A new Top 25, based only on how many points each team scored against its Week 1 cupcake

[alaskanseminole]

One of the biggest highlights of college football's opening weekend is the sheer number of blowout games. Since many teams are playing FCS cupcakes as tuneups for the season, the number of points scored can reach video game levels.

This doesn't make for much competitive football*, but it's always fun to see how many points get scored over the weekend. With that mind, let's rank the Top 25 teams in the nation, if we only went by who scored the most points in Week 1. (Full scores and more here.)


1. Ole Miss (76)
2. California (73)
3. Middle Tennessee (70)
4. Georgia Tech (69)
5. New Mexico (66)
6. Colorado State (65)
7. Air Force (63)
7. Memphis (63)
7. Rutgers (63)
10. Louisiana Tech (62)
11. Florida (61)
11. Oregon (61)
13. Florida State (59)
13. Tennessee (59)
13. Texas Tech (59)
16. Baylor (56)
16. Rice (56)
18. USC (55)
19 Cincinnati (52)
19. Illinois (52)
21. Houston (52)
22. Buffalo (51)
22. Georgia (51)
22. South Florida (51)
25. Maryland (50)

LINK: http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2015/9/6/9268193/ncaa-football-scoring-fbs-fcs

 

[oozie7]

I know that article was meant to be sarcastic, but this in part is why I never understood the 'we shouldn't have any polls until (insert week here) arguments. Are preseason polls perfect? Nope, but it's at least a logical ranking based on things like past performance, returning starters, returning coaches, etc. If you're going to disregard that completely then how the hell are you gonna rank teams even if you wait a few weeks? All that would happen is teams would schedule cupcakes, blow them out to inflate their ranking, and then there would be even more chaos as the season goes along.

 

[alaskanseminole]

I know that article was meant to be sarcastic, but this in part is why I never understood the 'we shouldn't have any polls until (insert week here) arguments. Are preseason polls perfect? Nope, but it's at least a logical ranking based on things like past performance, returning starters, returning coaches, etc. If you're going to disregard that completely then how the hell are you gonna rank teams even if you wait a few weeks? All that would happen is teams would schedule cupcakes, blow them out to inflate their ranking, and then there would be even more chaos as the season goes along.

I'm not sure what the answer is, oozie. I think the BCS and now the Playoff polls coming out later in the season kinda address/fix the issue, though. Thoughts?

 

[oozie7]

I'm not sure what the answer is, oozie. I think the BCS and now the Playoff polls coming out later in the season kinda address/fix the issue, though. Thoughts?

I don't think so because whether they admit it or not the BCS polls are still based on the preseason polls IMO, but that isn't really a bad thing.

 

[LizardGrad89]

I know that article was meant to be sarcastic, but this in part is why I never understood the 'we shouldn't have any polls until (insert week here) arguments. Are preseason polls perfect? Nope, but it's at least a logical ranking based on things like past performance, returning starters, returning coaches, etc. If you're going to disregard that completely then how the hell are you gonna rank teams even if you wait a few weeks? All that would happen is teams would schedule cupcakes, blow them out to inflate their ranking, and then there would be even more chaos as the season goes along.

I agree with this in theory, but the Harris poll proves that reality is quite different.

The idea behind the Harris poll was that it would be able to place teams according to their actual strength, but what it does is look just like the other polls when it comes out. The reason is the AP and Coaches polls have shaped the national argument, and if the Harris poll came out far different, it would result in scorn and rejection.

The idea of not having polls is flawed. You can never "not have polls". If the main polls wait, then other polls will shape the national argument. Do we really want ESPN, CBS, and Sagarin shaping the national perception?

 

[GatorGray]

The four SEC teams prove that there are elite teams in the conference. The two ACC teams in the poll prove that they are playing inferior competition.

 

[JaxBo]

Baylor only scored 56?

SMU must have a tough defense.