PiRate Ratings College Football–Championship Week

This Week’s Spreads

Home	Visitor	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Buffalo	Akron	12.3	13.4	13.9
UTSA	North Texas	11.5	11.2	10.4
Utah	USC	4.1	3.1	4.0
TCU	Kansas St.	4.2	4.2	4.4
Ohio	Toledo	0.7	2.3	2.4
Troy	Coastal Carolina	8.7	8.8	9.4
Georgia	LSU	17.5	17.0	18.0
Tulane	Central Florida	4.7	4.0	5.0
Boise St.	Fresno St.	5.9	5.7	5.8
Michigan	Purdue	15.6	15.8	17.3
Clemson	North Carolina	10.2	10.2	11.5

Conference Championship Schedule

Day	Date	Location	Conference	Team 1	Team 2	Network	Time (EST)
FRI	12/2	San Antonio	C-USA	UTSA	North Texas	CBSSN	7:30 PM
FRI	12/2	Las Vegas	Pac-12	USC	Utah	Fox	8:00 PM
SAT	12/3	Arlington, TX	Big 12	TCU	Kansas St.	ABC	12:00 PM
SAT	12/3	Detroit	Mid-American	Ohio	Toledo	ESPN	12:00 PM
SAT	12/3	Troy, AL	Sun Belt	Troy	Coastal Carolina	ESPN	3:30 PM
SAT	12/3	Atlanta	SEC	Georgia	LSU	CBS	4:00 PM
SAT	12/3	New Orleans	American	Tulane	Central Florida	ABC	4:00 PM
SAT	12/3	Boise, ID	Mountain West	Boise St.	Fresno St.	Fox	4:00 PM
SAT	12/3	Indianapolis	Big Ten	Michigan	Purdue	Fox	8:00 PM
SAT	12/3	Charlotte	ACC	Clemson	North Carolina	ABC	8:00 PM

This Week’s PiRate Ratings

#	Team	Rating
1	Georgia	132.2
2	Michigan	129.9
3	Ohio St.	129.5
4	Alabama	128.6
5	Penn St.	124.1
6	Tennessee	123.1
7	T C U	122.1
8	Kansas St.	119.4
9	Texas	119.3
10	Florida St.	119.0
11	Utah	118.9
12	Clemson	117.8
13	L S U	116.2
14	Oregon	115.8
15	Minnesota	115.5
16	U S C	115.2
17	Notre Dame	115.0
18	Illinois	114.5
19	Mississippi St.	114.1
20	Oregon St.	113.7
21	Washington	113.6
22	Baylor	113.4
23	Iowa	113.0
24	Arkansas	112.7
25	Wisconsin	112.5
26	Ole Miss	112.4
27	Oklahoma	112.2
28	Purdue	112.2
29	Louisville	112.1
30	Maryland	111.2
31	Pittsburgh	111.0
32	U C L A	111.0
33	Florida	110.1
34	Kentucky	109.9
35	Texas Tech	109.6
36	South Carolina	109.1
37	NC State	108.9
38	Texas A&M	108.8
39	Michigan St.	108.4
40	Wake Forest	107.7
41	Cincinnati	107.3
42	Tulane	107.2
43	Oklahoma St.	107.2
44	North Carolina	107.2
45	Auburn	106.9
46	Washington St.	106.0
47	Boise St.	105.4
48	UCF	105.1
49	Iowa St.	104.6
50	West Virginia	104.4
51	Missouri	104.3
52	Syracuse	103.8
53	Nebraska	103.6
54	BYU	103.5
55	Fresno St.	102.6
56	Air Force	102.4
57	Houston	102.0
58	James Madison	101.8
59	Duke	101.8
60	Kansas	101.8
61	SMU	101.2
62	U T S A	100.9
63	Arizona St.	99.8
64	Memphis	99.6
65	East Carolina	99.2
66	W. Kentucky	98.7
67	Arizona	98.5
68	Miami (Fla.)	98.4
69	Indiana	98.4
70	Troy	97.9
71	Appalachian St.	97.9
72	California	97.8
73	U A B	97.5
74	Army	96.9
75	Marshall	96.7
76	Stanford	96.7
77	Liberty	96.3
78	Georgia St.	96.1
79	Navy	96.1
80	Ohio	95.9
81	South Alabama	95.6
82	Louisiana	95.6
83	Georgia Tech	95.3
84	Virginia	95.2
85	San Diego St.	94.8
86	Virginia Tech	94.7
87	Northwestern	94.5
88	Tulsa	94.5
89	Toledo	94.1
90	Rutgers	93.8
91	Vanderbilt	93.4
92	San Jose St.	93.1
93	North Texas	92.9
94	Boston College	92.8
95	Coastal Carolina	91.5
96	Ga. Southern	90.8
97	Buffalo	90.5
98	Utah St.	90.2
99	Kent St.	90.1
100	Miami (Ohio)	89.7
101	Florida Atlantic	89.3
102	Eastern Mich.	89.1
103	Western Mich.	88.9
104	Southern Miss.	88.9
105	Central Mich.	88.8
106	Wyoming	88.3
107	USF	88.0
108	U T E P	87.3
109	Old Dominion	87.1
110	Ball St.	86.5
111	N. Illinois	86.2
112	Middle Tennessee	85.9
113	U N L V	85.8
114	Connecticut	85.4
115	Bowling Green	84.5
116	Colorado St.	83.1
117	UL-Monroe	82.8
118	Temple	82.7
119	Colorado	81.6
120	Texas St.	81.3
121	Akron	79.8
122	Nevada	79.7
123	Arkansas St.	79.7
124	New Mexico St.	79.2
125	Louisiana Tech	79.0
126	Rice	78.8
127	Hawaii	76.3
128	Charlotte	75.7
129	New Mexico	75.5
130	Massachusetts	71.1
131	Florida Int’l.	65.1

