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MRI Football 2009 - Rankings Week 4
October 20, 2009
By Benjamin Miraski
Alabama's defense celebrates
backing into the No. 1 spot.
(AP Photo/Dave Martin)
What happens when the No. 1 and 2 teams both win, but neither looks great doing it?
Chaos!
No, not chaos, but close enough. Alabama and Florida both lost ground this week in the MRI. Neither particularly deserved to gain any points after their lackluster wins against South Carolina and Arkansas.
But neither did they deserve to lose those top two spots given that Texas had its hands full taking out Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout.
They could still switch places though, and that is exactly what happened. And while these two have a little spat to decide who is really No. 1, the rest of the country is mired in mediocrity.
No one seems to want to step up and move toward the front of the pack. Whether it is because of poor scheduling, or just parity in the league, every team from Boise State down to No. 25 Pittsburgh is within 20 points of each other.
Teams are changing places in the rankings like they were shuffling inside a crowded elevator. Only right now, that elevator doesn't get any higher than the fifth floor from the top and no one seems to want to stay on that floor for any length of time.
Time to check out all the rankings in week four of the MRI.
MRI Top 25 Rankings
| Rank | Team | Record | MRI | LW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Alabama | 7-0 | 89.99 | 2 |
| 2 |  Florida | 6-0 | 88.47 | 1 |
| 3 |  Texas | 6-0 | 82.95 | 3 |
| 4 |  Boise State | 6-0 | 66.26 | 4 |
| 5 |  USC | 5-1 | 63.03 | 7 |
| 6 |  TCU | 6-0 | 62.22 | 13 |
| 7 |  Oregon | 5-1 | 61.88 | 6 |
| 8 |  Penn State | 6-1 | 60.96 | 17 |
| 9 |  Virginia Tech | 5-2 | 58.91 | 5 |
| 10 |  Cincinnati | 6-0 | 55.48 | 11 |
| 11 | Iowa | 7-0 | 54.86 | 16 |
| 12 | Ohio State | 5-2 | 52.77 | 5 |
| 13 | Kansas | 5-1 | 51.33 | 10 |
| 14 | Nebraska | 4-2 | 51.02 | 9 |
| 15 | Tennessee | 3-3 | 48.04 | 19 |
| 16 | Oklahoma | 3-3 | 47.46 | 14 |
| 17 | Utah | 5-1 | 47.28 | 18 |
| 18 | Arizona State | 4-2 | 46.30 | 25 |
| 19 | Texas Tech | 5-2 | 45.93 | NR(38) |
| 20 | LSU | 5-1 | 45.58 | 21 |
| 21 | West Virginia | 5-1 | 45.56 | NR(29) |
| 22 | Clemson | 3-3 | 45.38 | NR(36) |
| 23 | South Florida | 5-1 | 45.15 | 12 |
| 24 | Notre Dame | 4-2 | 44.53 | 15 |
| 25 | Pittsburgh | 6-1 | 43.83 | NR(28) |
Teams Dropped From The Top 25: Auburn (LW #20, TW #30), Stanford (LW #22, TW #42), Wisconsin (LW #23, TW #39), Rutgers (LW #24, TW #43)
Other Teams People Might Care About
| Rank | Team | Record | MRI | LW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | Georgia Tech | 6-1 | 41.72 | 37 |
| 30 | Auburn | 5-2 | 40.60 | 20 |
| 31 | Miami | 5-1 | 39.60 | 39 |
| 39 | Wisconsin | 5-2 | 35.68 | 23 |
| 44 | Michigan | 5-2 | 33.21 | 49 |
| 46 | Northern Illinois | 3-3 | 30.33 | 44 |
| 51 | Michigan State | 4-3 | 27.91 | 53 |
| 52 | Boston College | 5-2 | 27.49 | 65 |
| 61 | UCLA | 3-3 | 22.91 | 43 |
| 64 | Purdue | 2-5 | 21.77 | 78 |
| 66 | Northwestern | 4-3 | 21.04 | 52 |
| 69 | Duke | 3-3 | 19.73 | 61 |
| 70 | Florida State | 2-4 | 19.23 | 71 |
| 82 | Texas A&M | 3-3 | 9.99 | 42 |
| 87 | Vanderbilt | 2-5 | 7.08 | 82 |
| 91 | Indiana | 4-3 | 4.80 | 100 |
| 99 | Syracuse | 2-4 | 0.03 | 99 |
| 109 | Illinois | 1-5 | -17.71 | 107 |
| 110 | Maryland | 2-5 | -20.38 | 113 |
| 114 | Washington State | 1-5 | -29.10 | 116 |
| 116 | Ball State | 0-7 | -29.40 | 115 |
| 117 | Miami(Ohio) | 0-7 | -38.02 | 117 |
Last Place this week: Rice (0-7) at -58.98. 4th week in a row.
Biggest Gain this week: Kansas State gained 15.59 points. (Beat Texas A&M 62-14)
Biggest Loss this week: Texas A&M lost 23.55 points (Lost to Kansas State 62-14)
Conference rankings this week: SEC, Big 12, Big East, PAC-10, Big Ten, ACC, Mountain West, WAC, MAC, Sun Belt, C-USA
Conference rankings this week: SEC, Big 12, Big East, PAC-10, Big Ten, ACC, Mountain West, WAC, MAC, Sun Belt, C-USA
Posted October 20, 2009 2:22 PM