7 SEC
5 Big 10
3 ACC

At this point they are all pre ordained including a team that lost to Northern Illinois

Pittstop said:

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Bearly Clad said:

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Cal received one vote in the AP ballot this week by Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He had us at 23 just ahead of Clemson and UM-Ann Arbor

All AP Ballots - Week 3. pic.twitter.com/Zw4kkLxojR

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 8, 2024

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One vote, from the Georgia voter, for Cal at #23. I am curious what he sees that the other voters haven't.

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He probably watched the game….others did not.

Basketball Bear said:

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Pittstop said:

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Bearly Clad said:

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Cal received one vote in the AP ballot this week by Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He had us at 23 just ahead of Clemson and UM-Ann Arbor

All AP Ballots - Week 3. pic.twitter.com/Zw4kkLxojR

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 8, 2024

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One vote, from the Georgia voter, for Cal at #23. I am curious what he sees that the other voters haven't.

---

He probably watched the game….others did not.

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I'd love to see us be ranked. That said, I watched the game and I wouldn't rank us... yet. Yesterday, we were the happy recipients of several "gifts" from Payton Thorne. Can anybody say that Auburn looks like a good team at this point?

If we wallop SDSU and a few teams above us lose, I'll start thinking we should be ranked.

Big C said:

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Basketball Bear said:

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Pittstop said:

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Bearly Clad said:

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Cal received one vote in the AP ballot this week by Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He had us at 23 just ahead of Clemson and UM-Ann Arbor

All AP Ballots - Week 3. pic.twitter.com/Zw4kkLxojR

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 8, 2024

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One vote, from the Georgia voter, for Cal at #23. I am curious what he sees that the other voters haven't.

---

He probably watched the game….others did not.

---

I'd love to see us be ranked. That said, I watched the game and I wouldn't rank us... yet. Yesterday, we were the happy recipients of several "gifts" from Payton Thorne. Can anybody say that Auburn looks like a good team at this point?

If we wallop SDSU and a few teams above us lose, I'll start thinking we should be ranked.

---

I'd actually love to go into the FSU game unranked. I know some disagree. But I do believe it matters.

You can't tell me that auburn didn't overlook us. They were way overconfident.

I'm not saying FSU will do the same (especially if we're 3-0) but I do think you get treated differently by the opponent (and fans) if you're ranked. I want the FSU players and fans to be as sleepy as possible for our game.

If we want exposure, let's do everything we can to get to 4-0. And then get gameday and a prime time tv slot and then we can have our coming out party. Right now, that should be the short term goal.

We've already "blown our cover" with the Auburn road win, FSU won't underestimate us, and they also are already 0-2 in the ACC - in last place - so in no position to overlook anybody.

bear2034 said:

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Schools like Kansas St. and Utah somehow always manage to find their way into these rankings. What's their secret sauce? Head coach?

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Utah is a top 25 program more often than not, 6 out of the last ten years

By my count there are 56 FBS schools that are 2-0 (many, like us play an FCS school).

If we keep winning we will be ranked.

Big C said:

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Basketball Bear said:

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Pittstop said:

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Bearly Clad said:

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Cal received one vote in the AP ballot this week by Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He had us at 23 just ahead of Clemson and UM-Ann Arbor

All AP Ballots - Week 3. pic.twitter.com/Zw4kkLxojR

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 8, 2024

---

One vote, from the Georgia voter, for Cal at #23. I am curious what he sees that the other voters haven't.

---

He probably watched the game….others did not.

---

I'd love to see us be ranked. That said, I watched the game and I wouldn't rank us... yet. Yesterday, we were the happy recipients of several "gifts" from Payton Thorne. Can anybody say that Auburn looks like a good team at this point?

If we wallop SDSU and a few teams above us lose, I'll start thinking we should be ranked.

---

Most of those "gifts" to Cal from Thorne were generated by outstanding defensive play by Cal. Be it pressure on the QB, speeding him up and causing him to have happy feet as he rushed through his progressions, or sticky coverage on the back end causing Thorne to have to double and triple pump, while looking for someone to come open, or getting touched up in the backfield by Teddy and others, or having plays blown up at the LOS, or in the backfield. Good defense generates "gifts."

sycasey said:

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bear2034 said:

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Schools like Kansas St. and Utah somehow always manage to find their way into these rankings. What's their secret sauce? Head coach?

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This early in the season, rankings are heavily based on how well you've been doing in recent seasons. Utah especially has a very strong recent record under Whittingham.

