It doesn’t make any sense, it’s illogical and if taken to a vote, probably unfair. Yet it somehow comes as no surprise that the Oregon Ducks jumped the Boise State Broncos in the latest AP and USA Today Coaches’ rankings.
Allowing zero trips to the red zone, forcing three turnovers, gaining more than 600 yards of offense and having seven different players score eight touchdowns spells out a 59-0 win for the Broncos at New Mexico State. NMSU is a cupcake, and to say otherwise is foolish. Despite the contrast of talent between these two teams, 59 points and 600 yards of offense are stats that shouldn’t be ignored.
Stanford’s Stepfan Taylor ran the ball into the end zone Saturday to eventually give the Cardinal a 21-3 lead. The then No. 4 ranked Ducks looked as if they were lost. Stanford’s quarterback Andrew Luck was phenomenal in his passing and running in the first half. Something clicked for the Ducks because they went to the locker room down by one touchdown and then broke away from the Cardinal for a 52-31 win. It took longer than expected but the Oregon Ducks showed why they truly are one of the best teams in the nation.
Now, the debate begins as to why Oregon jumped BSU in the rankings.
The Broncos didn’t lose, they posted a shutout and did what everyone asked and expected them to do. The score of the Duck’s win doesn’t tell how close the game really was. Despite that, the Ducks beat the then ranked No. 9 Cardinal by almost three touchdowns. Headed into their games, BSU and Oregon were ranked No. 3 and No. 4, and it makes sense for both to stay that way. So why did the Ducks get a boost?
Who knows why, because there is not a logical answer. The rankings and its voters are losing credibility, while the rankings themselves are losing strength. They’ve become so weak it makes NMSU look like a juggernaut.
If it was the intention of voters to squeeze BSU out of the picture, they’re doing it in the least subtle way possible. It would have looked better if the Ducks made the jump late in the season after beating Stanford and assuming they’ll beat USC and Arizona. It’s not even funny anymore. The lack of respect for Boise State is so thick you couldn’t cut it with a chainsaw.
At the end of the season, when all the work has been done and Oregon has gone undefeated, the people who vote in the AP, who truly think that Oregon is a better team, will have all the reason and the right in the world to vote Oregon ahead of the Brocnos.
Credit is deserved where credit is due. Oregon deserves credit for being No. 4 in the country only because credit is deserved to Boise State for being No. 3. It’s unknown what kinds of criteria poll voters use to make their decisions, but whatever it is, it has birthed a lot of questions. The quantity of questions might be the result of a flawed system other than the BCS.
The only thing the Broncos can do is play football and win. We are all familiar with what the coaches and players look forward to each week. It’s not their ranking or what people are saying about them. They are strictly focused on who is next on the schedule. The Broncos have no other choice.