Rankings and Ratings 

October 14th

USA Today bowl projections … CU to the Cactus Bowl to face Big 12 rival Kansas State

… It’s nice to be projected for a bowl game, but, with USA Today projecting Arizona State to the Rose Bowl, we know that the powers that be at the USA Today believe the Sun Devils will defeat the Buffs …

From azcentral.com

USA TODAY Sports’ Pac-12 bowl predictions:

  • Dec. 17: San Diego State vs. UCLA (Las Vegas Bowl)
  • Dec. 26: Wake Forest vs. California (Independence Bowl)
  • Dec. 27: Kansas State vs. Colorado (Cactus Bowl)
  • Dec. 27: Penn State vs. Washington State (Holiday Bowl)
  • Dec. 28: Minnesota vs. Stanford (Foster Farms Bowl)
  • Dec. 29: Oklahoma State vs. Utah (Alamo Bowl)
  • Dec. 30: Miami vs. USC (Sun Bowl)
  • Dec. 31: Alabama vs. Washington, College Football Playoff semifinal (Peach Bowl)
  • Jan. 2: Michigan vs. ASU (Rose Bowl)

 

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October 11th

Coach MacIntyre still in top ten of candidates for Coach-of-the-Year

From CampusInsiders.com … Through the first six weeks of the 2016 college football season, select head coaches are standing out among their peers in the profession. As such, they’ve built an early cushion in the race for Coach of the Year, a lucrative contract extension and even a high-profile promotion now that job openings are beginning to pop up.

7. Mike MacIntyre, Colorado (8)

Yeah, even in losing MacIntyre slides up a peg, partially due to the departure of Houston’s Tom Herman from the rankings. The Buffs battled back at the Coliseum, but fell just short to USC, 21-17. Still, Colorado remains in the hunt for the Pac-12 South, a remarkable feat for a program that hasn’t authored a winning year since 2005 and was picked to finish last in the preseason. The Buffs are thriving behind Jim Leavitt’s defense and rookie quarterback Steven Montez, who didn’t get his chance until starter Sefo Liufau was injured on Sept. 17.

 

College Football News – Colorado still in the top 25 nationally

From College Football News … Okay, are you ready for this? No, you’re not, but see if you can follow what just happened after a slew of crazy upsets kicked in meaning the entire puzzle had to be shifted around.

If you’re going to do rankings correctly and go by head-to-head records and results on the field, guess who wins really, really, really big this week?

If they played a million times, would you ever take Eastern Michigan over Oklahoma? How about Wyoming over Houston? Of course not – promise, this will all correct itself soon – but at the moment, whether you like it or not, it has to go in this order of the following teams somewhere in the rankings …

Pac-12: 

— No. 5 – Washington

— No. 19 – Washington State

— No. 20 – Stanford

— No. 22 – USC

— 23. Colorado (4-2)

CFN Week 5 Rank: 19
Final Score: USC 21, Colorado 17
Up Next: Arizona State

There’s no shame whatsoever in losing on the road to Michigan and USC. The Buffs fought hard against the Trojans is a tough late loss. The 47-6 win over Oregon State looks impressive after the Beavers rolled over Cal.

— No. 27 – Arizona State

— No. 28 – UCLA

— No. 36 – Oregon State (?)

— No. 37 – California

— No. 38 – Utah (??)

— No. 47 – Arizona

— No. 65 – Oregon

 

College Football News Bowl projections:

From College Football News …

Pac-12:

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl vs. College Football Playoff

Alabama vs. Washington

1. Rose Bowl vs. Big Ten

Michigan vs. USC 

2. Valero Alamo Bowl vs. Big 12

Baylor vs. Stanford

3. National University Holiday Bowl vs. Big Ten

Penn State vs. UCLA

4. Foster Farms Bowl vs. Big Ten

Minnesota vs. Washington State

5. Hyundai Sun Bowl vs. ACC

Miami vs. Colorado

6. Las Vegas Bowl vs. Mountain West

San Diego State vs. Utah

7. Motel 6 Cactus Bowl vs. Big 12

TCU vs. Arizona State

St. Petersburg Bowl vs. Big 12

California* vs. South Florida
*No ACC team projected available

Not bowling … Oregon, Arizona, Oregon State

 

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October 10th

Colorado drops out of national rankings

Drop out of the Top 25? Sure. Be far down the list of “others receiving votes”? Okay.

