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MRI Football 2008 - Rankings Week 8
November 10, 2008
By Benjamin Miraski
The toxic No. 1 bug finally hit Penn State over the weekend. If there was a team left on the Nittany Lions' schedule that could have taken them out it was Iowa.
The Hawkeyes may not be the most impressive team in the country, but no team has played its opponents harder this year, and gotten beaten by fewer points than Iowa.
Sure, four losses don't look pretty, but there is a pretty good team in the yellow and black each week, ready to take out some tough opponents.
That is why the Hawkeyes have a coveted spot in the MRI rankings at No. 23.
Penn State, feeling the unlucky mojo, took a steep drop down the ladder to No. 5 after the loss. Their drop was assisted by big wins from some of the other contenders for the MRI crown.
With only a month remaining in the season, the race at the top is very tight, and the stuff that BCS nightmares are made of.
Look at the MRI No. 1, Florida.
The Gators are probably the team that scares the BCS, Alabama and Texas Tech, the most right now. With a single loss by a single point, Florida might be in the best position to sneak into the title game with a single loss, and a single loss which could have them jumping Texas Tech by the end of the year in the computers and the human polls.
Since the loss, Florida has been unstoppable, and teams have just fallen aside in their wake.
If the Gators can win against South Carolina, they will move on to the SEC championship against Alabama. If Florida can not stumble against its final two opponents, there is nothing keeping them from the title game if they beat Alabama.
The question is who would they play. Texas Tech looks like the most likely candidate at this point, but the computers -- and the voters -- can be fickle.
Can Texas Tech, currently No. 6 in the MRI, make it the rest of the way undefeated?
Oklahoma looks like the toughest test for the Red Raiders, and Oklahoma, despite a let down against a Texas team that was better on that day, is again rolling like they did earlier in the season.
Perhaps Oklahoma will end the Texas Tech run. That is on the verge of forcing a three way tie for the Big XII South, which could end up falling to Texas after all the tie breakers are run.
The bottom line is that this season could end up being just as much of a mess as last season was with all the losses by the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the BCS.
The biggest hope for conference commissioners is that Alabama and Texas Tech are able to stay without a loss the rest of the way. Neither has an easy road, and the MRI predicts that at least one game on each team's schedule could trip them up.
Basically, neither has a guaranteed run to the title by any standard.
So, time will tell, and have the commissioners pulling their hair out until Dec. 6 has come to a close.
The MRI correctly predicted 77.8 percent of the games this week when factoring in home field advantage. Since its inception, the MRI has correctly predicted 71.04 percent of the games.
Check out all the rankings in week 8 of the football MRI.
MRI Top 25 Rankings
| Rank | Team | Record | MRI | LW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Florida | 8-1 | 105.17 | 2 |
| 2 |  USC | 8-1 | 100.24 | 3 |
| 3 |  Oklahoma | 9-1 | 97.75 | 6 |
| 4 |  Texas | 9-1 | 96.31 | 4 |
| 5 |  Penn State | 9-1 | 95.44 | 1 |
| 6 |  Texas Tech | 10-0 | 86.67 | 7 |
| 7 |  TCU | 9-2 | 82.74 | 5 |
| 8 |  Boise State | 9-0 | 79.33 | 10 |
| 9 |  Tulsa | 8-1 | 76.95 | 8 |
| 10 |  Alabama | 10-0 | 75.74 | 9 |
| 11 | Missouri | 8-2 | 72.83 | 13 |
| 12 | Ohio State | 8-2 | 71.29 | 14 |
| 13 | Utah | 10-0 | 69.89 | 11 |
| 14 | Oklahoma State | 8-2 | 59.97 | 12 |
| 15 | BYU | 9-1 | 59.93 | 15 |
| 16 | Georgia | 8-2 | 58.87 | 17 |
| 17 | Arizona | 6-3 | 56.93 | 18 |
| 18 | Oregon State | 6-3 | 56.65 | 21 |
| 19 | Ball State | 9-0 | 54.71 | 24 |
| 20 | Cal | 6-3 | 53.09 | 16 |
| 21 | Michigan State | 9-2 | 51.51 | 20 |
| 22 | Air Force | 8-2 | 50.95 | 25 |
| 23 | Iowa | 6-4 | 50.87 | 19 |
| 24 | Oregon | 7-3 | 48.85 | 23 |
| 25 | North Carolina | 7-2 | 48.36 | NR(28) |
Teams Dropped From The Top 25: Minnesota (LW #22, TW #40)
Other Teams People Might Care About
| Rank | Team | Record | MRI | LW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Florida State | 7-2 | 45.81 | 29 |
| 27 | Pittsburgh | 7-2 | 43.90 | 40 |
| 29 | Wisconsin | 5-5 | 42.42 | 41 |
| 33 | LSU | 6-3 | 39.01 | 31 |
| 35 | Miami | 6-3 | 38.65 | 34 |
| 36 | Nebraska | 6-4 | 38.00 | 43 |
| 38 | Georgia Tech | 7-3 | 37.72 | 26 |
| 39 | Boston College | 6-3 | 36.99 | 51 |
| 46 | Northern Illinois | 5-4 | 32.67 | 32 |
| 47 | Illinois | 5-5 | 32.49 | 42 |
| 50 | Notre Dame | 5-4 | 31.86 | 35 |
| 54 | Vanderbilt | 5-4 | 30.15 | 46 |
| 58 | Northwestern | 7-3 | 26.45 | 39 |
| 65 | Maryland | 6-3 | 21.34 | 58 |
| 67 | Tennessee | 3-7 | 18.40 | 67 |
| 70 | Auburn | 5-5 | 17.95 | 70 |
| 73 | Clemson | 4-5 | 15.14 | 71 |
| 75 | Duke | 4-5 | 13.33 | 68 |
| 87 | Purdue | 3-7 | 0.61 | 88 |
| 89 | Michigan | 3-7 | -0.49 | 101 |
| 92 | UCLA | 3-6 | -2.37 | 84 |
| 93 | Texas A&M | 4-6 | -4.28 | 82 |
| 106 | Indiana | 3-7 | -18.25 | 100 |
| 113 | Miami(Ohio) | 2-7 | -32.12 | 113 |
| 119 | Washington State | 1-9 | -75.94 | 119 |
Last Place this week: North Texas (1-9) at -76.43.
Biggest Gain this week: Oklahoma gained 14.19 points. (Beat Texas A&M (66-28))
Biggest Loss this week: Tulane lost 15.09 points (Lost to Houston (14-42))
Conference rankings this week: Big 12, SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big East, Mountain West, PAC-10, MAC, C-USA, WAC, Sun Belt
Conference rankings this week: Big 12, SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big East, Mountain West, 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 November 10, 2008 9:38 AM