PiRate Ratings By Conference

American Athletic Conference
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Cincinnati	107.6	106.7	107.5	107.3
Tulane	107.1	106.9	107.6	107.2
UCF	104.9	105.4	105.1	105.1
Houston	102.4	101.6	102.0	102.0
SMU	101.4	100.7	101.4	101.2
Memphis	99.6	99.8	99.4	99.6
East Carolina	99.1	98.8	99.6	99.2
Navy	96.2	96.0	96.1	96.1
Tulsa	94.9	94.2	94.3	94.5
USF	88.6	87.7	87.7	88.0
Temple	82.4	83.6	82.0	82.7
AAC	98.6	98.3	98.4	98.4
Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Florida St.	119.0	118.8	119.1	119.0
Clemson	117.9	117.6	118.0	117.8
Louisville	112.3	112.0	112.0	112.1
NC State	109.4	108.8	108.4	108.9
Wake Forest	108.0	107.7	107.5	107.7
Syracuse	104.6	103.6	103.1	103.8
Boston College	93.2	93.4	91.8	92.8
Coastal Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Pittsburgh	111.8	111.0	110.3	111.0
North Carolina	107.7	107.4	106.5	107.2
Duke	101.4	103.1	100.8	101.8
Miami (Fla.)	99.2	98.3	97.7	98.4
Georgia Tech	95.8	95.6	94.5	95.3
Virginia	95.8	95.9	94.0	95.2
Virginia Tech	95.1	95.3	93.7	94.7
ACC	105.1	104.9	104.1	104.7
Big 12 Conference
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
T C U	122.6	121.5	122.3	122.1
Kansas St.	119.9	118.8	119.4	119.4
Texas	119.9	119.1	118.8	119.3
Baylor	114.1	112.8	113.2	113.4
Oklahoma	112.6	111.7	112.4	112.2
Texas Tech	109.8	108.9	110.2	109.6
Oklahoma St.	108.0	106.5	107.0	107.2
Iowa St.	105.1	104.4	104.4	104.6
West Virginia	104.8	104.2	104.2	104.4
Kansas	102.9	101.5	101.0	101.8
Big 12	112.0	110.9	111.3	111.4
Big Ten Conference
East Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Michigan	130.2	129.6	130.0	129.9
Ohio St.	130.1	128.9	129.6	129.5
Penn St.	124.2	124.1	124.1	124.1
Maryland	111.6	111.3	110.7	111.2
Michigan St.	109.5	108.2	107.4	108.4
Indiana	99.3	98.5	97.4	98.4
Rutgers	95.0	93.9	92.4	93.8
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Minnesota	115.9	115.2	115.4	115.5
Illinois	114.6	115.0	113.9	114.5
Iowa	113.8	112.9	112.3	113.0
Wisconsin	113.1	112.6	111.8	112.5
Purdue	113.1	112.3	111.2	112.2
Nebraska	104.1	103.9	103.0	103.6
Northwestern	94.8	95.2	93.5	94.5
Big Ten	112.1	111.5	110.9	111.5
Conference USA
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
U T S A	100.9	100.5	101.3	100.9
W. Kentucky	98.4	98.3	99.4	98.7
U A B	97.4	97.2	97.9	97.5
North Texas	92.4	92.3	93.9	92.9
Florida Atlantic	89.1	90.0	88.9	89.3
U T E P	87.2	87.3	87.2	87.3
Middle Tennessee	85.7	86.3	85.7	85.9
Louisiana Tech	78.9	79.7	78.4	79.0
Rice	79.0	78.9	78.5	78.8
Charlotte	75.4	76.2	75.5	75.7
Florida Int’l.	64.9	66.5	64.0	65.1
CUSA	86.3	86.7	86.4	86.5
FBS Independents
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Notre Dame	115.4	114.3	115.4	115.0
BYU	103.9	102.7	103.8	103.5
Army	96.5	97.1	97.2	96.9
Liberty	95.9	96.7	96.2	96.3
Connecticut	85.3	86.5	84.4	85.4
New Mexico St.	78.6	80.5	78.5	79.2
Massachusetts	71.2	72.1	69.9	71.1
Independents	92.4	92.8	92.2	92.5
Mid-American Conference
East Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Ohio	94.5	96.7	96.5	95.9
Buffalo	89.4	91.3	90.8	90.5
Kent St.	89.5	91.1	89.8	90.1
Miami (Ohio)	88.8	90.5	89.8	89.7
Bowling Green	84.4	84.5	84.7	84.5
Akron	79.6	80.4	79.3	79.8
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Toledo	93.8	94.4	94.1	94.1
Eastern Mich.	88.5	89.5	89.2	89.1
Western Mich.	88.2	89.3	89.2	88.9
Central Mich.	87.8	89.2	89.4	88.8
Ball St.	85.8	87.2	86.7	86.5
N. Illinois	86.0	86.5	86.1	86.2
MAC	88.0	89.2	88.8	88.7
Mountain West Conference
Mountain Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Boise St.	105.3	105.0	105.9	105.4
Air Force	102.2	102.2	102.9	102.4
Utah St.	90.0	90.1	90.4	90.2
Wyoming	87.4	88.9	88.5	88.3
Colorado St.	82.6	83.5	83.3	83.1
New Mexico	76.1	75.8	74.6	75.5
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Fresno St.	102.4	102.3	103.2	102.6
San Diego St.	94.8	94.4	95.0	94.8
San Jose St.	92.9	93.1	93.2	93.1
U N L V	86.1	85.0	86.1	85.8
Nevada	79.5	80.5	79.2	79.7
Hawaii	75.5	76.6	76.8	76.3
MWC	89.6	89.8	89.9	89.8
Pac-12 Conference
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Utah	118.8	118.1	119.8	118.9
Oregon	115.9	115.4	116.0	115.8
U S C	114.7	115.0	115.8	115.2
Oregon St.	113.4	113.1	114.5	113.7
Washington	113.1	113.4	114.2	113.6
U C L A	110.6	110.5	111.8	111.0
Washington St.	105.6	105.9	106.5	106.0
Arizona St.	100.0	99.4	100.1	99.8
Arizona	98.3	98.4	98.9	98.5
California	97.5	97.5	98.3	97.8
Stanford	97.8	95.9	96.4	96.7
Colorado	82.4	81.0	81.5	81.6
Pac-12	105.7	105.3	106.1	105.7
Southeastern Conference
East Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Georgia	132.4	131.5	132.8	132.2
Tennessee	122.7	122.9	123.7	123.1
Florida	109.6	110.7	110.1	110.1
Kentucky	109.5	109.8	110.3	109.9
South Carolina	109.1	108.9	109.2	109.1
Missouri	104.3	104.5	103.9	104.3
Vanderbilt	93.3	94.0	92.7	93.4
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Alabama	128.7	127.8	129.2	128.6
L S U	116.4	116.0	116.3	116.2
Mississippi St.	115.0	113.6	113.9	114.1
Arkansas	113.1	111.9	113.1	112.7
Ole Miss	113.2	111.8	112.1	112.4
Texas A&M	108.7	108.9	108.9	108.8
Auburn	107.5	106.3	106.8	106.9
SEC	113.1	112.8	113.1	113.0
Sunbelt Conference
East Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
James Madison	100.2	101.6	103.7	101.8
Appalachian St.	97.1	98.0	98.5	97.9
Marshall	95.9	96.9	97.3	96.7
Georgia St.	95.6	95.7	97.1	96.1
Coastal Carolina	90.8	91.7	91.9	91.5
Ga. Southern	90.4	90.6	91.5	90.8
Old Dominion	86.9	87.0	87.3	87.1
West Division
Team	PiRate	Mean	Bias	Average
Troy	97.0	97.9	98.9	97.9
South Alabama	94.8	95.5	96.5	95.6
Louisiana	94.9	95.4	96.4	95.6
Southern Miss.	88.3	88.9	89.4	88.9
UL-Monroe	82.6	82.9	82.8	82.8
Texas St.	80.7	81.7	81.6	81.3
Arkansas St.	79.2	80.2	79.6	79.7
Sun Belt	91.0	91.7	92.3	91.7

