Ok, Week 5 has come and gone, and the “good teams” are finally able to prove they are good (relative to preseason) and some of the frauds have shown themselves as well (Cal, Ok St).

Anyways, as an alternative to Sam’s rankings (I don’t have any quibble with them actually), my system is almost without bias. In my formula, teams are given credit for wins (obviously), but they also get credit for going on the road, and not playing the dregs of FBS/FCS.

All conferences are given a factor rating (based on winning percentage and OOC schedule). So playng a Florida is much better than playing a Troy (and playing either of those on the road also benefits greatly).

This ranking is not stagnant, it will change from week to week, based on who they play, and based on the performance of the teams they have already played. For example, Boise St was fairly high in the system until this week when they played UC Davis (FCS). Anything positive from their ranking will take a hit with each loss Oregon accumulates as well.

The only bias I place into the system is the rankings of the teams in each conference. I will adjust for similar records based on head-to-head and OOC schedules. Rarely will I move a 2-2 team ahead of 3-2, but it can happen, especially if the 3-2 team has 2 wins vs FCS schools.

Note: For teams that have played one fewer game, I add a win to their resume (only for above .500 teams), not assuming that they will win the game, but in order to rank teams relative to the number of losses they have accumulated so far (i.e 5-0 = 4-0 for this purpose), but they team with the extra game has the benefit or subtraction of the extra game played, depending on who that team is.

Anyways, here is the Top 25 and Bottom 20:

1. VA Tech 5.01
2. LSU 4.92
3. Texas 4.88
4. Alabama 4.77
5. Miami FL 4.59
6. Auburn 4.47
7. Iowa 4.43
8. Florida 4.28
9. Oregon 4.20
10. Ohio St 4.12
11. USC 4.04
12. Stanford 4.01
13. Notre Dame 3.90
14. Wisconsin 3.88
14. TCU 3.88
16. Arizona 3.87
17. UCLA 3.85
18. Washington 3.74
19. Kansas 3.70
20. Idaho 3.66
21. Nebraska 3.61
22. Georgia 3.59
22. BYU 3.59
22. Boise St 3.59
25. GA Tech 3.53

Next 5: Michigan, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Missouri, Penn St

Bottom 20

101. Western Michigan 1.11
102. Colorado 1.10
103. San Jose St 1.09
104. Duke 1.03
105. Fresno St 0.93
106. Akron 0.80
107. UNLV 0.78
108. Utah St 0.77
109. Memphis 0.64
110. Virginia 0.63
111. Army 0.55
112. FIU 0.49
113. Louisville 0.47
114. FAU 0.45
115. Miami OH 0.27
116. East Michigan -0.24
117. Rice -0.32
118. Western Kentucky -0.44
119. New Mexico -0.60
120. Ball St -0.70

But I don’t think Florida’s as good as they were last year. Maybe it’s the lack of a go-to reciever… maybe it’s a little complacency. But I think they go down to LSU, and then an unexpected loss along the way, too.

But I can’t argue with your poll. Solid.

What unfortunate is that in the AP and USA Today polls, even if LSU losses they’ll still be ahead of us. But, as a Buckeye fan, I’ve found it’s best not to care about those polls until much later in the season.

If there ever was a season to show how terrible their voting is however, 2009 is it.