Penn State debuts at No. 13 in BCS

The Nittany Lions have been pegged the No. 13 team in the first BCS standings of 2009. As many had expected, the computers do not like Penn State at all--likely due to a soft schedule--ranking the Lions 17th. Although, the computer rankings were largely skewed by Jeff Sagarin and Peter Wolfe. Sagarin has Penn State 25th, while the Lions aren't even ranked by Wolfe. The four other computer polls have Penn State ranked 15th, 15th, 14th and 13th.

Penn State was bumped up two spots to No. 11 in the Coaches' Poll, and up one spot to No. 13 in the AP Poll.

I'll have my Top 25 posted later tonight. The Penn State game review will come tomorrow.

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Red meat Monday: Michigan State, 12-0

This one is way to good to let be. College Football Poll, a computers-only rankings site about as accurate as Phil Steele, is calling for Michigan State to not only win the Big Ten this season, but run the table doing it! Surely, this will get those Green and White crazies all ginned up. I know I would be.

That's right Steroid Sparty, one of the best college football prediction factories says that your guys in green are going undefeated. Looking at the overall Big Ten predicted order of finish, though, would tell us that this potential 12-0 finish is mostly due to the Spartans missing out on Ohio State, and hosting Penn State in 2009.

I'm not saying that I believe for one second Michigan State will finish 12-0 (see: Purdue 2005), but for all CFP's misses, there have been just as many hits. I encourage you to go and look through the past picks for a bunch of teams, and you'll see that they're just as good as any human's picks, even Phil Steele.

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Penn State in the Polls; Regular season final

Here you go, the latest (most legit) college football rankings.

BCS Poll - Last week: PSU No. 8 (NC)

USA Today/Coaches Poll - PSU No. 6 (NC)

Associated Press (via ESPN) - PSU No. 6 (NC)

The Sporting News - PSU No. 6 (NC)

CBS Sportsline - PSU No. 7 (NC)

College Football Poll - PSU No. 7 (+1)

Jeff Sagarin's Rankings - PSU No. 6 (+1)/No. 10 (NC)-"ELO Chess," used in BCS formula

College Football News - Monday

*Ed.-Oh yeah, and vote in the new poll down below!

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Penn State in the Polls; Holding pattern

Everyone's rankings are out. Penn State is hovering at the 8/8/7 (BCS/C/AP) slot. Penn State just has to worry about the Spartans right now.

BCS Poll - PSU No. 8 (NC)

USA Today/Coaches Poll - PSU No. 8 (NC)

Associated Press (via ESPN) - PSU No. 7 (NC)

The Sporting News - PSU No. 7 (NC)

CBS Sportsline - PSU No. 7 (NC)

College Football Poll - PSU No. 9 (-1)

Jeff Sagarin's Rankings - PSU No. 7 (NC)/No. 10 (+1)-"ELO Chess," used in BCS formula

College Football News -

9. Penn State (10-1) Last Week: 8
W, Indiana 34-7
next game: Michigan State

The Ranking Should Be Higher Because … fine, so maybe the Nittany Lions shouldn't have dropped after a dreary performance (at least in the first half) against Indiana, and maybe the defense really could slow down Missouri. It would be nice to see a dominant win over Michigan State to show that this team really does have a chance against USC (assuming things go to form in the bowl picture).

The Ranking Should Be Lower Because ... that was hardly the big answer to the Iowa loss that everyone was looking for. The defense was stifling against Indiana, but the offense hardly pounded away like it should've.

*Ed.-Oh yeah, and vote in the new poll down below!

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Penn State in the Polls :: Searching for No. 1

Everyone's rankings are out. Texas Tech is siphoning way some of the votes from Penn State. A big win at Iowa, and a loss by Texas Tech, would go a long way in resolving that matter.

