Rankman Rankings: Baylor Jumping Five Spots After Beating Texas Seems A Bit Waco
Athletic directors from playoff-competitive programs are lining up this week to schedule Texas. The power of Bevo was on full display this week when Baylor used a win over the Longhorns to move up five spots in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings. Last week, Baylor was the team that blew a 31-10 lead to Oklahoma and the program that was chastised by the committee for playing Rice, UTSA and basketball powerhouse Stephen F. Austin. This week, Baylor channeled Wernher von Braun and rode the Saturn V to No. 9 with a 24-10 win over Texas. The game must have been at hostile Texas, right? Nope. Texas must be good, right? Nope. The unranked Longhorns fell to 6-5 with the defeat but no one can say Tom Herman’s team was not a factor in this year’s playoff chase. The traditional polls were less impressed, as Baylor’s triumph warranted only a two-spot jump in the AP (and three spots in the coaches’ poll). But the 13-person committee saw something in Baylor it did not see one week before. “They had a dominant win over Texas from beginning to end,” noted Committee Chair Rob Mullens, suddenly “The most trusted man in Paul Finebaum country” now that he has overseen Oregon dropping eight spots to No. 14 after a three-point loss at Arizona State. Mullens said there were more factors in raising Baylor’s profile such as beating Iowa State and Oklahoma State which, it should be noted, Baylor had also done when the Bears were ranked No. 14. It will be fascinating to see how much higher Baylor can climb with a win at 3-8 Kansas this week. The Jayhawks, after all, played mighty Texas to a two-point loss at Austin.
1: LSU (11-0): Still No.1 in Rankman, Gumbo Illustrated, Red Stick Index, Tiger Beat, AP and USA Yesterday. (1)
2: Ohio State (11-0): “Have you heard? Jim Harbaugh is only going to dress 22 players for Saturday’s game. The rest have to dress themselves…” (2)
3: Clemson (11-0): How many South Carolina players does it take to make popcorn? Eleven. One to hold the pan and 10 to shake the stove. (3)
4: Georgia (10-1): “What’s the difference between a Georgia Tech fan and a park bench? The park bench can support a family…”(4)
5: Utah (10-1): Catch the latest Utes news, traffic and weather on Salt Lake’s radio’s No.1 Drive-Time Show “Romney & Hatch.” (6)
6: Alabama (10-1): Why is it so hard to solve a murder at Auburn? All the DNA is the same and there are no dental records. (7)
7: Oklahoma (10-1): "Hear about the Oklahoma State fan who broke his neck raking leaves? Yeah, he fell out of the tree." (8)
8: Florida (9-2): "How do you keep a Florida State player out of your yard? Put up a goal post." (9)
9: Minnesota (10-1): Believed to have won first meeting versus Wisconsin, 63-0, in 1890, on 30 safeties and a field goal. (12)
10: Michigan (9-2): “Why do Buckeye players go to the movies in groups of 18 or more? Because 17-and-under not admitted.” (14)
11: Notre Dame (10-2): Fitting that Irish will celebrate Thanksgiving in Bay Area and then play team formerly known as the Indians. (13)
12: Penn State (10-1): “Hot ticket” Franklin one more 11-point road loss from being named next coach of the Dallas Cowboys. (10)
13: Oregon (9-2): “Hear about the Oregon State track star who won gold at the Olympics? He was so happy he came home and had it bronzed.” (5)
14:Baylor (10-1): If you extrapolate it out the Bears are only two more wins over 6-5 Texas from being No.1. (14)
15: Wisconsin (9-2): Did not play Minnesota in 1906 due to Teddy Roosevelt’s temporary ban on rivalries plus labor strike led by Samuel Gophers. (15)
16: Iowa (8-3): What better time to remind Nebraska-week fans their Huskers are 40-35 since joining the Big Ten. (16)
Next Four Out
Auburn: “What do you get if you see an Alabama fan buried up to his neck in sand? More sand…”
Cincinnati: Jim Murray on why town hasn’t finished the freeway: “It’s Kentucky’s turn to use the cement mixer.”
Memphis: Don King says win over Cincinnati on Friday would trigger an automatic unification rematch for AAC belt next week at Madison Square Garden.
Boise State: Still alive in the Group of 5 race but officially eliminated from Gang of Seven post-season play.
Next Four Never:
Akron: Zips (0-12) first winless season since 1942 (0-7-2). Also recorded no wins in 1903 (0-2), 1896 (0-1) and 1492 (0-0).
Rutgers: Deal for Schiano not dead according to people who know where Jimmy Hoffa is buried.
Northwestern: A year after winning Big Ten West the 0-8 Cats head to Illinois looking to pop some Champaign**.**
UTEP: Season never had a prayer after two-point opening victory over Houston Baptist.