Colorado received 22 votes in the AP poll this week, down to No. 33 overall. The Pac-12 as a conference is down to just two teams, with Washington at No. 5, and Utah at No. 21.

The USA Today coaches’ poll has three Pac-12 teams, including this weekend’s opponent, Arizona State, in at No. 24. In the coaches’ poll, the Buffs are the No. 36 team in the nation, right behind USC, Stanford, and Washington State in the polling …

Associated Press

1Alabama (56)15206-01
2Ohio State (2)14445-02
3Clemson (2)14066-03
4Michigan (1)13396-04
5Washington12866-05
6Texas A&M12026-08
7Louisville11934-17
8Wisconsin10204-111
9Tennessee9625-19
10Nebraska9585-012
11Baylor9345-013
12Mississippi8003-214
13Houston7015-16
14Florida State6284-223
15Boise State5905-019
16Miami (Fla.)5764-110
17Virginia Tech5464-125
18Florida4834-118
19Oklahoma4763-220
20West Virginia4244-022
21Utah2875-124
22Arkansas2034-216
23Auburn1664-2NR
24Western Michigan1546-0NR
25Navy1224-1NR

Others receiving votes: Georgia 59, Arizona State 53, North Carolina 51, LSU 50, Oklahoma State 48, North Dakota State 36, Stanford 26, Colorado 22, South Florida 20, TCU 14, Washington State 9, NC State 9, Iowa 3, Air Force 2, San Diego State 2, Wake Forest 1

 

USA Today coaches’ poll

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Michigan
5. Washington
6. Texas A&M
7. Louisville
8. Baylor
9. Nebraska
10. Wisconsin
11. Tennessee
12. Houston
13. Ole Miss
14. Florida
15. Boise State
16. Florida State
17. Miami (Fla.)
18. West Virginia
19. Virginia Tech
20. Oklahoma
21. Utah
22. Arkansas
23. Western Michigan
24. Arizona State
25. LSU

Others Receiving Votes: Auburn (4-2) 70; Georgia (4-2) 63; Navy (4-1) 58; South Florida (5-1) 53; North Carolina (4-2) 51; NC State (4-1) 34; Oklahoma State (4-2) 29; Southern California (3-3) 13; Stanford (3-2) 12; Washington State (3-2) 8; Colorado (4-2) 7; Wake Forest (5-1) 6; Memphis (4-1) 6; Troy (4-1) 6; TCU (4-2) 5; Pittsburgh (4-2) 3; Penn State (4-2) 3; Appalachian State (3-2) 3; San Diego State (4-1) 2; Tulsa (4-1) 1; Middle Tennessee (4-1) 1; South Alabama (3-2) 1

 

Colorado down five spots to No. 29 in CBS 1-128 (Arizona State in at No. 27)

From CBS Sports … the Pac-12:

No. 4 – Washington (up 3 spots)

No. 22 – Utah (up six)

No. 27 – Arizona State (up 25)

No. 29 – Colorado (down five)

No. 33 – USC (up ten)

No. 34 – Stanford (down 19)

No. 35 – Washington State (up 29)

No. 40 – UCLA (down 17)

No. 61 – Cal (down 12)

No. 85 – Arizona (down one)

No. 97 – Oregon (down 29)

No. 101 – Oregon State (up 12)

 

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October 9th

Colorado remains ranked … for at least another day

From the USA Today … The release of the Amway Coaches Poll will be delayed one day due to the impact of Hurricane Matthew on the weekend’s college football schedule. The poll will be released the afternoon of Monday, Oct. 10.

