Week 4: Top 25 -- RBA

Week 3 provides more clarity to the ranking landscape.  We notice fewer dramatic jumps in the rankings this week as we obtain more information about how these teams really perform.  Rankings should stabilize in another two weeks, so stay tuned.

Rank	+/-	Team	WinPct	SoS	Off Pts	Def Pts	Pace
001	--	Alabama	0.9669	0.5454	26.2	6.0	79.0
002	--	Oregon	0.9594	0.5342	30.0	7.6	87.6
003	--	Ohio St.	0.9411	0.5358	23.2	6.9	80.0
004	--	TCU	0.9411	0.4638	24.8	7.4	84.8
005	--	Stanford	0.9338	0.5546	29.1	9.2	84.2
006	--	Florida	0.9165	0.5580	24.0	8.5	80.9
007	+4	LSU	0.9042	0.5421	19.7	7.4	80.5
008	+4	Nebraska	0.8919	0.5289	23.1	9.2	83.6
009	+1	Texas	0.8885	0.5156	22.3	9.0	84.1
010	+3	Arizona	0.8836	0.5601	22.8	9.5	83.2
011	+5	Boise St.	0.8801	0.4577	25.6	10.8	85.0
012	-4	Penn State	0.8783	0.5413	16.5	7.0	81.9
013	-4	Virginia Tech	0.8772	0.5350	23.0	9.8	79.2
014	-7	California	0.8764	0.5327	27.4	11.7	84.3
015	-1	Iowa	0.8527	0.5215	17.5	8.1	82.2
016	-1	Georgia	0.8523	0.5558	24.5	11.4	80.0
017	--	South Carolina	0.8312	0.5481	18.1	9.0	78.9
018	--	Oklahoma	0.8233	0.5443	21.4	10.9	84.5
019	+2	Utah	0.8089	0.4613	21.4	11.4	83.5
020	+5	Arkansas	0.8070	0.5642	22.2	11.9	82.5
021	-1	Miami-FL	0.8067	0.5530	19.2	10.3	81.2
022	+1	Mississippi St.	0.7912	0.5611	19.3	10.8	80.8
023	-1	Georgia Tech	0.7876	0.5311	25.2	14.2	82.1
024	--	USC	0.7857	0.5350	22.3	12.7	83.5
025	+1	Air Force	0.7741	0.4753	17.7	10.4	82.5

New Entries:  Air Force

Dropped Out:  Oregon State

My hunch regarding Bay Area sports teams was half correct.  Stanford looked like a legit contender when they scored touchdowns on each of their first eight possessions against Wake Forest in Palo Alto.  On the other hand, Cal got blasted by Nevada 52-31 in Reno.  The question you probably have to ask is, "WTF is Cal still doing in the top 15?"  The Golden Bear defense got ravaged by Nevada, but their offensive efficiency is #3 nationally versus an average opponent.  Since team strength is measured using pythagorean expectations, they get a big ranking bump despite getting whipped by the Wolfpack.

Speaking of offensive powerhouses, the Pac-10 is making huge strides in the poll thanks to dominant offenses.  The top three offensive threats are Oregon (30.0 PPH), Stanford (29.1 PPH), and Cal (27.4 PPH).  Thanks to their ability to light up the scoreboard, the Pac-10 is forcing people to reevaluate their perceptions of the conference.