Not a lot of surprises here given the big performances this week. And, looking forward to next week, no big games within the top 4. One big difference between this ranking, as an evidence based system, vs. the AP Poll, which is a speculation based system, is Ohio State and Baylor. For fun, let's compare Baylor's wins to LSU's.
Quality of Baylor wins as determined by the losing team's Network Rank:
84. SMU
71. Rice
34. Texas Tech
85. Kansas
51. West Virginia
Quality of LSU wins:
28. Mississippi State
33. Auburn
79. Syracuse
125. Eastern Michigan
59. South Carolina
8. Florida
The variance in team quality is higher for LSU, with both the best and least impressive wins, but the average opponent ranking for Baylor is 65, while for LSU it's 55, with wins over Florida, Mississippi State, and Auburn all more impressive than any win by Baylor. Baylor has a back-loaded schedule, with their, at present, four most difficult games in the four final weeks of the season. If they win they will very likely climb into the top four, but they haven't earned the right to be in the conversation yet.
Top 25 (Explanation; Full Ranking):
- Utah
- Michigan State
- LSU
- Clemson
- Iowa
- Notre Dame
- Memphis
- Florida
- Alabama
- California
- Ohio State
- TCU
- Texas A&M
- Michigan
- Ole Miss
- Oklahoma State
- Northwestern
- Temple
- Toledo
- Stanford
- Baylor
- Washington State
- Florida State
- Oklahoma
- Brigham Young