4 AP’s top 25 teams have something to prove: Missouri, Texas Tech, South Flordia and Kansas

Four of the top 25 AP poll teams in week five of college football have something to prove to justify their national ranking. Missouri ranks fourth in the current AP Top 25 poll, Texas Tech is seventh, South Florida is 10th and Kansas is 16th. These four ranked teams need to play better competition and win. That includes South Florida’s narrow win at home over Kansas, 37-34.

Let’s start with South Florida, which Sagarin ranked 119th in scheduling toughness among the 119 schools in Division 1-A or, as the NCAA brass likes to say, the Football Bowl Subdivision.

The average schedule toughness of the five South Florida opponents who have already played is equal to the worst Division 1-A school in college football. The Bulls have beaten 1-AA Tennessee Martin 56-7 (ranked 170th by Sagarin in quality among 242 Division 1-A and 1-AA schools with football programs), Central Florida 31-24 in overtime (ranked 124th in quality). in quality), Kansas 37-34 (42nd), Florida International 17-9 (108th) and North Carolina State 41-10 (100th).

Don’t confuse Sagarin’s rating for tough schedule with his rating for quality team performance. Put another way, Kansas is the 42nd-best team in the country right now, North Carolina State is 100th-best, Florida International is 108th, Central Florida is 124th, and Tennessee Martin is 170th.

Four of the 5 teams South Florida has beaten are ranked 100th or worse by Sagarin. Facts don’t exaggerate, and Sagarin’s ratings, unlike the AP Top 25 poll, are based on actual results from games played against each other. The Bulls are undefeated 5-0 but host Pittsburgh this Saturday. Let’s see if Dave Wannstedt can get his Pitt Panthers over the hump and take down South Florida.

Missouri is actually in left field hanging from a tree branch. The Tigers rank 142nd in schedule toughness, the worst of these four teams that could be overrated and headed for a tailspin in the AP poll.

Missouri’s heady 4-0 mark came at the expense of Illinois 52-42 (ranked 61st in quality by Sagarin), 1-AA Southeast Missouri 52-3 (ranked 211th), Nevada 69-17 (ranked 67th in quality). ) and Buffalo 42-21 (93rd place). The fact that the Tigers have outscored their opponents 215-83 still doesn’t impress. They gave up 42 points to Illinois, their best opponent so far.

Illinois was in the AP Top 25 the first four weeks of the season, moving up to No. 22. Two weeks ago I was on the whole Fighting Illini case, saying they shouldn’t even be in the Top 25. Last week they visited Penn Been to Happy Valley and found out how good they are.

Illinois was kicked out of the Top 25 this week, and Missouri may have a free fall into the Top 25 as play stops with the Tigers’ next four opponents: Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Texas and Colorado.

Texas Tech is undefeated at 4-0, but Sagarin ranked it 129th in schedule hardness. The Red Raiders are hanging with Missouri on the other branch of the same tree. Texas Tech has beaten 1-AA Eastern Washington 49-24 (98th by Sagarin), Nevada 35-19 (67th), Southern Methodist 43-7 (148th), and 1-AA Massachusetts 56-14 (113th). .

This is the Red Raiders wake-up call for the next 7 weeks: Kansas State, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. Let’s see if Texas Tech eliminates these 7 opponents and goes 11-0 on the season with Baylor as their last opponent. If you think Texas Tech is about to drop out of the AP Top 25, you’re right.

Kansas is the last of the top four ranked teams with some serious testing to do. The Jayhawks are ranked 101st in schedule toughness. Kansas, as you may recall, lost to South Florida 37-34 in a road game. The Jayhawks’ wins have come against Florida International 40-10 (108th by Sagarin), Louisiana Tech 29-0 (107th) and 1-AA Sam Houston State 38-14 (127th).

After next week, Kansas will look to Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Kansas State, Nebraska, Texas and Missouri. It’s really doubtful that Kansas will finish its regular season 11-1.

Kansas is not likely to go 11-1 as the Big 12 teams will be facing each other very soon. Five Big 12 teams are ranked in the AP Top 25 with 4-0 records: Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. They better enjoy their undefeated records while they can.

While it may not seem like it, Missouri and Texas Tech may be the weakest of the five undefeated teams. Time will tell, and Sargarin will record the results for all to see.

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley