December 24 NFL Power Rankings

# League
1 New England
2 Indianapolis
3 Dallas
4 Green Bay
5 Jacksonville
6 San Diego
7 Pittsburgh
8 NY Giants
9 Seattle
10 Washington
10 Minnesota
12 Tampa Bay
13 Philadelphia
14 Tennessee
15 Cleveland
16 Chicago
17 New Orleans
18 Detroit
19 Houston
20 Arizona
21 Cincinnati
22 Buffalo
24 Denver
23 Carolina
25 Kansas City
26 San Francisco
27 NY Jets
28 Oakland
29 Baltimore
30 Atlanta
31 St. Louis
32 Miami

NCAA Bowl Games

My picks for the bowl games (Do I get honesty points for admitting I choose Navy after the fact).
Bowl Game-Winner
Poinsettia- Navy
New Orleans -Memphis
Papa John's.com- Cincinnati
New Mexico -Nevada
Pioneer Purevision Las Vegas- Brigham Young
Sheraton Hawaii -Boise St
Motor City -Purdue
Pacific Life Holiday- Texas
Texas -Texas Christian
Champ Sports -Boston College
Emerald- Oregon St
Mienke Car Care- Wake Forest
Liberty- Missippi St
Alamo -Texas A&M
Independence- Colorado
Armed Forces- California
Brut Sun- South Florida
Humanitarian Bowl -Fresno St
Gaylord Hotels Music City- Kentucky
Chick-fil-A -Auburn
Insight- Oklahoma St
Outback -Wisconsin
AT&T Cotton -Missouri
Toyota Gator -Virginia
Capital One- Florida
Rose -USC
Allstate Sugar -Georgia
Tostitos Fiesta- Oklahoma
FedEx Orange- Kansas
International- Ball St
GMAC- Tulsa
BCS Championship- Game Louisiana St

December English Football League Rankings

Pos. Team
1 Arsenal
2 Manchester United
3 Chelsea
4 Liverpool
5 Portsmouth
6 Manchester City
7 Everton
8 Blackburn Rovers
9 Aston Villa
10 Newcastle United
11 West Ham United
12 Tottenham Hotspur
13 West Bromwich Albion
14 Bristol City
15 Watford
16 Stoke City
17 Reading
18 Plymouth Argyle
19 Ipswich Town
20 Charlton Athletic
21 Leeds United
22 Middlesbrough
23 Coventry City
24 Bolton Wanderers
25 Burnley
26 Fulham
27 Sheffield United
28 Wolverhampton Wanderers
29 Cardiff City
29 Hull City
31 Birmingham City
32 Barnsley
33 Wigan Athletic
34 Swansea
35 Crystal Palace
36 Leicester City
37 Sunderland
38 Southampton
39 Sheffield Wednesday
40 Blackpool
41 Carlisle United
42 Southend
43 Scunthorpe United
44 Nottingham Forest
45 Derby County
46 Colchester
47 Queens Park Rangers
48 Norwich City
49 Hereford
50 Leyton Orient
50 Walsall
52 Luton Town
53 Preston North End
54 Brighton
55 Milton Keynes Dons
56 Tranmere
57 Yeovil
58 Darlington
59 Oldham
60 Doncaster Rovers
61 Peterborough
62 Hartlepool
63 Swindon
64 Bristol Rovers
65 Rotherham
66 Huddersfield
67 Northampton Town
68 Crewe
69 Chester
70 Rochdale
71 Millwall
72 Chesterfield
73 Morecambe
74 Gillingham
75 Cheltenham
76 Port Vale
77 Shrewsbury
78 Wycombe
79 AFC Bournemouth
80 Stockport
81 Grimsby
82 Barnet
83 Bury
84 Macclesfield
85 Bradford
86 Accrington Stanley
87 Notts County
88 Brentford
89 Mansfield
90 Lincoln City
91 Dag & Red
92 Wrexham

December 17 NFL Power Rankings

# League
1 New England
2 Indianapolis
3 Green Bay
4 Dallas
5 Jacksonville
6 San Diego
7 Pittsburgh
8 Tampa Bay
9 NY Giants
10 Minnesota
11 Tennessee
12 Seattle
13 Philadelphia
14 Cleveland
15 New Orleans
16 Washington
17 Houston
18 Arizona
19 Detroit
20 Denver
21 Buffalo
22 Chicago
24 Cincinnati
23 Carolina
25 Oakland
26 Kansas City
27 San Francisco
28 NY Jets
28 Baltimore
30 Atlanta
31 St. Louis
32 Miami

