Welcome to the penultimate edition of the Cross Poll. Once the bowls are all played out I will unveil the final Cross Poll standings, ranking all 120 teams from the BCS winner to those that should continue moving back to D-1AA. But for now, you'll have to satisfy yourself with the usual Top 30.
Welcome to another installment of the Cross Poll. The season continues in its wacky way, but the picture is growing ever clearer. There were some changes this week, of course, but as you'll see, several teams who lost didn't fall far (Kansas, LSU, Boise State), while others did (Oregon, Texas, Virginia). There is method to my madness, I assure you.
The Cross Poll is not an attempt to predict how good teams will be at the end of the season. Instead, it ranks the teams based on how well they’ve played to this point. It takes more than just win-loss record into account when determining teams’ rankings, factoring in who teams beat and who they lost to.
With that preface out of the way, here’s the Cross Poll rankings, with last week’s rankings in brackets:
Missouri (11-1) [3]
West Virginia (10-1) [4]
Ohio State (11-1) [5]
Kansas (11-1) [1]
LSU (10-2) [2]
Hawaii (11-0) [7]
Georgia (10-2) [9]
Virginia Tech (10-2) [8]
Oklahoma (10-2) [11]
USC (9-2) [12]
Boston College (10-2) [13]
Florida (9-3) [18]
Arizona State (9-2) [6]
Illinois (9-3) [19]
Tennessee (9-3) [20]
Brigham Young (9-2) [23]
Boise State (10-2) [14]
Wisconsin (9-3) [21]
Cincinnati (9-3) [22]
South Florida (9-3) [24]
Clemson (8-3) [25]
Oregon (8-3) [10]
Texas (9-3) [15]
Virginia (9-3) [16]
Connecticut (9-3) [17]
Auburn (8-4) [26]
Texas Tech (8-4) [27]
Michigan (8-4) [28]
Penn State (8-4) [NR]
Oregon State (7-4) [NR]
Fallen from the Ranks: Kentucky [29]; Florida State [30]
Happy Turkey Day, Foxsports.com bloggers and readers! Welcome to another installment of the Cross Poll.
The Cross Poll in no way influences the BCS Poll, making it about as relevant as the AP Poll. And because I watch at least one college football game per week, this makes the Cross Poll about as informed as the Coaches’ Poll. And because I use a combination of other polls and screwy computer formulas, this makes the Cross Poll about as accurate and confusing as the BCS Poll. And because no one cares where I rank these teams, this makes the Cross Poll about as important as the Harris Poll.
The Cross Poll is not an attempt to predict how good teams will be at the end of the season. Instead, it ranks the teams based on how well they’ve played to this point. It takes more than just win-loss record into account when determining teams’ rankings, factoring in who teams beat and who they lost to.
With that preface out of the way, here’s the Cross Poll rankings, with last week’s rankings in brackets:
Kansas (11-0) [1]
LSU (10-1) [2]
Missouri (10-1) [5]
West Virginia (9-1) [7]
Ohio State (11-1) [8]
Arizona State (9-1) [6]
Hawaii (10-0) [9]
Virginia Tech (9-2) [10]
Georgia (9-2) [11]
Oregon (8-2) [3]
Oklahoma (9-2) [4]
USC (8-2) [12]
Boston College (9-2) [17]
Boise State (10-1) [14]
Texas (9-2) [15]
Virginia (9-2) [16]
Connecticut (9-2) [19]
Florida (8-3) [20]
Illinois (9-3) [21]
Tennessee (8-3) [22]
Wisconsin (9-3) [23]
Cincinnati (8-3) [18]
Brigham Young (8-2) [27]
South Florida (8-3) [28]
Clemson (8-3) [13]
Auburn (7-4) [NR]
Texas Tech (8-4) [NR]
Michigan (8-4) [24]
Kentucky (7-4) [26]
Florida State (7-4) [NR]
Fallen from the Ranks: Penn State [25]; California [29]; Mississippi State [30].
This week, I'm expanding the Cross Poll from 25 teams to 30 to credit those right outside the top 25. After all the bowls, I plan to do a Cross Poll 120, ranking every team. But for now, you'll have to make do with 30.
The Cross Poll in no way influences the BCS Poll, making it about as relevant as the AP Poll. And because I watch at least one college football game per week, this makes the Cross Poll about as informed as the Coaches’ Poll. And because I use a combination of other polls and screwy computer formulas, this makes the Cross Poll about as accurate and confusing as the BCS Poll. And because no one cares where I rank these teams, this makes the Cross Poll about as important as the Harris Poll.
The Cross Poll is not an attempt to predict how good teams will be at the end of the season. Instead, it ranks the teams based on how well they’ve played to this point. It takes more than just win-loss record into account when determining teams’ rankings, factoring in who teams beat and who they lost to.
With that preface out of the way, here’s the Cross Poll rankings for Week 11, with last week’s rankings in brackets:
Kansas (10-0) [2]
LSU (9-1) [3]
Oregon (8-1) [4]
Oklahoma (9-1) [5]
Missouri (9-1) [7]
Arizona State (9-1) [6]
West Virginia (8-1) [8]
Ohio State (10-1) [1]
Hawaii (9-0) [10]
Virginia Tech (8-2) [13]
Georgia (8-2) [12]
USC (8-2) [15]
Clemson (8-2) [19]
Boise State (9-1) [14]
Texas (8-2) [16]
Virginia (9-2) [21]
Boston College (8-2) [9]
Cincinnati (8-2) [25]
Connecticut (8-2) [11]
Florida (7-3) [18]
Illinois (8-3) [NR]
Tennessee (7-3) [24]
Wisconsin (8-3) [NR]
Michigan (8-3) [17]
Penn State (8-3) [NR]
Kentucky (7-3) [NR]
Brigham Young (7-2) [NR]
South Florida (7-3) [NR]
California (6-4) [23]
Mississippi State (6-4) [NR]
Fallen from the ranks: Auburn (7-4) [20]; Alabama (6-4) [22]