Conference Ratings

#	Conference	Rating
1	Southeastern	113.0
2	Big Ten	111.5
3	Big 12	111.4
4	Pac-12	105.7
5	Atlantic Coast	104.7
6	American Athletic	98.4
7	Independents	92.5
8	Sun Belt	91.7
9	Mountain West	89.8
10	Mid-American	88.7
11	Conference USA	86.5

Bowl Projections

As of this morning, Sunday, November 27, 2022, there are 80 Bowl Eligible teams for 82 slots in bowls. There are three teams that can still become bowl eligible. Buffalo is 5-6. They host Akron in the makeup game that was postponed when Buffalo was blanketed with feet of snow. Army is 5-6, and a win over Navy would make the Black Knights bowl eligible. New Mexico State is 5-6, and it is not yet determined if the Aggies will get the opportunity to makeup their postponed game with San Jose State. In a wild and crazy world, NMSU has two other options that could work to supply them a replacement game. Virginia Tech had their game with Virginia cancelled and could get an extra game. Vanderbilt had the opportunity to play a 13th game having played in Hawaii, and the Commodores could get an extra game. It’s about 99% certain that neither team would play in Las Cruces on Saturday. Only San Jose State might still agree to playing the game.

Appalachian State has six wins, but two came against FCS teams. The rules state that only one FCS win can be counted toward bowl eligibility, but when there are not enough bowl eligible teams, a team may receive a waiver.

If one or two 5-7 teams need to be added to the bowl schedule, the Academic Progress Rate score determines which team(s) can go. This year, if one additional 5-win team is needed, it will be Rice. If a second 5-7 team is needed, it will be UNLV. For now, we will predict Army and Buffalo to get their sixth wins, and Appy State will get their waiver with two FCS wins.

Bowl	Team	Team
Bahamas	Miami (O)	UAB
Cure	Troy	Air Force
Fenway	Pittsburgh	Cincinnati
New Mexico	Wyoming	North Texas
L.A.	Oregon	Boise St.
Lending Tree	Toledo	Southern Miss.
Las Vegas	UCLA	South Carolina
Frisco	Fresno St.	Houston
Myrtle Beach	Marshall	Conecticut
Famous Idaho Potato	Utah St.	Bowling Green
Boca Raton	Coastal Carolina	Liberty
New Orleans	South Alabama	Western Kentucky
Armed Forces	Central Florida	UTSA
Independence	SMU	Army
Gasparilla	Wake Forest	Arkansas
Hawaii	San Diego St.	Middle Tennessee
Quick Lane	Buffalo	Louisiana
Camellia	Ohio	Georgia Southern
First Responder	BYU	Kansas
Birmingham	Memphis	Appalachian St.
Guaranteed Rate	Wisconsin	Baylor
Military	Syracsue	East Carolina
Liberty	Oklahoma	Missouri
Holiday	Utah	Notre Dame
Texas	Texas Tech	Ole Miss
Pinstripe	Iowa	North Carolina St.
Cheez-It	North Carolina	Oklahoma St.
Alamo	Texas	Oregon St.
Duke’s Mayo	Duke	Minnesota
Tony the Tiger Sun	Florida St.	Washington St.
Arizona	San Jose St.	Eastern Michigan
Orange	Clemson	Tennessee
Music City	Maryland	Kentucky
Sugar	Alabama	Kansas St.
TaxSlayer	Florida	Louisville
Peach	Georgia	USC
Fiesta	Michigan	TCU
Reliaquest (Outback)	Mississippi St.	Illinois
Citrus	LSU	Purdue
Cotton	Penn St.	Tulane
Rose	Ohio St.	Washington
National Championship	Georgia	Michigan

PiRate Ratings: College Football for December 1-10, 2011

It’s Open Season On Coaching Jobs

It started early this year.  New Mexico was forced to dismiss Mike Locksley early, and the Lobos were quick to name former Notre Dame coach Bob Davie as their new coach.  Ohio State’s job was available as soon as the Buckeyes lost their second game.  To say the brass in Columbus did not know who they wanted from the start was an “Urban” myth.

 

Ole Miss terminated Houston Nutt.  Arizona and Mike Stoops parted ways.  Joe Paterno lost his job over off the field issues.  Then, Bob Toledo was sent on his way from Tulane.

 

The floodgates soon opened, and by Sunday, the list of coaching vacancies had swelled.  At its worst, Akron fired Rob Ianello over the phone while he was driving to his mother’s funeral.  What a tasteless act!  A pox on the program, the Zips should be punished with 30 losing seasons in a row and a bankrupt athletic department.  How would any honest, hard-working coach ever want to sign on with the Zips?