December 11 NFL Power Rankings

OA League
1 New England
2 Indianapolis
3 Dallas
4 Green Bay
5 Jacksonville
6 Pittsburgh
7 San Diego
8 NY Giants
9 Minnesota
10 Seattle
11 Tampa Bay
12 Tennessee
13 Cleveland
14 Detroit
15 Arizona
16 Philadelphia
17 Washington
18 New Orleans
19 Denver
20 Houston
21 Chicago
22 Buffalo
23 Cincinnati
24 Kansas City
25 Oakland
26 Carolina
27 NY Jets
28 Baltimore
29 Atlanta
30 San Francisco
31 St. Louis
32 Miami

December 3 NFL Power Rankings

OA League
1 New England
2 Dallas
3 Indianapolis
4 Green Bay
5 Pittsburgh
6 Jacksonville
7 Tampa Bay
8 San Diego
9 Seattle
10 NY Giants
11 Minnesota
12 Tennessee
13 Arizona
14 Cleveland
15 Detroit
16 Philadelphia
17 Chicago
18 Washington
19 New Orleans
20 Denver
21 Buffalo
22 Cincinnati
23 Kansas City
24 Houston
25 Oakland
26 Carolina
27 Baltimore
28 NY Jets
29 Atlanta
30 San Francisco
31 St. Louis
32 Miami

December NCAA Football Rankings

Well of all the years to make my list public.  In most other years there are usually no more than 3 dominant teams, and it is a question between only a few teams.  The ranking system worked.
This year is a year in which Stanford won 4 games, and 2 of them were against teams who at one time were ranked #2.  If there was ever a year for a playoff (which should happen anyway), this was it.  Imagine the excitement going in with 16 teams in a playoff, including Hawaii and BYU.
Anyway, I expect:
Rose: USC-Ohio St.
Sugar: Missouri-Georgia
Fiesta: Arizona St.-Hawaii
Orange: Virginia Tech-West Virginia
BCS Champ: LSU-Oklahoma

OA Team
1 Louisiana St
2 Oklahoma
3 West Virginia
4 Missouri
5 Virginia Tech
6 Florida
6 Georgia
8 Ohio St
9 Kansas
10 Boston College
11 South Florida
12 USC
13 Arizona St
14 Oregon
15 Cincinnati
16 Clemson
17 Illinois
18 Brigham Young
19 Texas
20 Tennessee
21 Hawaii
22 Virginia
23 Auburn
24 Michigan
25 Connecticut
26 Oregon St
27 UCF
28 Arkansas
29 Boise St
30 Penn St
31 Wisconsin
32 Michigan St
33 Utah
34 Texas A&M
35 Kentucky
36 Wake Forest
37 Air Force
38 Florida St
39 Texas Tech
40 UCLA
41 Rutgers
42 Alabama
43 Tulsa
44 California
45 Colorado
46 South Carolina
47 Louisville
48 Troy
49 New Mexico
50 Maryland
51 Oklahoma St
52 Mississippi St
53 Indiana
54 East Carolina
54 Purdue
56 Georgia Tech
57 Fresno St
58 Nebraska
59 Texas Christian
60 Arizona
61 Iowa
62 Pittsburgh
63 Ball St
64 Navy
65 Kansas St
66 Cent. Mich
67 North Carolina St
68 Southern Miss
69 Northwestern
70 Washington
71 Florida Atlantic
72 Houston
73 Wyoming
74 Bowling Green
75 Miami(Fla)
76 Vanderbilt
77 Stanford
78 Washington St
79 Miami(OH)
80 La.-Monroe
81 Middle Tenn St
82 Ohio
83 Memphis
84 Nevada
85 North Carolina
86 Iowa St
86 UTEP
88 West. Mich
89 Buffalo
90 Notre Dame
91 Mississippi
92 San Diego St
93 Akron
94 Toledo
95 Marshall
96 East. Mich
97 San Jose St
98 Arkansas St
99 Louisiana Tech
100 UNLV
101 Colorado St
102 West. Kentucky
103 Syracuse
104 Rice
105 Temple
106 Minnesota
107 Tulane
108 Baylor
109 Army
110 La.-Lafayette
111 Duke
112 North Texas
113 Kent St.
114 New Mexico St
115 Utah St
116 UAB
117 SMU
118 Northern Ill
119 Florida International
120 Idaho

