The Polls: How high can we get?

[The Maestro]

Right now we stand with 16 teams ranked ahead of us. For starters, remember when the national media made it sound like that Oregon fiasco wasn't going to be held against us? BS on that one, as we figured.

Let's go in order...

16. Wisconsin - their last chance to lose is at Iowa this week. It could happen. Still not impressed with Wisconsin...just an easy schedule. If not, I would bet they lose their bowl game due to being untested except for once when they lost.

15. Tennessee - They play at Arkansas this week. One of them will lose and surely fall behind us.

14. Rutgers - they host Louisville and I will be pulling for the Cardinals to win. Just lose and fall behind us cause a win will raise them and Louisville will more than likely stay ahead of us in the polls.

13. Boise State - they will get clobbered in their bowl game, especially if BCS.

12. LSU - man, I want them to lose. They have to play at Arkansas later.

11. Arkansas - Tennessee at LSU come to Fayetteville. We'll learn about this team in the next few weeks. Still the front runner for the SEC Championship Game due to beating Auburn. Probably would lose to Florida there.

10. West Virginia - can't believe they only dropped to tenth. They have to play at Pitt and at home against Rutgers. Very easily could lose again.

9. Cal - at USC is all they basically have left. Not sure that loss would drop them below us.

8. Notre Dame - who knows...the Irish aren't playing very well. Maybe they could lose at Air Force this week. If not, at USC is their last test. Not sure a loss at USC drops them below us. Oh, well...we know how Notre Dame does in bowl games.

7. USC - tough road ahead. Oregon, Cal and UND. Surely they drop at least one...but then the love keeps them ahead of us.

6. Florida - not much until SEC title game. A loss their will still keep them ahead of us.

5. Auburn - not much left and not looking good for SEC title game unless Tennessee beats Arky this week. Then LSU could get Auburn into the SEC title game with a win over Arky.

4. Louisville - they still are at Rutgers and at Pitt. Close calls for them. I still think they will lose some.

3, 2, and 1 we aren't catching.

Let's say Arkansas beats Tennessee this week and Rutgers falls to Louisville. Can I cross my fingers for Iowa over Wisconsin? That would move us up to 14. Then we can pass the LSU/Arkansas loser in a few weeks. If this team finds a way to get into the top 10 it will be an incredible year. If we win out and finish 11-2 we will be there. Just hate how successful we have been over the last four games and barely moving up.

[OUMallen]

I do too, but before this week, we hsd only beaten a faker-Mizzou team. At this point, the media is going to start to notice.

(Although, it doesn't help our cause that, for anyone that watched our game in its entirety, there is a good argument that A&M could have won and Fran took them out of the game by kicking the FG.

[soonersam]

The voters have forgot about the Oregon game. I think the best OU can finish is around 8-10. Thats if we win out and get a strong opponent in a bowl....

[The Maestro]

The voters have forgot about the Oregon game. I think the best OU can finish is around 8-10. Thats if we win out and get a strong opponent in a bowl....

Sam, I just wish we could find a way to win out and still get the Holiday Bowl. The mobil tailgate was one of the greatest invention's in the history of college football.

I'll just make sure Boone's eats a light meal the night before the drive out.

[StoopTroup]

The voters have forgot about the Oregon game.
More than likely that's because the Ducks finally showed what a deck of cards they truely were...

They have lost two road games. Only one was a ranked team, Cal.

If they they could knock off USC on their turf they might get a little more respect and help push us both up in the polls.

Probably won't happen though.

[mightysooner]

There does seem to be some resistence to moving us up in the polls.

[noobalicious]

IMO we should without-a-doubt be the highest ranked 2 loss team. LSU/Tenn both still ahead of us with 7-2 records. I think we will shoot up a bit more by season's end provided we keep winning. The SEC teams ahead of us should continue to get beat up by each other. Once it gets to bowl time people will start remembering that we are really a 1 loss team.

The question is whether or not we can get to the top 12 in the BCS standings. 9 wins and a top 12 finish makes us BCS bowl eligible for an at-large berth. I would think we will jump past 2 out of the 3 (Ten, LSU, Ark...to 15), Rutgers will probably go down to Louisville (to 14)...but that leaves us bottlenecked behind teams I KNOW we are better than (Wis, WVU, Boise, etc.).

There should be 4 at large berths as usual...which makes it so important we get up to that magical 12th spot. With an asterisked 2 loss record and sitting in the pool of available teams...we would look pretty good.

Of course Texas could just choke and lose 2 out of their last 3...but I think we all know that won't happen. The other interesting prospect is...if the whorns somehow leak into the MNC...and we are in the top 12...we might look like an attractive replacement in the Fiesta Bowl.