 

If you ever wanted to find a living example of the Peter Principle, then look at Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.  Ron Zook proved for the second time that he is not up to the task of handling a major college football program.  The Illini dismissed Zook Sunday following their sixth consecutive loss after beginning the season 6-0 with talent strong enough to contend for the Leaders Division title.  Zook should be a recruiter and an assistant coach.  He admitted earlier this season that he did not know the score of more than one game when he made decisions to go for two points following a touchdown.

 

More vacancies are sure to come.  Rick Neuheisel is expected to be fired as soon as his UCLA Bruins lose at Oregon this week.  He could even lose his job if the Bruins upset the Ducks and earn a Rose Bowl bid.  With Meyer filling the Ohio State vacancy and former Michigan and West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez filling the Arizona vacancy, the vacancy in Westwood becomes the cream of the crop if it indeed becomes a vacancy.  You have to believe the Penn State job will not be as enticing.

 

As The Leach Turns

Mike Leach, an honorary member of the PiRate Ratings, will be considered for many of the coaching vacancies this year.  Fans at Kansas, Ole Miss, Washington State, Arizona State, Tulane, Florida Atlantic, and UAB have already begun to talk about Leach being at or near the top of their wish list.  As soon as Neuheisel is let go at UCLA, Leach fever will break out in Westwood.

 

Leach does not understand the principle of tactfulness.  Like Howard Cosell, he tells it like it is, and the “good ole boys network” does not like 100% honesty coming forth from their employees.  It’s the company line or the unemployment line, and Leach is doing quite well as a sports talk show host.  Throw in a wrongful termination suit against Texas Tech (which appears to be justified) and a lawsuit against ESPN, and Ron Zook may have a better chance getting hired for one of these coaching vacancies. 

 

Gary Barnett took a Northwestern program that had been 0-11 or 1-10 over 50% of the time in the 20 years prior to his coming to Evanston.  He guided the Wildcats to the Rose Bowl.  He went to Boulder and guided Colorado to a Big 12 Championship, yet he found himself unemployed following an incident in which he used tactics to encourage a female placekicker to quit the team.  No school ever approached him following his termination, and Leach could very well be in the same boat.

 

The Big East Isn’t As Messy Now

After a wild week of games on the Eastern Seaboard, the race for the automatic bid to a BCS Bowl comes down to three teams in the Big East’s final weekend.  Louisville defeated South Florida to become one of the three finalists.  The Cardinals do not control their own destiny, and they will be on the sidelines anxiously awaiting the results of games to be played Thursday and Saturday.

 

West Virginia ventures to Tampa Thursday night to take on South Florida.  If the Mountaineers win, then Cincinnati is eliminated from the race.  If West Virginia loses, then Cincinnati would then control their own destiny.  The Bearcats host Connecticut Saturday.

 

If West Virginia and Cincinnati both win, then West Virginia is the Big East Champion in a three-way tiebreaker.  If West Virginia wins and Cincinnati loses to Connecticut, then Louisville is the winner in a two-way tiebreaker.  If West Virginia loses and Cincinnati wins, then Cincinnati bests Louisville in a two-way tiebreaker.  Of course, if both West Virginia and Cincinnati both lose, Louisville wins the conference outright.

 

According to game theory, Louisville has two options to win the conference championship, while WVU and Cinti have just one.  So, Louisville is the favorite to get the BCS bowl bid.  Regardless of which team wins, that team will be the 10^th and final BCS bowl selection, and they will play the ACC Champion in the Orange Bowl, which has the final pick this year.

 

This Week’s PiRate Ratings

#	Team	PiRate
1	L S U	137.8
2	Alabama	135.1
3	Southern Cal	130.9
4	Oregon	129.5
5	Stanford	127.2
6	Wisconsin	127.1
7	Oklahoma	126.8
8	Oklahoma St.	126.3
9	Arkansas	123.6
10	Florida St.	120.3
11	Houston	119.9
12	Boise St.	119.9
13	Michigan	119.2
14	Georgia	118.6
15	Michigan St.	118.6
16	Texas A&M	118.5
17	Virginia Tech	116.8
18	Texas	116.8
19	Notre Dame	116.7
20	S. Carolina	115.9
21	Kansas St.	114.2
22	T C U	114.1
23	California	113.9
24	Missouri	113.6
25	Baylor	113.1
26	Nebraska	112.0
27	Vanderbilt	111.3
28	Florida	110.6
29	B Y U	109.9
30	Louisiana Tech	109.3
31	Utah	109.0
32	Arizona St.	108.9
33	Miami (FL)	108.8
34	Mississippi St.	108.7
35	Washington	108.5
36	Clemson	108.3
37	Ohio St.	108.1
38	W. Virginia	106.8
39	Tulsa	106.4
40	Cincinnati	106.4
41	Georgia Tech	105.8
42	N. Carolina St.	105.7
43	Penn St.	105.4
44	Boston Coll.	105.1
45	N. Carolina	105.0
46	Pittsburgh	104.8
47	Oregon St.	104.4
48	Iowa	104.3
49	U C L A	104.2
50	Nevada	103.8
51	Louisville	103.7
52	Iowa St.	103.6
53	Auburn	103.5
54	Southern Miss.	103.3
55	Northwestern	103.3
56	Virginia	102.8
57	Arizona	102.8
58	Washington St.	102.1
59	Tennessee	101.7
60	S. Florida	100.7
61	Air Force	100.4
62	Wake Forest	100.3
63	Toledo	99.9
64	Temple	99.4
65	Utah St.	98.9
66	Rutgers	98.8
67	Purdue	98.3
68	Illinois	98.0
69	San Diego St.	97.2
70	Connecticut	97.2
71	Minnesota	97.2
72	Texas Tech	96.9
73	Wyoming	95.6
74	Navy	95.4
75	Colorado	95.4
76	Western Michigan	95.3
77	Duke	95.3
78	Central Florida	95.2
79	Northern Illinois	95.0
80	Kentucky	94.9
81	Arkansas St.	94.5
82	San Jose St.	93.6
83	S M U	91.9
84	Hawaii	91.7
85	Maryland	91.6
86	East Carolina	91.4
87	Fresno St.	91.2
88	Syracuse	91.0
89	Miami (O)	90.2
90	Western Ky.	89.6
91	Florida Int’l	89.2
92	Ohio U	89.1
93	Kansas	89.1
94	Ole Miss	88.7
95	UL-Lafayette	86.8
96	U T E P	85.5
97	Idaho	85.3
98	Marshall	84.9
99	UL-Monroe	84.8
100	Bowling Green	84.2
101	Rice	83.9
102	Colorado St.	83.6
103	Army	83.0
104	Ball St.	82.9
105	Eastern Michigan	82.0
106	Indiana	82.0
107	Kent St.	81.9
108	New Mexico St.	80.2
109	North Texas	79.3
110	U A B	78.8
111	U N L V	77.3
112	Central Michigan	76.5
113	Buffalo	76.0
114	Troy	75.9
115	Middle Tennessee	72.7
116	New Mexico	71.1
117	Tulane	70.5
118	Memphis	68.0
119	Florida Atlantic	65.2
120	Akron	57.4

 

 

PiRate Ratings By Conference

* = team has clinched conference or division title

 

Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
FloridaState	5-3	8-4	120.3
Clemson	6-2 *	9-3	108.3
North CarolinaState	4-4	7-5	105.7
BostonCollege	3-5	4-8	105.1
WakeForest	5-3	6-6	100.3
Maryland	1-7	2-10	91.6
Coastal Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Virginia Tech	7-1 *	11-1	116.8
Miami-FL	3-5	6-6	108.8
Georgia Tech	5-3	8-4	105.8
North Carolina	3-5	7-5	105.0
Virginia	5-3	8-4	102.8
Duke	1-7	3-9	95.3

 

Big East Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
West Virginia	4-2	8-3	106.8
Cincinnati	4-2	8-3	106.4
Pittsburgh	3-3	5-6	104.8
Louisville	5-2	7-5	103.7
South Florida	1-5	5-6	100.7
Rutgers	4-3	8-4	98.8
Connecticut	3-3	5-6	97.2
Syracuse	1-5	5-6	91.0

 

Big Ten
Leaders Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Wisconsin	6-2 *	10-2	127.1
Penn State	6-2	9-3	105.4
Ohio State	3-5	6-6	108.1
Illinois	2-6	6-6	98.0
Purdue	4-4	6-6	98.3
Indiana	0-8	1-11	82.0
Legends Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Michigan	6-2	10-2	119.2
Michigan State	7-1 *	10-2	118.6
Nebraska	5-3	9-3	112.0
Iowa	4-4	7-5	104.3
Northwestern	3-5	6-6	103.3
Minnesota	2-6	3-9	97.2

 

Big 12
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Oklahoma	6-2	9-2	126.8
Oklahoma State	7-1	10-1	126.3
Texas A&M	4-5	6-6	118.5
Texas	4-4	7-4	116.8
Kansas State	6-2	9-2	114.2
Missouri	5-4	7-5	113.6
Baylor	5-3	8-3	113.1
Iowa State	3-5	6-5	103.6
Texas Tech	2-7	5-7	96.9
Kansas	0-9	2-10	89.1

 

Conference USA
East Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Southern Mississippi	6-2 *	10-2	103.3
Central Florida	3-5	5-7	95.2
East Carolina	4-4	5-7	91.4
Marshall	5-3	6-6	84.9
U A B	3-5	3-9	78.8
Memphis	1-7	2-10	68.0
West Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Houston	8-0 *	12-0	119.9
Tulsa	7-1	8-4	106.4
S M U	5-3	7-5	91.9
U T E P	2-6	5-7	85.5
Rice	3-5	4-8	83.9
Tulane	1-7	2-11	70.5

 

Independents
Team		Overall	Rating
Notre Dame		8-4	116.7
B Y U		8-3	109.9
Navy		4-7	95.4
Army		3-8	83.0

 

Mid American Conference
East Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Temple	5-3	8-4	99.4
Miami (O)	3-5	4-8	90.2
Ohio U	6-2 *	9-3	89.1
Bowling Green	3-5	5-7	84.2
Kent St.	4-4	5-7	81.9
Buffalo	2-6	3-9	76.0
Akron	0-8	1-11	57.4
West Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Toledo	7-1	8-4	99.9
Western Michigan	5-3	7-5	95.3
Northern Illinois	7-1 *	9-3	95.0
Ball State	4-4	6-6	82.9
Eastern Michigan	4-4	6-6	82.0
Central Michigan	2-6	3-9	76.5

 

Mountain West Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Boise State	5-1	10-1	119.9
T C U	6-0 *	9-2	114.1
Air Force	3-4	7-5	100.4
San Diego State	4-3	7-4	97.2
Wyoming	4-2	7-4	95.6
Colorado State	1-5	3-8	83.6
UNLV	1-5	2-9	77.3
New Mexico	1-5	1-10	71.1

 

Pac-12 Conference
North Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Oregon	8-1 *	10-2	129.5
Stanford	8-1	11-1	127.2
California	4-5	7-5	113.9
Washington	5-4	7-5	108.5
Oregon State	3-6	3-9	104.4
Washington State	2-7	4-8	102.1
South Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
U S C	7-2	10-2	130.9
Utah	4-5	7-5	109.0
Arizona State	4-5	6-6	108.9
U C L A	5-4 *	6-6	104.2
Arizona	2-7	4-8	102.8
Colorado	2-7	3-10	95.4

 

Southeastern Conference
East Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Georgia	7-1 *	10-2	118.6
South Carolina	6-2	10-2	115.9
Vanderbilt	2-6	6-6	111.3
Florida	3-5	6-6	110.6
Tennessee	1-7	5-7	101.7
Kentucky	2-6	5-7	94.9
West Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
L S U	8-0 *	12-0	137.8
Alabama	7-1	11-1	135.1
Arkansas	6-2	10-2	123.6
Mississippi State	2-6	6-6	108.7
Auburn	4-4	7-5	103.5
Ole Miss	0-8	2-10	88.7

 

Sunbelt Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Arkansas State	7-0 *	9-2	94.5
Western Kentucky	7-1	7-5	89.6
Florida International	5-3	8-4	89.2
U. of Louisiana	6-2	8-4	86.8
Louisiana-Monroe	2-5	3-8	84.8
North Texas	3-4	4-7	79.3
Troy	2-5	3-8	75.9
Middle Tennessee	1-6	2-9	72.7
Florida Atlantic	0-7	1-10	65.2

 