NFL Power Rankings November 25

OA League
1 New England
2 Indianapolis
3 Green Bay
4 Dallas
5 Pittsburgh
6 Jacksonville
7 San Diego
8 Tampa Bay
9 NY Giants
10 Detroit
11 Seattle
12 Minnesota
13 Cleveland
14 Tennessee
15 Arizona
16 Philadelphia
17 Chicago
18 Denver
18 New Orleans
20 Washington
21 Houston
22 Cincinnati
23 Kansas City
24 Carolina
25 Buffalo
25 Oakland
27 Baltimore
28 Atlanta
29 NY Jets
30 San Francisco
31 Miami
32 St. Louis

November 24 NCAA Rankings

Rnk Team
1 West Virginia
2 Missouri
3 Louisiana St
4 Oklahoma
5 Georgia
6 Florida
7 Ohio St
8 Boston College
9 Virginia Tech
10 Oregon
11 Kansas
12 USC
13 Arizona St
14 South Florida
15 Tennessee
16 Illinois
17 Cincinnati
18 Clemson
19 Brigham Young
20 Texas
21 Virginia
22 Auburn
23 Hawaii
24 Michigan
25 Arkansas
26 Penn St
27 Boise St
28 Connecticut
29 Wisconsin
30 Utah
31 Wake Forest
32 Michigan St
33 Texas A&M
34 Air Force
35 UCF
36 Oregon St
37 Kentucky
38 California
39 Florida St
40 UCLA
41 Texas Tech
42 Rutgers
43 Alabama
44 Troy
45 Tulsa
46 South Carolina
47 Colorado
48 Maryland
49 New Mexico
50 Mississippi St
51 Georgia Tech
52 Oklahoma St
53 Purdue
54 Indiana
55 East Carolina
56 Arizona
57 Louisville
58 Fresno St
59 Texas Christian
60 Iowa
61 Nebraska
62 Ball St
63 Kansas St
64 Navy
65 North Carolina St
66 Southern Miss
67 Washington
68 Bowling Green
69 Wyoming
70 Cent. Mich
71 Northwestern
72 Houston
73 Miami(Fla)
74 Vanderbilt
75 Washington St
76 Miami(OH)
77 Pittsburgh
78 La.-Monroe
79 Middle Tenn St
80 Ohio
80 Memphis
82 North Carolina
83 Stanford
84 UTEP
85 Florida Atlantic
86 West. Mich
87 Iowa St
88 Buffalo
89 Akron
90 San Diego St
91 Toledo
92 Louisiana Tech
93 Mississippi
94 Notre Dame
95 Nevada
96 Arkansas St
97 Marshall
98 East. Mich
99 Colorado St
100 UNLV
101 San Jose St
102 West. Kentucky
103 Syracuse
104 Temple
105 Rice
106 Minnesota
107 Army
108 Tulane
109 North Texas
110 La.-Lafayette
111 Duke
112 Baylor
113 Kent St.
114 New Mexico St
115 Utah St
116 SMU
117 UAB
118 Northern Ill
119 Idaho
120 Florida Int.

NFL Power Rankings November 19

# League
1 New England
2 Dallas
3 Indianapolis
4 Green Bay
5 Pittsburgh
6 Jacksonville
7 NY Giants
8 Tampa Bay
9 Tennessee
10 San Diego
11 Detroit
12 Seattle
13 Philadelphia
14 Washington
15 Arizona
16 Denver
17 Cleveland
18 Chicago
19 Minnesota
20 Houston
21 Kansas City
22 Buffalo
23 New Orleans
24 Carolina
25 Baltimore
26 Cincinnati
27 Atlanta
28 NY Jets
29 Oakland
30 St. Louis
31 San Francisco
32 Miami