BCS Poll - PSU No. 3 (NC)

USA Today/Coaches Poll - PSU No. 2 [No. 1 votes: 14/61(+11)] (+1)

Associated Press (via ESPN) - PSU No. 3 [No. 1 votes: 6/65(+6)] (NC)

The Sporting News - PSU No. 2 (+1)

CBS Sportsline - PSU No. 3 (NC)

College Football Poll - PSU No. 1 (NC)

Jeff Sagarin's Rankings - PSU No. 1 (+1)/No. 4 (-1)-"ELO Chess," used in BCS formula

College Football News -

4. Penn State (9-0) (Last Week: 5)
Didn't Play This Week
next game: at Iowa
The Ranking Should Be Higher Because … the defense, in a one game shot, is good enough to beat anyone in the country. If the Texas offensive line could blast away late on Texas Tech, and the Alabama offensive line had problems with a few defensive fronts like Mississippi's and Kentucky's, then Penn State's lines could certainly show up and produce.
The Ranking Should Be Lower Because ... could the offense keep up with any of the top Big 12 attacks, and could it do much against the Alabama and Florida defenses? The Ohio State game didn't exactly inspire confidence, even in the win.

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Penn State in the Polls; Lions in Top 3

Everyone's rankings are out. Penn State's pantsing of Wisconsin gave the Nittany Lions quite a boost this week. I should point out that College Football News, and College Football Poll--two of the best, most accurate sites around--both rank Penn State No. 2:

USA Today/Coaches Poll - PSU No. 3 (+3)

Associated Press (via ESPN) - PSU No. 3 (+3)

The Sporting News - PSU No. 3 (+3)

CBS Sportsline - PSU No. 3 (+3)

College Football Poll - PSU No. 2 (+3)

Jeff Sagarin's Rankings - PSU No. 3 (+1)/No. 6 (+3), ELO Chess, used in BCS formula

College Football News -

2. Penn State (7-0)
W, at Wisconsin 48-7
next game: Michigan
The Ranking Should Be Higher Because … there's nothing else the team can do to look impressive. It has dominated everyone in the way, and a blowout win at Wisconsin just cements how good this team is. There was speed, power, and a whole bunch of "wow" moments.
The Ranking Should Be Lower Because .. to nitpick, Wisconsin didn't exactly look like Wisconsin. That was a bit of a lifeless team the Nittany Lions just blasted. Whatever ... if you want to put Penn State No. 1, there's no beef here.

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The Computers Love Penn State

When the AP and Coaches polls came out this week, Penn State hovered around No. 16 overall. But when we look at the leading computer rankings--Jeff Sagarin's and College Football Poll--there's a huge difference between the human and computer rankings.

You will notice that in the current CFP, Penn State gets a hefty dose of confidence and a No. 8 ranking. Those looking to discredit the computers will say, "yeah, but the computers didn't 'see' the games." Sorry, that doesn't work. CFP has been one of the most accurate predictors of college football since the early 1990's.

One of my favorite aspects of computer rankings--a lack of bias--comes to the forefront this season, as CFP (Sept. 14 rankings, right) ranks the good SEC teams higher because they're good, not just because they play in the SEC. Also, good teams like UConn and USF are ranked generally higher, because the computer doesn't care that their conference is named the Big East.

What’s even more interesting is that the Sagarin rankings (Sept. 14 rankings, below) put Penn State even higher, at No. 7. But other teams, like USF (Sagarin No. 26), Missouri (No. 18) and Georgia (No. 5) are ranked much lower than conventional wisdom would suggest. But teams like LSU (No. 4), Cal (No. 16) and Virginia Tech (No. 11!) are very highly ranked.


As a Penn State fan, I can’t complain, but as a college football fan, this just doesn’t seem right. I know it’s very early in the season, and things will work out. But right now, the rankings are very flawed. A growing number of fans want the polls to release later in the season, say week four. That won’t happen, as it’s the media’s job to generate hype, controversies and promote college football’s leading conversation—the polls. In fact, the BCS has done one thing right over the years, moving its release date to mid-season. But this is why we love college football more than the NFL. It will never end… fantastic!

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