The AL Poll: Post Week 3
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The AP Poll is released at 1pm on Sundays during the college football season and is a detriment to CFB society. The glaring issue with the poll is that it is flawed to ball watchers everywhere, the release time of updated rankings are the top piece of evidence in this claim. It is impossible for the voters to have enough time to fully digest the nearly 30 games from the weekend that must be taken into consideration. To save everyone from the horror show that is the AP Poll, I have very bravely taken it amongst myself to give you a more accurate take otherwise known as the Andrew Lotz Poll or AL Poll. I would love to hear your own thoughts in the comments below.
My credentials:
1) I watched either live or condensed game replays for every team that is ranked or has been removed. While I hope you comment with how wrong I am, my process is a definite step in the right direction that major polls should take into consideration.
2) I humbly can say that I am hardly wrong when it comes to these issues.
New Leader in the Clubhouse
“Mama, there goes that maniac” is what I imagine young Arkansas fans were saying about Kirby Smart as they watched Georgia run individual drills during a TV timeout in the 4th quarter on Saturday. Although Arkansas playing football is quickly turning into a crime against humanity, Georgia did not play with their food on Saturday. On display for the Bulldogs were the top 3 reasons I have them ahead of the Longhorns, those being smothering defense (Georgia of early 2020’s type), dominant front 7 play, and consistent quarterback play. These 3 components were the same recipe Kirby used to win back-to-back titles at the beginning of the decade and (unlike Clemson) this version of running it back is scary good. Gunner Stockton is the perfect quarterback for what this team wants to do and the Bulldogs are very comfortable with their identity as a squad. While the Bulldogs don’t have the most marquee win of the year, they have not messed around with inferior opponents like we have seen other top 10 teams do. This is a tell tale sign that Kirby’s team is serious and if injuries don’t turn up, I fully expect my pre-season SEC Champions to be competing for the National Championship.
Biggest Losers
USC is officially out of my Top 25 after a lack luster performance against Brian Kelly’s future team in New Jersey (Rutgers). I saw cracks in the foundation when they let Louisiana score 30 points and refused to have any killer instinct in their first game vs San Jose St, but the sink hole under the house opened up this weekend and swallowed the Trojans whole. Lincoln Riley still has not figured out the issues on the defensive side of the ball that have plagued him since he arrived in Southern California and Gary Patterson’s addition to the staff could be too little too late for the Trojans. Watching USC struggle with Rutgers felt the same as every USC game I have watched over the past few years and leads me to believe that this team by the end of the year will have 4 or 5 losses. I’m convinced (not an conspiracy theorist) that they are so high in the AP Poll to make the winner of their game vs Oregon this week look better than either team actually is.
Texas A&M was beat down in the most surprising outcome of the weekend (to me) as the Wildcats mauled the Aggies in the trenches and Marcel Reed once again proved he is not a “win because of” quarterback. Credit to Will Stein and his team as they bounced back nicely from a bad second half vs Alabama last weekend. If this were an upset where Kentucky squeaked out the win, A&M would not have dropped from No. 9 to out of the Top 25, that was not the case in College Station on Saturday. Kentucky dominated the game by forcing Marcel Reed to try to beat them with his arm and bullying the Aggies up front in the run game. A&M could be looking down the barrel of a 7-5 finish if they can’t get things turned around this week in Baton Rouge.
Lack of Depth
After this week, I believe there is a huge drop off after the top 9 in my poll. Georgia, Miami, and Notre Dame have been the most impressive while Texas has the best win of any team yet. LSU, Ole Miss, Ohio St, Indiana and Alabama all have a real chance to make a run if they can get a few things ironed out. After that there is a clear drop off in quality of team as the difference between 9 and 10 is greater than the difference between 10 and 25. While I think BYU and Penn St (easy schedule) will each be in their respective conference title games, neither of those teams is going to compete for a national championship. Iowa is a wildcard because of their talent on the offensive line and (FINALLY) solid quarterback play, but I still can’t see them beating a playoff team that consistently scores 20 points per game. Texas Tech is another misnomer from the AP Poll as Houston did everything they could to give that game to Tech on Friday and still only lost on the last play of the game (a 2-point conversion); at best they are a worse version of their team that got slaughtered by Oregon in the CFP last season. This year’s field is the perfect example for my personal belief that 12 teams is probably too many playoff teams and 24 teams would be a waste of time for everyone involved.
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