| Rank | +/- | Team | WinPct | SoS | Adjusted | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off. | Def. | Pace | |||||||||
| 1 | -- | Alabama | 0.969 | 0.575 | 35 | 35.1 | 1 | 8.8 | 1 | 153.1 | 120 |
| 2 | -- | LSU | 0.936 | 0.677 | 5 | 33.5 | 2 | 11.5 | 3 | 156.7 | 115 |
| 3 | -- | Boise St. | 0.918 | 0.468 | 74 | 30.9 | 5 | 11.8 | 6 | 163.5 | 82 |
| 4 | -- | Stanford | 0.912 | 0.482 | 67 | 31.4 | 4 | 12.3 | 7 | 160.8 | 100 |
| 5 | +2 | Oregon | 0.904 | 0.629 | 14 | 27.8 | 6 | 11.3 | 2 | 186.3 | 1 |
| 6 | -1 | Oklahoma | 0.883 | 0.573 | 36 | 26.1 | 11 | 11.6 | 4 | 180.0 | 5 |
| 7 | -1 | Wisconsin | 0.878 | 0.509 | 62 | 32.2 | 3 | 14.6 | 19 | 158.6 | 111 |
| 8 | +1 | TCU | 0.852 | 0.376 | 101 | 27.4 | 7 | 13.6 | 10 | 162.4 | 89 |
| 9 | -1 | Ohio St. | 0.834 | 0.547 | 46 | 22.5 | 36 | 11.8 | 5 | 158.8 | 110 |
| 10 | +4 | Michigan St. | 0.814 | 0.614 | 20 | 24.4 | 22 | 13.5 | 9 | 161.3 | 98 |
| 11 | -1 | Florida | 0.811 | 0.650 | 9 | 25.0 | 17 | 14.0 | 12 | 159.1 | 107 |
| 12 | +3 | Oklahoma St. | 0.800 | 0.559 | 38 | 26.9 | 9 | 15.4 | 20 | 181.5 | 3 |
| 13 | -1 | Virginia Tech | 0.792 | 0.520 | 55 | 24.4 | 21 | 14.3 | 15 | 157.8 | 113 |
| 14 | -1 | Texas A&M | 0.786 | 0.600 | 25 | 23.6 | 30 | 14.0 | 13 | 178.5 | 7 |
| 15 | -4 | Arkansas | 0.775 | 0.623 | 18 | 27.4 | 8 | 16.7 | 30 | 170.5 | 33 |
| 16 | +5 | Florida St. | 0.765 | 0.580 | 33 | 25.2 | 16 | 15.7 | 23 | 159.8 | 104 |
| 17 | +2 | South Carolina | 0.764 | 0.585 | 29 | 25.2 | 15 | 15.8 | 24 | 160.4 | 102 |
| 18 | +2 | Michigan | 0.759 | 0.511 | 60 | 26.0 | 12 | 16.4 | 29 | 162.1 | 90 |
| 19 | -1 | Nebraska | 0.757 | 0.541 | 49 | 24.4 | 23 | 15.5 | 22 | 166.2 | 61 |
| 20 | -3 | Notre Dame | 0.754 | 0.639 | 10 | 22.3 | 38 | 14.3 | 16 | 170.3 | 34 |
| 21 | +2 | Clemson | 0.752 | 0.589 | 28 | 24.6 | 19 | 15.8 | 25 | 169.8 | 36 |
| 22 | NA | Miami-FL | 0.749 | 0.663 | 7 | 23.9 | 27 | 15.5 | 21 | 161.9 | 91 |
| 23 | +1 | Arizona St. | 0.746 | 0.683 | 4 | 22.2 | 40 | 14.4 | 17 | 175.8 | 13 |
| 24 | NA | USC | 0.739 | 0.581 | 32 | 24.0 | 26 | 15.8 | 26 | 166.0 | 65 |
| 25 | NA | Penn State | 0.725 | 0.559 | 40 | 18.6 | 69 | 12.6 | 8 | 166.5 | 57 |
Rankings through games of 2011-10-23
New entries: Miami-FL, USC, Penn State.
Dropped out: West Virginia, Missouri, Auburn.
It was a rough week for top teams, but TFG warns us to not overreact. Wisconsin only had a 57.7% chance of winning in East Lansing, so while their crazy last-second loss probably dooms their national title hopes it shouldn't be taken as a sign of weakness. Oklahoma's loss is slightly more troubling, since they had roughly a 10-in-11 shot of winning that game. The Sooners are still a formidable team and are favorites in their remaining games (yes, even over Oklahoma State). The margin for error is shrinking, though, and a second loss will surely doom them.
At the top, though, the Crimson Tide continue to dominate. Alabama possesses both the top offense and top defense in FBS, their reputation slowed only by their glacial pace. LSU and Alabama seem to be locked in a bidding war to see which team can score the most points in the fewest number of possessions. Alabama hung 37 points on the Volunteers in a mere 138 plays (26.8 PPH); LSU responded with 45 points against Auburn in 144 plays (31.3 PPH).
Boise weathered a scare against Air Force, but dropped slightly. Stanford and Oregon continue to win convincingly, while Virginia Tech and Arkansas got sloppy against Boston College and Ole Miss, respectively. Beyond that there's a cluster of teams that are struggling to distinguish themselves. Realistically it's a race between the winner of Alabama/LSU and Stanford, Clemson, and Oklahoma State (in order of most likely to finish undefeated). Boise State needs all three of those teams to slip up and then to finish an undefeated season. Unlikely, but stranger things have happened.
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