The first BCS poll doesn't come out until October 19, but that doesn't mean people are ignoring those all important computer polls. The human polls, for the most part, are relatively similar in how they rank the top teams. With some variation, the AP poll, the USA Today poll, and the Harris Interactive poll all have Oklahoma, Alabama, LSU, Texas, and Missouri as the top 5 teams in the nation. The computers? Not so much. At least not yet. Four of the six computer polls are available to the public (the other two keep their data private until the first BCS rankings are released). Here is how the computers see things, and when it's this early in the season, the rankings are sure to raise some eyebrows.
Billingsley
1. LSU
2. Oklahoma
3. Alabama
4. USC
5. Missouri
Colley
1. Alabama
2. Vanderbilt
3. Utah
4. Texas
5. Northwestern
Massey
1. Alabama
2. Northwestern
3. Vanderbilt
4. Utah
5. Boise State
Sagarin
1. Alabama
2. Utah
3. Boise State
4. Texas
5. Oklahoma
It makes one wonder what exactly Mr. Massey's criteria are for ranking college football teams. Academics must matter as much as strength of schedule and margin of victory. That's the only rational explanation for Northwestern and Vanderbilt appearing in two of the rankings. Vandy is probably getting props for winning at Ole Miss, especially after the Rebs won in the Swamp last weekend. Mr. Billingsley's rankings appear quite similar to the human polls, except for the appearance of USC, which has a loss (and a pretty bad one, too, to Oregon State). The only school to appear in the top 5 of all four computer polls - Alabama. At least they all agree the Tide is off to a strong start, what with whipping Clemson and Georgia on the road. Utah appears in three of the polls, and that's better than Texas or Oklahoma, who appear in just two of the four available computer rankings.
Northwestern is an intriguing story, and one that TWP will be keeping an eye on. They have a young coach, Pat Fitzgerald, that has really energized the program. A surprising road win at Iowa has the Wildcats 5-0. Their schedule is relatively weak, and they avoid two of the better Big Ten teams this year, Penn State and Wisconsin. Their toughest remaining game is Ohio State, and the game is in Evanston on Nov. 8th. Northwestern's remaining schedule:
Oct. 11 Michigan State
Oct. 18 Purdue
Oct. 25 at Indiana
Nov. 1 at Minnesota
Nov. 8 Ohio State
Nov. 15 at Michigan
Nov. 22 at Illinois
Many have Penn State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin as the teams competing for the Big Ten's BCS bid (or bids, depending on how things shake out). But I wouldn't forget about Northwestern. They could be a spoiler, and possibly sneak into Rose Bowl contention should any of those other teams falter (or end up in the BCS National Championship Game).
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