Ratings, Polls and More

Cal moved up to #8 in the coaches Poll and the AP. More importantly, they gained over 50 points, which means that are putting some separation between us and Louisville. Louisville gained only 25 points in the coaches pool. So we jumped over them to number 8, while Viginia Tech dropped 8 spots to number 17 after their trashing at the hands of LSU.

Oklahoma jumped up 100 points, to a virtual tie with West Virginia for 4th place. Texas, while moving up one poll spot, only gained 10 votes, That is because Wisconsin is feeling the effects of poor Big Ten play, and lost votes even though they won. Thier game at the Citadel next week can only hurt them.

Cal dropped a point in the BCS preliminary rankings to number 8 because our computer rankings fell from 2 to 6. The real BCS rankings will not come out until October, when all the computers feel like they have enough data and the Harris poll is released. But some interesting things are happening.

First - the Big Ten is getting hammered in the computers (as well as on the field). At the end of next week, when ninety percent of the non-conference play is completed, teams really only move up in down in the computers in relation to how they do in conference. What that means is that after the non-conference schedule is over and done with, the conference with the highest rankings will have a conference champion. Those conference champions will have a pretty good shot of getting into the BCS championship game, since the computers count for a third of the ranking. So, it looks like the Pac-10 and the SEC will have the highest ranking right now. Sagarin, for example, has 6 pac-10 teams in his top 20.

Also interesting - UCLA's move up to number 11, right behind Ohio State. Ohio State plays Washington this week. Depending on the outcome of that game, the Pac 10 could have 5 or 6 teams in the top 25. USC plays Nebraska - most of the other Pac-10 teams play cream puffs this week. Even Stanford should be able to squeeze out a win against San Jose State. If both Washington and USC wins, the Pac 10 will have three teams in the top 10, which would be pretty incredible. Of course, it is pretty incredible to believe that Washington could beat Ohio State.

In any event, the process of scheduling a tough out of conference schedule for the Pac 10 has started to lead to positives for the Conference.

The other interesting fact - Appalachian State is number 38 in the AP. Go Mountaineers! I would love to see them at #25 at the end of the year when they repeat as AA champs.