Cal will need to prove they can do better than 7 wins consistently.

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Maybe Auburn ought to replace Hugh Freeze with Wittingham after this year.

bear2034 said:

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sycasey said:

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bear2034 said:

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Schools like Kansas St. and Utah somehow always manage to find their way into these rankings. What's their secret sauce? Head coach?

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This early in the season, rankings are heavily based on how well you've been doing in recent seasons. Utah especially has a very strong recent record under Whittingham.

Cal will need to prove they can do better than 7 wins consistently.

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Maybe Auburn ought to replace Hugh Freeze with Wittingham after this year.

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Whittingham is only leaving Utah in a pine box.

Cal88 said:

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We've already "blown our cover" with the Auburn road win, FSU won't underestimate us, and they also are already 0-2 in the ACC - in last place - so in no position to overlook anybody.

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Talked to a former fsu football player in line at the airport. He said great game we had and that all of his friends lost money betting against the bears! lol. I'm sure the current team noticed too. They'll be ready. It's going to be a very tough game to win.

Pittstop said:

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Big C said:

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Basketball Bear said:

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Pittstop said:

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Bearly Clad said:

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Cal received one vote in the AP ballot this week by Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He had us at 23 just ahead of Clemson and UM-Ann Arbor

All AP Ballots - Week 3. pic.twitter.com/Zw4kkLxojR

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 8, 2024

---

One vote, from the Georgia voter, for Cal at #23. I am curious what he sees that the other voters haven't.

---

He probably watched the game….others did not.

---

I'd love to see us be ranked. That said, I watched the game and I wouldn't rank us... yet. Yesterday, we were the happy recipients of several "gifts" from Payton Thorne. Can anybody say that Auburn looks like a good team at this point?

If we wallop SDSU and a few teams above us lose, I'll start thinking we should be ranked.

---

Most of those "gifts" to Cal from Thorne were generated by outstanding defensive play by Cal. Be it pressure on the QB, speeding him up and causing him to have happy feet as he rushed through his progressions, or sticky coverage on the back end causing Thorne to have to double and triple pump, while looking for someone to come open, or getting touched up in the backfield by Teddy and others, or having plays blown up at the LOS, or in the backfield. Good defense generates "gifts."

---

The Auburn QB played poorly, but I'd note that even without the interceptions Auburn was not doing much on offense after their first drive. Their second TD drive was heavily aided by questionable penalties. Not sure they would have scored much more even absent the "gifts."

What always seems to make or break Cal in recent years is their ability to win games in-conference. They've been pretty decent to good out of conference, but once conference play starts, they always seem to falter.

VolunteerReverie said:

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What always seems to make or break Cal in recent years is their ability to win games in-conference. They've been pretty decent to good out of conference, but once conference play starts, they always seem to falter.

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The PAC-12 was under-rated. Crazy we got broken up after one of our best years. The current and former PAC-12 schools are currently 21-2, Only Stanford and Colorado have losses (to TCU and Nebraska, respectively).

I think Cal (and eventually Stanford) will fare much better in the ACC, the Four Corners schools will do well in the Big-12 and Michigan and Ohio State are going to regret bringing in USC, UW, Oregon and UCLA, though I think there will be some cannibalization within the West Coast pod.

TheBearWontDie said:

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01Bear said:

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DShaw1999 said:

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3 votes in AP poll. It will take at least 4-0 to eek into the top 25 - maybe even 5-0.

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I took a look at ESPN's AP ranking and it looks like Cal got 5 votes. This is kind of in the range of what I expected (though I thought Cal would get about 8 votes). If Cal goes 4-0, it'll probably be either ranked at the bottom of the top 25 or just outside of it. If Cal can manage to beat Miami (a reeeeeaaaaallllyyyyy) tough task this year, Cal will definitely be ranked at 5-0.

---

If California is 4-0, we will be ranked around 20th, with a decent possibility of CollegeGameday coming for a match against #10-ish Miami. But, there is a lot of work needed to get to that point. Neither SDSU nor FSU are pushovers. Personally, I'm fine with not being ranked now, we tend to quickly drop one once getting ranked

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That's kind of how I see it too, but I think Cal is generally underrated by the East Coast media so it's more likely Cal will be ranked about 22 or 23 (assuming Cal is 4-0). 20 is about high as I'd guess Cal would be ranked if it is undefeated going into the Miami game; the lowest would be about 28 (so also receiving votes, but just outside the top 25).

