On rankings

I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it is to be Stewart Mandell, or any AP poll voter for that matter. While the Bowl Championship Series has made major college football more of a national sport than it ever was in the pre-BCS days, it still remains largely a regional sport. As a voter, is it really possible to know enough about the 120 major football programs to be able to pull the 25 top teams and put them in order?

Consider Mandell’s recent “Five Things We Learned This Weekend” post. He notes that “reports of the Pac-10’s ascendancy were premature,” based on recent losses Cal has suffered to Oregon State and UCLA as well as USC’s loss to Stanford.

This is quite puzzling, considering that the common justification of the strength of the SEC is that it’s almost impossible for teams to make it through the season undefeated. It certainly was the rational last year, when a one-loss Florida team creamed Ohio State in the National Championship game.

The general consensus of the Pac-10 the past few years has been that it’s USC and nobody, therefore it’s easy for the Trojans to get to the big game. Yet this year, when any Pac-10 team can beat any other on a given Saturday, it’s just proof that the conference is weak.

Let’s just ignore the fact that previously No. 6 South Carolina, who was leading the southeastern division of the SEC, lost to lowly Vanderbilt(see photo). Let’s also ignore the fact that two-loss UCLA, in their loss to Notre Dame (ND’s only win on the season), was starting a walk-on at quarterback because of injuries.

Fans and the media alike were floored by USC’s loss to Stanford, yet they seem to conveniently forget (or are simply unaware of) the large number of injuries the Trojans had picked up in the last few games. They’d loss several linemen, two running backs (including their leading rusher, Stafon Johnson), two great linebackers and a number of cornerbacks.

The Pac-10 is tough this year, I guarantee that. Just wait until bowl season.