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MRI Football 2011 - Rankings Week 9
November 16, 2011 | By Benjamin Miraski
The rankings love teams. The rankings hate teams.
The truth is that the rankings don't actually care.
The rankings care about the results on the field, and by results, we mean everything that goes into the win, or loss, including yardage and turnovers.
You don't get to squeak by in the MRI and think it is OK (unlike in some of the other computer rankings).
You have to lay it out there on the field each week.
And so that is why Alabama returns to the top this week. They have an offense. They have a defense (tops in the country). They just have a silly loss because they can't kick field goals.
Then again, they haven't needed to kick field goals very often.
Behind them is Oklahoma, who also lost. Oklahoma has maybe the toughest game remaining, against Oklahoma State. One of the SEC West teams will need to face Georgia in the championship, but right now, the Bedlam game could decide who goes home with the top spot in the MRI.
Then again, Alabama will do itself no favors this week. Playing Georgia Southern will destroy its strength of schedule, and likely push Oklahoma to the top of the chart anyway (assuming the Sooners can get past Baylor, which isn't a given).
To answer a few quick questions for the week:
- Notre Dame is now 22.
- Arkansas State is an FBS team. They play in the Sun Belt. They are 8-2 and lost to Illinois and Virginia Tech (no slouches). Despite that, they have the No. 23 scoring defense in the country. If they win Saturday, they essentially clinch a spot in the New Orleans Bowl.
- No, I can't explain Texas. They are only going to get worse too, as they have a ton of injuries. But yes, somehow, they are still ranked.
- Yes, Wisconsin is still the best team in the Big Ten, even if they won't get a chance to play in the championship game for the Non-Paterno Trophy. Two flukes at the end of games don't change that. Losing again might.
One final thought. The Big East was considering a plan to combine with the Mountain West and Conference USA to form a super playoff for the BCS spot that belongs to the conference now.
If you look at the rankings, five teams from the other conferences in that consortium would have a better claim to the BCS spot than the highest ranked Big East team, West Virginia.
And that doesn't count the MAC and Sun Belt teams ahead of the Mountaineers.
Time to blow up the Big East, and take away any claim it had to football superiority. It already lost its shred of respectability on the field.
MRI Top 25 Rankings
| Rank | Team | Record | MRI | LW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Alabama | 9-1 | 113.85 | 2 |
| 2 |  Oklahoma | 8-1 | 110.09 | 1 |
| 3 |  LSU | 10-0 | 105.37 | 3 |
| 4 |  Oklahoma State | 10-0 | 98.47 | 5 |
| 5 |  Houston | 10-0 | 92.56 | 7 |
| 6 |  Stanford | 9-1 | 87.95 | 4 |
| 7 |  Boise State | 8-1 | 85.34 | 6 |
| 8 |  Oregon | 9-1 | 83.72 | 10 |
| 9 |  Wisconsin | 8-2 | 81.21 | 8 |
| 10 |  Georgia | 8-2 | 77.63 | 15 |
| 11 | Michigan | 8-2 | 68.54 | 12 |
| 12 | Virginia Tech | 9-1 | 67.29 | 11 |
| 13 | Arkansas | 9-1 | 64.45 | 17 |
| 14 | Southern Mississippi | 9-1 | 62.65 | 14 |
| 15 | Texas | 6-3 | 62.54 | 9 |
| 16 | South Carolina | 8-2 | 61.56 | 16 |
| 17 | Clemson | 9-1 | 61.34 | 13 |
| 18 | Michigan State | 8-2 | 57.05 | 20 |
| 19 | USC | 8-2 | 56.93 | 23 |
| 20 | Tulsa | 7-3 | 56.90 | NR(33) |
| 21 | Florida State | 7-3 | 52.65 | 21 |
| 22 | Notre Dame | 7-3 | 52.60 | NR(27) |
| 23 | Arkansas State | 8-2 | 51.66 | 24 |
| 24 | Penn State | 8-2 | 50.83 | 19 |
| 25 | Nebraska | 8-2 | 49.02 | NR(29) |
Teams Dropped From The Top 25: Arizona State (LW #18, TW #31), Georgia Tech (LW #22, TW #32), Cincinnati (LW #25, TW #36)
On the Bubble: Ohio, TCU, Nevada, Toledo, Texas A&M, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Temple, West Virginia, Missouri.
Last Place this week: New Mexico (1-9) at -65.06. 4th week in a row.
Biggest Gain this week: Georgia gained 18.09 points. (Beat Auburn 45-7)
Biggest Loss this week: Middle Tennessee State lost 18.86 points (Lost to Louisiana-Monroe 42-14)
Conference rankings this week: SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, Big East, PAC-12, ACC, Mountain West, WAC, Conference USA, MAC, Sun Belt
Conference rankings this week: SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, Big East, PAC-12, ACC, Mountain West, WAC, Conference USA, MAC, Sun Belt
Posted November 16, 2011 12:22 PM
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