Monday, October 29, 2012

2012 Gus Rankings: Week 9

This week's Gus Rankings are here.  (And our apologies, but last week's rankings got lost in the shuffle of travel.  You can find those here.)

Notre Dame finds itself alone at the top yet again, resting on a three point edge over second place Ohio State.  Alabama is two points behind the Buckeyes in the third spot, which itself has a six point edge over co-No. 4's Kansas State and Oregon.

At the other end of the spectrum, Massachusetts holds a two point edge over Akron for the title of the worst team in America.  November 10th can't come soon enough!  Your faithful blogger is not above driving the two hours to witness the Game of the Century, either.  Good seats still available!

Conference rankings are as follows, with the ACC becoming the first BCS conference (if my memory is correct) to capture a negative average team score in any week:

1. SEC: 7.929
2. Big 12: 7.000
3. Big 10: 5.417
4. Pac-12: 5.083
5. Big East: 0.250
6. ACC: -0.500
7. Sun Belt: -4.500
8. WAC: -4.857
9. MWC: -5.500
10. MAC: -5.583
11. C-USA: -9.833

Monday, October 15, 2012

2012 Gus Rankings: Week 7

This week's Gus Rankings are here.  Notre Dame takes over the top spot for the first time in Gustory, followed by Ohio State, Florida, Alabama and Oregon State.  On the other end of the spectrum, Massachusetts catches Akron at the bottom of the list.  New Mexico State is still in the hunt for the worst team but they are seeing some separation by the Minutemen and the Zips.

Another fun aspect of the Gus Rankings, as far as I'm concerned, is the ability to compare the best with the worst in an absolute sense; namely, is Notre Dame better than Akron and Massachusetts are bad?  Last week, the bads held the edge, while Notre Dame reclaimed that title this week (+19 to -18).  Stay tuned for this season's epic race away from 0.

One more fun note: Cincinnati has played 3 FBS teams through 7 weeks.  Thanks for breaking a 5, Cincy!  The same is true of Texas-San Antonio, though they'll get a pass for the time being as they're a FBS newcomer, and furthermore aren't in a BCS conference.  That being said, Cincinnati still isn't the lowest rated zero-loss team-- that would be the Ohio Bobcats, checking in at #28.

Monday, October 08, 2012

2012 Gus Rankings: Week 6

Here are this week's Gus Rankings.  Ohio State takes over the top spot with the victory over Nebraska.  Notre Dame, Florida, South Carolina and Stanford-- the highest ranked one-loss team-- round out the top 5.  Notre Dame and Stanford play next week in South Bend, with the winner being well positioned to take the top spot.

At the other end of the spectrum, Massachusetts closed some of the gap between themselves and Akron.  Akron still "leads" all FBS schools at -15, but Massachusetts is just one point back (ahead?).  The title of the worst team in FBS football may well be decided on November 10 when the Minutemen visit Akron-- or perhaps on November 24, when Rice travels to UTEP.

Conference rankings through Week 6:

1. SEC: 3.643
2. Big 12: 3.500
3. Pac-12: 2.833
4. Big 10: 2.250
5. Big East: 0.500
6. ACC: 0.417
7. Sun Belt: -2.000
8. WAC: -2.286
9. MWC: -2.900
10. MAC: -3.167
11. C-USA: -4.333

Monday, October 01, 2012

2012 Gus Rankings: Week 5

This week's rankings are here.  Oregon State shares the point lead with Stanford though claims the top spot by virtue of a better record.  Alabama and Ohio State are tied for the third spot, and Notre Dame rounds out the top five.  On the other end of the rankings, Akron stakes themselves to a two point advantage for the final spot.

At this point it's fun to see a visual disconnect from records and point totals...a few examples:

Highest point total for a team with no wins?  Vanderbilt finds itself at 0-3 against FCS competition but at an even 0 points due to the fact that their three losses-- Georgia, South Carolina and Northwestern-- are all undefeated.  Northern Illinois, USC, Nevada, Penn State and Connecticut all have three wins and are below the Commodores in the standings.

Lowest point total for a team with no losses?  FCS newcomers Texas-San Antonio also find themselves at 0 points despite winning both of their games against FCS competition (and all three of their games against non-FCS competition as well-- one more win the rest of the way and the Roadrunners finish .500 or better in their first year at Division I's top level.) 1-4 Kentucky outpaces UTSA, as does 1-3 Auburn and South Florida, and 1-1 Pittsburgh as well.