[Rock Hard Corn Frog]

Are we talking about just the media poll at the end of the year after the bowls or getting in a BCS bowl?

We are currently 17th in the BCS, BUT...once you eliminate the 3rd or 4th teams not eligible for the BCS we are actually 12th. Right now Ark, LSU,Tenn, Rutgers and Wisconsin couldn't be in a BCS bowl as an at-large.

As Maestro pointed out Tenn and Ark play so one will drop below us if we win out anyway.

The Cal-USC, USC-ND games could have huge implications. If Cal beats USC and then USC beats ND we could (should) be ahead of both USC and ND. Boise and West Virginia could be the biggest factors. I THINK Boise only is required to be invited to a BCS game if they are in the top 8, though they can be if they are in the top 12. So it could be that at the end of the season (if my understanding is correct) that we would be 11th in the BCS and Boise 10th yet we still get an invite if we qualify. Certainly I think the Fiesta Bowl would prefer to have us rather than Boise.

As far as bowl games otherwise. Unless we lose we are looking at no worse than the Cotton Bowl. If we win out including a bowl game I figure we finish easily in the top 10. Maybe 6 or 7.

[BoonesFarmSooner]

I'll just make sure Boone's eats a light meal the night before the drive out.


Lighter than whiskey and whiskey???

[OldGuyinStudentSection]

OU has a great chance to finish inside the top 10 if we win out. In fact, AP Poll history since the BCS formation in 1998 suggests that OU should finish in the top 10 if we win the next 4 including the bowl game.

Since 1998:

36 BCS conference schools have finished the season with 2 losses.

Out of those 36, 31 have finished ranked in the top 10.

Of the 5 that ranked outside the top 10 ('99 Miss St, '01 Maryland, '01 Illinois, '05 Oregon, '05 UCLA) only MSU and UCLA won their bowl games. However, both MSU and UCLA dropped 2 of their final 3 regular season games those years.

Of the other 31 2-loss teams in the final top 10, here were their rankings:

1. None
2. None
3. 3- '98 FSU, '01 UF, '03 OU
4. 5- '99 Wisc, '01 Tenn, '02 USC, '03 OSU, '04 OSU
5. 5- '99 Mich, '00 FSU, '01 UT, '02 OU, '03 Miami
6. 3- '01 OU, '02 UT, '05 LSU
7. 5- '99 Mich St, '00 Oregon, '02 KSU, '04 UGA, '05 VT
8. 5- '98 UCLA, '00 NU, '01 NU, '01 Iowa, '04 Iowa,
9. 3- '98 GT, '04 Cal, '05 Bama
10. 2- '98 KSU, '01 WSU

Additionally, there have been 13 schools that finished in the top 10 with 3 losses on the season over this time period.

OU will win out and finish the year in the top 10.

[Pepper]

So it could be that at the end of the season (if my understanding is correct) that we would be 11th in the BCS and Boise 10th yet we still get an invite if we qualify. Certainly I think the Fiesta Bowl would prefer to have us rather than Boise.


The problem with that is Texas will most likely go to the Fiesta Bowl. I sincerely doubt they would select an OU-Texas rematch. Unless you are counting on Texas going to the NC game. I would be greatly disappointed to see that happen.

[Texas Golfer]

OU hasn't gotten any respect from the pollsters yet this season. After our first game, we win by 7 and drop 5 places. We dropped again after the Oregon debacle while Oregon rose 6 places.

Since the UT game, we've won 4 in a row and moved up all of 6 places even though two of those wins were against ranked opponents in their stadiums.

#1 Ohio State and #2 Michigan both squeaked out close wins against unranked opponents and didn't even lose points nevertheless positions. In fact, Ohio State secured a unanimous vote this week (the first time since OU did it in '03).

Ohio State squeaks past an unranked opponent and secures more votes. The system is flawed.

[JiuJitsuSooner]

The problem with that is Texas will most likely go to the Fiesta Bowl. I sincerely doubt they would select an OU-Texas rematch. Unless you are counting on Texas going to the NC game. I would be greatly disappointed to see that happen.



Fiesta Bowl is the NC Game this year, I'm not sure Texas will make it (it will be close). An OU/tx rematch in a bowl would be awesome!!!

[MarylandSooner]

If we take care of business this week there is every possibility we could be as high as 13 when the next poll comes out on Sunday. The following teams
immediately in front of us are going to be in some hard battles this week.

