That win coupled with Louisville's thrashing of Kentucky and Cincinnati's drubbing of ACC-bound Pitt give hope that all three teams can move up to team up with Boise State and give the Big East a strong nucleus for future football seasons that will attract a strong offer from ESPN, NBC Sports or others.
However, it is also important that some of the lower teams also improve their standing now that they will be affiliated with the East. To that end, it was good that SMU, Memphis and San Diego State were three of the 15 teams to exceed the Massey spread on their game by more than 20 points. SMU was favored by just 12 against a Stephen F. Austin team that had won 6 straight games in the FCS, but exceeded that spread by 40 points for the most impressive performance of the day. San Diego State also rolled it up by 15 points more than expected, and Memphis almost pulled off a major upset as a 27-point underdog at Arkansas State.
This table shows the best 15 performances - obviously Louisiana-Monroe has the most impressive win on this list, and my estimate of how the team's Massey ranking could change as a result.
Team | Conference | Prev Rank | New Rank | Opponent | Massey Pr | Actual | Beat Spread |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SMU | Big East | 87 | 78 | SF Austin | 12 | 52 | 40 |
Texas Tech | Big 12 | 36 | 27 | Texas St | 12 | 48 | 36 |
Arizona | Pac 12 | 43 | 36 | Oklahoma St | -13 | 21 | 34 |
ULM | Sun Belt | 105 | 97 | Arkansas | -30 | 3 | 33 |
Kansas St | Big 12 | 21 | 12 | Miami FL | 7 | 39 | 32 |
Indiana | Big Ten | 96 | 88 | Massachusetts | 10 | 39 | 29 |
Kentucky | SEC | 81 | 76 | Kent | 7 | 33 | 26 |
Georgia | SEC | 22 | 16 | Missouri | -4 | 21 | 25 |
Maryland | ACC | 100 | 92 | Temple | -16 | 9 | 25 |
Arizona St | Pac 12 | 35 | 31 | Illinois | 7 | 31 | 24 |
Minnesota | Big Ten | 77 | 73 | New Hampshire | 13 | 37 | 24 |
Memphis | Big East | 121 | 115 | Arkansas St | -27 | -5 | 22 |
Georgia Tech | ACC | 52 | 47 | Presbyterian | 35 | 56 | 21 |
San Diego St | Big East | 71 | 67 | Army | 14 | 35 | 21 |
Rice | CUSA | 115 | 108 | Kansas | -20 | 1 | 21 |
After going through each game, it appears the "future Big East" could have six teams in the top half (60th place) of the FBS after yesterday's games, though Temple probably drops below that mark after a very disappointing performance against Maryland. That stacks up as equal with the ACC and well as doubling the highest non-BCS conference (WAC, 3 teams). Obviously ACC football is not helped by Pitt or Syracuse, neither of which is in the top 80. Here are the number of Top 60 teams in each conference:
- SEC - 13 (though Massey will have just 3 in the Top 10 after Arkansas loss)
- Big 12 - 9 (all in the top 30 with the addition of #28 West Virginia)
- Pac 12 - 9 (matches SEC and Big 12 with 3 in the top 10, but no other top 30)
- Big Ten - 9 (Michigan State only top 15 after Wisconsin and Nebraska losses)
- 2013 Big East - 6 (plus Notre Dame and includes Boise St at #11, but need Cincy, USF and Louisville to climb into top 30)
- ACC 6 (unlike polls, no team in top 20 yet)
- WAC 3 (none in top 40)
- MAC 2 (none in top 40)
- Mountain West 1 (USF's upset of then-No. 27 Nevada huge)
- Independent 1 (Brigham Young just outside top 30, so very tempting for Big East press)
While a dream football scenario of both BYU and Notre Dame joining the Big East is virtually impossible, the conference can still be well-positioned if they hold onto the current line-up and can get someone to step up along with Boise State to keep an overall sports package with the conference very enticing. Here is the list of all conferences and an estimate of where their teams will rank after this week's performance. Don't get me wrong, as a basketball fan I would rather have beefed up basketball with Memphis and Temple then picked up two more football teams if I had the choice, but as long as we have them we want them and the rest to do well and increase the overall value of the next Big East TV package.