November 17 NCAA Rankings

Rnk Team
1 Louisiana St
2 Ohio St
2 Missouri
4 West Virginia
5 Georgia
6 Oregon
7 Kansas
8 Arizona St
9 Oklahoma
10 Boston College
11 Florida
12 Texas
13 Virginia Tech
14 Cincinnati
15 South Florida
16 Illinois
17 Tennessee
18 Virginia
19 Clemson
20 USC
21 Connecticut
22 Brigham Young
23 Michigan
24 Boise St
25 Wisconsin
26 Utah
27 Penn St
28 Oregon St
29 Auburn
30 Kentucky
31 Florida St
32 Air Force
33 Michigan St
34 Alabama
35 California
36 Wake Forest
37 Arkansas
38 Hawaii
39 Rutgers
40 South Carolina
41 UCLA
42 Texas Tech
43 Oklahoma St
44 Texas A&M
45 UCF
46 New Mexico
47 Troy
48 Nebraska
49 Mississippi St
50 Georgia Tech
51 Tulsa
52 Indiana
53 Purdue
54 Arizona
55 Maryland
56 Louisville
57 Colorado
58 Iowa
59 Kansas St
60 Ball St
61 East Carolina
62 Washington
63 North Carolina St
64 Wyoming
65 Texas Christian
66 Fresno St
67 Navy
68 Vanderbilt
69 Southern Miss
70 Cent. Mich
71 Northwestern
72 Miami(Fla)
73 Bowling Green
74 Miami(OH)
75 Pittsburgh
76 Middle Tenn St
76 Houston
78 UTEP
79 Stanford
80 La.-Monroe
81 Iowa St
82 Washington St
83 North Carolina
85 Florida Atlantic
86 Ohio
86 Memphis
87 West. Kentucky
88 Toledo
89 San Diego St
90 Nevada
91 Akron
92 Mississippi
93 West. Mich
94 Louisiana Tech
95 Buffalo
96 Arkansas St
97 UNLV
98 Rice
99 Temple
100 Notre Dame
101 Syracuse
102 Marshall
103 East. Mich
104 Minnesota
105 Army
106 Tulane
107 San Jose St
108 La.-Lafayette
109 Duke
110 North Texas
111 Baylor
112 New Mexico St
113 Colorado St
114 Kent St.
115 SMU
116 Utah St
117 UAB
118 Northern Ill
118 Idaho
120 Florida Int.

November 12 NFL Power Rankings

# League
1 New England
2 Indianapolis
3 Green Bay
4 Dallas
5 Pittsburgh
6 Jacksonville
7 Tennessee
8 San Diego
9 Detroit
10 NY Giants
11 Tampa Bay
12 Washington
13 Philadelphia
14 Seattle
15 Arizona
16 Cleveland
17 Chicago
18 Denver
19 New Orleans
20 Minnesota
21 Buffalo
22 Kansas City
23 Houston
24 Carolina
25 Cincinnati
26 Baltimore
27 Atlanta
28 Oakland
29 San Francisco
30 NY Jets
31 St. Louis
32 Miami

What is the best conference?

This week there was a lot of talk about what was the best NCAA football conference, and whether the Big XII is the best conference because they have 3 of the top teams in college football. I decided to talk about what are the best conferences according to my college football rankings, and my take on them.
Much like American Idol, I’ll start out at the bottom. There are 11 NCAA BCS division (1A) conferences, and then 4 teams that are independents- which I’ll count as a conference themselves.
Number 12- Sun Belt Conference (93.25)
Ok, that one is easy. The Sun Belt has two teams that are remotely decent. Troy and Middle Tennessee St are the only teams that can beat anybody else. The primary purpose of the Sun Belt is to provide non-conference games for SEC teams.
Number 11- MAC (91.85)
Much like the Sun Belt, the MAC is primarily meant as fodder for Big 10 schools. They’re still reeling from Marshall’s departure (which after going to Conference USA has suddenly gone bad). The MAC’s best team (a term used lightly) is Central Michigan is ranked 69th. On the plus side, the MAC is the least top heavy conference, which only means that all teams are equally bad.
Number 10- Independents (90.25)
There are only 4 teams still operating as independents. Two are military schools, and Navy doesn’t completely suck. One is Western Kentucky, which just moved from 1-AA and plays six 1-AA teams in their schedule. The other is- Notre Dame- enough said.
Number 9- Conference USA (83.50)
Conference USA is interesting, because while there are only a few bad teams (Marshall, SMU, Tulane, and UAB) there aren’t any teams that are especially good. There is UCF (38), but they aren’t really as good as that indicates.
Number 8- WAC (82.78)
The WAC isn’t as bad as the rankings would indicate, although they are in the right spot. The WAC has two good teams (Hawaii and Boise St) which is what the WAC has traditionally had. Fresno St isn’t bad (62) and Nevada (88) is going to a bowl. The problem is that the bottom of the WAC is bad. Games versus Utah St, New Mexico St, Idaho, and San Jose St aren’t exactly nail biters.
Number 7- MWC (59.89)
If there was ever a case to put another conference into the BCS (which they should turn into a play-off anyway, and invite all conference champs) it would be the Mountain West. The MWC has 4 teams in the top 50, and will probably have 6 teams bowl eligible. Back in the days when this was the WAC, it was BYU’s conference, but there is no guarantee anymore. Unfortunately, there are too many teams that are down. Colorado St is pathetic, UNLV and San Diego St aren’t exactly giant killers.

