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MRI Football 2008 - Rankings Week 9
November 17, 2008
By Benjamin Miraski
I respect being undefeated. It isn't an easy task to run through all 12 games on your schedule and not lose one of them.
With only a couple of weeks left, Alabama and Texas Tech have defeated every opponent that has been put in their way. Some of the wins haven't been pretty, others have been dominant. But the fact remains that they found a way to overcome every obstacle.
Though, ask me who the best team in the country is and you will get an answer that isn't either of those two teams.
Florida is the hands down answer to that question.
The absolute shellacking of South Carolina should have cemented that in everyone's mind. Alabama should be looking ahead to a few weekends from now and wondering how they ever have a shot at holding the Gators under 30 points.
Yet, while Florida is lighting up scoreboards again and again, no one seems to be watching.
How else can you explain that only two AP voters and one coach have the Gators at No. 1 on their ballots?
Have they not watched Florida completely humiliate every opponent since their one-point loss, a loss that took place in September?
Have they not seen Texas Tech and Alabama struggle in wins, wins where they should have been putting 50 or 60 points on the board?
Have they not seen how Tim Tebow has gone from having a down season coming off his Heisman Trophy victory to catapulting into the top five contenders for the award, and potentially becoming a repeat winner?
Does their television set not receive CBS, or ESPN?
Apparently not.
Florida extended its lead in the MRI this week, and with a game against The Citadel this weekend, they could move out even further another week from now. My computer has no trouble seeing what team is No. 1, even if the voters can't (the other computers also disagree, but they place a higher value on not having lost).
It is the picture behind Florida that is a little muddy in the MRI. USC, Texas, Penn State and Oklahoma all have a claim to the second spot in the rankings right now.
You read that right. Texas Tech and Alabama have a lot more work to do in order to get to being in that list.
The Red Raiders can do it by beating Oklahoma. Alabama can do it by embarrassing Auburn next weekend.
They both need some help from other teams to make it to the top two in the MRI's book, but winning big next week could go a long way to curing some of their MRI ills, such as Tech's two 1-AA victories, or Alabama's passing offensive woes and tiny average margin of victory in its SEC games.
Until then, they have to look at their other performances this season, and wonder what could have been while they watch Florida take in all of the glory.
The MRI correctly predicted 72 percent of the games this week after factoring in home field advantage. It has predicted 71.06 percent of the games correctly since its inception.
Check out all the rankings in week 9 of the football MRI.
MRI Top 25 Rankings
| Rank | Team | Record | MRI | LW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Florida | 9-1 | 119.40 | 1 |
| 2 |  USC | 9-1 | 106.25 | 2 |
| 3 |  Texas | 10-1 | 105.09 | 4 |
| 4 |  Penn State | 10-1 | 99.76 | 5 |
| 5 |  Oklahoma | 9-1 | 98.07 | 3 |
| 6 |  Texas Tech | 10-0 | 87.36 | 6 |
| 7 |  TCU | 9-2 | 84.07 | 7 |
| 8 |  Boise State | 10-0 | 83.52 | 8 |
| 9 |  Alabama | 11-0 | 80.74 | 10 |
| 10 |  Missouri | 9-2 | 76.05 | 11 |
| 11 | Ohio State | 9-2 | 73.70 | 12 |
| 12 | Utah | 11-0 | 73.16 | 13 |
| 13 | Oregon State | 7-3 | 64.34 | 18 |
| 14 | Oklahoma State | 9-2 | 64.30 | 14 |
| 15 | BYU | 10-1 | 63.14 | 15 |
| 16 | Georgia | 9-2 | 62.16 | 16 |
| 17 | Tulsa | 8-2 | 60.36 | 9 |
| 18 | Ball State | 10-0 | 56.54 | 19 |
| 19 | Michigan State | 9-2 | 53.12 | 21 |
| 20 | Iowa | 7-4 | 52.60 | 23 |
| 21 | Arizona | 6-4 | 52.07 | 17 |
| 22 | Oregon | 8-3 | 51.96 | 24 |
| 23 | Cal | 6-4 | 50.02 | 20 |
| 24 | North Carolina | 7-3 | 48.32 | 25 |
| 25 | Air Force | 8-3 | 47.69 | 22 |
Teams Dropped From The Top 25: None
Other Teams People Might Care About
| Rank | Team | Record | MRI | LW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | Pittsburgh | 7-2 | 45.54 | 27 |
| 28 | Nebraska | 7-4 | 45.40 | 36 |
| 29 | Wisconsin | 6-5 | 44.87 | 29 |
| 31 | Boston College | 7-3 | 41.75 | 39 |
| 32 | LSU | 7-3 | 41.72 | 33 |
| 34 | Florida State | 7-3 | 41.00 | 26 |
| 36 | Miami | 7-3 | 39.37 | 35 |
| 38 | Georgia Tech | 7-3 | 37.61 | 38 |
| 44 | Vanderbilt | 6-4 | 35.75 | 54 |
| 49 | Notre Dame | 6-4 | 33.74 | 50 |
| 51 | Illinois | 5-6 | 31.06 | 47 |
| 52 | Northern Illinois | 5-5 | 29.59 | 46 |
| 55 | Northwestern | 8-3 | 29.23 | 58 |
| 61 | Clemson | 5-5 | 23.99 | 73 |
| 62 | Maryland | 7-3 | 23.67 | 65 |
| 68 | Tennessee | 3-7 | 19.44 | 67 |
| 69 | Auburn | 5-6 | 18.29 | 70 |
| 86 | UCLA | 4-6 | 2.35 | 92 |
| 87 | Duke | 4-6 | 0.96 | 75 |
| 89 | Purdue | 3-8 | 0.78 | 87 |
| 90 | Michigan | 3-8 | -0.76 | 89 |
| 103 | Texas A&M | 4-7 | -16.56 | 93 |
| 106 | Indiana | 3-8 | -20.05 | 106 |
| 112 | Miami(Ohio) | 2-8 | -31.01 | 113 |
| 120 | Washington State | 1-10 | -88.32 | 119 |
Last Place this week: Washington State (1-10) at -88.32.
Biggest Gain this week: Florida gained 14.23 points. (Beat South Carolina (56-6))
Biggest Loss this week: Tulsa lost 16.59 points (Lost to Houston (30-70))
Conference rankings this week: SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, ACC, Big East, Mountain West, PAC-10, MAC, WAC, C-USA, Sun Belt
Conference rankings this week: SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, ACC, Big East, Mountain West, PAC-10, MAC, WAC, C-USA, 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 17, 2008 8:15 AM