Rankings: Week 8

Not too many changes this week. We've got two 8-0 teams, but Iowa is way ahead of Alabama right now. Why? It's not because the computer isn't factoring in their close calls - my program does contain margin of victory. So let's take a look at what they've each done, going from their best win to worse.

Iowa: @ Penn St (187.15) 21-10, vs Arizona (123.43) 27-17, @ Wisconsin (94.55) 20-10, vs Michigan (58.61) 30-28
Bama: v VA Tech (137.01) 34-24, vs S Carolina (126.56) 20-6, @ Ole Miss (82.03) 22-3, @ Kentucky (50.05) 38-20

Iowa: @ Iowa St (58.32) 35-3, @ Michigan St (12.29) 15-13, vs Arkansas St (-60.96) 24-21, vs N Iowa (I-AA) 17-16
Bama: vs Arkansas (-10.03) 35-7, vs Tennessee (-22.69) 12-10, vs Fla Intl (-154.44) 40-14, vs N Texas (-154.88) 53-7

Iowa has the best win overall, Penn State over Virginia Tech. Things are pretty even for wins 2-4, but then Bama gets into their negative opponents while Iowa still has two wins at opponents in positive territory. Significant advantage Iowa. Overall, Iowa has four wins on the road while Alabama only has two (plus one neutral site win). Big advantage Iowa. Iowa has 1 win by more than 2 TD's, 3 wins by less than 2 TD's, and 4 wins by less than one TD: Alabama has 5 wins by more than 2 TD's, 2 wins by less than 2 TD's, and 1 win by less than one TD. Advantage Bama.

So that's where they're coming from. This'll cease to matter though, since Alabama is headed for a championship game and one more opportunity to gain points while Iowa doesn't have that option.

Florida retakes #3 from Cincinnati, then there's a big jumble for spots #4-7, all between 7-0 teams within 4 points of each other. Pitt takes over the "best one-loss team" designation from USC, barely, but the Trojans have played one less game than the Panthers. On the bottom this week are Western Kentucky, Rice, and Eastern Michigan, all winless.

Washington still leads the nation in SoS, it's average opponent coming in at well over 100 points earned.

