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MRI Football 2011 - Rankings Week 4
October 13, 2011 | By Benjamin Miraski
If you win 55-17 you had a good week. When you win 55-17 against the No. 3 team in the MRI, you had a great week.
That is why Oklahoma was the biggest gainer for the second week in the row. That is an impressive feat in itself.
But thanks to those two weeks, Oklahoma has taken over the No. 1 spot in the rankings, jumping Alabama on a week when the Tide took out Vanderbilt 34-0.
The two teams have begun to separate themselves from the pack, and that includes LSU, which is firmly in at No. 3.
Before the season began, we posited that the Sooners could potentially make a run at the all-time MRI mark, a record held by the 2005-6 Texas Longhorns.
Only fitting that Oklahoma would crush their rivals on the way to that title.
Even if they don't set the mark, the way they are playing, it is possible that Oklahoma could perform the feat of a previous Oklahoma team, that being the one back in 2003. The Sooners that year took such a big lead on the rest of the country, they were able to lose the final two games of the year and still lead the MRI.
With the lead that Oklahoma and Alabama have on the rest of the field, it is entirely possible that it could happen again for one of the two contenders.
On the other side of the coin, the MAC had a dreadful week.
The conference was No. 9 going into the week, but a number of games served to drop the league into last place this week. Buffalo took out Ohio, who had been headlining the conference (including grabbing them a spot in the top 25). Bowling Green took a hard loss to Western Michigan, dropping one of the conference's best team in the MRI far down. The same happened to Ball State in a 42-0 loss to Temple.
And Eastern Michigan was sent spiraling down by another loss, this time to Toledo by 38 points.
That placed the MAC below the Sun Belt in the conference standings.
Things have gone badly for the MAC before in the MRI. They have never been near the top of the conference rankings. But they usually aren't last either, a spot reserved for the Sun Belt. Except in 2009, when the Directional Michigans and Ohio State tackling dummies combined for the worst conference mark.
Check out where the MAC teams lie, and how far back the country is from Oklahoma and Alabama with all the rankings in Week 4 of the MRI.
MRI Top 25 Rankings
| Rank | Team | Record | MRI | LW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Oklahoma | 5-0 | 97.06 | 2 |
| 2 |  Alabama | 6-0 | 92.84 | 1 |
| 3 |  LSU | 6-0 | 77.07 | 8 |
| 4 |  Stanford | 5-0 | 76.26 | 4 |
| 5 |  Boise State | 5-0 | 73.33 | 6 |
| 6 |  Oklahoma State | 5-0 | 67.14 | 9 |
| 7 |  Wisconsin | 5-0 | 66.61 | 7 |
| 8 |  Michigan | 6-0 | 63.64 | 5 |
| 9 |  Houston | 6-0 | 63.53 | 14 |
| 10 |  South Carolina | 5-1 | 63.05 | 20 |
| 11 | Texas | 4-1 | 61.79 | 3 |
| 12 | Georgia Tech | 6-0 | 60.12 | 10 |
| 13 | Clemson | 6-0 | 59.83 | 11 |
| 14 | West Virginia | 5-1 | 53.41 | 16 |
| 15 | Michigan State | 4-1 | 52.52 | 15 |
| 16 | Baylor | 4-1 | 50.48 | 21 |
| 17 | Illinois | 6-0 | 50.12 | 19 |
| 18 | Arizona State | 5-1 | 49.33 | 24 |
| 19 | Oregon | 4-1 | 47.83 | 23 |
| 20 | Virginia Tech | 5-1 | 46.87 | 17 |
| 21 | Arkansas | 5-1 | 46.35 | NR(39) |
| 22 | Penn State | 5-1 | 45.84 | NR(27) |
| 23 | Central Florida | 3-2 | 45.53 | NR(32) |
| 24 | Georgia | 4-2 | 45.04 | 25 |
| 25 | South Florida | 4-1 | 44.86 | 18 |
Teams Dropped From The Top 25: Florida (LW #12, TW #30), Ohio (LW #13, TW #27), Texas Tech (LW #22, TW #34)
Other Teams People Might Care About
| Rank | Team | Record | MRI | LW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Notre Dame | 4-2 | 43.40 | 29 |
| 30 | Florida | 4-2 | 41.65 | 12 |
| 31 | Temple | 4-2 | 41.40 | 64 |
| 36 | Texas A&M | 3-2 | 37.29 | 34 |
| 38 | Nebraska | 5-1 | 34.91 | 47 |
| 40 | USC | 4-1 | 34.03 | 42 |
| 49 | Purdue | 3-2 | 27.76 | 68 |
| 50 | Washington State | 3-2 | 27.54 | 35 |
| 52 | Tennessee | 3-2 | 27.43 | 36 |
| 54 | Cal | 3-2 | 26.52 | 31 |
| 57 | Auburn | 4-2 | 24.61 | 50 |
| 58 | Florida State | 2-3 | 24.54 | 43 |
| 59 | UCLA | 3-3 | 23.43 | 65 |
| 61 | Ohio State | 3-3 | 22.12 | 51 |
| 62 | Vanderbilt | 3-2 | 21.93 | 44 |
| 63 | Iowa | 3-2 | 21.28 | 49 |
| 68 | Duke | 3-2 | 18.85 | 71 |
| 72 | Syracuse | 4-2 | 17.31 | 80 |
| 74 | Miami | 2-3 | 15.18 | 77 |
| 75 | Pittsburgh | 3-3 | 14.62 | 67 |
| 76 | Northern Illinois | 3-3 | 14.40 | 93 |
| 78 | BYU | 4-2 | 12.78 | 89 |
| 79 | Northwestern | 2-3 | 12.28 | 75 |
| 82 | Maryland | 2-3 | 8.20 | 86 |
| 89 | Indiana | 1-5 | 2.17 | 94 |
| 97 | Ball State | 3-3 | -2.86 | 79 |
| 102 | Miami(Ohio) | 1-4 | -5.45 | 109 |
| 108 | Boston College | 1-5 | -14.01 | 111 |
Last Place this week: UAB (0-5) at -39.07.
Biggest Gain this week: Oklahoma gained 21.03 points. (Beat Texas 55-17)
Biggest Loss this week: Wyoming lost 24.67 points (Lost to Utah State 63-19)
Conference rankings this week: Big 12, SEC, Big Ten, Big East, ACC, PAC-12, Mountain West, Conference USA, WAC, Sun Belt, MAC
Conference rankings this week: Big 12, SEC, Big Ten, Big East, ACC, PAC-12, Mountain West, Conference USA, WAC, Sun Belt, MAC
Posted October 13, 2011 2:30 PM
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