Where's the Love?

[FanGuru]

First, Id like to say i'm a Hawkeye fan. From the outside looking in, I believe NW should be ranked. Here's why:

-lost to currently ranked #10 Iowa and #15 Michigan and their best win is against #8 Stanford. They also beat #22 ranked Duke. Why does this get overlooked?

-All of these teams received more votes: Texas A&M 73, North Carolina 46, Southern Cal 33, BYU 18, Georgia 17, Wisconsin 15

Oh yeah, ranked Miss St has yet to beat a ranked team this season. They managed to lose to unranked Texas A&M to top it off. (This just confuses me)

I realize that the two losses were blowouts but they ran into two hot teams.

They should be in the 20-25 range.

 

[Aging Booster]

First, Id like to say i'm a Hawkeye fan. From the outside looking in, I believe NW should be ranked. Here's why:

-lost to currently ranked #10 Iowa and #15 Michigan and their best win is against #8 Stanford. They also beat #22 ranked Duke. Why does this get overlooked?

-All of these teams received more votes: Texas A&M 73, North Carolina 46, Southern Cal 33, BYU 18, Georgia 17, Wisconsin 15

Oh yeah, ranked Miss St has yet to beat a ranked team this season. They managed to lose to unranked Texas A&M to top it off. (This just confuses me)

I realize that the two losses were blowouts but they ran into two hot teams.

They should be in the 20-25 range.

Agreed. But, if we keep winning, we'll be back in the polls.

 

[Alaskawildkat]

Check back next week. It would not be the first time that a "bye" has moved a team up in the rankings.

 

[shakes3858]

First, Id like to say i'm a Hawkeye fan. From the outside looking in, I believe NW should be ranked. Here's why:

-lost to currently ranked #10 Iowa and #15 Michigan and their best win is against #8 Stanford. They also beat #22 ranked Duke. Why does this get overlooked?

-All of these teams received more votes: Texas A&M 73, North Carolina 46, Southern Cal 33, BYU 18, Georgia 17, Wisconsin 15

Oh yeah, ranked Miss St has yet to beat a ranked team this season. They managed to lose to unranked Texas A&M to top it off. (This just confuses me)

I realize that the two losses were blowouts but they ran into two hot teams.

They should be in the 20-25 range.

The Stanford win doesn't count because the only reason we won in the media's mind is because Stanford played terrible most likely because the kickoff was at 9 am PST.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

Agreed! Plus,we can run the table and finish ten and 2

 

[spartcat]

Our 2 losses were UGLY. They were also recent. We have a pretty good record on the positive side, as you say. If we can keep winning top 15 is very likely by the end of the season.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Rankings should be weighted more toward recent performance than early seadon performance, IMO. I would not put the Cats in the top 25 based on getting wiped by toe good teams. Once you get beyond the top 15 or so, things get really murky. If we win out, then we should be ranked 20ish.

 

[hdhntr1]

Rankings should be weighted more toward recent performance than early seadon performance, IMO. I would not put the Cats in the top 25 based on getting wiped by toe good teams. Once you get beyond the top 15 or so, things get really murky. If we win out, then we should be ranked 20ish.

If we win out, we should be ranked about12-15. We would be 10-2, have at least two big wins and will have played a pretty tough schedule. But just win and the rankings will take care of themselves. THe fact that we are constantly in the conversation should help next years recruiting and the end of season ranking is most important.

 

[Fanaticat98]

I don't think we merit a ranking this week, after 2 blowout losses in a row which rightfully dropped us from the low teens to the 30 range. Voters know that usually when NU gets up in the rankings we end up tanking on the big stage.

Appreciate the respectful thoughts but I suspect as an Iowa fan you also know you would benefit in the BCS/playoff consideration by having NU ranked higher!

 

[MrCat95]

Our 2 losses were UGLY. They were also recent. We have a pretty good record on the positive side, as you say. If we can keep winning top 15 is very likely by the end of the season.

If I'm a voter, I'm holding the lopsided back-to-back losses against NU. Had these been competitive losses, NU would still deserve to be ranked in the top 25. The UM and Iowa games were just over the top terrible losses though even if those are two very good teams.

NU has to go out and beat some decent or good teams before voters (rightfully) start taking them seriously again. Heck, I'm an NU homer, and I need to see a lot of improvement offensively (and on special teams) before I take them seriously as a top 25 team again.

 

[Hungry Jack]

If we win out, we should be ranked about12-15. We would be 10-2, have at least two big wins and will have played a pretty tough schedule. But just win and the rankings will take care of themselves. THe fact that we are constantly in the conversation should help next years recruiting and the end of season ranking is most important.

Maybe, but I would have a hard time putting this team into the top 15 if I were a voter, even with winning out. Unless the offense makes some magical transformation where receivers suddenly start making plays, the run game improves, and CT starts making decisions like an experienced QB, I just have a hard time getting over the warts I see.

Not to say that a 10-2 Wildcat team would be a weak one. Far from it. But I see the rankings more at tiers than individual places. I think the top 10 or so form the elite tier--basically the top 2 schools in each power conference (give or take a team. The next tier is a step down, with a bunch of good teams that knock off an elite on any given day, but aren't quite consistently good. NU is probably in this mix.

Another way of looking at is to say we would be about the 5th best team in the B1G after OSU, MSU, UM, and Iowa.