Jeff Gravley
WRAL anchor Jeff Gravley is from Oxford and has covered sports in the Triangle since 1985.
By Jeff Gravley
Nov 18, 2009
Three new teams enter my AP football poll this week. North Carolina (23rd) , Clemson (24th) and Stanford (15th).
Of the 60 voters across the country, there are far more who believe that Clemson deserves to be ranked more than North Carolina. The Tigers have 442 total points to the Tar Heels 144. Rutgers claimed the 25th ranking with 145 points.
Why is Clemson ranked 18th and UNC 26th?
Both beat Miami. Both lost to Georgia Tech. Both have a bad loss. (UNC to Virginia and Clemson lost to Maryland.) Clemson beat Florida State while the Tar Heels didn't but North Carolina won at Virginia Tech and Clemson doesn't play them.
The Tigers early season loss to TCU is looking like one of those "good" losses to a team that is now ranked 4th.
I gave UNC the nod one spot ahead of Clemson because of their recent wins over ranked Virginia Tech and Miami.
I'm in the minority having Texas number 1. Only 9 other voters agree. I did move Florida up to 2nd after their road win at South Carolina. TCU moves up 2 slots to 4th after blowing out Utah.
Stanford goes from unranked to 15th in my poll for that wood-shed beating they gave to Southern Cal.
Pretty interesting that one of the Stanford losses was at Wake Forest. THE lone loss for 8th ranked Pittsburgh was at N.C. State. You may see that in the ACC marketing notes this week.
So here's my latest AP vote...
1-Texas
2-Florida
3-Alabama
4-TCU
5-Boise State
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By Jeff Gravley
Nov 10, 2009
The top three teams in my AP poll continue to move around like the shell game. You know, the one where 3 shells are shuffled around and around an only one contains a ball. Guess which one has it?
This week Texas is the shell that has my No. 1 ranking. Alabama moves into the 2nd slot after its win over LSU. Florida is now 3rd in my poll which differs from the overall AP poll. The Gators hold the top spot with 39 first place votes. Texas has 10 and Alabama 11.
I kept Boise State at No. 4 despite their modest 10-point win at Louisiana Tech. The Broncos, TCU and Cincinnati are in the 2nd tier of unbeaten teams. Cincinnati is my 5th ranked team because they keep winning with their back-up quarterback, Zach Collaros, leading the way. Starting QB Tony Pike gets his position back when he's healthy. That could be Friday night against West Virginia. TCU is looking better and better with wins at Clemson and BYU.
Out of my poll this week are Notre Dame, Cal and Oklahoma. The new entries include Arizona, Navy and Oregon State.
So here's my 10th AP poll of the season.
1-Texas
2-Alabama
3-Florida
4-Boise State
5-Cincinnati
6-TCU
7-Ohio State
8-Georgia Tech
9-Houston
10-Pittsburgh
11-USC
12-Utah
13-Miami
14-Iowa
15-LSU
16-Penn State
17-Oregon
18-Arizona
19-BYU
20-Oklahoma State
21-Wisconsin
22-Virginia Tech
23-West Virginia
24-Navy
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By Jeff Gravley
Nov 2, 2009
Florida and Alabama were the only two teams that I had ranked number 1 in the AP football poll.
That is until Halloween.
This week I have the burnt orange of Texas at the top of my AP poll. With three quality wins over Oklahoma, Missouri and Oklahoma State, all on the road, Texas deserves to make a move to the revolving #1 ranking.
Prior to last Saturday, I ranked Alabama number one followed by Florida then Texas. It's hard to move undefeated teams down but I give a big bonus to teams that win on the road. Even more credit for road wins over ranked teams. Right now, Texas is playing as well as it has all season long.
So what does the future hold?
There are 7 undefeated teams ranked in the top 10. Either Florida or Alabama will have at least one loss because they will likely play in the SEC championship game.
The Gators have South Carolina, FIU and Florida State left on their regular season schedule. Bama closes out the season at Mississippi State, home to Chattanooga and at Auburn. The Longhorns wrap it up at Baylor, home against Kansas and at Texas A&M.
Boise State will be favored in all 5 of their remaining games, so will TCU in their final 4. Cincinnati has 4 games remaining including West Virginia and the finale at Pittsburgh. The biggest challenge for 9-0 Iowa is their November 14th trip to Ohio State.
There could be some disappointed, undefeated teams at the end of the year.
So I am one of 13
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By Jeff Gravley
Oct 26, 2009
The block party thrown by Alabama's Terrence Cody kept the Tide undefeated and they remain the top team in my AP football poll.
