In the long season of college football, a team can win and still lose ground, because the voters who sort the sport's hierarchy weigh not only the scoreboard but the manner of victory. Oregon survived a rain-soaked 18-16 game at Iowa and yet slipped from fifth to eighth in the averaged CBS Sports ranking, passed by teams whose performances looked more convincing. The reshuffling reflects a familiar truth about reputation: among contenders with a single loss, each week is an audition, and a statement win elsewhere can quietly overtake a narrow one.
CBS Sports 136: Georgia and Texas Tech Climb as Oregon, BYU and Virginia Slide After Week 11
Oregon won on Saturday, and it fell anyway.
Mark
Oregon won. Why does it drop three spots?
Mimi
Because the ballots compare teams to each other. Oregon won 18-16 at Iowa in the rain, while Georgia and Texas Tech both had emphatic wins. The Ducks got passed.
Luke
Worth noting that's the editors' interpretation. The ballots are averaged, and we don't see individual votes or reasons.
Mark
So Texas Tech's win over BYU mattered a lot?
Mimi
It did. BYU was undefeated, so a dominant win over them carried weight. Texas Tech rose from No. 9 to No. 7 and BYU fell to No. 11.
Luke
The source says dominant, but gives no score for that game, so I can't tell you how lopsided it was.
Mark
What about Virginia?
Mimi
Down 13 spots to No. 25. They lost at home to Wake Forest after quarterback Chandler Morris was hurt in the second quarter.
Luke
The injury is stated as clearly affecting the game. The pendulum idea is opinion, not a measured fact.
Mark
Is this the same as the playoff committee's rankings?
Mimi
No. The committee releases its own on Tuesday. This one covers all 136 teams and averages expert ballots.
Luke
Right, so these moves don't predict what the committee will do.
Der Puls
- Oregon survived a rain-soaked 18-16 road win at Iowa and still tumbled from No. 5 to No. 8, a sting that rippled through the one-loss contenders.
- Georgia surged into the No. 5 spot after a commanding performance at Mississippi State, while Texas Tech leapt to No. 7 by dominating previously undefeated BYU.
- BYU lost its perfect record and dropped to No. 11, and Virginia plunged 13 spots to No. 25 after a home loss to Wake Forest that also sidelined its starting quarterback.
- Lower in the rankings, Washington, Missouri, Memphis and San Diego State all fell double digits, while Wake Forest, Kentucky and UNLV climbed in search of a foothold.
- With the College Football Playoff committee set to release its rankings Tuesday, the margins among one-loss teams are razor-thin and every game now carries playoff weight.
In the long season of college football, a team can win and still lose ground, because the voters who sort the sport's hierarchy weigh not only the scoreboard but the manner of victory. Oregon survived a rain-soaked 18-16 game at Iowa and yet slipped from fifth to eighth in the averaged CBS Sports ranking, passed by teams whose performances looked more convincing. The reshuffling reflects a familiar truth about reputation: among contenders with a single loss, each week is an audition, and a statement win elsewhere can quietly overtake a narrow one.
Oregon won on Saturday, and still it fell. The Ducks survived a rain-soaked 18-16 game at Iowa, and when the CBS Sports 136 was updated after Week 11, they had dropped from No. 5 to No. 8. The ranking averages ballots from experts at CBS Sports and 247Sports and covers all 136 FBS teams. Among one-loss teams, Oregon went from second-highest to fifth. The editors admit that penalizing a team for how it wins can feel harsh, but they argue that results don't exist in a vacuum. In their reading, Oregon didn't simply fall; it was jumped.
Two teams did the jumping. Georgia took Oregon's old No. 5 slot after a win at Mississippi State that showed off its full offensive firepower. Texas Tech, now 9-1, rose from No. 9 to No. 7 after dominating BYU, which had been undefeated and fell from No. 8 to No. 11. The margins among one-loss contenders are thin, and every week checks your standing. At the top, Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M and Alabama held their places.
The bigger swings came lower down. Virginia fell 13 spots to No. 25 after a home loss to Wake Forest, where starting quarterback Chandler Morris left with an injury. The editors see it as the pendulum swinging back after more than a month of tight wins. Wake Forest rose nine spots to No. 46 with a defensive plan and a special teams touchdown, clinching bowl eligibility in Jake Dickert's first year. Kentucky climbed to No. 62 after a 31-point win over Florida, and UNLV rose ten spots to No. 51 after a 42-10 win at Colorado State, more a rebound than a reward.
Others fell hard. Washington dropped to No. 36 after a loss to Wisconsin in bad weather, Missouri slid to No. 31 after losing to Texas A&M with a freshman quarterback, Memphis dropped to No. 32 after losing to Tulane, and San Diego State fell to No. 44 after a 38-6 loss at Hawaii. The next test is Week 12, with the committee's Tuesday rankings setting the playoff conversation.
Oregon won on Saturday, and it fell anyway. The Ducks survived a rain-soaked 18-16 game at Iowa, and when the CBS Sports 136 was updated after Week 11, they had slid from No. 5 to No. 8. The ranking averages ballots from experts at CBS Sports and 247Sports, and it covers all 136 FBS teams, not just the top 25.
The drop changed Oregon's standing among one-loss teams. The Ducks had been the second-highest-ranked one-loss team in the rankings. Now they are the fifth. The editors acknowledge that penalizing a team for how it wins can seem harsh, but they argue that results don't exist in a vacuum. Their way of reading it: Oregon didn't so much fall as get jumped.
Two teams did the jumping. Georgia moved into Oregon's old No. 5 slot after a win at Mississippi State that showed off the Bulldogs' full offensive firepower. Texas Tech, now 9-1 and ranked No. 7 (up from No. 9), was one of the weekend's biggest winners after a dominant performance against BYU, which had been undefeated. BYU fell from No. 8 to No. 11 and now has its first loss, at 8-1. The margins among the one-loss contenders are thin, the editors write, and every week is a check on your stock price. Even a winner can be passed by a team coming off a statement win.
At the very top, nothing changed. Ohio State (9-0) is No. 1, Indiana (10-0) is No. 2, Texas A&M (9-0) is No. 3, and Alabama (8-1) is No. 4. Ole Miss (9-1) is No. 6. Behind Oregon come Notre Dame (7-2) at No. 9 and Texas (7-2) at No. 10. The rankings arrive a day before the College Football Playoff selection committee releases its new rankings on Tuesday.
The larger swings came lower down. Virginia fell 13 spots to No. 25 after a home loss to Wake Forest. Starting quarterback Chandler Morris left with an injury in the second quarter. The Cavaliers had been winning tight games for more than a month, and the editors describe this loss as the pendulum swinging back. Virginia is now judged as a two-loss team outside the top 20.
Wake Forest rose nine spots to No. 46. The Demon Deacons got a couple of field goals and a special teams touchdown, along with a defensive plan that slowed Virginia. That was enough to clinch bowl eligibility with six wins in Jake Dickert's first year. Kentucky also rose nine, to No. 62, after a 31-point win over Florida that gave the Wildcats their first back-to-back victories this season.
UNLV climbed ten spots to No. 51 after a 42-10 win at Colorado State. The editors call it more a rebound from a slide than a reward, since the Rebels, coached by Dan Mullen, had lost to Boise State and New Mexico in consecutive games. UNLV is one of just 34 FBS teams with two or fewer losses entering Week 12.
Others fell hard. Washington dropped 11 to No. 36 after losing to Wisconsin in bad weather, with injuries and turnovers hurting the Huskies. Missouri also fell 11, to No. 31, losing to Texas A&M with a freshman quarterback; three losses put the Tigers in a different conversation on ballots. Memphis fell 10 to No. 32 after losing to Tulane, leaving it with two conference losses, though it could still crack the top 30 by winning out. San Diego State fell 10 to No. 44 after a 38-6 loss at Hawaii, though it remains tied for first in the Mountain West.
The next test is Week 12, with the committee's Tuesday rankings setting the playoff conversation.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
One way to view Oregon's fall is that it got jumped.— CBS Sports editors
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