Team | Conference | Prev Rank | New Rank | Opponent | Massey Pr | Actual | Beat Spread |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Boise State | Big East | 12 | 11 | Idle | |||
Notre Dame | Big East | 18 | 20 | Purdue | 17 | 3 | -14 |
Cincinnati | Big East | 42 | 38 | Pittsburgh | 13 | 24 | 11 |
South Florida | Big East | 46 | 45 | Nevada | -7 | 1 | 8 |
Louisville | Big East | 48 | 48 | Missouri St | 25 | 28 | 3 |
Connecticut | Big East | 58 | 59 | NC State | 3 | -3 | -6 |
Rutgers | Big East | 56 | 60 | Howard | 41 | 26 | -15 |
Temple | Big East | 57 | 63 | Maryland | 16 | -9 | -25 |
San Diego St | Big East | 71 | 67 | Army | 14 | 35 | 21 |
SMU | Big East | 87 | 78 | SF Austin | 12 | 52 | 40 |
UCF | Big East | 80 | 81 | Ohio St | -18 | -15 | 3 |
Navy | Big East | 83 | 83 | Idle | |||
Houston | Big East | 90 | 90 | Louisiana Tech | -7 | -7 | 0 |
Memphis | Big East | 121 | 115 | Arkansas St | -27 | -5 | 22 |
Florida St | ACC | 23 | 21 | Savannah St | 51 | 55 | 4 |
Clemson | ACC | 25 | 25 | Ball St | 18 | 25 | 7 |
Virginia Tech | ACC | 32 | 35 | Austin Peay | 43 | 35 | -8 |
Miami FL | ACC | 33 | 40 | Kansas St | -7 | -39 | -32 |
Georgia Tech | ACC | 52 | 47 | Presbyterian | 35 | 56 | 21 |
North Carolina | ACC | 49 | 52 | Wake Forest | 5 | -1 | -6 |
NC State | ACC | 65 | 64 | Connecticut | -3 | 3 | 6 |
Virginia | ACC | 70 | 72 | Penn St | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Boston College | ACC | 75 | 74 | Maine | 17 | 31 | 14 |
Wake Forest | ACC | 76 | 75 | North Carolina | -5 | 1 | 6 |
Duke | ACC | 73 | 77 | Stanford | -21 | -37 | -16 |
Syracuse | ACC | 85 | 84 | USC | -21 | -13 | 8 |
Pittsburgh | ACC | 82 | 85 | Cincinnati | -13 | -24 | -11 |
Maryland | ACC | 100 | 92 | Temple | -16 | 9 | 25 |
Oklahoma | Big 12 | 4 | 3 | Florida A&M | 47 | 56 | 9 |
Baylor | Big 12 | 11 | 9 | Idle | |||
Oklahoma St | Big 12 | 3 | 10 | Arizona | 13 | -21 | -34 |
Kansas St | Big 12 | 21 | 12 | Miami FL | 7 | 39 | 32 |
Texas | Big 12 | 17 | 14 | New Mexico | 34 | 45 | 11 |
TCU | Big 12 | 19 | 18 | Grambling | 52 | 56 | 4 |
Texas Tech | Big 12 | 36 | 27 | Texas St | 12 | 48 | 36 |
West Virginia | Big 12 | 28 | 28 | Idle | |||
Iowa St | Big 12 | 30 | 29 | Iowa | -3 | 3 | 6 |
Kansas | Big 12 | 64 | 70 | Rice | 20 | -1 | -21 |
Michigan St | Big Ten | 6 | 4 | C Michigan | 28 | 34 | 6 |
Wisconsin | Big Ten | 13 | 17 | Oregon St | 10 | -3 | -13 |
Nebraska | Big Ten | 15 | 19 | UCLA | 7 | -6 | -13 |