3 Louisville vs 15 Rutgers
16 Wisconsin vs Iowa
13 Tennessee vs 11 Arkansas
14 Boise St. vs San Jose St.

If these four games go our way we could make a real move this week.

[BIG_IKE]

Fiesta Bowl is the NC Game this year, I'm not sure Texas will make it (it will be close). An OU/tx rematch in a bowl would be awesome!!!

There is no name for the NC game this year. Thats why there is an extra BCS Bowl. The Championship game is it's own thing this year. All the other BCS Bowls are just bowls. Personally, I don't wanna play UT in a bowl game. I would rather play Notre Dame, West Virginia, Louisville, USC, or even a SEC Power. I'm tired of people thinking our conference sucks when it really doesn't.

[MiccoMacey]

There are two reasons we're not moving as fast as we'd like to in the polls:

1) Teams ahead of us aren't losing.

2) Although we've won four in a row, two of those came against ISU and CU. Of the wins against "ranked" teams, they are no longer ranked. And they were both ranked behind us when we played them, so we beat teams the pollsters said we should have beaten anyway.

Missouri has lost two straight and are looking like posers. A&M is 8-2, but the meat of their schedule is just starting. They have Nebraska and Texas left.

Don't worry. If we win out, the polls will take care of themselves. Some of the teams ahead of us are playing each other as already pointed out, so more teams will fall by the wayside as the season progresses.

We just have to keep on winning.

[MiccoMacey]

I'm tired of people thinking our conference sucks when it really doesn't.

Besides Texas and OU (and maybe Nebraska), who else doesn't suck?

Any team from the north division would get smoked by just about any other mid-level team in a BCS conference.

A&M is still an enigma. They've played one really good team and lost. They will either show to be good, or be shown to be the worst 8-1 team in history.

OSU?? Baylor? Texas Tech?? Show me their quality wins. OSU has beaten Nebraska, but lost to KSU. And Houston. Houston!!

Baylor lost to Army, Texas Tech got hammered by Colorado (arguably the best 1-9 team ever???).

Oh, and 3,000 posts. I need to get a life. :D

[BIG_IKE]

A&M easily could have beat us...Tech and Nebraska easily could have beat UT. Those were all games where 1 play could have changed everything.

Aside from tOSU and Michigan who is really good in the BIG-10????The Big East and SEC seem scared to play OOC schedules so how do we know if they are even good??? We wait till Bowl Season and find out. And the Big 12 will come through, watch.

We do it every year.
Tech beat Cal when they were #4..
Texas beat SC..
Nebraska beat Michigan..
OU beat Oregon...

Take the top 2 teams out of EVERY CONFERENCE and see who has the best left. It would be the SEC, but I think we'd be right behind them. Think about it.

[Tear Down This Wall]

I'm really ashamed of you guys. Obviously, you guys aren't in South Oval much. A thread begun with "The Polls: How High Can We Get?" should have elicited at least one 'It depend on what we're smoking' from someone.

Gah. What is this becoming...a full bore, sports-only section? Shameful. Just...shameful.

[soonersam]

Sam, I just wish we could find a way to win out and still get the Holiday Bowl. The mobil tailgate was one of the greatest invention's in the history of college football.

I'll just make sure Boone's eats a light meal the night before the drive out.
May I recommend Mr. Farms fly directly to San Diego this time.... I might want to trade it in someday and the NADA puke in door deduction can be really penalizing..
http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/8430/farmyf2.png
That doesnt look like Whiskey to me... Looks like free appetizers from Z-taja's..
Thanks Mr and Mrs Gee..

[BoonesFarmSooner]

http://www.thecinemasource.com/moviesdb/images/you-got-served-poster-300.jpg

[soonersam]

and by served you mean Puked!!!

[MiccoMacey]

Aside from tOSU and Michigan who is really good in the BIG-10????The Big East and SEC seem scared to play OOC schedules so how do we know if they are even good??? We wait till Bowl Season and find out. And the Big 12 will come through, watch.

You almost had me until you mentioned OOC schedules. Ours was by far the worst of all the conferences. Texas played tOSU, Nebraska played USC, K State played Louisville, we played Oregon. That's just about it for marquee matchups. And what's the common denominator for all those games? Zero wins.