01Bear said:

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TheBearWontDie said:

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01Bear said:

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DShaw1999 said:

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3 votes in AP poll. It will take at least 4-0 to eek into the top 25 - maybe even 5-0.

---

I took a look at ESPN's AP ranking and it looks like Cal got 5 votes. This is kind of in the range of what I expected (though I thought Cal would get about 8 votes). If Cal goes 4-0, it'll probably be either ranked at the bottom of the top 25 or just outside of it. If Cal can manage to beat Miami (a reeeeeaaaaallllyyyyy) tough task this year, Cal will definitely be ranked at 5-0.

---

If California is 4-0, we will be ranked around 20th, with a decent possibility of CollegeGameday coming for a match against #10-ish Miami. But, there is a lot of work needed to get to that point. Neither SDSU nor FSU are pushovers. Personally, I'm fine with not being ranked now, we tend to quickly drop one once getting ranked

---

That's kind of how I see it too, but I think Cal is generally underrated by the East Coast media so it's more likely Cal will be ranked about 22 or 23 (assuming Cal is 4-0). 20 is about high as I'd guess Cal would be ranked if it is undefeated going into the Miami game; the lowest would be about 28 (so also receiving votes, but just outside the top 25).

---

If we have a ho-hum win over Florida State then sure but if we win impressively than we could get tossed into the top 15, with other upsets

Strykur said:

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01Bear said:

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TheBearWontDie said:

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01Bear said:

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DShaw1999 said:

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3 votes in AP poll. It will take at least 4-0 to eek into the top 25 - maybe even 5-0.

---

I took a look at ESPN's AP ranking and it looks like Cal got 5 votes. This is kind of in the range of what I expected (though I thought Cal would get about 8 votes). If Cal goes 4-0, it'll probably be either ranked at the bottom of the top 25 or just outside of it. If Cal can manage to beat Miami (a reeeeeaaaaallllyyyyy) tough task this year, Cal will definitely be ranked at 5-0.

---

If California is 4-0, we will be ranked around 20th, with a decent possibility of CollegeGameday coming for a match against #10-ish Miami. But, there is a lot of work needed to get to that point. Neither SDSU nor FSU are pushovers. Personally, I'm fine with not being ranked now, we tend to quickly drop one once getting ranked

---

That's kind of how I see it too, but I think Cal is generally underrated by the East Coast media so it's more likely Cal will be ranked about 22 or 23 (assuming Cal is 4-0). 20 is about high as I'd guess Cal would be ranked if it is undefeated going into the Miami game; the lowest would be about 28 (so also receiving votes, but just outside the top 25).

---

If we have a ho-hum win over Florida State then sure but if we win impressively than we could get tossed into the top 15, with other upsets

---

It may depend on how well FSU does next week. FSU's current 0-2 record (admittedly against conference opponents) won't help push Cal up the rankings. Their next game is against a non-P4/5 opponent, Memphis. Even if FSU wins, which it's probably expected to do, it likely won't be rated as a "tough" enough team by the voters to push cal into the teens.

We got 5 votes in the coaches poll, #36.

Others Receiving Votes

• Texas A&M (68) 1-1; Boston College (36) 2-0; Syracuse (33) 2-0; Illinois (33) 2-0; Northern Illinois (30) 2-0; Wisconsin (28) 2-0; South Carolina (25) 2-0; Boise State (20) 1-1; UNLV (19) 2-0; Iowa (17) 1-1; Kansas (14) 1-1; UCF (12) 2-0; NC State (10) 1-1; Texas State (8) 2-0; TCU (6) 2-0; California (5) 2-0; North Carolina (5) 2-0; Liberty (4) 2-0; Arizona State (2) 2-0; BYU (2) 2-0; Pittsburgh (2) 2-0; Michigan State (2) 2-0; Indiana (1) 2-0; James Madison (1) 2-0; Tulane (1) 1-1;

Memphis is #25 with 85 votes, they are FSU's next opponent.

So I was wondering, what happened to finally get the UT program back on track? Was there a donor revolt to get the program out of the clutches of the Haslems, did things just finally start clicking, or is it all the coaching staff? I haven't followed other teams around the country as closely as I used to

Cal88 said:

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We got 5 votes in the coaches poll, #36.