Michigan | Big Ten | 20 | 24 | Air Force | 18 | 6 | -12 |
Ohio St | Big Ten | 29 | 32 | UCF | 18 | 15 | -3 |
Iowa | Big Ten | 37 | 37 | Iowa St | 3 | -3 | -6 |
Illinois | Big Ten | 44 | 51 | Arizona St | -7 | -31 | -24 |
Northwestern | Big Ten | 55 | 53 | Vanderbilt | -3 | 10 | 13 |
Purdue | Big Ten | 61 | 56 | Notre Dame | -17 | -3 | 14 |
Penn St | Big Ten | 68 | 69 | Virginia | -1 | -1 | 0 |
Minnesota | Big Ten | 77 | 73 | New Hampshire | 13 | 37 | 24 |
Indiana | Big Ten | 96 | 88 | Massachusetts | 10 | 39 | 29 |
BYU | Independent | 31 | 34 | Weber St | 31 | 32 | 1 |
Oregon | Pac 12 | 5 | 6 | Fresno St | 24 | 17 | -7 |
Stanford | Pac 12 | 14 | 7 | Duke | 21 | 37 | 16 |
USC | Pac 12 | 9 | 8 | Syracuse | 21 | 13 | -8 |
Arizona St | Pac 12 | 35 | 31 | Illinois | 7 | 31 | 24 |
Arizona | Pac 12 | 43 | 36 | Oklahoma St | -13 | 21 | 34 |
Washington | Pac 12 | 38 | 39 | LSU | -27 | -38 | -11 |
Utah | Pac 12 | 45 | 46 | Utah St. | -3 | -7 | -4 |
UCLA | Pac 12 | 51 | 49 | Nebraska | -7 | 6 | 13 |
California | Pac 12 | 53 | 55 | Southern Utah | 23 | 19 | -4 |
Oregon St | Pac 12 | 67 | 65 | Wisconsin | -10 | 3 | 13 |
Washington St | Pac 12 | 88 | 87 | E Washington | 5 | 4 | -1 |
Colorado | Pac 12 | 98 | 103 | CS Sacramento | 18 | -2 | -20 |
Alabama | SEC | 1 | 1 | W Kentucky | 45 | 35 | -10 |
LSU | SEC | 2 | 2 | Washington | 27 | 38 | 11 |
South Carolina | SEC | 8 | 5 | East Carolina | 28 | 38 | 10 |
Texas A&M | SEC | 10 | 13 | Florida | 10 | -3 | -13 |
Arkansas | SEC | 7 | 15 | ULM | 30 | -3 | -33 |
Georgia | SEC | 22 | 16 | Missouri | -4 | 21 | 25 |
Missouri | SEC | 16 | 22 | Georgia | 4 | -21 | -25 |
Florida | SEC | 26 | 23 | Texas A&M | -10 | 3 | 13 |
Tennessee | SEC | 24 | 26 | Georgia St | 45 | 38 | -7 |
Mississippi St | SEC | 34 | 33 | Auburn | 3 | 18 | 15 |
Auburn | SEC | 39 | 42 | Mississippi St | -3 | -18 | -15 |
Vanderbilt | SEC | 40 | 44 | Northwestern | 3 | -10 | -13 |
Mississippi | SEC | 60 | 58 | UTEP | 14 | 18 | 4 |
Kentucky | SEC | 81 | 76 | Kent | 7 | 33 | 26 |
Southern Miss | CUSA | 62 | 62 | Idle | |||
Tulsa | CUSA | 72 | 71 | Tulane | 24 | 35 | 11 |
East Carolina | CUSA | 93 | 96 | South Carolina | -28 | -38 | -10 |
UTEP | CUSA | 101 | 102 | Mississippi | -14 | -18 | -4 |
Marshall | CUSA | 104 | 104 | W Carolina | 27 | 28 | 1 |
Rice | CUSA | 115 | 108 | Kansas | -20 | 1 | 21 |
UAB | CUSA | 118 | 118 | Idle | |||
Tulane | CUSA | 116 | 120 | Tulsa | -24 | -35 | -11 |
