Alabama Tops Coaches Poll And Florida Is Somehow Sixth

by Jeremy Mauss on Sep 7, 2010 10:50 AM PDT in Mountain West Football

The coaches poll is out and for the first time in a long time teams moved down for winning. Congrats coaches for taking in account how a team plays in a win. Referring to Florida here who managed to gain 212 yards against Miami (OH) who had one of the worst defenses in the nation, and only fell to sixth. Our blogpoll has them at 12th and that might be generous.

I am mildly surprised that Boise did not receive a single first place vote, but they are only 93 points behind Ohio State who plays a tough Miami (FL) team next week. Alabama plays Penn State, so Boise State could be number one if both lose (pause while the Boise fans collect themselves).

BYU makes an appearance in the poll at 23 because of a win that may have been more in reputation then actually beating a quality opponent. We have no idea how good Washington is but there is a ton of hype on Jake Locker.

TCU moves up to five after their win over Oregon State and Utah moves up four spots to be tied with Auburn after beating Pitt last Thursday night.

Air Force received a vote after turning a mediocre game into a blowout in the second half over Northwestern State. Keep reading for the poll.

Rank	Team (first-place votes)	Record	Points	Preseason rank
1.	Alabama (55)	1-0	1,470	1
2.	Ohio State (4)	1-0	1,397	2
3.	Boise State	1-0	1,304	5
4.	Texas	1-0	1,264	4
5.	TCU	1-0	1,144	7
6.	Florida	1-0	1,130	3
7.	Nebraska	1-0	1,085	9
8.	Oregon	1-0	1,054	11
9.	Iowa	1-0	1,027	10
10.	Oklahoma	1-0	969	8
11.	Wisconsin	1-0	821	12
12.	Miami (Fla.)	1-0	799	13
13.	Virginia Tech	0-1	698	6
14.	Penn State	1-0	655	14
15.	Arkansas	1-0	531	19
16.	LSU	1-0	527	16
17.	Georgia Tech	1-0	519	17
18.	Florida State	1-0	500	20
19.	Georgia	1-0	458	21
20t.	Auburn	1-0	371	23
20t.	Utah	1-0	371	24 (tie)
22.	West Virginia	1-0	185	24 (tie)
23.	Arizona	1-0	128	NR
24.	Brigham Young	1-0	113	NR
25.	South Carolina	1-0	90	NR

Dropped out
No. 15 Pittsburgh (0-1, lost to then-No. 24 Utah 27-24 OT), No. 18 North Carolina (0-1, lost to No. 16 LSU 30-24), No. 22 Oregon State (0-1, lost to then-No. 7 TCU 30-21).
Others receiving votes
Houston 87; Notre Dame 86; Stanford 55; Pittsburgh 53; Oregon State 40; North Carolina 36; Oklahoma State 36; Clemson 28; Missouri 27; Michigan 17; Michigan State 11; California 10; Cincinnati 9; Washington 9; Arizona State 7; Boston College 7; Texas Tech 7; Connecticut 6; Texas A&M 6; Fresno State 5; Mississippi State 5; South Florida 4; Maryland 3; Northwestern 3; Kansas State 2; North Carolina State 2; Air Force 1; Nevada 1; Temple 1; Tennessee 1.

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Comments

I vote Florida # 28 after that performance.

Without Tebow, who was the heart and soul of that team, they should get the same treatment as other programs. Which is a high twenties ranking until they PROVE otherwise.

by NC Ute on Sep 7, 2010 11:03 AM PDT reply actions

Good to see MWC and WAC teams representing in the polls.

Boise State, TCU, Utah, BYU, Fresno State, Air Force, Nevada …

by LoboJo on Sep 7, 2010 11:43 AM PDT reply actions

All of those schools

(excerpting Utah and BYU) will be in the MWC… great news for the MWC.

Mountain West Connection - The best site for MWC Sports.
UNLV is going all the way this year!

by rebelfan1 on Sep 7, 2010 2:20 PM PDT up reply actions

We got one vote yay

by WolfpackNev on Sep 7, 2010 11:52 AM PDT reply actions

Everyone I read had BYU losing

You say BYU may not have beaten a quality opponent, but how do we know for sure how good anyone is this early in the season? Maybe VT isn’t that good of a team. Maybe Washington will end up having one of the most dynamic offenses in the nation and BYU’s defense held them to only 17 points, including 0 points in the second half. It’s all just speculation at this point. The only poll that really matters is the one at the end of the season. I’m just glad teams from non-BCS conferences are getting more respect early in the season then they used to in the past, regardless if it’s deserved or not.

Don't trust this guy. He lies.

by urnext on Sep 7, 2010 11:59 AM PDT reply actions

Washington

Based on last few years Washington has been bad and we don’t know if they are improved, but totally agree about not knowing how good any teams are at this point.

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by Jeremy Mauss on Sep 7, 2010 1:01 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

That's about what I think

Washington could be good this year, and Virginia Tech could be bad, but based on what I saw last year, I’m obviously viewing them differently. As the year goes on, obviously the poll should shift dynamically to reflect this year’s teams.

by VA Libertarian on Sep 7, 2010 1:04 PM PDT up reply actions

agreed

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by Jeremy Mauss on Sep 7, 2010 1:26 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

Look at Washington's recent history

Two years ago they finished a horid 0-12. Then Sarkisian took over and they went 5-7, in his first year, including 4-5 in the Pac-10 with wins over USC and Cal. Based on that, and with Heisman candidate Locker coming back, the belief was they’d take that next step forward and be a bowl team. Only the season will show if that’s true. But at the very least BYU beat a middle of the pack Pac-10 team

In the preseason coaches poll, BYU was ranked 28. Considering the win and that several teams in front of them lost like Cincinnati and Oregon St, jumping 4 spots is about right. It’s not like they weren’t getting any votes and suddenly everyone decided to take notice once they saw the win over Washington.