Cody blocked a pair of Tennessee field goals in the 12-10 Alabama win. Florida won by 10 on the road at Mississippi State and Texas steamrolled Missouri 41-7.
The Longhorns game at Missouri could have been a trap game after Texas beat rival Oklahoma. Colt McCoy was "the Colt of old" according to his coach Mack Brown. McCoy hit 26 of 31 passes for 269 yards and 3 scores.
Texas, Florida and Alabama are the 3 teams that I gave consideration to the #1 ranking but again, it came down to the body of work done by all three teams.
Texas has beaten 1 ranked team, Oklahoma. Florida has a win at LSU and Alabama has beaten three ranked teams, Virginia Tech, Mississippi and South Carolina.
Another formula I used to judge the three teams was the combined record of their opponents. Bama's opponents are 28-29, Florida's is 26-24 and the combined record of Texas' opponents is also 26-24.
That's pretty even between the three teams so the fact that Alabama has beaten more teams that are ranked earned them the top vote in my poll followed by Florida and Texas.
It should really be interesting when Alabama hosts 9th ranked LSU. You can watch the game on WRAL beginning at 3:30 on November 7.
Not many changes in my poll this week other than for the teams that lost.
My AP poll for week 8...
1-Alabama
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By Jeff Gravley
Oct 19, 2009
Like 29 other voters in the AP football poll, I decided this week to change my vote for the top team in college football. Alabama leapfrogs Florida as the #1 team but my reasoning was not confined to just what happened on Saturday.
When comparing undefeated teams, I look at the body of work. So I compared Alabama, Florida and Texas--then made my decision.
The Tide has beaten 3 teams that were ranked at the time they played. Bama by 10 over Virginia Tech, by 19 at Mississippi and by 2 touchdowns over South Carolina.
Florida's signature win is at LSU. Common opponents between the Gators and Tide are Kentucky and Arkansas. Florida whipped the Cats 41-7. Bama topped the Cats by 18. Both played Arkansas at home with Alabama winning 35-7 and Florida getting by the Hogs on a last second field goal.
Then there's Texas and I've had the Longhorns at #2 since the preseason. Nice win over Texas Tech, who is now ranked 21st, but weren't in September when they played Texas. The Horns win over Oklahoma is skewed by the absence of QB Sam Bradford. Freshman Landry Jones threw 2 picks on the Sooners last 2 drives.
I just feel that between Alabama, Florida and Texas, the Crimson Tide is playing the best football right now and their body of work is deserving of the top ranking in the country.
Barring a stubbed toe along the way, expect to see Alabama and Florida play in the SEC championship game. The winner of that game is the one who will play
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By Jeff Gravley
Oct 12, 2009
It wasn't too long after I hit the send button on my computer that I wish I had a mulligan in my AP football poll.
I should have put Alabama 2nd in my poll instead of 3rd. The Tide rolled Ole Miss and have a win over 4th ranked Virginia Tech.
Instead, I have Texas at number 2 even though they don't have a win over a ranked team. The Longhorns schedule is about to toughen up with games vs. Oklahoma, at Missouri and at Oklahoma State. In that same span, Alabama will host South Carolina, Tennessee and LSU.
A gentleman e-mailed me asking how could I rank Penn State higher than Iowa when the Hawkeyes pancaked the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley?
It's a rise and fall deal.
Penn State was 4th in my poll when they lost to unranked Iowa. I dropped the Lions to 12th and brought the Hawkeyes in at 18. Last week Penn State was 11th in my poll and I kept them there again this week. Iowa on the other hand is 13th in my latest poll. The Hawkeyes continue to climb and Penn State is about the same since the 2 teams played on September 26th.
So here is my poll for this week...minus the mulligan I wish I had.
1-FLORIDA
2-TEXAS
3-ALABAMA
4-VA TECH
5-USC
6-BOISE STATE
7-MIAMI
8-OHIO STATE
9-CINCINNATI
10-TCU
11-PENN STATE
12-OREGON
13-IOWA
14-KANSAS
15-LSU
16-OKLAHOMA STATE
17-SOUTH FLORIDA
18-GA TECH
19-BYU
20-NEBRASKA
21-HOUSTON
22-OKLAHOMA
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By Jeff Gravley
Oct 5, 2009
Oklahoma, Georgia and Cal suffered their 2nd loss of the season and dropped out of my AP football poll. There are too many 5-0 teams that needed to get in to justify having a 2-2 Sooners team or 3-2 Georgia or Cal in my top 25.
My top 4 remain the same with Florida, Texas, Alabama and LSU, but you know that will change this weekend with the Gators playing in Baton Rouge.
