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MRI Football 2008 - Rankings Week 11
December 1, 2008
By Benjamin Miraski
Dear BCS --
I don't blame you for being a little gun shy after this weekend. I would advise not going to Texas anytime soon.
But you should be let off the hook, at least for now. You don't control the voters. You don't control the computers. And you most definitely don't control the Big XII athletics directors who signed up for a tie-breaker that they never thought would happen, let alone decide a potential National Championship participant.
The problem is that your biggest controversy is yet to happen.
I know you can sit back now and believe that the SEC champion and Oklahoma will make the title game lack its requisite controversy, but I wouldn't rest easy yet.
Things happen...
- Like injuries -- Will a bad non-throwing hand have an effect on Sam Bradford in the Big XII game? Yeah, you bet. One sack (although they have been rare against Oklahoma this season) could end his game fairly quickly. And that might be enough emotional fodder for Missouri. Then what?
- Like close games -- If Florida beats Alabama by five or less points, then what? Alabama has been a favorite No. 1 (even if the MRI doesn't believe in them). Could people believe that Alabama is still No. 2?
- Like leftovers -- Texas is not happy. And you can bet that anything that would give someone the chance to move Texas back ahead of Oklahoma will be more than jumped at. Texas could come ruin your party, even if Oklahoma wins against Missouri. It would take a lot of human votes to move them, but it is a possibility.
- Like outsiders -- What if the football gods (those are those mythical creatures not also known as the BCS conference commissioners) decide that USC should really make it? What if Missouri wins and no one likes Texas enough to push them up? What if the No. 5 USC Trojans make it? Then what is the explanation this year? The MRI thinks that USC is the No. 2 team in the country right now. Could the computers in your formula make the same determination after the final weekend?
Plain and simple, the Big XII making a poor choice turned the race for the championship into a mess. This is not the your fault.
But you could take the brunt of the blame when the weirdness that always infects college football takes hold in its final weekend.
And you should be fearful starting when the ball kicks at 4 p.m. Saturday. It can only go downhill from then on.
Sincerely,
The MRI
The MRI struggled this week and only predicted 68.3 percent of the games correctly with home field advantage. All time, it has predicted 71.07 percent of the games.
Check out all the rankings in week 11 of the football MRI.
MRI Top 25 Rankings
| Rank | Team | Record | MRI | LW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Florida | 11-1 | 124.89 | 1 |
| 2 |  USC | 10-1 | 118.74 | 4 |
| 3 |  Oklahoma | 11-1 | 114.98 | 3 |
| 4 |  Texas | 11-1 | 114.67 | 5 |
| 5 |  Penn State | 11-1 | 112.65 | 2 |
| 6 |  Boise State | 12-0 | 96.53 | 8 |
| 7 |  TCU | 10-2 | 94.55 | 6 |
| 8 |  Alabama | 12-0 | 93.00 | 7 |
| 9 |  Ohio State | 10-2 | 82.98 | 9 |
| 10 |  Utah | 12-0 | 82.55 | 10 |
| 11 | Texas Tech | 11-1 | 80.77 | 11 |
| 12 | Missouri | 9-3 | 73.16 | 12 |
| 13 | Oregon | 9-3 | 68.73 | 21 |
| 14 | Tulsa | 10-2 | 67.27 | 13 |
| 15 | Ball State | 12-0 | 67.02 | 18 |
| 16 | Oklahoma State | 9-3 | 61.27 | 15 |
| 17 | Iowa | 8-4 | 60.12 | 17 |
| 18 | Georgia | 9-3 | 59.19 | 16 |
| 19 | BYU | 10-2 | 58.65 | 19 |
| 20 | Oregon State | 8-4 | 57.20 | 14 |
| 21 | Cal | 7-4 | 56.16 | 20 |
| 22 | Mississippi | 8-4 | 51.24 | NR(32) |
| 23 | Arizona | 6-5 | 50.15 | 23 |
| 24 | Nebraska | 8-4 | 49.65 | 25 |
| 25 | Boston College | 9-3 | 48.77 | NR(28) |
Teams Dropped From The Top 25: Florida State (LW #22, TW #27), Michigan State (LW #24, TW #26)
Other Teams People Might Care About
| Rank | Team | Record | MRI | LW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Michigan State | 9-3 | 48.17 | 24 |
| 27 | Florida State | 8-4 | 46.49 | 22 |
| 28 | Georgia Tech | 9-3 | 45.53 | 31 |
| 31 | Pittsburgh | 8-3 | 44.40 | 33 |
| 38 | Wisconsin | 7-5 | 40.24 | 35 |
| 45 | Clemson | 7-5 | 36.06 | 46 |
| 47 | Northwestern | 9-3 | 35.05 | 45 |
| 54 | Northern Illinois | 6-6 | 31.21 | 43 |
| 55 | LSU | 7-5 | 30.56 | 49 |
| 56 | Tennessee | 5-7 | 30.02 | 62 |
| 57 | Notre Dame | 6-6 | 27.98 | 53 |
| 59 | Vanderbilt | 6-6 | 27.32 | 55 |
| 60 | Miami | 7-5 | 26.42 | 54 |
| 61 | Illinois | 5-7 | 24.85 | 61 |
| 71 | Auburn | 5-7 | 15.19 | 65 |
| 75 | Maryland | 7-5 | 11.38 | 74 |
| 78 | Purdue | 4-8 | 9.86 | 76 |
| 89 | Duke | 4-8 | -0.99 | 91 |
| 91 | Michigan | 3-9 | -7.12 | 93 |
| 92 | UCLA | 4-7 | -7.55 | 87 |
| 103 | Texas A&M | 4-8 | -19.88 | 100 |
| 112 | Indiana | 3-9 | -41.38 | 113 |
| 116 | Miami(Ohio) | 2-10 | -50.89 | 114 |
| 119 | Washington State | 2-11 | -88.00 | 119 |
Last Place this week: North Texas (1-11) at -91.50. 2nd week in a row.
Biggest Gain this week: Oregon gained 15.68 points. (Beat Oregon State (65-38))
Biggest Loss this week: Tulane lost 15.66 points (Lost to Memphis (6-45))
Conference rankings this week: Big 12, SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big East, Mountain West, PAC-10, WAC, MAC, C-USA, Sun Belt
Conference rankings this week: Big 12, SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big East, Mountain West, PAC-10, WAC, MAC, 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 December 1, 2008 12:52 PM
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