Week 8 Achievement Rankings
Rank	Conf	Team	Pts	W	L	W%	oPts	oW	oL	oW%	rank∆
1	Big10	Iowa	312.33	8	0	100.0%	381.97	52	33	61.2%	0
2	SEC	Alabama	279.54	8	0	100.0%	1.14	42	38	52.5%	0
3	SEC	Florida	245.25	7	0	100.0%	-199.19	40	42	48.8%	1
4	BigEast	Cincinnati	236.38	7	0	100.0%	-157.93	41	39	51.3%	-1
5	MtnWest	TCU	233.20	7	0	100.0%	-446.49	39	43	47.6%	2
6	WAC	Boise St	232.76	7	0	100.0%	-662.38	38	51	42.7%	-1
7	Big12	Texas	231.15	7	0	100.0%	293.66	48	37	56.5%	-1
8	BigEast	Pittsburgh	209.45	7	1	87.5%	302.43	49	31	61.3%	1
9	Pac10	USC	203.27	6	1	85.7%	466.25	48	38	55.8%	1
10	ACC	Georgia Tech	200.05	7	1	87.5%	-195.05	41	41	50.0%	-2
11	Big10	Penn St	187.15	7	1	87.5%	-40.25	46	39	54.1%	6
12	Pac10	Oregon	182.22	6	1	85.7%	689.81	52	35	59.8%	3
13	MAC	Central Michigan	174.63	7	1	87.5%	-915.66	34	52	39.5%	-1
14	SEC	LSU	173.87	6	1	85.7%	371.95	49	40	55.1%	-1
15	CUSA	Houston	165.46	6	1	85.7%	-631.49	37	46	44.6%	3
16	BigEast	West Virginia	152.08	6	1	85.7%	306.91	49	32	60.5%	5
17	MtnWest	Utah	149.63	6	1	85.7%	-182.22	41	46	47.1%	3
18	Big12	Oklahoma St	149.43	6	1	85.7%	26.67	44	37	54.3%	4
19	Big10	Ohio St	143.74	6	2	75.0%	620.80	56	37	60.2%	4
20	ACC	Virginia Tech	137.01	5	2	71.4%	549.52	54	35	60.7%	-6
21	SEC	South Carolina	126.56	6	2	75.0%	231.39	45	34	57.0%	6
22	Pac10	Arizona	123.43	5	2	71.4%	641.59	52	30	63.4%	7
23	ACC	Miami (FL)	120.79	5	2	71.4%	207.99	47	33	58.8%	-7
24	WAC	Idaho	118.27	6	2	75.0%	-258.00	39	47	45.3%	-13
25	MtnWest	Brigham Young	115.90	6	2	75.0%	-194.18	41	46	47.1%	-6
26	Indy	Navy	113.58	6	2	75.0%	-581.31	42	48	46.7%	4
27	Indy	Notre Dame	101.34	5	2	71.4%	561.80	53	39	57.6%	12
28	Big10	Wisconsin	94.55	5	2	71.4%	151.98	49	38	56.3%	3
29	Pac10	California	85.59	5	2	71.4%	69.00	43	39	52.4%	9
30	SunBelt	Troy	84.80	5	2	71.4%	-554.32	33	50	39.8%	10
31	SEC	Mississippi	82.03	5	2	71.4%	-309.89	40	37	51.9%	12
32	BigEast	South Florida	79.58	5	2	71.4%	-164.51	42	33	56.0%	-7
33	Big12	Kansas	76.78	5	2	71.4%	164.43	48	34	58.5%	-9
34	BigEast	Rutgers	67.74	5	2	71.4%	-358.86	40	36	52.6%	16
35	SEC	Auburn	67.40	5	3	62.5%	132.72	46	35	56.8%	-7
36	Pac10	Stanford	61.51	5	3	62.5%	454.45	47	38	55.3%	13
37	Big12	Texas Tech	60.16	5	3	62.5%	-18.67	44	36	55.0%	-11
38	Big10	Michigan	58.61	5	3	62.5%	79.54	47	38	55.3%	-6
39	Big12	Iowa St	58.32	5	3	62.5%	177.82	48	34	58.5%	19
40	Big12	Oklahoma	56.67	4	3	57.1%	562.95	54	28	65.9%	23
41	Big12	Kansas St	55.66	5	3	62.5%	-280.76	40	34	54.1%	14
42	SEC	Georgia	52.01	4	3	57.1%	591.03	53	29	64.6%	-1
43	ACC	Clemson	51.58	4	3	57.1%	230.22	49	34	59.0%	23
44	ACC	Boston College	51.46	5	3	62.5%	-55.04	44	38	53.7%	-11
45	CUSA	Marshall	50.07	5	3	62.5%	-323.90	39	41	48.8%	9
46	SEC	Kentucky	50.05	4	3	57.1%	-9.21	44	40	52.4%	13
47	MAC	Temple	49.98	5	2	71.4%	-1009.05	35	52	40.2%	13
48	Pac10	Oregon St	45.84	4	3	57.1%	389.53	48	33	59.3%	-11
49	BigEast	Connecticut	37.33	4	3	57.1%	460.80	52	28	65.0%	-13
50	WAC	Nevada	33.46	4	3	57.1%	-107.89	43	44	49.4%	25
51	Big12	Nebraska	32.53	4	3	57.1%	249.25	46	39	54.1%	-16
52	WAC	Fresno St	32.42	4	3	57.1%	-217.23	41	39	51.3%	18
53	Big12	Texas A&M	29.42	4	3	57.1%	47.02	44	43	50.6%	26
54	MAC	Ohio	29.11	5	3	62.5%	-1168.99	29	55	34.5%	-20
55	CUSA	East Carolina	27.55	4	3	57.1%	-366.43	40	41	49.4%	-2
56	Big10	Northwestern	27.16	5	3	62.5%	-418.11	39	46	45.9%	15
57	Big12	Missouri	24.29	4	3	57.1%	50.04	45	36	55.6%	-9
58	CUSA	Southern Miss	24.09	5	3	62.5%	-366.32	39	41	48.8%	11
59	SunBelt	LA-Monroe	23.53	4	3	57.1%	-580.09	34	43	44.2%	-12
60	Pac10	Arizona St	23.15	4	3	57.1%	301.73	46	35	56.8%	-18
