So I sympathize to some extent because I think the entire group from 2-9 was very close and difficult to rank, can see a lot of ways to do it. But... putting Bama 2 over MSU 3 I found to be kind of bothersome. Bama always gets the benefit of the doubt, and I feel like they really are encouraging teams to run up the score with "style points" which I don't love.
The rest of 3-9 is interesting. I respect Oregon 4 over OSU 5 based on H2H. I don't mind that they dinged Oklahoma down to 8 given no quality wins and a lot of dicey performances against bad teams. WF at 9 sure. Though Michigan at 7 seems slightly generous, outside of maybe Wisconsin (?) they don't have any quality wins.
I know many folks are up in arms about Cincy at 6, there seem to be 2 camps. 1) is a lot of teams ahead of them play each other (1 vs 2, 3 vs 5) so it'll work itself out if they win a bunch, there are justifiable reasons you can find for them at 6 and they can't beat UGa or Bama anyways. 2) is this is a conspiracy, and they are starting them at 6 now just so that they can justify them getting close but not enough even if undefeated - a Big 12 team will pass them with all their ranked matchups later this year and maybe even Wake or a 2nd B1G East team gets in like a 1 loss MSU. That camp might even extend to say that putting Okla down at 8 was a gambit to show that Cincy gets respect over them when they know that Okla will pass them later this year if they keep winning given games against Baylor, Ok St, Iowa St, and Big 12 championship.
I don't have a strong view either way but it is entertaining to see the hand-wringing from everyone else. It's too bad that we aren't anywhere near the top 25 this year. I was a bit surprised to see them put 3 B1G West teams at the back end of the top 25 - that felt a bit generous. Now all of a sudden we have a stretch of 3 straight ranked opponents starting from last week...
The rest of 3-9 is interesting. I respect Oregon 4 over OSU 5 based on H2H. I don't mind that they dinged Oklahoma down to 8 given no quality wins and a lot of dicey performances against bad teams. WF at 9 sure. Though Michigan at 7 seems slightly generous, outside of maybe Wisconsin (?) they don't have any quality wins.
I know many folks are up in arms about Cincy at 6, there seem to be 2 camps. 1) is a lot of teams ahead of them play each other (1 vs 2, 3 vs 5) so it'll work itself out if they win a bunch, there are justifiable reasons you can find for them at 6 and they can't beat UGa or Bama anyways. 2) is this is a conspiracy, and they are starting them at 6 now just so that they can justify them getting close but not enough even if undefeated - a Big 12 team will pass them with all their ranked matchups later this year and maybe even Wake or a 2nd B1G East team gets in like a 1 loss MSU. That camp might even extend to say that putting Okla down at 8 was a gambit to show that Cincy gets respect over them when they know that Okla will pass them later this year if they keep winning given games against Baylor, Ok St, Iowa St, and Big 12 championship.
I don't have a strong view either way but it is entertaining to see the hand-wringing from everyone else. It's too bad that we aren't anywhere near the top 25 this year. I was a bit surprised to see them put 3 B1G West teams at the back end of the top 25 - that felt a bit generous. Now all of a sudden we have a stretch of 3 straight ranked opponents starting from last week...