Others Receiving Votes

• Texas A&M (68) 1-1; Boston College (36) 2-0; Syracuse (33) 2-0; Illinois (33) 2-0; Northern Illinois (30) 2-0; Wisconsin (28) 2-0; South Carolina (25) 2-0; Boise State (20) 1-1; UNLV (19) 2-0; Iowa (17) 1-1; Kansas (14) 1-1; UCF (12) 2-0; NC State (10) 1-1; Texas State (8) 2-0; TCU (6) 2-0; California (5) 2-0; North Carolina (5) 2-0; Liberty (4) 2-0; Arizona State (2) 2-0; BYU (2) 2-0; Pittsburgh (2) 2-0; Michigan State (2) 2-0; Indiana (1) 2-0; James Madison (1) 2-0; Tulane (1) 1-1;

Memphis is #25 with 85 votes, they are FSU's next opponent.

---

Someone needs to explain to me how Memphis gets ranked after beating North Alabama and Troy. That just makes zero sense. Unless this is a backdoor attempt to salvage FSU's strength of schedule, I don't get how anyone could vote for Memphis based on who they played.

This excerpt from an ESPN article today partially addresses that question: there is not much separation between teams beyond the top 5.

"Nobody knows anything (mostly)

Here's the dirtiest secret of the college football rankings: There aren't that many teams that truly stand out. And as a minor variant to this point, each conference might have a different tally of truly good teams, but comparing overall conferences is a fool's errand.

As one Power 5 coach told ESPN, "Every year there are five or six great teams, five or six more great-but-flawed teams, and the next 30 are all about the same."

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/page/mondaytakeaways090924/2024-week-2-college-football-takeaways

Want proof?

Through two weeks, here's how the Power 5 (which, for the purposes of discussion, will include Washington State, Oregon State and Notre Dame) conferences stack up in nonconference games against other Power 5 teams.

ACC: 5-5
Big 12: 5-6
Big Ten: 4-4
Notre Dame: 1-0
Pac-12: 1-0
SEC: 5-6

Of those 21 games, only seven were decided by more than a touchdown, and five of those were delivered by one of the small cadre of teams that probably are in the elite (or near-elite) tier of the sport.
We can feel pretty good about Georgia, Texas, Tennessee and Miami, for example, but Illinois' six-point win over Kansas, Duke's double-overtime win over Northwestern and Arizona State's narrow escape from Mississippi State's late comeback attempt probably say nothing about any conference and little about the teams themselves beyond noting they're pretty evenly matched -- one squad just made a few more plays at critical moments than the other.

As the season progresses, we'll get more data points that help paint a clearer picture of college football's hierarchy, and a couple teams we might not have considered elite today will emerge (and a couple others might tumble from the top tiers). The debates will get better the further we get into the season. But it's also important to distinguish what matters from the noise, and as much fun as it might be to laugh at Auburn or the SEC's misfortune in Week 2, the truth is, a seven-point loss to Cal probably doesn't say much at all about who deserves a space in the 12-team playoff by year's end. -- David Hale"

i m going to disagree w yall here. i want us to be ranked asap. i m not losing sleep over it, but we need to start thinking like a winner.

i dont likr the argument that our players get "a big head" or "be overconfident" just because we have a ranking. if we are ranked going into the game against FSU (we prob wont be unless we blow out sdsu like 48-0) , maybe it helps our players weather adversity a bit better. maybe they have that extra pep in their steps and maybe they try just a bit harder. this whole "we are the underdog we will play harder and better" is such a tired schtick that is not based in reality.

the reality is that for cal football to survive, we need eyeballs and we need brand name recognition. if we are ranked in the top 20 and lose to Miami at home, we will probably stay ranked. if we go into it unranked and lose we wont. thats how rankings work. it gives u attention, and relevance. we opened up some eyes this past weekend against Auburn and got featured on SEC shorts. people on reddit are talking about us and our billboards. we need it to survive the next round of realignment

this is the thread i was referencing. lots of people cheering for us (comparing to when realignment happened we were scapegoated)

https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/s/tI2JUVPn7y

There is also a comment in there about the billboard that was cool.

yes I am aware that reddit is not a true representation of america, but they have 2.2M subscribers on the college football community and these diehards/fanatics watch every interesting game. we need to turn some heads this year and we are doing it!

01Bear said:

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Cal88 said:

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We got 5 votes in the coaches poll, #36.