My only problem is this is supposed to be a MWC blog site. I understand there’s going to be some animosity towards BYU considering they’ve won 118 conference championships since the league started which is more than all the other teams in the conference combined, but I would hope that at the very least the front page articles would be free of anti-BYU sentiment. But it seems like every time they’re mentioned, the writers bias towards BYU comes through in what they’re saying.

Don't trust this guy. He lies.

by urnext on Sep 7, 2010 4:49 PM PDT up reply actions

the reason byu

was that high in the coaches poll is because some yahoo writer from Logan, UT had them 11th and he was one of two voters (the other from Vegas) who voted BYU in the top 25.

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by Jeremy Mauss on Sep 7, 2010 5:04 PM PDT up reply actions

That's the AP poll, not the coaches

And BYU still not ranked in the AP poll.

Don't trust this guy. He lies.

by urnext on Sep 7, 2010 5:05 PM PDT up reply actions

whoops

my bad I posted both today on those.

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by Jeremy Mauss on Sep 7, 2010 5:07 PM PDT up reply actions

that guy dropped them completely

Mountain West Connection The best site for MWC sports!

by Jeremy Mauss on Sep 7, 2010 5:07 PM PDT up reply actions

Although I guess it is possible

The Utah State head coach, Gary Anderson, might be really high on BYU and gave them a good ranking.

Don't trust this guy. He lies.

by urnext on Sep 7, 2010 5:09 PM PDT up reply actions

Which coaches are voting this year?

And personally I hate the coaches poll. It’s ridiculous and not filled out by any actual coaches most of the time, and it’s double ridiculous that the votes are secret all year. Tell us who is voting for whom.

Everyone hates a pink-shirt-wearing communist.

by displacedute on Sep 8, 2010 10:14 AM PDT up reply actions

Washington hype

I am just not buying that they are that good and with what BYU lost I find it hard to put them in the top 25. Just because they beat an expected middle of the pack Pac-10 team does not make them a top 25 team in my opinion. You can check our blogpoll for what me and Rebelfan1 vote like in our poll. I was very close to putting BYU in my top 25 but feel they are just on the outside. Now, if they beat Air Force they will be in my top 25 for sure.

I can be critical of BYU but have no real hatred toward them (maybe when they play utah) there maybe others, but I dont think they suck I just dont think at this juncture in the season they are a top 25 team.

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by Jeremy Mauss on Sep 7, 2010 5:10 PM PDT up reply actions

I just don’t see why it’s necesary to make that caveat about BYU’s ranking when that same caveat is true for everyone else as well. Like I said, I have no problem with people being critical of BYU, I would just hope the anti-BYU sentiment wouldn’t come out so much in the front page stories.

Don't trust this guy. He lies.

by urnext on Sep 7, 2010 5:15 PM PDT up reply actions

was I hateful?

As I said I dont think their Washington win merits a top 25 ranking.

Mountain West Connection The best site for MWC sports!

by Jeremy Mauss on Sep 7, 2010 7:05 PM PDT up reply actions

You weren't hateful

The Mountain West Conection is supposed to represent all the teams in the MWC, but several times I’ve read stories where the writter has shown a clear bias against BYU. It’s my opinion, and it’s just an opinion, the front page writters should at least try to be unbiased in their stories. The comments section and the fan posts should be the place where those feeling should be expressed IMO.

Don't trust this guy. He lies.

by urnext on Sep 7, 2010 8:18 PM PDT up reply actions

Ok...

It wasn’t represented in this article – why are you bringing that up in this thread?

Mountain West Connection - The best site for MWC Sports.
UNLV is going all the way this year!

by rebelfan1 on Sep 7, 2010 9:59 PM PDT up reply actions

be careful

You had Pitt two spots ahead of Utah in the blogpoll. so…

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by Jeremy Mauss on Sep 7, 2010 11:11 PM PDT up reply actions

Gotta call out something dumb...

Cincinnati gets 9 points while Fresno State gets 5….after Fresno State wins by 14 over Cincinnati…..come on, Coaches….pay attention.

"Lord, beer me strength."

by TexansDC on Sep 7, 2010 3:39 PM PDT reply actions

I agree and I've said this for years, there needs to be a rule for voters, and here it is:

You can’t vote a team above a team they lost to as long as that team has an equal or better record. If there are multiple such teams (Texas, OU, Tech being the example from a few years ago), then you have to vote them within 2 spots of one another (so UT #1, OU #3, TTech #5 or any similar combination).

This will remove ridiculous things like Craig James voting Pitt 12 and Utah unranked, or in 2005 when TCU beat OU IN NORMAN and still was ranked like 8 spots below them after the game (TCU 1-0, OU 0-1, how is that fair)?

Otherwise, the games mean nothing. Just give Alabama the crown now if you’re willing to vote losers ahead of winners who have better records.

Now, the same isn’t true of losers who have better records. UF was better than Ole Miss when UF was 12-1 and Ole Miss was 8-5. But FSU wasn’t better than Miami when both teams were 11-1 but FSU lost to Miami (but still got into the title game).

Everyone hates a pink-shirt-wearing communist.

by displacedute on Sep 7, 2010 4:00 PM PDT up reply actions

But but but

What if Craig James – or any other voter in the AP or coaches poll – feels it in his guts that Pitt is better than Utah, no matter what the result was when they actually played each other! His guts know football! Better than some arbitrary “won-loss” record or “score” in a “head to head matchup”!

We want to build a university our football team can be proud of. -- Dr. George Lynn Cross

by marktgarten on Sep 7, 2010 5:36 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs