Linemaker Poll: Pre BCS Edition

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Separation Saturday gave us plenty of surprises. Deciding which team was least impressive between Georgia’s pathetic effort at South Carolina, LSU’s anemic offensive display at the Swamp, or Florida St’s meltdown in Raleigh proved to be challenging.  With the debut BCS standings only one week away, we leaned on our friends at Don Best for the official power poll as recognized by Las Vegas bookmakers.

The knee jerk reaction from the AP was to immediately penalize the Seminoles for their pathetic second half in Raleigh, dropping the Seminoles from 2 to 12. Linemakers didn’t feel the same as the Seminoles only slipped down a single spot despite their loss as 16 point road favorites. LSU and Georgia were other casualties in the top 10, falling 3 and 4 spots respectively in the Linemaker poll after sub par conference efforts. Fans assume the sky is falling after one bad game yet for those of us in the industry, we realize a team is never as good or as bad as they look over the course of a 60 minute sample size. Georgia supporters should take solace in this thought process but with Mark Richt running the program, I understand your skepticism. Conversely, let’s not go crowning South Carolina national champions in October, especially with landmine road dates at LSU and at Florida looming in the next two weeks.

Rank Team Rating AP Rank Previous Week
1 Alabama 125.1 1 1
2 Oregon 121.9 2 3
3 Florida State 120 12 2
4 USC 119.4 11 T-5
5 South Carolina 119 3 T-8
6 Oklahoma 118.9 13 7
7 LSU 118.5 9 4
8 Florida 117.9 4 10
9 Notre Dame 117.5 7 11
10 Texas 117.4 15 T-5
11 West Virginia 116.7 5 12
12 Georgia 116.5 14 T-8
13 Ohio State 115.9 8 T-15
14 Texas A&M 115.3 22 13
15 Kansas State 115.1 6 T-15
16 Clemson 114.4 16 17
17 Michigan 113.9 25 21
18 Oklahoma State 113.2 NR 19
19 Nebraska 113 34 14
20 Stanford 112.5 17 20
21 North Carolina 112.2 NR 24
22 Arizona State 111.9 31 23
23 Mississippi State 111.5 19 25
24 Michigan State 111.4 30 22
25 Boise State 111 24 31
T-26 Tennessee 110.9 37 27
T-26 TCU 110.9 29 18
28 Louisville 110.8 18 28
29 Wisconsin 110.1 NR T-32
30 Rutgers 110 20 T-37

 

Note: TCU’s place at 26 is contingent on Casey Pachall returning from suspension

Next Ten: Louisiana Tech (AP-23), North Carolina State (AP-33), Texas Tech (AP-38), Baylor (AP-27), BYU, Cincinnati (AP-21), Virginia Tech, Oregon State (AP-10), UCLA, Penn State (AP-40).

Dropped out of Don Best Linemakers Poll Top 30: BYU (26), UCLA (29), Virginia Tech (30).

Teams in AP Top 25 not in Don Best Top 30: Oregon State (AP-10), Cincinnati (AP-21), Louisiana Tech (AP-23)

Games Vegas will be Watching: Texas (+3) vs Oklahoma, North Carolina (-7) @ Miami Fl, Florida (-8.5) @ Vanderbilt, Kansas St (-6.5) @ Iowa St, Stanford (+8) @ Notre Dame, Tennessee (+4) @ Mississippi St, West Virginia (-3.5) @ Texas Tech, South Carolina (+2) @ LSU

Written by Clay Travis

Clay Travis is the founder of the fastest growing national multimedia platform, OutKick, that produces and distributes engaging content across sports and pop culture to millions of fans across the country. OutKick was created by Travis in 2011 and sold to the Fox Corporation in 2021.

One of the most electrifying and outspoken personalities in the industry, Travis hosts OutKick The Show where he provides his unfiltered opinion on the most compelling headlines throughout sports, culture, and politics. He also makes regular appearances on FOX News Media as a contributor providing analysis on a variety of subjects ranging from sports news to the cultural landscape.

Additionally, Travis serves as a co-host of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, a three-hour conservative radio talk program syndicated across Premiere Networks radio stations nationwide.

Previously, he launched OutKick The Coverage on Fox Sports Radio that included interviews and listener interactions, and started an iHeartRadio Original Podcast called Wins & Losses that featured in-depth conversations with the biggest names in sports.

Travis is a graduate of George Washington University as well as Vanderbilt Law School. Based in Nashville, he is the author of Dixieland Delight, On Rocky Top, and Republicans Buy Sneakers.