Others Receiving Votes

• Texas A&M (68) 1-1; Boston College (36) 2-0; Syracuse (33) 2-0; Illinois (33) 2-0; Northern Illinois (30) 2-0; Wisconsin (28) 2-0; South Carolina (25) 2-0; Boise State (20) 1-1; UNLV (19) 2-0; Iowa (17) 1-1; Kansas (14) 1-1; UCF (12) 2-0; NC State (10) 1-1; Texas State (8) 2-0; TCU (6) 2-0; California (5) 2-0; North Carolina (5) 2-0; Liberty (4) 2-0; Arizona State (2) 2-0; BYU (2) 2-0; Pittsburgh (2) 2-0; Michigan State (2) 2-0; Indiana (1) 2-0; James Madison (1) 2-0; Tulane (1) 1-1;

Memphis is #25 with 85 votes, they are FSU's next opponent.

---

Someone needs to explain to me how Memphis gets ranked after beating North Alabama and Troy. That just makes zero sense. Unless this is a backdoor attempt to salvage FSU's strength of schedule, I don't get how anyone could vote for Memphis based on who they played.

---

It boosts ratings to have FSU play a ranked team.

Its a large part of why Cal may jump to a ranked team next week IF they can beat SDSU. If we beat both SDSU and FSU we will have an inflated ranking compared to what we will have likely earned purely for the sake of having a game between two high ranked undefeated ACC Teams when we face Miami.

These rankings are always political...

MrGPAC said:

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01Bear said:

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Cal88 said:

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We got 5 votes in the coaches poll, #36.

Others Receiving Votes

• Texas A&M (68) 1-1; Boston College (36) 2-0; Syracuse (33) 2-0; Illinois (33) 2-0; Northern Illinois (30) 2-0; Wisconsin (28) 2-0; South Carolina (25) 2-0; Boise State (20) 1-1; UNLV (19) 2-0; Iowa (17) 1-1; Kansas (14) 1-1; UCF (12) 2-0; NC State (10) 1-1; Texas State (8) 2-0; TCU (6) 2-0; California (5) 2-0; North Carolina (5) 2-0; Liberty (4) 2-0; Arizona State (2) 2-0; BYU (2) 2-0; Pittsburgh (2) 2-0; Michigan State (2) 2-0; Indiana (1) 2-0; James Madison (1) 2-0; Tulane (1) 1-1;

Memphis is #25 with 85 votes, they are FSU's next opponent.

---

Someone needs to explain to me how Memphis gets ranked after beating North Alabama and Troy. That just makes zero sense. Unless this is a backdoor attempt to salvage FSU's strength of schedule, I don't get how anyone could vote for Memphis based on who they played.

---

It boosts ratings to have FSU play a ranked team.

Its a large part of why Cal may jump to a ranked team next week IF they can beat SDSU. If we beat both SDSU and FSU we will have an inflated ranking compared to what we will have likely earned purely for the sake of having a game between two high ranked undefeated ACC Teams when we face Miami.

These rankings are always political...

---

I hear what you're saying, but the only reason we get a bump in rankings by beating FSU is to make Miami's strength of schedule appear better come the following week!

Seriously, there's absolutely no reason for Memphis to be ranked when it hasn't played a P-4/5 team.

Memphis is ranked in the coaches' poll, not by the AP. Most of these coaches just pass this ballot down to an intern to fill out or something. I guarantee they aren't watching Memphis' games.

sycasey said:

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Memphis is ranked in the coaches' poll, not by the AP. Most of these coaches just pass this ballot down to an intern to fill out or something. I guarantee they aren't watching Memphis' games.

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They're #30 in the AP poll, and #25 in the coaches, so not a huge disparity there.

We're in 7th place n the ACC at #40 in the AP poll, and in 8th place at #35 in the coaches' poll. A lot of ACC teams are bunched up in the 20 to 40 range.

MrGPAC said:

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01Bear said:

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Cal88 said:

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We got 5 votes in the coaches poll, #36.

Others Receiving Votes

• Texas A&M (68) 1-1; Boston College (36) 2-0; Syracuse (33) 2-0; Illinois (33) 2-0; Northern Illinois (30) 2-0; Wisconsin (28) 2-0; South Carolina (25) 2-0; Boise State (20) 1-1; UNLV (19) 2-0; Iowa (17) 1-1; Kansas (14) 1-1; UCF (12) 2-0; NC State (10) 1-1; Texas State (8) 2-0; TCU (6) 2-0; California (5) 2-0; North Carolina (5) 2-0; Liberty (4) 2-0; Arizona State (2) 2-0; BYU (2) 2-0; Pittsburgh (2) 2-0; Michigan State (2) 2-0; Indiana (1) 2-0; James Madison (1) 2-0; Tulane (1) 1-1;

Memphis is #25 with 85 votes, they are FSU's next opponent.