South Carolina moved its home game against Georgia to Sunday prior to the storm making landfall in the state. Charlotte and Florida Atlantic also will play Sunday afternoon. Florida’s game against LSU was postponed.

In order to allow the panel of coaches the ability to vote after all games are played, the usual Sunday deadline was pushed back one day.

… The Associated Press poll will also be released on Monday …

 

ESPN Pac-12 Power Index has CU at No. 4 in the conference

From  ESPN … Welcome to this week’s Pac-12 Power Rankings. You can see last week’s rankings here. If you don’t like where you’re ranked, play better.

… 4. Colorado (4-2, 2-1; No. 2 last week)

One conference loss — 21-17 to USC — isn’t going to bump the Buffs from contention. Especially in the getting-crazier-by-the-second Pac-12 South. The defense played well enough to win against the Trojans, and that should be encouraging. But failing to capitalize on four turnovers was the difference. Colorado can stay in the South hunt next week with Arizona State coming to town.

 

ESPN bowl projections … CU to the Holiday Bowl

From ESPN … We have our first Pac-12 bowl team! Congrats, Washington, which became bowl eligible with its 70-21 annihilation of Oregon. The 6-0 start for the Huskies — and the way they’ve dominated Stanford and Oregon in consecutive weeks — clearly indicates a changing of the guard in both the Pac-12 North and the conference overall.

A couple other teams pulled within one game of bowl eligibility, as Arizona State and Utah each picked up win No. 5. Colorado is the only four-win team in the league right now, with five others sitting on three wins. So we definitely have a way to go before these projections can be anything but hypotheticals and educated guesses.

… College Football Playoff semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl:Washington

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual: Utah

Valero Alamo Bowl: Arizona State

Holiday Bowl: Colorado

Foster Farms Bowl: Washington State

Hyundai Sun Bowl: USC

Las Vegas Bowl: Stanford

Cactus Bowl: UCLA

At-large: California

 

CBS Bowl projections by Jerry Palm

From CBS Sports … Not a surprise that CU is not on the list, as the Buffs were not on the list last week despite a 4-1 record. To add insult to injury, Jerry Palm is projecting that Colorado State will fill an empty spot vacated by the Pac-12, with the Pac-12 unable to fill its allotted bowl slots.

Try not to take this too personally, though. Palm still has Stanford as the No. 2 team in the Pac-12, earning a Rose Bowl berth.

The Pac-12 …

— College Football Playoff – Washington v. Alabama

— Rose Bowl – Michigan v. Stanford (Stanford?? The Cardinal has lost its last two games by a combined score of 86-26. Perhaps Mr. Palm should check the late scores before posting his projections)

— Alamo Bowl – Baylor v. UCLA (UCLA?? At 3-3, 1-2, the Bruins are clearly the Pac-12’s No. 3 team)

— Holiday Bowl – Penn State v. Utah

— Foster Farms Bowl – Indiana v. USC

— Sun Bowl – North Carolina v. Arizona State

— Las Vegas Bowl – San Diego State v. Washington State

— Cactus Bowl – Kansas State v. Colorado State (which would mean that, according to Jerry Palm, five Pac-12 teams – Colorado, Arizona, Cal, Oregon State and Oregon – will all fail to achieve six wins. Interesting that he sees the conference has having only seven bowl eligible teams … after the league had ten bowl teams in 2015).

 

the-rise-is-coming

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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7 Replies to “Rankings and Ratings”

  1. Stuart, what IS jerry palm smoking? Or has he been on vacation for the last 7 weeks and is just phoning in his “picks” based on last season?

    1. I think Palm goes to bed at 10:00 p.m., eastern time, every Saturday night, and pays no attention to any Pac-12 games.
      If Stanford makes it to the Rose Bowl, we’ll owe him an apology .. but I’m guessing we’re pretty safe.

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