Western Athletic Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
LouisianaTech	6-1 *	8-4	109.3
Nevada	4-2	6-5	103.8
Utah State	4-2	6-5	98.9
San Jose State	3-4	5-7	93.6
Hawaii	3-4	6-6	91.7
Fresno State	3-4	4-8	91.2
Idaho	1-5	2-9	85.3
New Mexico State	2-4	4-8	80.2

 

 

Final Regular Season Games (12/1 to 12/10)

This Week’s Games–PiRate Ratings
Thursday, December 1		PiRate Spread
Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
West Virginia	SOUTH FLORIDA	3.1	27-24	1
Friday, December 2		PiRate Spread
Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
Northern Illinois   (n)	Ohio U	5.9	30-24	3
OREGON	U c l a	28.3	38-10	30 1/2
Saturday, December 3		PiRate Spread
Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
CINCINNATI	Connecticut	12.2	32-20	9 1/2
PITTSBURGH	Syracuse	16.8	27-10	13
KANSAS ST.	Iowa St.	13.6	31-17	12
Wyoming	COLORADO ST.	9.5	24-14	5
T C U	U n l v	39.8	47-7	40 1/2
OKLAHOMA ST.	Oklahoma	2.0	35-33	3
Texas	BAYLOR	1.2	29-28	-2 1/2
NEVADA	Idaho	21.0	42-21	19
BOISE ST.	New Mexico	51.8	52-0	52
B y u	HAWAII	14.2	35-21	8
Utah St.	NEW MEXICO ST.	16.2	37-21	14
SAN DIEGO ST.	Fresno St.	8.5	33-24	6 1/2
ARKANSAS ST.	Troy	21.1	34-13	13
NORTH TEXAS	Middle Tennessee	9.6	27-17	7
Louisiana-Monroe	FLORIDA ATLANTIC	17.1	34-17	11 1/2
HOUSTON	Southern Miss.	19.6	41-21	16 1/2
L s u    (n)	Georgia	17.7	35-17	10
Virginia Tech    (n)	Clemson	8.5	28-19	4 1/2
Wisconsin     (n)	Michigan St.	8.5	35-26	7 1/2
Saturday, December 10		PiRate Spread
Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
Navy     (n)	Army	12.4	24-12	NL

 

Bowl Predictions

At this point of the season, we are no longer making predictions on bowl games.  Instead, we are perusing the media for incites into which way the bowls are leaning.  For instance, from sport talk radio this morning, we have heard the rumor that the Gator Bowl is going to go after Florida and Ohio State due to the Urban Meyer factor.  Thus, when we predict this matchup, it is no longer our true prediction, but our repetition of the rumor.  We do not rely on any online bowl speculations; we are looking for legitimate media reports.  If there are no specific reports concerning a particular bowl, then we do the speculating based on an educated guess.

 

Teams in Italics have already accepted the bowl bid

* = At-large Team

 

As of today, we are projecting 71 teams to be bowl eligible after this weekend.  The 70^th spot will come down to a choice between Ball State and Illinois, unless something occurs with Penn State.  There is a move afoot for the bowls not to invite the Nittany Lions, but as of this writing, there is no legal means to do so.

 

Bowl	Conference	Conference	Team	Team
New Mexico	MWC #4	Pac12 #7 / WAC	San Diego St.	Temple *
Famous Idaho Potato	MAC #3	WAC	Toledo	Utah St.
New Orleans	Sunbelt #1	C-USA	U. of Louisiana	Marshall
Beef O’Brady’s	Big East #6	C-USA	South Florida	Florida Int’l *
Poinsettia	MWC #2	WAC	T C U	Louisiana Tech
MAACO	MWC #1	Pac 12 #5	Boise St.	Arizona St.
Hawaii	WAC	C-USA	Nevada	S M U
Independence	ACC #7	MWC #3	North Carolina	Wyoming
Little Caesar’s Pizza	Big 10 #8	MAC #2	Northwestern	Western Mich.
Belk	ACC #5	Big East #3	North Carolina St.	West Virginia
Military	ACC #8	Navy	Wake Forest	Air Force *
Holiday	Pac 12 #3	Big 12 #5	California	Baylor
Champs Sports	Big East #2	ACC #3	Notre Dame	Florida St.
Alamo	Big 12 #3	Pac 10 #2	Texas	Washington
Armed Forces	C-USA #3	B Y U	Tulsa	B Y U
Pinstripe	Big East #4	Big 12 #7	Rutgers	Iowa St.
Music City	SEC # 7	ACC #6	Mississippi St.	Virginia
Insight	Big 12 #4	Big 10 #4 or 5	Kansas St.	Iowa
Meineke Car Care of Texas	Big 12 #6	Big 10 #6	Texas A&M	Penn St.
Sun	ACC #4	Pac 12 #4	Georgia Tech	Utah
Kraft Fight Hunger	Pac 10 #6	Army/ACC	Ohio U *	Illinois *
Liberty	SEC#8-9/BigEast	C-USA #1	Vanderbilt	Southern Miss.
Chick-fil-A	SEC #5	ACC #2	Auburn	Clemson
TicketCity	Big 10 #7	C-USA	Purdue	Pittsburgh *
Capital One	Big 10 #2	SEC #2	Michigan St.	Arkansas
Gator	Big 10 #4 or 5	SEC #6	Ohio St.	Florida
Outback	SEC #3 or 4	Big 10 #3	South Carolina	Nebraska
Rose	BCS Pac12	BCS Big 10	Oregon	Wisconsin
Fiesta	BCS Big 12	BCS At-Large	Oklahoma St.	Stanford
Sugar	BCS SEC	BCS At-Large	Houston *	Michigan
Orange	BCS ACC	BCS At-Large	Virginia Tech	Cincinnati
Cotton	Big 12 #2	SEC #3 or 4	Oklahoma	Georgia
BBVA Compass	Big East#5/CUSA	SEC #8 or 9	Louisville	Western Ky. *
GoDaddy.com	Sunbelt # 2	MAC #1	Arkansas St.	Northern Illinois
National Championship	*** BCS #1 ***	*** BCS #2 ***	L S U	Alabama

 

 

*** Returning next week: Our computer simulated college football playoffs.  We will use the same formula we have used in past years—a 12-team college football playoff. 

