Stewart Mandel's lack of logic strikes again

Is it just me, or does SI.com columnist Stewart Mandel consistently represent everything that's wrong with the current college football polling system? In his power rankings this week, he listed Illinois (27) ahead of PSU (28). Now, I understand that the Illini beat PSU head-to-head, but look at where the teams were ranked the week before: Illinois 32, PSU 28. The Nittany Lions didn't move an inch in Mandel's rankings after beating a 7-2 Purdue team, while Illinois jumped up five spots following a beatdown of 1-7 Minnesota. Make sense to you? Me neither.

In fact, Mandel proved my point for me, saying "The Illini -- whom Oregon fans, no doubt, are praying can knock off top-ranked Ohio State on Saturday -- head into Columbus with what on the surface appears reasonable amount of momentum. Ron Zook's crew gained 655 total yards on Saturday in a 44-17 rout of Minnesota. Rashard Mendenhall ran for 201 yards, and Juice Williams ran for 133, but those stats don't mean all that much. The Gophers' run defense is ranked 115th in the country; the Buckeyes' is ranked third. The Ducks faithful would be better off pinning their hopes on Michigan."

Thank you Stewie. Is it such an accomplishment to beat a team that lost to Florida Atlantic and North Dakota State? Apparently, it is to Mandel. I would hope Illinois rolled up that many yards and points on the worst team in the conference (and probably other conferences, too). But apparently for PSU, holding one of the best Big Ten offenses to ZERO touchdowns isn't that impressive to him.

Illinois leapfrogs PSU for beating a horrible, one-win team, while PSU remains stagnant for beating a quality, bowl-bound opponent. And this guy gets a vote each week?