
Cal +3


The biggest losers were:

Navy -6
La Tech -5
Pitt -4
Texas A&M -3
Va Tech -3
Ga Tech -3
Ohio -3
Indiana -3
Arkansas -3
Colo St -3
Kansas -3

Now, on to the rankings!

1 Alabama
2 Clemson
3 Georgia
4 Washington
5 Ohio St
6 Oklahoma
7 Miami, Fl
8 Wisconsin
9 Michigan
10 Auburn
11 Stanford
12 Mich St
13 Penn State
14 Notre Dame
15 USC
16 TCU
17 Boise St
18 Miss St
19 FSU
20 Texas
21 West Virginia
22 LSU
23 Texas A&M
24 Florida
25 Utah
26 Okla St
27 Va Tech
28 Iowa
29 South Carolina
30 Kansas St
31 Oregon
32 Missouri
33 NC State
34 FAU
35 UCF
36 Boston College
37 Louisville
38 Arizona
39 Duke
40 Memphis
41 Iowa St
42 Ga Tech
43 Northwestern
44 Texas Tech
45 San Diego St
46 Fresno St
47 UCLA
48 Wake Forest
49 Kentucky
50 Houston
51 Ole Miss
52 Wash St
53 Pitt
54 Cal
55 Ariz St
56 Nebraska
57 Ohio 
58 Purdue
59 USF
60 Maryland
61 Baylor
62 Colorado
63 UNC
64 Navy
65 Ark St
66 Toledo
67 Syracuse
68 App St
69 Indiana
70 N Illinois
71 Minnesota
72 Tennessee
73 Marshall
74 Virginia
75 Utah St
76 Army
77 Arkansas
78 Troy
79 Temple
80 Mid Tenn St
81 La Tech
82 BYU
83 Vandy
84 N Texas
85 Wyoming
86 W Mich
87 Air Force
88 Buffalo
89 Akron
90 UAB
91 SMU
92 Cincinnati
93 Tulane
94 S Miss
95 Miami Oh
96 Colo St
96 Rutgers
98 FIU
99 Illinois
100 Nevada
101 Tulsa
102 UNLV
103 ODU
104 E Mich
105 Oregon St
106 New Mexico
107 La Monroe
108 C Mich
109 Ga Southern
110 UMass
111 UTSA
112 WKU
113 Kansas
114 Hawaii
115 UConn
116 Louisiana
117 Ga St
118 Coastal Carolina
119 S Alabama
120 New Mexico St
121 Ball St
122 Bowling Green
123 ECU
124 Rice
125 Kent St
126 Liberty
127 Charlotte
128 UTEP
129 Texas St
130 San Jose St


That's it for today. Feel free to leave a comment.  Tomorrow, I'll give some stats and other interesting tidbits in my weekly Odds and Ends blog.  Until then, may you and your loved ones be blessed!

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