Army | Independent | 102 | 105 | San Diego St | -14 | -35 | -21 |
Ohio | MAC | 47 | 43 | New Mexico St | 10 | 27 | 17 |
N Illinois | MAC | 59 | 57 | TN Martin | 28 | 28 | 0 |
Toledo | MAC | 66 | 66 | Wyoming | 1 | 3 | 2 |
W Michigan | MAC | 92 | 89 | E Illinois | 19 | 31 | 12 |
Ball St | MAC | 89 | 91 | Clemson | -18 | -25 | -7 |
Bowling Green | MAC | 94 | 93 | Idaho | 10 | 8 | -2 |
Kent | MAC | 91 | 99 | Kentucky | -7 | -33 | -26 |
Miami OH | MAC | 99 | 100 | S Illinois | 17 | 16 | -1 |
Buffalo | MAC | 107 | 107 | Morgan St | 31 | 22 | -9 |
E Michigan | MAC | 109 | 112 | Illinois St | -1 | -17 | -16 |
C Michigan | MAC | 112 | 113 | Michigan St | -28 | -34 | -6 |
Akron | MAC | 123 | 119 | Florida Intl | -21 | -3 | 18 |
Massachusetts | MAC | 117 | 122 | Indiana | -10 | -39 | -29 |
Nevada | Mountain West | 27 | 30 | South Florida | 7 | -1 | -8 |
Fresno St | Mountain West | 63 | 61 | Oregon | -24 | -17 | 7 |
Air Force | Mountain West | 69 | 68 | Michigan | -18 | -6 | 12 |
Wyoming | Mountain West | 78 | 79 | Toledo | -1 | -3 | -2 |
Hawaii | Mountain West | 79 | 80 | Idle | |||
Colorado St | Mountain West | 95 | 98 | N Dakota St | -7 | -15 | -8 |
UNLV | Mountain West | 113 | 114 | Northern Arizona | 7 | -3 | -10 |
New Mexico | Mountain West | 114 | 116 | Texas | -34 | -45 | -11 |
Arkansas St | Sun Belt | 74 | 82 | Memphis | 27 | 5 | -22 |
ULL | Sun Belt | 97 | 94 | Troy | 3 | 13 | 10 |
ULM | Sun Belt | 105 | 97 | Arkansas | -30 | 3 | 33 |
W Kentucky | Sun Belt | 103 | 101 | Alabama | -45 | -35 | 10 |
North Texas | Sun Belt | 106 | 106 | TX Southern | 35 | 27 | -8 |
Florida Intl | Sun Belt | 108 | 110 | Akron | 21 | 3 | -18 |
Troy | Sun Belt | 110 | 111 | ULL | -3 | -13 | -10 |
Middle Tenn St | Sun Belt | 119 | 117 | FL Atlantic | 7 | 14 | 7 |
FL Atlantic | Sun Belt | 122 | 121 | Middle Tenn St | -7 | -14 | -7 |
South Alabama | Sun Belt | 124 | 123 | Nicholls St | 7 | 6 | -1 |
Louisiana Tech | Western Athletic | 41 | 41 | Houston | 7 | 7 | 0 |
Utah St. | Western Athletic | 50 | 50 | Utah | 3 | 7 | 4 |
San Jose St | Western Athletic | 54 | 54 | UC Davis | 25 | 32 | 7 |
New Mexico St | Western Athletic | 84 | 86 | Ohio | -10 | -27 | -17 |
Texas St | Western Athletic | 86 | 95 | Texas Tech | -12 | -48 | -36 |
Idaho | Western Athletic | 111 | 109 | Bowling Green | -10 | -8 | 2 |
UT San Antonio | Western Athletic | 120 | 124 | TX A&M Commerce | 36 | 11 | -25 |
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