61	MAC	Northern Illinois	21.34	4	3	57.1%	-861.42	36	50	41.9%	13
62	CUSA	Tulsa	19.54	4	3	57.1%	-549.22	36	44	45.0%	-17
63	Big10	Minnesota	14.98	4	4	50.0%	362.36	51	33	60.7%	-11
64	Big10	Michigan St	12.29	4	4	50.0%	475.43	54	32	62.8%	-13
65	CUSA	UCF	12.09	4	3	57.1%	-284.66	41	41	50.0%	16
66	ACC	North Carolina	11.70	4	3	57.1%	-59.07	43	31	58.1%	-22
67	SunBelt	Mid Tenn St	10.37	4	3	57.1%	-818.83	30	54	35.7%	9
68	SunBelt	LA-Lafayette	9.26	4	3	57.1%	-582.20	34	43	44.2%	-22
69	MtnWest	Wyoming	2.72	4	3	57.1%	-119.41	43	39	52.4%	-2
70	MtnWest	Air Force	0.95	4	4	50.0%	-185.71	45	40	52.9%	-14
71	Pac10	Washington	-0.36	3	5	37.5%	936.85	56	30	65.1%	-14
72	ACC	Duke	-5.74	4	3	57.1%	-262.31	42	34	55.3%	12
73	ACC	Wake Forest	-9.82	4	4	50.0%	106.05	47	36	56.6%	-12
74	SEC	Arkansas	-10.05	3	4	42.9%	557.17	53	29	64.6%	-10
75	ACC	Florida St	-11.79	3	4	42.9%	403.20	52	32	61.9%	14
76	MAC	Western Michigan	-12.87	4	4	50.0%	-886.14	36	51	41.4%	10
77	Pac10	UCLA	-16.22	3	4	42.9%	554.24	50	37	57.5%	-9
78	Big10	Indiana	-18.22	4	4	50.0%	108.11	48	37	56.5%	-16
79	SEC	Tennessee	-22.69	3	4	42.9%	397.33	51	38	57.3%	-14
80	MAC	Kent St	-24.71	4	4	50.0%	-902.11	34	51	40.0%	11
81	CUSA	UTEP	-26.93	3	4	42.9%	-237.01	42	46	47.7%	11
82	MAC	Toledo	-27.54	4	4	50.0%	-702.21	36	55	39.6%	-10
83	ACC	NC State	-32.48	3	4	42.9%	-159.78	44	34	56.4%	4
84	Big12	Baylor	-34.72	3	4	42.9%	347.46	51	32	61.4%	-11
85	MtnWest	San Diego St	-37.97	3	4	42.9%	-190.24	45	40	52.9%	10
86	CUSA	SMU	-40.18	3	4	42.9%	-325.75	40	41	49.4%	-6
87	MAC	Bowling Green	-44.00	3	5	37.5%	-179.27	46	46	50.0%	-5
88	BigEast	Syracuse	-46.43	3	4	42.9%	489.27	53	29	64.6%	10
89	ACC	Virginia	-48.33	3	4	42.9%	453.93	53	30	63.9%	-12
90	WAC	Louisiana Tech	-48.39	3	4	42.9%	36.23	46	36	56.1%	-12
91	Big10	Purdue	-53.37	3	5	37.5%	448.83	53	38	58.2%	10
92	SunBelt	Florida Atl	-53.46	2	4	33.3%	-445.46	37	47	44.0%	11
93	SEC	Mississippi St	-53.76	3	5	37.5%	843.15	57	25	69.5%	-8
94	MtnWest	Colorado St	-58.19	3	5	37.5%	-84.44	45	38	54.2%	-11
95	SunBelt	Arkansas St	-60.96	2	4	33.3%	-516.30	35	43	44.9%	7
96	MAC	Buffalo	-65.07	3	5	37.5%	-345.62	43	43	50.0%	-8
97	MtnWest	UNLV	-77.34	3	5	37.5%	-142.79	43	38	53.1%	7
98	BigEast	Louisville	-78.55	2	5	28.6%	620.94	54	25	68.4%	-5
99	Big12	Colorado	-79.77	2	5	28.6%	726.64	57	31	64.8%	-9
100	CUSA	UAB	-93.24	2	5	28.6%	-183.69	42	44	48.8%	-4
101	Indy	Army	-97.02	3	5	37.5%	-875.16	35	47	42.7%	-7
102	CUSA	Memphis	-101.19	2	5	28.6%	-32.14	45	35	56.3%	4
103	WAC	New Mexico St	-102.90	3	5	37.5%	-404.18	41	45	47.7%	-6
104	WAC	Utah St	-103.86	2	5	28.6%	20.74	46	35	56.8%	8
105	CUSA	Tulane	-105.48	2	5	28.6%	-155.22	45	38	54.2%	-6
106	WAC	Hawaii	-107.73	2	5	28.6%	-251.20	46	43	51.7%	-6
107	WAC	San Jose St	-118.57	1	5	16.7%	159.76	48	34	58.5%	2
108	ACC	Maryland	-137.61	2	6	25.0%	13.44	45	35	56.3%	-3
109	SEC	Vanderbilt	-145.51	2	6	25.0%	199.06	48	35	57.8%	-2
110	SunBelt	Florida Intl	-154.44	1	6	14.3%	151.94	46	38	54.8%	-2
111	SunBelt	North Texas	-154.88	1	6	14.3%	-455.77	39	47	45.3%	2
112	Big10	Illinois	-161.63	1	6	14.3%	378.30	53	33	61.6%	-2
113	Pac10	Washington St	-165.42	1	6	14.3%	661.86	51	35	59.3%	1
114	MAC	Akron	-169.51	1	6	14.3%	-283.58	45	40	52.9%	-3
115	MAC	Miami (OH)	-233.29	0	8	0.0%	472.59	55	36	60.4%	2
116	MtnWest	New Mexico	-242.73	0	7	0.0%	335.12	52	38	57.8%	-1
117	MAC	Ball St	-254.80	1	7	12.5%	-472.93	42	43	49.4%	3
118	MAC	Eastern Michigan	-259.36	0	7	0.0%	-264.79	46	46	50.0%	-2
119	SunBelt	Western Kentucky	-271.70	0	7	0.0%	-385.08	38	40	48.7%	0
120	CUSA	Rice	-271.96	0	8	0.0%	136.46	47	40	54.0%	-2