The BCS conferences

Number 6- ACC (44.67)
Ok, on any given year, this conference could be considered the best in college football; but not this year. It is what happens when the two glory programs (Florida St and Miami) go down at the same time. At the same time, there aren’t any teams challenging for BCS championships- even if I did think Boston College was going to play for it a few weeks ago. On the plus side, the only bad team in the whole conference is Duke.
Number 5- Big East (44.43)
A year ago this was the best conference in football, but that was because they had 3 undefeated teams, who went on to only lose to themselves. The conference is strong in the middle, just not very strong at top. At the bottom you have Syracuse, which is an interesting case. Syracuse always plays a tough schedule, except they don’t win. As long as you don’t win, computers don’t like you.
Number 4- PAC-10 (42.70)
I can make a case for the Pac-10 being the best conference in football (not a very good case, but a case). I think the Pac-10 suffers because they tend to play tougher non-conference games against WAC and MWC teams, and teams rarely go undefeated in the non-conference. On top of that, it is the easiest conference for a team to lose 4 games in (imagine Cal getting four loses in any other league). It is a conference in which the team thought to be the worst (Stanford) beat the team thought to be best (USC) on the road. That doesn’t happen in the Big 10, or SEC.
Number 3- Big 10 (Big 11) (42.55)
All right, the Big 10 is right on par with the Pac 10. It usually has 4 to five really good teams, and 4 teams that are terrible. Of course those bottom four teams always get at least 3 non-conference wins because they play every directional Michigan school possible, and computers put them in the top 60- after all they do have to play Michigan and Ohio St. It is amazing how often there are 3 top ranked teams that don’t meet each other (except for the famed Ohio St/Michigan match up.
Number 2- Big XII (42.33)
What? The Big XII has 3 teams in the top five, how can they not be the best conference? Well, because there are only 4 teams that are any good. If you discount a fluke Colorado win against Oklahoma, the conference is even more top heavy.
Number 1- SEC (34.25)
I know SEC teams play non-conference games against NW Central Tennessee Tech, and your always tough Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana- Lafayette juggernauts. The bottom of the SEC has absolutely no chance of pulling an upset, and only beat each other. While we are asking, why doesn’t Vanderbilt ever play on TV? With all that, they are still the best conference because there are eight teams that would probably challenge for any other conference in football. LSU is awesome and they still must play Tennessee or Georgia to win the SEC (not an easy challenge).

College Football Rankings November 10

OA Team
1 Louisiana St
2 Oregon
3 Oklahoma
4 Kansas
5 Missouri
6 Arizona St
7 Ohio St
8 Georgia
9 West Virginia
10 Cincinnati
11 Texas
12 Florida
13 Boston College
14 Clemson
15 Virginia
16 Virginia Tech
17 Illinois
18 Michigan
19 USC
20 Tennessee
21 South Florida
22 Connecticut
23 Penn St
24 Boise St
25 Wisconsin
26 Brigham Young
27 California
28 Kentucky
29 Auburn
30 Alabama
31 Florida St
32 Utah
33 Oregon St
34 New Mexico
35 Air Force
36 Hawaii
37 South Carolina
38 UCF
39 Mississippi St
40 Texas A&M
41 Wake Forest
42 Purdue
43 UCLA
44 Michigan St
45 Rutgers
46 Louisville
47 Oklahoma St
48 Georgia Tech
49 Arkansas
50 Maryland
51 Nebraska
52 Texas Tech
53 Tulsa
53 North Carolina St
55 Troy
56 Kansas St
57 Iowa
58 Colorado
59 Indiana
60 Wyoming
60 East Carolina
62 Fresno St
63 Texas Christian
64 Navy
65 Miami(Fla)
66 Vanderbilt
67 Arizona
68 Northwestern
69 Cent. Mich
70 Ball St
71 Pittsburgh
72 Washington
73 UTEP
74 Iowa St
75 Washington St
76 Southern Miss
77 Bowling Green
78 Middle Tenn St
78 Miami(OH)
80 Houston
81 Florida Atlantic
82 San Diego St
83 Stanford
84 Toledo
85 North Carolina
86 Buffalo
87 West. Kentucky
88 Nevada
89 Ohio
90 Memphis
91 Rice
92 Mississippi
93 La.-Monroe
94 Akron
95 UNLV
96 Syracuse
97 Louisiana Tech
98 Arkansas St
99 West. Mich
100 San Jose St
101 Marshall
102 New Mexico St
103 Temple
104 Army
105 Duke
106 Notre Dame
107 Baylor
108 Minnesota
109 Tulane
110 La.-Lafayette
111 North Texas
112 Colorado St
113 Kent St.
114 East. Mich
115 SMU
116 UAB
117 Idaho
118 Northern Ill
119 Utah St
120 Florida International