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October 13, 2008
MRI Football 2008 - Rankings Week 4
Remember that game that was going to decide the No. 1 spot in the MRI? It did, only not in the way that was expected.
Despite the "upset" victory by Texas over Oklahoma (The MRI had it right), Texas couldn't hold its lead. Penn State's destruction of Wisconsin made sure of that.
The Nittany Lions were able to do what Michigan and Ohio State couldn't -- a beat down of the team that many thought would be one of the contenders in the conference. While others were able to squeak by the Badgers, Penn State had no such worries.
And so they fly to the top of the rankings this week, knocking down the Longhorns to the No. 2 spot despite the impressive victory over the very tough Oklahoma Sooners.
Coming in at No. 3 is USC, who probably has the inside track to the National title game if they win out. While it wouldn't seem that way being in third, the Trojans do not have a conference title game to contend with, and they still have the easiest part of their schedule ahead. While I expected slightly more against Arizona State over the weekend, I am not shocked that the Trojans are where they are overall.
Florida may have had the most consequential victory of the weekend. Beating previously unblemished LSU led to a big jump for the Gators, especially after their squeaker of a loss the week before. The loss by LSU dropped them far out of the top 25, making hopes for a repeat chance at the title looking unlikely. Despite Florida's struggles this season, they still look like a possible contender, but as always, the road from the SEC to the title game is much more difficult.
Still looking for that BCS buster? Maybe Tulsa should get a longer glance. The Golden Hurricane are undefeated but are not feeling the love in the polls.
The most likely reason is their 117th ranked schedule, according to the MRI statistics. It hasn't stopped Tulsa from breaking up into the top five but it does make it harder for them to continue to stay there. Just witness Tulsa's drop to fifth from fourth in the last week. A close victory over SMU is not the same as a close victory over a team ranked higher than 117 in the MRI.
Being a paper heavyweight also means that a loss will be all the more damaging for the team. The next three games against UTEP, Central Florida and Arkansas could be the undoing for the high fliers.
The MRI correctly predicted 75 percent of the games last weekend when factoring in home field advantage.
Check out all the rankings in week four of the football MRI.
MRI Top 25 Rankings
| Rank | Team | Record | MRI | LW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Penn State | 7-0 | 88.85 | 2 |
| 2 |  Texas | 6-0 | 81.35 | 1 |
| 3 |  USC | 4-1 | 73.35 | 5 |
| 4 |  Florida | 5-1 | 67.33 | 12 |
| 5 |  Tulsa | 6-0 | 66.71 | 4 |
| 6 |  Missouri | 5-1 | 65.20 | 3 |
| 7 |  BYU | 6-0 | 65.16 | 9 |
| 8 |  TCU | 6-1 | 64.97 | 7 |
| 9 |  Alabama | 6-0 | 62.80 | 8 |
| 10 |  Utah | 7-0 | 59.15 | 13 |
| 11 | Oklahoma | 5-1 | 58.97 | 6 |
| 12 | Oklahoma State | 6-0 | 58.79 | 10 |
| 13 | Texas Tech | 6-0 | 57.61 | 11 |
| 14 | Boise State | 5-0 | 54.47 | 17 |
| 15 | Cal | 4-1 | 53.29 | 15 |
| 16 | Michigan State | 6-1 | 52.70 | 16 |
| 17 | Arizona | 4-2 | 52.53 | 14 |
| 18 | Kansas | 5-1 | 51.52 | 23 |
| 19 | Georgia | 5-1 | 49.27 | 24 |
| 20 | South Florida | 5-1 | 47.61 | 22 |
| 21 | Wake Forest | 4-1 | 45.34 | NR(29) |
| 22 | Oregon State | 3-3 | 45.12 | NR(37) |
| 23 | Georgia Tech | 5-1 | 45.12 | 21 |
| 24 | Florida State | 4-1 | 43.99 | NR(27) |
| 25 | Iowa | 4-3 | 43.60 | NR(39) |
Teams Dropped From The Top 25: Wisconsin (LW #18, TW #31), Vanderbilt (LW #19, TW #33), LSU (LW #20, TW #42), Minnesota (LW #25, TW #29)
Other Teams People Might Care About
| Rank | Team | Record | MRI | LW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Boston College | 4-1 | 43.02 | 26 |
| 27 | Ohio State | 6-1 | 42.91 | 30 |
| 29 | Minnesota | 6-1 | 42.57 | 25 |
| 31 | Wisconsin | 3-3 | 39.18 | 18 |
| 32 | Pittsburgh | 4-1 | 38.51 | 34 |
| 33 | Vanderbilt | 5-1 | 37.87 | 19 |
| 39 | Notre Dame | 4-2 | 35.06 | 31 |
| 41 | Northwestern | 5-1 | 34.09 | 35 |
| 42 | LSU | 4-1 | 33.67 | 20 |
| 45 | Nebraska | 3-3 | 31.89 | 40 |
| 49 | Auburn | 4-3 | 30.19 | 33 |
| 50 | Illinois | 3-3 | 29.59 | 42 |
| 53 | Northern Illinois | 3-3 | 27.24 | 57 |
| 62 | Duke | 3-2 | 22.27 | 62 |
| 63 | Miami | 3-3 | 22.23 | 74 |
| 64 | Tennessee | 2-4 | 21.97 | 51 |
| 66 | Clemson | 3-3 | 19.48 | 55 |
| 86 | Maryland | 4-2 | 6.53 | 90 |
| 89 | UCLA | 2-4 | 4.37 | 86 |
| 92 | Purdue | 2-4 | 3.35 | 89 |
| 93 | Texas A&M | 2-4 | 3.13 | 91 |
| 96 | Indiana | 2-4 | 2.21 | 67 |
| 97 | Michigan | 2-4 | 1.01 | 85 |
| 103 | Miami(Ohio) | 1-5 | -7.37 | 98 |
| 118 | Washington State | 1-6 | -47.48 | 119 |
Last Place this week: Idaho (1-6) at -63.26. 3rd week in a row.
Biggest Gain this week: Florida International gained 13.40 points. (Beat Middle Tennessee State (31-21))
Biggest Loss this week: Indiana lost 16.06 points (Lost to Iowa (9-45))
Conference rankings this week: Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Mountain West, Big East, PAC-10, MAC, C-USA, WAC, Sun Belt
Conference rankings this week: Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Mountain West, Big East, PAC-10, MAC, C-USA, WAC, Sun Belt
The MRI Rankings are copyright 2008 by MRISports.com. Ben Miraski is a reporter for the Medill News Service, edits and writes for MRISports.com and is a featured blogger on FanIQ. Readers can contact Ben at bmiraski@mrisports.com
Posted by bmiraski at October 13, 2008 7:57 AM
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