I'll highlight the conferences best teams we've played OOC:

Nebraska - besides USC, they played LA Tech, Nicholls State, and Troy
Missouri - Murray State, Mississippi, New Mexico, Ohio
K State - Illinois State, Marshall, FAU, Louisville
Kansas - Northwest State, LA Monroe, Toledo, South Florida
Colorado - Montana State, Arizona State, Colorado State, Georgia
ISU - Toledo, UNLV, Iowa, Northern Iowa
Texas - North Texas, Sam Houston State, Rice, tOSU,
OU - UAB, Washington, Oregon, MTSU
A&M - Citadel, LA Lafayette, Army, LA Tech
TTech - SMU, UTEP, TCU, SE Louisianna
OSU - Missouri State, Arkansas State, FAU, Houston
Baylor - TCU, Northwestern, Washington State, Army

Some of highlights were just guesses as you can't really pick a tough opponent for Kansas or A&M. But you get my drift.

Our OOC sucks. And we lost the major majority to our toughest opponents. And this is why we get no love this year.


We do it every year.
Tech beat Cal when they were #4..
Texas beat SC..
Nebraska beat Michigan..
OU beat Oregon...

Take the top 2 teams out of EVERY CONFERENCE and see who has the best left. It would be the SEC, but I think we'd be right behind them. Think about it.

I agree, almost fully. Except for our placement behind the SEC. I just don't see our toughness. And it's showing in the conference games this year.

[BIG_IKE]

Looking at the OOC Schedules The Big 12 and The Pac-10 were the only ones with balls when it came to scheduling. Given we lost all our games vs. Ranked opponents, here is a breakdown of which conferences played RANKED opponents in OOC instead of cupcakes.

Big 10 (2-3)

Notre Dame LWLL
Texas W

SEC (3-2)
Cal W
USC L
Louisville L
Washington State W
Arizona W

BIG 12 (0-9)
TCU LL
Ohio State L
Oregon L
USC L
Louisville L
Georgia L
Iowa L
Arizona St. L

You know the bad thing about our games???
OU really did beat Oregon. Tech and Colorado lost by 3 points or less. Iowa St had Iowa beat and let them off the hook. This is probably the reason people doubt the Big 12. Rest assured we have the talent to compete and beat these people. At least we did not run from scheduling ranked opponents.

BIG EAST (1-3)
Iowa L
Miami W
Ohio St. L
Virginia Tech L

ACC (0-4)
Notre Dame LL
WV L
Louisville L

PAC-10 (3-6)
Tennessee L
Auburn L
Arkansas W
Oklahoma LW
LSU L
Nebraska W
Notre Dame LL


A few things I noticed though...

1. Notre Dame and the Big East stay as far away from SEC or Big XII schools as possible.

2. USC has a tough *** schedule

3. EVERY conference had a losing record vs. Ranked OOC opponents except the SEC

[soonerboy_odanorth]

PAC-10 (2-7)
Tennessee L
Auburn L
Arkansas W
Oklahoma LL
LSU L
Nebraska W
Notre Dame LL




Fixed it for ya... ;)

[Stoop Dawg]

I'm really ashamed of you guys. Obviously, you guys aren't in South Oval much. A thread begun with "The Polls: How High Can We Get?" should have elicited at least one 'It depend on what we're smoking' from someone.

Gah. What is this becoming...a full bore, sports-only section? Shameful. Just...shameful.

Dude, leave your posts about smoking poles in the gay threads on the SO.

[soonerboy_odanorth]

...but that leaves us bottlenecked behind teams I KNOW we are better than (Wis, WVU, Boise, etc.)...


I like the spirit and enthusiasm behind the post, but I have to disagree:

1) We don't KNOW we're better than anyone until we step on the field with them. And you can say that is true up and down the CFB rankings from 1 to 109. Different teams present different matchup problems... no two games are the same.

2) Wisconsin has put together a pretty fine year. They've looked really good at times, and just so-so at others. They have a defense. Their offense looks stale to me, but I have no idea whether or not athletically they might present some matchup problems. And they are coached by Bret Bielema... I know you know the name.... yes, the very same Mr. Bielema that coached his 2003 K-State defense to an absolute undressing of OU in the Big XII Championship game.

3) WVU's offense can play with anybody. Their defense is another matter. But our offense hasn't exactly lit it up against any defense this year.

4) Boise might be a little of ditto of 3). Not quite as much talent, but certainly plucky. Under the right conditions they could give us plenty of game. After all... UAB did. UAB!

Really, we need to just worry about winning out (and we should all be worried about whether or not that's likely given the looming freak show in Stoolwater), and then we will be quite attractive to a number of bowls.

But personally, I do not think we are worthy of a BCS bowl this year. We've only truly dominated one opponent... a very very bad one. We were manhandled by another... perhaps a very good one. The rest have been scrapes.

I'd be thrilled with a final 11-2 record and an 8-12 final ranking.

(Feel free to go ahead with the "Look Ma, sbodn's already high..." blast.)