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MRI Football 2003: Week 9 - One Week To Go

December 1, 2003  |  By Benjamin Miraski

With the short schedule this week, and an even shorter schedule next week, most things are looking clearer in the Bowl picture. LSU showed that it will be tough to beat in the SEC championship game by blasting out against Arkansas in what was a close game to start. Turnovers killed the Razorbacks, especially when they fumbled the ball twice within their own 20 yard line. You can't make mistakes like that when you are going against tough teams like LSU. LSU will move on to the SEC championship game and most likely face Georgia based on this weekend's results. With Florida losing, it would leave almost no chance for them to represent the East. Most likely, Georgia's big win over Georgia Tech will allow them to try and exact some revenge on the Tigers for an earlier loss this season. The game should be very close and one to watch in the BCS picture.

Of course, if LSU wins, they will rest a lot easier if USC manages to lose to Oregon State this weekend. The Beavers are not a bad team, and while not expected to, they could give USC a tough game. Even a close win though should keep USC in the #2 spot when the Bowl bids are handed out. Of course, this is assuming that Oklahoma can also win the Big 12 championship against Kansas State. Kansas State is a bit more of an opponent than Oregon State will be against USC, but Oklahoma has shown that it doesn't care who is on the field, they aim to win and win big.

TCU will most likely turn down a bid to play in the GMAC bowl against Miami(Ohio), assuming that Miami wins the MAC championship against Bowling Green on Thursday night. According to the school, it conflicts with their finals schedule. This has never been an issue in the past for the Horned Frogs who have just taken their finals a week earlier to accomodate the bowl schedule. It makes you wonder if they are still upset about their performance against Southern Mississippi which cost them the chance to be the BCS spoiler team. It would be a shame for the GMAC bowl not to get TCU. Miami(Ohio) deserves a top opponent for their season, and TCU would be a great match-up. Look for everything to be sorted out as the week ends.

The MRI week 10 will be released as normal next Monday and then will wait for all the bowl games to finish before posting the final rankings of the 2003 season. Enjoy the week.

And Now the Rankings

RANK
TEAM
RECORD
MRI
LW
1
Oklahoma
12-0
158.36
1
2
USC
10-1
115.85
2
3
Michigan
10-2
110.15
3
4
LSU
11-1
104.04
7
5
Miami(Ohio)
11-1
100.25
4
6
Georgia
10-2
98.60
5
7
Texas
10-2
98.54
8
8
Kansas State
10-3
94.54
6
9
Florida State
10-2
90.47
9
10
Boise State
11-1
82.09
15
11
Miami
10-2
81.33
13
12
Minnesota
9-3
80.28
11
13
Nebraska
9-3
75.82
14
14
Washington State
9-3
75.43
12
15
Arkansas
8-4
74.20
10
16
Purdue
9-3
71.55
17
17
Ohio State
10-2
67.84
19
18
Bowling Green
10-2
67.76
20
19
Maryland
9-3
67.06
23
20
Virginia Tech
8-4
65.99
16
21
Memphis
8-4
65.78
18
22
Tennessee
10-2
65.39
24
23
Clemson
8-4
62.93
25
24
Iowa
9-3
62.67
22
25
Cal
7-6
62.00
21

Teams Dropped From The Top 25: None

Other Teams People Might Care About

RANK
TEAM
RECORD
MRI
LW
28
TCU
11-1
58.85
28
37
Pittsburgh
8-4
49.67
32
39
Michigan State
8-4
48.92
41
40
Northern Illinois
10-2
48.56
40
51
Notre Dame
5-6
40.00
61
65
Kansas
6-6
26.08
63
73
Georgia Tech
6-6
17.72
73
79
Penn State
3-9
7.69
81
87
Duke
4-8
-0.45
89
88
Texas A&M
4-8
-1.55
83
105
Illinois
1-11
-29.58
105
106
Indiana
2-10
-33.77
107

Last Place this week:  UTEP (2-11) at -68.81.

Biggest Gain this week: Rice gained 14.66 points. (Beat Louisiana Tech)
Biggest Loss this week: Louisiana Tech lost -13.92 points. (Lost to Rice)

Conference rankings this week:  Big 12, SEC, Big Ten, Big East, PAC-10, ACC, Mountain West, C-USA, WAC, MAC, SunBelt

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Posted December 1, 2003 10:09 AM