Weekly Rankings: Week 3, Sept 15

We've had some really solid games and huge upsets all three weeks of the season so far. As usual, a few quick words about the rankings.

Why isn't Southern California up at the top of the list? Basically because they've only played 2 games, while most other teams have played 3. Even though they might be one of the best or most powerful teams in the country, these rankings measure past achievement, and a team that's won 3 games has generally achieved more than a team that's only won 2. Since everyone plays 12-13 games, it all works out in the end, even though early-season off-weeks can seemingly skew the rankings.

Per our usual Strength of Schedule check, it looks like Washington has taken over the top spot, knocking Syracuse into 2nd place. Washington's season-long opponents are 27-10, and only 2 of them are under .500. That hard SoS should definitely help their points should they win a lot more games.

Week 3 Rankings
Rank	Conf	Team	Points	W	L	W%	oPts	oW	oL	oW%
1	BigEast	West Virginia	131.47	3	0	100%	-34.9	20	15	57.15%
2	SEC	Louisiana State	125.92	3	0	100%	43.56	20	14	58.83%
3	Pac10	Oregon	124.15	3	0	100%	110.77	21	12	63.64%
4	Big12	Texas Tech	124.03	3	0	100%	-132.26	19	14	57.58%
5	Pac10	Arizona State	121.68	3	0	100%	-27.43	19	14	57.58%
6	Big10	Penn State	121.60	3	0	100%	67.62	21	15	58.34%
7	Big10	Ohio State	121.19	3	0	100%	124.79	23	11	67.65%
8	BigEast	Cincinnati	119.84	3	0	100%	-137.66	18	14	56.25%
9	Big10	Purdue	118.22	3	0	100%	-117.73	19	15	55.89%
10	Big12	Oklahoma	118.13	3	0	100%	89.82	21	13	61.77%
11	SEC	Florida	117.61	3	0	100%	130.15	23	13	63.89%
12	Big10	Michigan State	117.08	3	0	100%	237.07	24	11	68.58%
13	Big12	Missouri	116.45	3	0	100%	16.83	21	12	63.64%
14	Big10	Wisconsin	116.37	3	0	100%	44.33	21	13	61.77%
15	Big10	Indiana	115.59	3	0	100%	105.4	22	12	64.71%
16	Pac10	California	115.31	3	0	100%	84.38	20	13	60.61%
17	BigEast	Rutgers	113.69	3	0	100%	-15.05	20	13	60.61%
18	BigEast	Connecticut	112.27	3	0	100%	-81.57	19	14	57.58%
19	Big12	Texas	111.16	3	0	100%	-9.34	20	14	58.83%
20	Big12	Kansas	107.55	3	0	100%	-423.7	16	19	45.72%
21	ACC	Boston College	106.54	3	0	100%	-254.82	17	15	53.13%
22	SEC	South Carolina	104.80	3	0	100%	51.49	21	13	61.77%
23	SEC	Kentucky	103.79	3	0	100%	123.26	23	11	67.65%
24	SEC	Alabama	102.80	3	0	100%	-270.72	16	17	48.49%
25	Big12	Texas A&M	99.78	3	0	100%	177.35	23	11	67.65%
26	ACC	Clemson	92.32	3	0	100%	-195.52	18	16	52.95%
27	Pac10	Southern California	90.36	2	0	100%	91.7	22	13	62.86%
28	WAC	Hawaii	80.50	3	0	100%	-690.3	11	20	35.49%
29	BigEast	South Florida	76.17	2	0	100%	58.82	21	12	63.64%
30	MtnWest	Air Force	74.93	3	0	100%	-671.64	10	23	30.31%
31	CUSA	Tulsa	46.72	2	0	100%	-649.17	10	23	30.31%
32	Big10	Illinois	41.15	2	1	66.67%	165.76	23	11	67.65%
33	Pac10	Washington State	30.74	2	1	66.67%	279.93	23	10	69.7%
34	SEC	Mississippi State	30.17	2	1	66.67%	65.37	20	12	62.5%
35	Big10	Iowa	29.51	2	1	66.67%	48.79	21	15	58.34%
36	BigEast	Pittsburgh	26.71	2	1	66.67%	221.18	23	10	69.7%
37	ACC	Florida State	26.26	2	1	66.67%	143.98	23	13	63.89%
38	BigEast	Louisville	23.09	2	1	66.67%	117.33	21	12	63.64%
39	Pac10	UCLA	21.11	2	1	66.67%	136.84	21	13	61.77%
40	SEC	Georgia	20.14	2	1	66.67%	-19.62	21	14	60%
41	Big12	Kansas State	19.49	2	1	66.67%	-221.09	18	16	52.95%
42	Pac10	Oregon State	19.24	2	1	66.67%	272.9	23	9	71.88%
43	Pac10	Washington	19.07	2	1	66.67%	420.8	27	10	72.98%
44	Big12	Baylor	17.01	2	1	66.67%	45.02	21	13	61.77%
45	Big12	Nebraska	13.58	2	1	66.67%	200.21	23	12	65.72%
46	ACC	Virginia Tech	12.08	2	1	66.67%	98.68	22	11	66.67%
47	ACC	Virginia	11.72	2	1	66.67%	-163.06	19	17	52.78%
48	SEC	Vanderbilt	11.08	2	1	66.67%	-29.85	20	14	58.83%
49	ACC	Miami (Florida)	8.99	2	1	66.67%	-39.86	20	16	55.56%
50	Big10	Northwestern	8.60	2	1	66.67%	36.51	21	13	61.77%
51	MtnWest	New Mexico	4.40	2	1	66.67%	-458.97	13	19	40.63%
52	SEC	Arkansas	2.01	1	1	50%	-74.08	18	14	56.25%
53	ACC	Georgia Tech	1.97	2	1	66.67%	-170.39	19	15	55.89%
54	ACC	Maryland	-2.27	2	1	66.67%	66.76	21	13	61.77%
55	Indy	Western Kentucky	-2.45	2	1	66.67%	-835.03	7	13	35%
56	MAC	Ball State	-3.28	2	1	66.67%	-468.12	14	22	38.89%
57	MtnWest	Wyoming	-4.22	2	1	66.67%	-323.39	15	19	44.12%
58	Pac10	Stanford	-10.60	1	1	50%	107.93	21	14	60%
59	WAC	Boise State	-13.10	2	1	66.67%	-441.73	15	19	44.12%
60	Big10	Minnesota	-14.88	1	2	33.34%	164.67	23	9	71.88%
61	WAC	New Mexico State	-17.24	2	1	66.67%	-642.73	13	22	37.15%
62	MAC	Kent	-19.89	2	1	66.67%	-464.22	14	19	42.43%
63	CUSA	Southern Mississippi	-22.82	2	1	66.67%	-684.04	10	21	32.26%
64	SEC	Auburn	-27.78	1	2	33.34%	223.32	23	8	74.2%
65	MAC	Ohio	-29.40	2	1	66.67%	-682.12	11	22	33.34%
65	SEC	Tennessee	-29.40	1	2	33.34%	360.74	25	9	73.53%
67	CUSA	Houston	-34.53	1	1	50%	-463.71	12	18	40%
68	Pac10	Arizona	-34.65	1	2	33.34%	233.88	23	9	71.88%
69	ACC	Wake Forest	-35.39	1	2	33.34%	-18.42	21	15	58.34%
70	Big12	Oklahoma State	-36.87	1	2	33.34%	346.9	26	7	78.79%
71	SunBelt	Florida Atlantic	-37.03	2	1	66.67%	-408.43	12	21	36.37%
72	CUSA	Central Florida	-39.69	1	1	50%	-304.87	15	18	45.46%
73	SunBelt	Arkansas State	-40.42	1	1	50%	-685.46	11	25	30.56%
74	SEC	Mississippi	-41.03	1	2	33.34%	202.4	22	9	70.97%
75	Indy	Navy	-41.59	1	2	33.34%	-463.94	13	19	40.63%
76	ACC	North Carolina	-42.17	1	2	33.34%	-148.29	19	14	57.58%
77	MtnWest	Texas Christian	-44.66	1	2	33.34%	-168.97	17	16	51.52%
78	Big10	Michigan	-45.30	1	2	33.34%	332.27	25	9	73.53%
79	ACC	Duke	-46.01	1	2	33.34%	-20.67	21	15	58.34%
80	MAC	Bowling Green State	-46.52	1	1	50%	-275.61	17	19	47.23%
81	CUSA	Memphis	-47.07	1	1	50%	-834.73	8	23	25.81%
82	ACC	North Carolina State	-47.27	1	2	33.34%	-50.81	20	13	60.61%
83	MtnWest	Utah	-50.10	1	2	33.34%	-270.99	16	18	47.06%
84	Big12	Colorado	-53.36	1	2	33.34%	354.3	25	10	71.43%
85	Big12	Iowa State	-53.69	1	2	33.34%	273.69	25	9	73.53%
86	MtnWest	Brigham Young	-54.27	1	2	33.34%	-249.08	15	15	50%
87	Indy	Army	-54.57	1	2	33.34%	-172.5	17	15	53.13%
88	WAC	Fresno State	-60.41	1	2	33.34%	-207.59	18	16	52.95%
89	MtnWest	Nevada-Las Vegas	-63.79	1	2	33.34%	-128.02	17	17	50%
90	WAC	Louisiana Tech	-65.08	1	2	33.34%	-243.23	17	17	50%
91	WAC	Nevada	-65.13	1	2	33.34%	-441.02	16	19	45.72%
92	CUSA	Texas-El Paso	-65.19	1	2	33.34%	-284.75	15	14	51.73%
93	MAC	Buffalo	-66.27	1	2	33.34%	-262.32	17	18	48.58%
94	MAC	Central Michigan	-72.49	1	2	33.34%	-301.26	16	17	48.49%
95	CUSA	East Carolina	-72.56	1	2	33.34%	-356.77	14	18	43.75%
96	WAC	Idaho	-73.26	1	2	33.34%	-412.96	14	19	42.43%
97	CUSA	Alabama-Birmingham	-73.33	1	2	33.34%	-266.61	15	14	51.73%
98	MAC	Miami (Ohio)	-76.11	1	2	33.34%	-340.18	16	19	45.72%
99	MtnWest	Colorado State	-78.14	0	2	0%	-230.66	16	15	51.62%
100	CUSA	Southern Methodist	-78.78	1	2	33.34%	-285.43	13	16	44.83%
101	SunBelt	Troy	-79.48	1	2	33.34%	-484.99	12	21	36.37%
102	MAC	Akron	-81.49	1	2	33.34%	-152.25	18	17	51.43%
103	MAC	Eastern Michigan	-81.51	1	2	33.34%	-565.07	13	19	40.63%
104	MtnWest	San Diego State	-97.68	0	2	0%	-6.54	19	13	59.38%
105	BigEast	Syracuse	-99.68	0	3	0%	407.84	26	9	74.29%
106	SunBelt	North Texas	-114.58	0	2	0%	-514.14	13	23	36.12%
107	Indy	Notre Dame	-118.23	0	3	0%	385.11	25	9	73.53%
108	CUSA	Tulane	-121.41	0	2	0%	-390.61	14	18	43.75%
109	WAC	Utah State	-122.54	0	3	0%	-195.81	18	18	50%
110	WAC	San Jose State	-125.38	0	3	0%	-223.78	17	15	53.13%
111	MAC	Western Michigan	-131.23	0	3	0%	-269.88	16	17	48.49%
112	SunBelt	Middle Tennessee State	-134.05	0	3	0%	-379.02	14	19	42.43%
113	MAC	Temple	-139.26	0	3	0%	-300.15	16	19	45.72%
114	MAC	Toledo	-139.53	0	3	0%	-354.86	15	17	46.88%
115	SunBelt	Florida International	-140.16	0	3	0%	-285.04	15	18	45.46%
116	MAC	Northern Illinois	-141.78	0	3	0%	-479.49	14	20	41.18%
117	SunBelt	Louisiana-Monroe	-141.99	0	3	0%	-264.01	15	16	48.39%
118	CUSA	Marshall	-145.72	0	3	0%	-72.95	18	12	60%
119	SunBelt	Louisiana-Lafayette	-146.60	0	3	0%	-499.35	12	19	38.71%
120	CUSA	Rice	-150.52	0	3	0%	-200.93	17	14	54.84%

The conference strength is still a bit skewed as well, mainly because the numbers don't coordinate with what people see on the field. The Big 10 is still tops, despite Iowa's loss to lowly Iowa State, Minnesota's loss to Florida Atlantic, and Michigan's loss to Appalachian State. Why are they still tops? Because the Big 10 is still 26-7 outside their conference. That has earned them a lot of points, but as they season continues, those losses will take their toll, taking away more points than they do now, and those wins won't be worth as much as the so-so teams they've beaten lose more and more games.

Tough week for the Big East, going 4-3 and having Louisville basically knocked out of the National Championship picture. The Cardinals could squeeze back in, but that would mean stopping Rutgers and West Virginia's offense - probably not happening, if their previous games are any indication.

Week 3 Conference Rankings
Rank	Conf	Avg.Pts	nc W	nc L	nc W%	nc oPts	nc oW	nc oL	nc oW%
1	Big10	45.92	26	7	78.79%	-2,831.34	35	78	30.98%
2	BigEast	43.61	18	5	78.27%	-1,905.88	42	64	39.63%
3	Pac10	36.29	20	6	76.93%	-1,383.3	31	54	36.48%
4	SEC	34.36	18	3	85.72%	-2,076.36	52	68	43.34%
5	Big12	33.68	27	9	75%	-2,514.69	42	78	35%
6	ACC	7.65	16	8	66.67%	-1,233.22	64	61	51.2%
7	MtnWest	-27.01	9	12	42.86%	-770.66	50	43	53.77%
8	WAC	-33.96	10	15	40%	-940.74	51	37	57.96%
9	CUSA	-47.15	9	18	33.34%	-344.53	73	49	59.84%
10	MAC	-54.55	7	21	25%	425.36	106	50	67.95%
11	SunBelt	-69.69	3	17	15%	616.3	75	33	69.45%

Props to the Sun Belt for getting their first 3 non-confernce wins of the season. Wins over the Big 10, Big 12, and CUSA will help their teams as the season goes on.