The Week 8 AP poll left a few teams with real reasons to gripe, and the biggest one sits near the top.
BYU knocked off No. 2 Notre Dame, yet the Cougars were rewarded with the No. 2 spot instead of No.
- Miami stayed ahead after needing double overtime to get past a now 3-4 Florida State team that was a three-touchdown underdog, and that didn’t sit right with plenty of BYU backers.
The Cougars did collect 20 first-place votes, but the other 50 went elsewhere. Two voters even slotted BYU fourth, a pair of ballots that may have been enough to keep them from the top overall.
If that looked like a bad break, Texas Tech can make a similar case. The Red Raiders are 6-0 and have only really been pushed once, in a ranked game against Houston.
Otherwise, they’ve mostly steamrolled people. The coaches had them at No. 5, but the writers placed them at No. 8, behind Indiana and Ole Miss, two teams that haven’t exactly been asked to do more.
Three voters left Texas Tech outside the top 10 entirely.
Oklahoma State also has a complaint after taking a small loss in Week 6. The Cowboys fell by three at Houston, which is now ranked No. 14, and they were four-point underdogs in that game anyway.
Still, they dropped from No. 18 to out of the rankings altogether. That came in a week when Arizona didn’t play, No.
24 Northwestern barely got by an awful Michigan State team, and No. 23 SMU beat a putrid Virginia squad by 10.
A dozen voters still kept Oklahoma State in their top 20, but 42 left the Cowboys outside the top 25.
Then there’s James Madison, which keeps waiting for the national respect to match the record. The Dukes are 7-0 and remain the Group of 5 team with the best College Football Playoff odds, according to ESPN’s FPI ratings.
Even so, they’re still not in the top 25. Their schedule hasn’t exactly been a fireworks show, but with two-loss teams scattered through the rankings, the unbeaten Dukes at least merit some serious consideration.
Twenty-one voters would rank JMU. Forty-nine still aren’t there yet.
In Other News...
Texas Tech Just Watched A Huge Big 12 Win Turn Complicated
For Texas Tech and the rest of the Big 12, BYUs 28-24 win over No. 2 Notre Dame was the kind of result that can ripple through the league, even if it did not involve a conference game. A road victory like that carries real value for the Big 12s national profile, especially with the Cougars ranked No. 8 and playing on one of college footballs biggest stages.
But the finish quickly turned messy. The Big 12 acknowledged there was still one second left after the final play, which meant Notre Dame should have had another snap, and there was also a disputed no-call on what might have been pass interference at the end. For a league that can use every marquee win it gets, the conversation around this one is now as much about officiating as it is about the upset itself. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Finally Delivered The Statement Win Fans Wanted
Texas Tech got the kind of emphatic win that can change the tone around a season, rolling past Arizona State 53-25 to stay unbeaten and move to 6-0 while sitting atop the Big 12. The Red Raiders looked sharp on both sides of the ball, with linebacker Ben Roberts scoring on a pick-six, running back J'Koby Williams breaking loose for two long touchdowns and the defense piling up six sacks to keep the Sun Devils off balance.
Will Hammond added steadiness at quarterback, completing 18 of 26 passes for 232 yards and a touchdown as the offense kept pressing after every turnover and stop. For a fan base looking for a true measuring-stick performance, this was the kind of complete showing that suggests Texas Tech is more than just undefeated - the next question is how far this version can carry in conference play. [Read more 🡒]
Houston Fans Just Got A Clearer Look At The Big 12 Race
Texas Techs perfect start keeps paying off in the metrics, too. After Week 7, the Red Raiders moved ahead of Utah to become the highest-rated Big 12 team in ESPNs Football Power Index, landing at No. 9 nationally after their win over Arizona State pushed them to 6-0.
The rest of the league picture got a little clearer as well, even if not every team moved the way a rsum might suggest. Utah slipped to No. 13 after a narrow escape against Colorado, BYU stayed at No. 14 despite beating Notre Dame, and Houston checked in at No. 18, leaving the conference race looking crowded near the top and a little more intriguing underneath it. [Read more 🡒]