There was some movement in my 5 through 10. USC moved up to 5th after it's win at Cal. Virginia Tech slipped a spot after an 8 point win at Duke. 3-1 Miami moves back into my top 10 at number 8. 4 games against 4 ranked teams (FSU was ranked at the time) and to come out 3-1 deserves a top ten ranking.
Oregon is back in my poll with undefeated Auburn and South Florida taking the 15th and 17th spot respectively.
So with that, here is my week 5 AP poll....
1-FLORIDA
2-TEXAS
3-ALABAMA
4-LSU
5-USC
6-VIRGINIA TECH
7-BOISE STATE
8-MIAMI
9-CINCINNATI
10-OHIO STATE
11-PENN STATE
12-TCU
13-OREGON
14-KANSAS
15-AUBURN
16-IOWA
17-SOUTH FLORIDA
18-OKLAHOMA STATE
19-BYU
20-GA. TECH
21-MISSISSIPPI
22-HOUSTON
23-MISSOURI
24-NEBRASKA
25-MICHIGAN
By Jeff Gravley
Oct 1, 2009
How many out there thought that in 2009, Greg Paulus would have more career passing yards in college than his brother Mike? Be honest now...Me either.
Greg has passed for 888 yards in 4 games at Syracuse. He is hitting 68% of his passes with 6 touchdowns and 4 picks. In the win over Northwestern, the former Duke point guard passed for 346 yards. This is a guy who hasn't played football in 4-years!
The 2-year career stats of his brother Mike at North Carolina are 4 of 13 for 33 yards, 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
Earlier this year, Mike wasn't even the 2nd quarterback out of the bullpen against the Citadel. Braden Hanson was. Mike committed to UNC the summer before John Bunting was fired and kept his word when Butch Davis was hired in November 2007.
Now his basketball playing brother is playing more football than he is.
We thought we had seen the last of Greg Paulus' college athletic endeavors and then he runs the ultimate trick play, returning to football.
I couldn't be more surprised if I woke up with my head sewn to the carpet. (Christmas Vacation line)
But the Greg Paulus story is a good one.
By Jeff Gravley
Sep 28, 2009
The Associated Press sent an e-mail to the football poll voters asking, "Aside from the top 3, have you taken a start all over approach, " to voting?
I didn't start from scratch but with 4 of my top 10 teams losing, it was close. Three of those losses (Cal, Ole Miss and Miami) were on the road.
The 4 losses by top 10 teams, meant 4 new tenants were moving into the upper 10. Virginia Tech was already in my top 10 before beating Miami. Newcomers to my top 10 are Oklahoma, USC, Cincinnati and Ohio State.
Exiting my poll are North Carolina, Florida State and Utah. Three new teams in are Houston, Iowa and Nebraska.
So after 3-4 games we are beginning to see who some of the better teams are....then they go lose unexpectedly. Crazy man, crazy--but very interesting to follow.
So here is my AP poll...
1-FLORIDA
2-TEXAS
3-ALABAMA
4-LSU
5-VA TECH
6-BOISE STATE
7-OKLAHOMA
8-USC
9-CINCINNATI
10-OHIO STATE
11-HOUSTON
12-PENN STATE
13-OKLAHOMA STATE
14-TCU
15-KANSAS
16-BYU
17-GEORGIA
18-IOWA
19-MIAMI
20-MICHIGAN
21-GA TECH
22-MISSOURI
23-CAL
24-OLE MISS
25-NEBRASKA
By Jeff Gravley
Sep 21, 2009
Five ACC teams remain in my AP Top 25 poll with Miami leading the way at number 9. I had the Canes 17th last week but they deserve to be in the top 10 the way they have played so far. What a contest we have this week with Miami playing at Virginia Tech. I have the Hokies ranked 10th.
Florida State is back in my poll after shellacking previous top ten BYU. That's the Cougars first loss at home in 3 years. The 54-28 score looked like what we would see in the 90's from the Seminoles. But no, the 2009 Noles are no where close to the teams they had in the late 1990's.
North Carolina's offense had their most impressive performance against an ECU defense that was supposed to be a good one. Early in the game, the Carolina offense went to a quicker tempo of calling and running plays. Butch Davis said after the game that the staff decided that instead of taking a lot of time at the line of scrimmage before running a play, they wanted make the defense adjust to them instead of giving defenders extra time to call blitzes and move around.
Georgia Tech fell out of the nation's top 25 but they are hanging on at #24 in mine. Big meeting this Saturday between the Yellow Jackets and Tar Heels down in Atlanta. After Saturday's impressive effort by the Carolina defense, tackle Marvin Austin said, "When Georgia Tech looks at this film we want them to say OH SHUCKS !...these boys are coming."
So here is my top 25 countdown of the best college
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