I think we can all agree that the polls/rankings in college football are an absolute joke, right? I mean, one AP pollster put Arizona into their poll at #20 for Week 2. Keep in mind that Arizona went 0-5 in a shortened Pac12 season, followed by an opening week loss to BYU at home. One pollster in Texas has the Florida Gators 25th in his rankings this week. The same Florida team that won the SEC East last season, went to the Sugar Bowl, and won their opener over FAU quite easily. When Steve Spurrier was still coaching, he’d always give Duke University at least one vote because they were the first school to hire him…
Needless to say, pollsters and coaches have an agenda, they always do…and that skews the rankings. You know who doesn’t have an agenda? Vegas, baby! That’s why looking at Vegas’ rankings is a more true measure of the strengths of the various teams. What I do is compare the two and come up with an index number that tells us whether a team is overrated or underrated (by the pollsters…and eventually the CFP Committee Standings). Here’s your Week 2 Overrated Index:
Overrated
| Team | Vegas Rank | Polling Average | Index |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon | 22 | 11.5 | -10.5 |
| UCLA | 25 | 16 | -9 |
| Wisconsin | – | 17.5 | -7.5 |
| Penn St. | 16 | 11 | -5 |
| Virginia Tech | 24 | 20 | -4 |
Underrated
| Team | Vegas Rank | Polling Average | Index |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma St. | 12 | 32 | 20 |
| TCU | 15 | 29.5 | 14.5 |
| Auburn | 17 | 25.5 | 8.5 |
| Texas | 11 | 15 | 4 |
| North Carolina St. | 23 | 27 | 4 |
Thoughts
The majority of the poll is “about right” and in accordance with Vegas’ rankings, but some things stand out here:
- Alabama, Clemson, Ohio St., and Georgia are all in the same range. Vegas likes Texas A&M at 4 instead of Oklahoma, which is understandable…but not enough to throw the Sooners into the “Overrated” category.
- LSU had the biggest movement this week, going from #9 in Vegas’ preseason rank…to unranked in Week 2.
- Iowa encountered the opposite, moving up all the way to #13 from unranked.
Add/Drop time
Added: Iowa, Penn St., Oregon, North Carolina St., Virginia Tech, & UCLA
Dropped: LSU, North Carolina, Indiana (however you want to spell it), Wisconsin, and Washington