Coaches rarely vote, they have some staffer fill out the ballotDo some of these pollsters even look at the W-L record before posting?
If Illinois wins out, I doubt Iowa will be battling us for bowl spot. They already have 4 losses and have a road contest @Nebraska to close season.The good news is that the Pac12 bowl tie ins are still around for the finally time. So Washington and USC will grab those. Which leaves Michigan most likely getting the Citrus Bowl and us getting either the Reliaquest Bowl or Music City bowl. We will battle Iowa for either of them.
The thing now irritating about this scenario is we would be getting penalized for not only playing the #1 and #2 teams and losing but the timing of those loses being closer together which made it easier to have us on the outside looking in trying to work out record back up to the same place.The good news is that the Pac12 bowl tie ins are still around for the finally time. So Washington and USC will grab those. Which leaves Michigan most likely getting the Citrus Bowl and us getting either the Reliaquest Bowl or Music City bowl. We will battle Iowa for either of them.
Yes, with a win next week, we’ll likely get ranked. But would drop back out with a loss to northwestern.I'd love to finish ranked. Probably will require 3 wins.
So much is timing. Imagine switching the usc game to yesterday. They come in 6-0, 8-1, ranked 10-12 , and we win.Laughable. One bad game against a pretty good UW team at their place and we go from likely being in the Top 10-12 to unranked for the past 4 weeks. Makes no dang sense.
What's Indiana? I can't imagine they're high up. Their schedule is more difficult than it was last year, but not by much.ESPN’s resume rankings (SOR) which accounts for strength of schedule, who you beat, and who you lost to ranks:
AP #19 Virginia @ 27
AP #20 Tennessee @ 20
AP #21 JMU @ 24
AP #22 North Texas @ 28
AP #24 Missouri @ 23
AP #24 Tulane @ 25
AP #25 Houston @ 26
AP NR Illinois @ 19
Once again, the most underrated team in the country.
USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are still tied into the PAC 12 bowl contract for the remainder of this season. So in the Vegas bowl scenario, USC would be the PAC 12 representativeSeems like Las Vegas Bowl (B1G vs. former PAC-12) could have a lot of confusing scenarios. I’m assuming (maybe incorrectly) that they take the top B1G team that’s not in the playoffs as the B1G rep? And the top former PAC-12 team thats not in the B1G as the PAC-12 rep.
What if USC is the top B1G team that’s not in the playoffs? Do they go USC vs. someone like Utah? Or is that a no go because they’re both former PAC-12.
If it’s Mich, I’d guess they’re not going to do something like Michigan vs. USC or Washington, as it would be an all B1G bowl.
A lot of typing on my phone just to say “wonder how this plays out”. Checked the website but couldn’t find any clarification. And all just to say “can we get into that game”? I’d guess no, but I’d like it.
Then there's Conference Championship Week and even more spots available to jump up in the rankings.Here's the thing, if we win out and finish 9-3, and the trends continue the way they have been, we'll pick up 4-5 spots next week and 4-5 spots the week after. We'll finish in that 19/20 range which is exactly where we were last year with the same record and similar season. Just win.
Agreed. We are kinda behind the 8 ball here.The thing now irritating about this scenario is we would be getting penalized for not only playing the #1 and #2 teams and losing but the timing of those loses being closer together which made it easier to have us on the outside looking in trying to work out record back up to the same place.
Indiana is #2 in SOR, #2 in FPI, and either 1 or 2 in all the other predictive metrics too.What's Indiana? I can't imagine they're high up. Their schedule is more difficult than it was last year, but not by much.

Miami doesn’t go from 15 to top 11Gross.
I think OU is at the top of that group, but after that
OU
ND
Alabama
Miami
Looking at their losses (and games in general) just reinforces my belief that we are getting excessively hammered for the "how" portion of our losses.