Rankings Roundup after Week 5: AP, Coaches, SP+
Here are the numbers after week 5.
COMPARING AP, COACHES, AND SP+ (RANKINGS)
Georgia and Michigan remain the consensus #1 and #2 in the polls, with SP+ again giving Michigan the nod at the #1 position.
Florida State and Penn State remain the big outliers within the top 10. The AP and Coaches polls both have them at #5 and #6, but SP+ has them significantly lower at #18 (FSU) and #13 (PSU). Florida St. had a bye this week but still ended up dropping 3 spots, probably because their big win over LSU lost some of its shine.
SP+ OFFENSE & DEFENSE (RANKINGS)
Focusing on the SP+ …
Connelly pointed out that Michigan is the first team to be ranked #1 for two consecutive weekends this season. Nice! The offense also moved into the top 10 (#9) while the defense remains elite (#2). Meanwhile, Georgia slipped from #2 to #4, with OSU and Texas sliding up to the #2 and #3 spots.
That USC spread remains impressive. The #1 defense paired with the #52 defense. I mean, no one can beat that, right?
What’s that, LSU? You want me to hold your beer? What for?
[Ole Miss scores again]
Well done, LSU. Well done.
If anyone is wondering about good matchups according to SP+ next week:
- #31 Maryland @ #2 Ohio State
- #12 Oklahoma @ #3 Texas
- #21 Kentucky @ #4 Georgia
- #5 Alabama @ #11 TAMU
- #8 Notre Dame @ #29 Louisville
- #20 Washington State @ #17 UCLA
And in two weeks, we have #6 Oregon @ #7 Washington.
Meanwhile, in the B1G…
That’s not how the B1G works, Purdue. Don’t be getting all fancy.
Good shit, Iowa!
TRENDS (RAW SP+ SCORES)
Here are the weekly changes in the SP+ top 25 from the preseason through Week 5
Things are getting pretty tight. Only three points separate the #1 team from the #7 team. Compare that to the preseason, where the difference was more than 7 points between #1 and #7.
SP+ OFFENSE AND DEFENSE (RAW SP+ SCORES)
Standard interpretation applies:
- Top-right: Good at offense and defense
- Bottom-right: Good defense, below-average offense
- Top-left: Good offense, below-average defense
- Bottom-left: Not so good at football
Has anyone heard from Iowa State lately? We seemed to have lost radio contact somewhere around ¡El Assico!
SP+ RANKINGS BY CONFERENCE (RAW SP+ SCORES)
Horizontal lines are the average (mean) SP+ scores for each conference.
The SEC is continuing to come down to Earth. The average SP+ rating two weeks ago was 15 points, compared to about 12 points this week.
Anything you find interesting?
Go Blue!
October 2nd, 2023 at 11:52 AM ^
Ask and you shall receive. 😊
I'd say your intuition is correct. There's been about a 7-point upward movement for the worst teams and things are starting to concentrate around a center point a bit more.
October 2nd, 2023 at 10:55 AM ^
the USC spread is insane.
Also, how many PI calls will OSU get vs. Maryland?
October 2nd, 2023 at 11:16 AM ^
Is the question the number of PI calls this Saturday in Columbus? If so - here's my guess - Maryland will be called for five (5) PI's against Ohio State receivers. The Buckeyes defense will be called for zero (0) PI's against Maryland's offense.
October 2nd, 2023 at 12:57 PM ^
I suspect UMD will also get an OPI, or two...
Can't have these upstarts out-toughing the tough guys in Toughsville...
October 2nd, 2023 at 10:59 AM ^
I don't know if Michigan is #1....but I am fairly certain now that Georgia isn't
Glad to see SP+ respecting the Pac12. The bottom of it stinks, but that top half looks better than any other league. Hopefully they get at least one team in the CFP
October 2nd, 2023 at 1:01 PM ^
Oregon and Washington give me some pause - they have really good offenses and legit defenses. If Cam Rising comes back in game shape like he used to be, Utah is right there. USC's offense is pick 'o da litter, but any good defense is going to slow it down immensely. And Riley's defense is, ahem, belongs in the SEC this year (lookin' at you, LSU and Ole Miss...). UCLA is a step below, but the real PAC-2 - (NT)OSU and WSU - are really good teams that will cause boatloads of fun this year. As we just saw from the Utah POV.
October 2nd, 2023 at 12:20 PM ^
WOTS Phil Fullmer has us unranked.
October 2nd, 2023 at 4:15 PM ^
Ranked lower than his pants' waist size, to be sure.
October 2nd, 2023 at 12:31 PM ^
Glad to see osu's got that #1 toughness spot.
October 2nd, 2023 at 4:30 PM ^
I think Indiana wants in on a CFB Bermuda Trapezoid.
(VaTech has basically gone missing also.)
October 2nd, 2023 at 5:06 PM ^
50 posts in and you're the first to mention that, Chuck. I thought I must've missed the mark with that joke.
I didn't even think about the trapezoid, but that would make more sense to include Indiana as well. I was pondering whether I should just continued the line linking Iowa and MSU straight through to Illinois and Rutgers.
VT definitely getting sucked into that black hole. NC State and Virginia are perilously close. 😊
October 2nd, 2023 at 9:52 PM ^
Look at the clump of B1G redundancy, most of whom are among Michigan's first 5 B1G opponents: Rutgers, Neb, Minn & MSU.
October 2nd, 2023 at 4:41 PM ^
These charts are beautiful and they don't even include our toughness advantage over OSU.
October 2nd, 2023 at 5:31 PM ^
SP+ rankings WITHOUT preseason metrics are much more in line with what we have seen from each team this year (IMHO more accurately represent current team strength)
October 2nd, 2023 at 5:56 PM ^
Looks like Wisconsin is the favorite to win the west.
October 2nd, 2023 at 7:31 PM ^
Thank you so much for putting the work in on these, love reading this!
October 2nd, 2023 at 8:27 PM ^
FWIW, it's not OU @ Texas, it's OU vs. Texas. This game, as always, is in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl.