Week 7 AP and Coaches' Polls

Well I'm somewhat disappointed with myself for only being half-correct with last night's prediction of the Top 5 in the polls this week. I overestimated the credit the Coaches' Poll would give Florida for beating LSU; it seems in the aftermath of that game that the coaches believe LSU might have been somewhat overrated. Considering the credit the SEC gets for doing so much as completing a forward pass, I thought it a given that Florida would jump not only Kansas State but WVU as well for beating LSU yesterday. You live and you learn.

The rest of the Big XII shakes out about how I'd rank it. West Virginia and Kansas State both move into the Top 5 at 4 and 5, respectively, with OU following at 10, Texas at 15, TCU at 23, and newcomer Iowa State at 25. This is one of those situations where the poll just doesn't make sense; how can you say that Iowa State, who beat TCU yesterday in Fort Worth, is not better than TCU? Rate the teams as they are not as you believe they will be.

Baylor benefited from a combination of things in our off week to move to #27. First, I think our loss to WVU gained a little positive note last night since they did basically the same thing to Texas. Second, numerous teams above us lost while we remained idle, giving us the perfect opportunity this week against TCU to improve to 4-1 (1-1) and move back into the rankings.

Here is the full Coaches' Poll courtesy of the mothership.

Somewhat hilariously, the AP Poll went exactly as I expected. Sportswriters buy in worse than anybody to the SEC hype and it shows in their move of Florida up to #4. West Virginia and Kansas State follow at 5 and 6 with Notre Dame (seriously) at #7. Color me a skeptic, but I'm not buying the Irish yet as the #7 team in the country.

Oklahoma begins the second tier of the conference at 13 with Texas close behind at 15 and ... that's it. There's no other teams ranked in the Big XII in the AP Poll. We're actually the next in terms of votes at #27. Do you buy that? Do you think there are only 4 teams in the Big XII in the Top 25? I really don't, and we'll reflect that this week in the BlogPoll.

Here is the full AP Poll, again courtesy of the mothership.

Overall, I think the conference is slightly underrated at this point relative to where I think we actually are. The top end is probably correct with WVU and KSU leading the way. I can't really quarrel with the middle, either. But the bottom of the rankings, that area between 17-25, feels like it should have more Big XII teams represented. Whether it's us, Iowa State, or even Oklahoma State (why are they receiving so few votes?), someone should be in there. Does a 2-loss Michigan team really belong over any of the teams I just mentioned? With the B1G so obviously down this season?

What do you think?