PiRate Ratings: College Football for November 22-26, 2011

65 Bowl Eligible Teams—Need 70

Some of the lower-tier bowl committee members will have some very short fingernails this week.  There should be 67 bowl eligible teams this week.  However, Southern Cal is ineligible for postseason bowls, and Miami of Florida announced they will not accept any bowl bids this season.  That leaves a need for five more bowl-eligible teams. 

 

We here at the PiRate Cove believe there is nothing to worry about.  There are 10 teams that need one more win and five have a patsy left of their schedule.  All five of these one-more-win-needed teams should defeat their patsy.  Those five, with their patsy opponent in parentheses are: North Carolina State (Maryland), Purdue (Indiana), Air Force (Colorado St.), Tennessee (Kentucky), Mississippi State (Ole Miss).

 

Two definite additions will be the winner of the Syracuse-Pittsburgh game next week and the winner of this week’s Marshall-East Carolina game.  The Syracuse-Pitt loser can still get a sixth win; Pitt would have to win their Backyard Brawl against West Virginia, or Syracuse would have to beat Cincinnati.

 

Conference by Conference Analysis

ACC

The big news here isn’t which team is going to win the title; it is that Miami pulled itself from consideration for a bowl game.  The Hurricanes have issued a self-imposed bowl ban.  Might coach Al Golden take advantage of not having to worry about leaving his team in the lurch in December and bolt to the first place that wants him?  We wouldn’t be surprised if Penn State comes calling.  Ole Miss is a possibility as well.

 

Clemson is limping into the ACC Championship Game.  The Tigers may actually be the fourth or fifth best team in the league at the present time.

 

The Coastal Division championship will be decided in Charlottesville this week, as Virginia hosts Virginia Tech.  The winner of this game will have all the momentum, and we feel they will be the host team in the Orange Bowl.

 

North Carolina State is 6-5, but they own two wins over FCS teams.  Expect the Wolf Pack to become eligible with a win over Maryland.

 

1. Orange—Virginia Tech vs. Rutgers

2. Chick-fil-A—Clemson vs. Florida

3. Champs Sports—Florida State vs. Notre Dame

4. Sun—Georgia Tech vs. Arizona State

5. Belk—North Carolina vs. West Virginia

6. Music City—Virginia vs. Mississippi State

7. Independence—North Carolina State vs. Air Force

8. Military—Wake Forest vs. Western Michigan

 

Big East

Like this league or hate it (or just believe it should not have an automatic BCS bid), you have to laugh at the fact that all eight teams can still become bowl eligible.  We believe seven of the eight will be successful. Add Notre Dame to the mix here, as they will not finish high enough to earn a BCS bid, even if they upset Stanford.

 

The race for what will be the last BCS selection is up for grabs, with five teams still in contention.  West Virginia controls its own destiny.  If the Mountaineers defeat Pittsburgh and South Florida, they win all tiebreakers.  We do not believe they will win both games.

 

Cincinnati must defeat Syracuse and Connecticut to have a chance to grab the BCS bid.  Again, we do not see the Bearcats pulling off the feat.

 

Louisville and Pittsburgh are still alive in the race.  The Cardinals would have to defeat Connecticut and South Florida (both on the road) and hope for some help.  The Panthers would have to beat West Virginia and Syracuse. 

 

Rutgers has a home game with Cincinnati and a finale at Connecticut.  We believe the Scarlet Knights will win both to take the crown.

 

1. Orange—Rutgers vs. Virginia Tech

2. Champs Sports—Notre Dame vs. Florida State

3. Belk—West Virginia vs. North Carolina

4. Pinstripe—Pittsburgh vs. Texas

5. BVAA Compass—Cincinnati vs. Western Kentucky

6. Beef O’Brady’s—South Florida vs. Florida International

 

Big Ten

Wisconsin must defeat Penn State to secure the Leaders Division title, and we believe the Badgers will do it.

 

Michigan State has already secured the Legends Division crown, and the Spartans just might knock off UW in a rematch for the BCS bid.

 

Michigan should earn an at-large bid to a BCS bowl if they finally defeat Ohio State.  We believe they will.

 

There has been talk that the bowls should pass up Penn State, but we do not believe that will happen.

 

1. Rose—Michigan State vs. Oregon

2. Sugar—Michigan vs. Houston

3. Capital One—Wisconsin vs. Georgia

4. Outback—Nebraska vs. South Carolina

5. Gator—Penn State vs. Auburn

6. Insight—Iowa vs. Baylor

7. Meineke Car Care—Illinois vs. Missouri

8. TicketCity—Ohio St. vs. Marshall

9. Little Caesar’s—Purdue vs. Ohio U

10. Hawaii (at-large)—Northwestern vs. S M U

 

Big 12

In two days, this league self-destructed.  Gone are all chances for Oklahoma, while Oklahoma State needs two, and maybe three, SEC teams to lose.  Kansas State is still alive for an at-large BCS bowl, but we do not believe the Wildcats will get the invitation.

 

The other big stories this weekend will revolve around Texas and Texas A&M hooking up in College Station and Kansas and Missouri facing off at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.  This will be the last Big 12 games for the Aggies and Tigers, and it could be the final games in these long series for several years.

 

1. Fiesta—Oklahoma St. vs. Stanford

2. Cotton—Oklahoma vs. Arkansas

3. Alamo—Kansas St. vs. Utah

4. Insight—Baylor vs. Iowa

5. Holiday—Texas A&M vs. Washington

6. Meineke Car Care—Missouri vs. Illinois

7. Pinstripe—Texas vs. Pittsburgh

 

Pac-12

With Oregon losing, the Ducks can only play in the Rose Bowl if they win the Civil War game at home against Oregon State.  Stanford is still very much alive for a BCS Bowl, and a win over Notre Dame will secure one of the four at-large spots.

 

The South Division is the most interesting part of the conference race.  Southern Cal will win the division but will not play in the inaugural conference championship game.  The runner-up will get the nod, and three teams are still alive.

 

UCLA will win the spot with an upset over USC or if Utah loses to Colorado.  We say neither will occur.

 

Utah will win the spot if they defeat Colorado, USC beats UCLA, and Cal beats Arizona State.

 

Arizona State will win the spot if they defeat Cal and USC beats UCLA.

 

Arizona is not bowl eligible, but the Wildcats will announce Rich Rodriguez as their new coach.

