The Coaches Poll

This week I happened across Sports Illustrated's Designated Reads: Sorry, Everybody.  While I'm not sure if the apology was because Holly Anderson assumed Texas was going to lose when she published the tweet, or if she is taking responsibilty for Texas moving up in the Coaches Poll. 

Either way, it gave me a moment of pause.  I used that moment to evaluate the Coaches' Poll Top 25 after Week Eight's Games.

  1. Alabama:  8-0  Reigning BCS Champions Alabama have beaten two ranked teams. (#'s 8 & 11).
  2. Oregon:  8-0   The Ducks have taken down two top 25's (#'s 22 & 23)
  3. Kansas State:  8-0  The Wildcats have taken down three ranked opponents, all in the top 15 (#'s 6, 13 & 14)
  4. Notre Dame:  8-0  The Irish have taken down FOUR ranked teams! (#'s 8, 10, 17 & 18).
   5. LSU:  7-1  The Tigers' only loss was to a ranked (#10) team and they have defeated two ranked opponents (#'s 3 & 18.)
  6. Georgia:  7-1  The bulldogs took down the #2 team, their only win against a ranked team, but their only loss came at the hands of #6. 
  7. Florida State:  7-1  After taking down one ranked team (#10) this season, the Seminoles gave up their one loss to an unranked opponent.
  8. Florida:  7-1   The Gators have taken down three ranked teams (#'s 4, 7 & 23) and their one loss is to #10.
  9. Clemson:  7-1  With only one loss, to a #4 ranked team, the Tigers have no wins against ranked opponenents.
10. Louisville: 8-0  The undefeated Cardinals have yet to play a ranked team.
11. South Carolina: 7-2  The GameCocks' 2 losses were to top ten (#'s 2 & 9) teams. In the W column, they have taken down one ranked team (#5).
12. Oklahoma:  5-2  The Sooners, having plain one game less than most teams so far, have only beaten one ranked team (#15) and their two losses are both to ranked opponents (#'s 15 & 5).
13. Oregon State:  6-1 The Beavers have beaten two ranked teams (#'s 13 & 19), but their only loss is to an unranked opponent)
14. Boise State:  7-1  The Bronco's only loss comes against the only ranked team they have faced (#13)
15. Stanford:  6-2  The Cardinal took down the #2 team, but they've lost twice, once to an unranked team and then to #7
16. Texas A&M: 6-2  The Aggies have beaten one ranked team (#23) and their two losses both come from ranked opponents (#'s 6 & 24)
17. USC: 6-2  The Trojans have not beaten a ranked team.  Their two losses come from their only ranked opponent (#21) and one unranked foe.
18. Mississippi State:  7-1 The Bulldogs have only one loss, to the #1 team - the only ranked team they have played thus far.
19. West Virginia:  5-2  Also one game behind the pack, the Mountaineers have beaten two ranked teams (#'s 11 & 25) and have losses to one unranked opponent and one top five (#4)
20. Texas Tech:  6-2  Tech's Red Raiders have beaten two ranked opponents (#'s 5 & 23) and have only lost to ranked teams (#'s 3 & 17)
21. Nebraska: 6-2  The Cornhuskers have beaten one ranked team (#22) and lost to one ranked (#12) and one unranked opponent.
22. Texas:  6-2  While the Longhorns have not beaten a ranked opponent, both of their losses come at the hands of ranked (#'s 8 & 13) teams.
23. Louisianna Tech: 7-1  These Bulldogs, while they haven't beaten a ranked team, have their only loss at the hands of one (#22)
24. Oklahoma State: 5-2 While the Cowboys have only played seven games, they have beaten one ranked opponent (#24) and lost to one ranked team  (#12) and one unranked. 
25. Rutgers:  7-1  The Scarlet Knights have yet to face off against a ranked opponent.

So there you go...a little peeksie at who has beaten who this season, ranking wise, in the Coaches' Poll.  I think Texas is lucky to be ranked at all, but whatever the reasoning for Holly's Twitter comment, the real joke is that 1) USC is still ranked 17th and 2) USC is still ranked.