---

Someone needs to explain to me how Memphis gets ranked after beating North Alabama and Troy. That just makes zero sense. Unless this is a backdoor attempt to salvage FSU's strength of schedule, I don't get how anyone could vote for Memphis based on who they played.

---

It boosts ratings to have FSU play a ranked team.

Its a large part of why Cal may jump to a ranked team next week IF they can beat SDSU. If we beat both SDSU and FSU we will have an inflated ranking compared to what we will have likely earned purely for the sake of having a game between two high ranked undefeated ACC Teams when we face Miami.

These rankings are always political...

---

Memphis received 44 votes in the preseason Coaches Poll effectively placing 30th. 7 of the teams ahead of them suffered losses that droppped them lower than Memphis, which would have moved them up to #23, but they were leapfrogged by 2 teams that started out below them, which is how they got to the #25 ranking.

I very much doubt the coaches preplanned Memphis's #30 preseason ranking to justify moving them into the Top 25 just in time for the FSU game when just the right number of teams ahead of them would lose.

berserkeley said:

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MrGPAC said:

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01Bear said:

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Cal88 said:

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We got 5 votes in the coaches poll, #36.

Others Receiving Votes

• Texas A&M (68) 1-1; Boston College (36) 2-0; Syracuse (33) 2-0; Illinois (33) 2-0; Northern Illinois (30) 2-0; Wisconsin (28) 2-0; South Carolina (25) 2-0; Boise State (20) 1-1; UNLV (19) 2-0; Iowa (17) 1-1; Kansas (14) 1-1; UCF (12) 2-0; NC State (10) 1-1; Texas State (8) 2-0; TCU (6) 2-0; California (5) 2-0; North Carolina (5) 2-0; Liberty (4) 2-0; Arizona State (2) 2-0; BYU (2) 2-0; Pittsburgh (2) 2-0; Michigan State (2) 2-0; Indiana (1) 2-0; James Madison (1) 2-0; Tulane (1) 1-1;

Memphis is #25 with 85 votes, they are FSU's next opponent.

---

Someone needs to explain to me how Memphis gets ranked after beating North Alabama and Troy. That just makes zero sense. Unless this is a backdoor attempt to salvage FSU's strength of schedule, I don't get how anyone could vote for Memphis based on who they played.

---

It boosts ratings to have FSU play a ranked team.

Its a large part of why Cal may jump to a ranked team next week IF they can beat SDSU. If we beat both SDSU and FSU we will have an inflated ranking compared to what we will have likely earned purely for the sake of having a game between two high ranked undefeated ACC Teams when we face Miami.

These rankings are always political...

---

Memphis received 44 votes in the preseason Coaches Poll effectively placing 30th. 7 of the teams ahead of them suffered losses that droppped them lower than Memphis, which would have moved them up to #23, but they were leapfrogged by 2 teams that started out below them, which is how they got to the #25 ranking.

I very much doubt the coaches preplanned Memphis's #30 preseason ranking to justify moving them into the Top 25 just in time for the FSU game when just the right number of teams ahead of them would lose.

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Yeah, this all goes back to the preseason expectations weighing heavily in the early rankings.

^They were 10-3 last year, albeit in a weaker conference (AAC)

yoteach said:

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I'd be shocked if we were ranked. It'll take a strong performance against SDSU to get in the AP poll. It's a marquee win but it's not a ranked opponent. Even the people beating someone that's ranked this season, I've noticed most of them don't get ranked until they follow up with another win.
It is, however, a good borameter to our abilities and makes me think we could reasably get to 9 to 10 wins. Hopefully we stay healthy.

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I thought we were already not healthy, with Ott nowhere near his usual form, and too much of the OL banged up going in to the Auburn game. And we won anyway, in a tough place to play.

We have been banged up on the line, missing our two top WRs, and having Ott hobbled. We also lost a DL in the game, for a bit. So we have been bitten a little bit but it seems most of these are going to be back relatively soon - hopefully for the FSU game and almost definitely for the Miami game, which would be amazing if we could get by FSU and SDSU unblemished.

Imagine running behind Vitikani, having out speedster WRs back, and playing our friend DJU with our DBs. That should be fun.

Reese missed the Auburn game too, right? Anybody know the scoop there? Upper body injury? Lower body injury? Heartbreak of psoriasis? If you recognize that last one, you're almost certainly over 65 years-old.