College Football Rankings for Week 8: Brett McMurphy’s AP Top 25 Poll Ballot vs. Our Betting Power Ratings
Gaelen Morse/Getty Images. Pictured: The Michigan Wolverines.
Georgia remains the clear-cut No. 1 team on my Associated Press Top 25 ballot this week.
After that? It’s not as simple. My ballot this week has Alabama at No. 2 followed by Oklahoma, Cincinnati and Michigan. The remainder of my top 10: No. 6 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Iowa, No. 8 Penn State, No. 9 Oregon and No. 10 Ohio State.
There are only 11 remaining unbeatens this year, and all of them are on my Top 25 ballot this week (hello UTSA).
Once again, Action Network senior writer Collin Wilson’s updated college football betting power ratings agree with me that Georgia is the nation’s No. 1 team. We agree on No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Oklahoma as well. But not much else.
His power ratings apparently do not put as much emphasis on wins and losses as my rankings.
Here’s my updated AP ballot compared with Wilson’s current power ratings entering Week 8 of the college football season.
Brett McMurphy's AP Top 25 Ballot Entering Week 8
AP denotes Brett McMurphy's Associated Press Top 25 ballot.
PR denotes Collin Wilson's College Football Betting Power Ratings.
1
Georgia
1
2
Alabama
2
3
Oklahoma
3
4
Cincinnati
6
5
Michigan
11
6
Oklahoma State
22
7
Iowa
16
8
Penn State
5
9
Oregon
25
10
Ohio State
4
My top 10 features six of Collin’s top-10 rated teams. We agree on the nation’s top three teams — Georgia, Alabama and Oklahoma.
Collin has one-loss Ohio State No. 4, but I have the Buckeyes at No. 10 behind Oregon, which won in Columbus last month. I also have undefeated Michigan and Oklahoma State in my top six, while Collin rates the Wolverines at No. 11 and the Cowboys at No. 22.
11
Michigan State
32
12
Kentucky
23
13
Notre Dame
18
14
NC State
20
15
Ole Miss
15
16
Coastal Carolina
17
17
SMU
35
18
Wake Forest
40
19
Texas A&M
8
20
San Diego State
70
Collin and I are fairly close on three teams between Nos. 11 and 20.
I have Notre Dame No. 13, five spots higher than Collin, Coastal Carolina No. 16, one spot higher than Collin and we agree on Ole Miss at No. 15. The biggest discrepancy is San Diego State. I have the unbeaten Aztecs at No. 20, while Collin has the Aztecs rated No. 70.
A couple of other big differences between Collin and I are: Michigan State (my ranking No. 11, Collin No. 32), SMU (my ranking No. 17, Collin No. 35) and Wake Forest (my ranking No. 18, Collin No. 40).
21
Auburn
9
22
Purdue
52
23
Pitt
12
24
UTSA
68
25
Baylor
38
The final five teams on my ballot are nowhere near Collin’s ratings. And Collin has seven teams in the top-25 of his power ratings that I don’t have in my Top 25.
Most notably, Collin has 4-3 Florida rated as the nation’s seventh-best team. I didn't rank the Gators.
Here is the complete list of teams Collin has in his top 25 power ratings that didn’t make my AP Top 25 ballot: No. 7 Florida, No. 10 Iowa State, No. 13 Utah, No. 14 Arizona State, No. 19 Texas, No. 21 Arkansas and No. 24 North Carolina.
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