The Penn State See Saw

For the second time this season, Penn State has lost its number 1 ranking despite not losing a game. The first time it happened was really a artefact of the way the polls are done. Penn State didn't necessarily lose support from individual voters, but pollsters that had Tennessee higher than Penn State merely switched their votes to Florida, after the Gators defeated the Vols on September 20. This time, though, individual pollsters punished Penn State for a 16-15 victory against Minnesota (2-5).

There are several reasons why this doesn't bother me, but one reason that it does. As a Florida fan, it is always in my interest to see an alliance team hold the number 1 position, as it puts UF more in control of its own destiny. Second, as someone who has been ranking teams this year on the Steve St. John Homepage, I have never had Penn State higher than third. Third, and most importantly, I am of the belief that individual pollsters have an obligation to re-evaluate their rankings every week, without regard to where they ranked teams the previous week.

I am aware that that is a renegade belief. However, it makes perfect sense to me. Unquestionably, the preseason poll is the worst, and fans have long complained that teams are unfairly punished (or aided) by what their preseason rank was, which was, after all, based on limited information. Where might Oklahoma State, or Washington State, or Air Force, or Michigan State be if there were no polls until the month of October? How long did Southern Cal, Notre Dame, and Miami (FL) take up space in the polls? My point is that not only is the preseason poll worthless (except for its entertainment value), but so is any previous week's poll. The one doing the ranking always has more information the current week than he or she did the previous week, so why should they feel bound to use last week's list as a guide when it was based on a limited data pool?

That having been said, I still think the pollsters screwed Penn State. The reason I think so is they placed too much emphasis on one game. Yes, Minnesota is a poor team (though not as bad as their record indicates), and yes the game was in Happy Valley, but Penn State played gutsy ball, came back, and won. It is a sports cliche to say that every great team has to play a close game like this to win it all, but it does seem to happen every year. I remember thinking why did UF struggle to beat Vanderbilt last year? Why did Notre Dame lose to Boston College in 1993 before going on to win it all? (Oops, that was only in my poll.)

You only have to look back one week to prove to yourself that Penn State is a great team. They beat an outstanding Ohio State. Now, unless you believe the Nittany Lions played way over their heads (because Ohio State did play well), or unless you believe the Gophers are as good as Ohio State (cough), then you have to conclude that Penn State is a good team that ran into a Gopher team playing as good as they can play. Plus, the Nittany Lions were playing the letdown game, the game after a huge win. What makes Penn State great and LSU only good is that Penn State found a way to win while LSU found a way to look silly.

Penn State remains third in my poll because I know a lot about FSU and I still have bad memories of the 1995 Fiesta Bowl. But if I had had Penn State first last week they would be first this week. It might not be that way if Penn State hadn't proven themselves yet, but if your memory is at least 8 days long, you'll recall that they have.