12-07-2014, 02:40 PM
They are 9-3 and have wins against Boise State, Alabama, and Mississippi State. They have narrow losses to LSU (10-7), and Auburn (35-31) and a really bad loss against Arkansas (2-6 in the SEC).
Behind them are Arizona (10-3), Kansas State (9-3), and Georgia Tech (10-3).
Arizona of course just got the living crap beaten out of it by Oregon, though Oregon is good. It also has losses to UCLA (17-7) and USC (28-26). It has some nice wins: Oregon back in October, Utah, and ASU. I think those resumes are comparable, though you could argue that the loss to Arkansas is worse than the loss to Oregon.
Kansas State has losses to Auburn (20-14), TCU (41-20), and Baylor (38-27). None of them are bad, but its best win is probably against 8-4 Oklahoma, hardly a signature win.
Georgia Tech has losses to Duke, North Carolina, and Florida State. While losses to Florida State and Duke are not bad, losing to UNC (6-6, 4-4 in the ACC) is pretty bad. Their best wins are against Georgia and Clemson.
When you get down to that level 9 - 12, all teams will have some flaw, either a bad loss or lack of a signature win. To be honest, I think the real question mark is Kansas State, which at 9-3 and lacking any win against a top-25 team, probably should be behind Georgia Tech; I think losing to North Carolina is more than balanced out by beating Georgia and Clemson, and playing Florida STate close in the ACC championship. You can also argue that Arizona shouldn't be behind Mississippi State, since it (and Georgia Tech) are both functionally penalized for playing against really good teams in a conference championship. But Ole Miss versus Arizona is a close call, and Kansas State vs. Georgia Tech is a close call. At worst I would have made Ole Miss at 10 instead of 9, and it would not have made an iota of a difference on where they went bowling.
BC
Behind them are Arizona (10-3), Kansas State (9-3), and Georgia Tech (10-3).
Arizona of course just got the living crap beaten out of it by Oregon, though Oregon is good. It also has losses to UCLA (17-7) and USC (28-26). It has some nice wins: Oregon back in October, Utah, and ASU. I think those resumes are comparable, though you could argue that the loss to Arkansas is worse than the loss to Oregon.
Kansas State has losses to Auburn (20-14), TCU (41-20), and Baylor (38-27). None of them are bad, but its best win is probably against 8-4 Oklahoma, hardly a signature win.
Georgia Tech has losses to Duke, North Carolina, and Florida State. While losses to Florida State and Duke are not bad, losing to UNC (6-6, 4-4 in the ACC) is pretty bad. Their best wins are against Georgia and Clemson.
When you get down to that level 9 - 12, all teams will have some flaw, either a bad loss or lack of a signature win. To be honest, I think the real question mark is Kansas State, which at 9-3 and lacking any win against a top-25 team, probably should be behind Georgia Tech; I think losing to North Carolina is more than balanced out by beating Georgia and Clemson, and playing Florida STate close in the ACC championship. You can also argue that Arizona shouldn't be behind Mississippi State, since it (and Georgia Tech) are both functionally penalized for playing against really good teams in a conference championship. But Ole Miss versus Arizona is a close call, and Kansas State vs. Georgia Tech is a close call. At worst I would have made Ole Miss at 10 instead of 9, and it would not have made an iota of a difference on where they went bowling.
BC