No changes in the conference rankings this week, though the BigEast did pad their lead...

Here's the breakdown at 2009 Non-Conference Games.

Week 8 Conference Achievement Rankings
Rank	Avg Points	Conference	non-conf W	non-conf L	non-conf W%	non-conf oPts	non-conf oW	non-conf oL	non-conf oW%
1	70.72	BigEast	28	7	80.0%	-3204.82	89	111	44.5%
2	53.00	SEC	28	5	84.8%	-2498.54	86	116	42.6%
3	43.56	Big12	34	13	72.3%	-2944.93	133	154	46.3%
4	42.72	Big10	28	10	73.7%	-2197.04	112	115	49.3%
5	41.37	Pac10	20	8	71.4%	75.49	105	76	58.0%
6	18.71	ACC	25	15	62.5%	-1669.31	134	83	61.8%
7	9.21	MtnWest	20	15	57.1%	-1802.70	103	115	47.2%
8	-4.34	WAC	17	17	50.0%	-1531.95	108	105	50.7%
9	-23.73	CUSA	18	25	41.9%	-1063.78	150	111	57.5%
10	-51.79	MAC	15	33	31.3%	-1157.75	171	135	55.9%
11	-53.39	SunBelt	8	23	25.8%	387.38	125	82	60.4%

(For the following, good & bad losses are ones that have earned or lost more than 40 points.)

#1 BigEast
Went 2-0 this week, beating Army & Akron. Overall though, their opponents lost them some ground, going 13-23
Good Wins: Pittsburgh cs 6-2 Navy, Cincy @ 4-3 Oregon St
Bad Losses: None

#2 SEC
1-0 this weekend, beating LA-Monroe, but their opponents went 13-17 - the cupcakes are still dragging them down.
Good Wins: Alabama v 5-2 Virginia Tech, Auburn vs 6-1 West Virginia
Bad Losses: None

#3 Big12
Their opponents went 14-20 this week, dropping their total a bit.
Good Wins: Missouri @ 4-3 Nevada
Bad Losses: Colorado vs 3-5 Colorado St

#4 Big10
Their opponents were 20-10 this week, helping them slightly.
Good Wins: Iowa @ 5-3 Iowa State, Iowa vs 5-2 Arizona, Ohio State vs 6-2 Navy
Bad Losses: None

#5 Pac10
Their opponents were 13-8, which helps minutely.
Good Wins: USC @ 6-2 Ohio State, Washington vs 6-2 Idaho, Arizona vs 7-1 Central Michigan, USC @ 5-2 Notre Dame, Oregon @ 6-1 Utah.
Bad Losses: Washington State vs 2-5 Hawaii

#6 ACC
26-13 opponents will boost you a bit, but losing to Notre Dame and Navy hurts big.
Good Wins: NC State vs 7-1 Pittsburgh, Florida State @ 6-2 BYU,
Bad Losses: Virginia vs I-AA William & Mary, Duke vs I-AA Richmond

#7 MtnWest
Their opponents went 12-16 this weekend - not helping.
Good Wins: TCU @ 4-3 Clemson
Bad Losses: New Mexico vs 3-5 New Mexico State

#8 WAC
Their opponents went 15-11 this weekend, which is better than last week.
Good Wins: Boise State @ 5-1 Oregon
Bad Losses: None

#9 CUSA
0-0 this weekend, while their opponent went 15-18.
Good Wins: Houston @ 6-1 Oklahoma State
Bad Losses: UTEP vs 3-5 Buffalot, SMU @ 1-6 Washington St, Rice vs 2-6 Vanderbilt

#10 MAC
0-1, losing to Syracuse. Not good.
Good Wins: None
Bad Losses: Ball State vs I-AA New Hampshire, Temple vs I-AA Villanova, Ball State vs 1-6 North Texas, Eastern Michigan vs 3-5 Army

#11 SunBelt
And still at the bottom because of the loss to Kentucky.
Good Wins: None
Bad Losses: Western Kentucky vs I-AA Central Arkansas, Middle TN St vs 3-5 Mississippi St