 

1. Rose—Oregon vs. Michigan State

2. Fiesta—Stanford vs. Oklahoma State

3. Alamo—Utah vs. Kansas State

4. Holiday—Washington vs. Texas A&M

5. Sun—Arizona St. vs. Georgia Tech

6. MAACO—UCLA vs. T C U

7. Kraft Fight Hunger—California vs. Toledo

 

Southeastern

This is the most interesting of all conferences.  The big talk Sunday was the possibility that three teams could play in BCS Bowls because of a technicality in the rules.

 

If LSU beats Arkansas and then loses to Georgia by a slim margin in the SEC Championship, and if Alabama beats Auburn, Alabama will be number one in the BCS Poll, and LSU could fall only one spot to number two.  Alabama and LSU would then play for the National Championship, but Georgia, as SEC Champion, would be guaranteed a spot in the Sugar Bowl.  It could happen, but we believe LSU will be 13-0.

 

Three teams still need one more win to become bowl eligible.  Tennessee should defeat Kentucky, as they always do to get to 6-6.  Mississippi State should send Houston Nutt out of Oxford on a losing streak as the Bulldogs knock off Ole Miss.  However, we believe Vanderbilt will come up short at Wake Forest.  The Commodores are reeling after giving away bowl eligibility in Knoxville Saturday night.  As they say in Nashville, “Same Old Vandy.”

 

1. National Championship Game—L S U vs. Alabama

2. National Championship Game—Alabama vs. L S U

3. Capital One—Georgia vs. Wisconsin

4. Outback—South Carolina vs. Nebraska

5. Cotton—Arkansas vs. Oklahoma

6. Chick-fil-A—Florida vs. Clemson

7. Gator—Auburn vs. Penn State

8. Music City—Mississippi State vs. Virginia

9. Liberty—Tennessee vs. Southern Mississippi

10. BVAA Compass—XXX

 

Conference USA

Houston currently trails Boise State in the BCS rankings, but the Cougars have two remaining games against decent competition in Tulsa and then Southern Mississippi in the CUSA Championship Game, while Boise State has a home game against one of the five weakest teams (New Mexico) in the land.  Okay, Tulsa could defeat Houston and end this speculation, but we are going to go with the Cougars to improve to 13-0 and pass Boise State in the BCS Rankings.  Case Keenum should be invited to New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation, and Houston should get the conference’s first BCS bowl bid.

 

1. Sugar—Houston vs. Michigan

2. Liberty—Southern Mississippi vs. Tennessee

3. Hawaii—S M U vs. Northwestern

4. TicketCity—Marshall vs. Ohio State

5. Armed Forces—Tulsa vs. B Y U

6. Beef O’Brady’s—XXX

7. New Orleans—XXX

 

Independents

Army and Navy have already been eliminated from bowl eligibility, so the Military and Kraft Fight Hunger Bowls will have to find an at-large team to fill these spots.  We predict that the Mid-American Conference will have three extra bowl eligible teams with seven or more wins, and two of those MAC teams will replace Army and Navy.

 

Brigham Young has already accepted a bid to the Armed Forces Bowl, while Notre Dame counts in the Big East bowl allotments.

 

1. Armed Forces—B Y U

2. Military—XXX

3. Kraft Fight Hunger—XXX

 

Mid-American

Although the MAC has just two bowl guarantees, they will have at least four teams going to bowls, and we believe they will get a fifth team in this year.

 

Ohio has already won the East Division title, while Northern Illinois and Toledo are the two contenders in the West.  If NIU defeats Eastern Michigan, the Huskies are in.  If EMU upsets NIU, then Toledo can get in with a win over Ball State.

 

1. GoDaddy—Northern Illinois vs. Arkansas State

2. Little Caesar’s—Ohio U vs. Purdue

3. Kraft Fight Hunger (at-large)—Toledo vs. California

4. Military (at-large)—Western Michigan vs. Wake Forest

5. New Orleans (at-large)—Temple vs. U. of Louisiana

 

Mountain West

Boise State is still alive for a BCS Bowl bid, but the Broncos’ computer rating will suffer when they host New Mexico in the season finale.  They could fall behind a 13-0 Houston team in both the human polls and computer ratings.

 

Air Force has two wins over FCS teams, so the 6-5 Falcons still need to defeat in-state rival Colorado State in Ft. Collins this weekend to earn a bowl bid.  We say it will happen.

 

1. MAACO—T C U vs. U C L A

2. Famous Idaho Potato—Boise State vs. Nevada

3. Poinsettia—San Diego State vs. Utah State

4. Independence—Air Force vs. North Carolina State

5. New Mexico—Wyoming vs. Louisiana Tech

 

Sunbelt

Arkansas State is the best team in the league’s short history.  The Red Wolves can become the first league team to win 10 regular season wins if they defeat Troy next week.

 

Louisiana (Lafayette) has never been to a bowl game, but the Ragin’ Cajuns should get that reward this year.

 

Florida International will get an at-large bid somewhere, because the Golden Panthers will have eight wins.  Western Kentucky should defeat Troy to finish 7-5 after starting 0-4.  Their only loss in the last eight would be to LSU, so the Hilltoppers should also get an at-large bowl bid.  It would be their first bowl as well.

 

1. GoDaddy—Arkansas State (already accepted) vs. Northern Illinois

2. New Orleans—U. of Lousiana vs. Temple

3. Beef O’Brady’s (at-large)—Florida International vs. South Florida

4. BVAA Compass (at-large)—Western Kentucky vs. Cincinnati

 

W A C

Without Boise State, this league has fallen a couple notches this year.  Louisiana Tech will win the conference championship this week when they defeat New Mexico State in Ruston.

 

Hawaii will dismiss Tulane this week, but they must also beat BYU to secure a spot in the Hawaii Bowl.  We smell an at-large invitation being mailed out.

 

1. New Mexico—Louisiana Tech vs. Wyoming

2. Famous Idaho Potato—Nevada vs. Boise State

3. Poinsettia—Utah State vs. San Diego State

4. Hawaii—XXX

 

This Week’s PiRate Ratings

#	Team	PiRate
1	L S U	136.5
2	Alabama	135.0
3	Oregon	129.0
4	Southern Cal	127.1
5	Oklahoma	127.1
6	Stanford	127.1
7	Oklahoma St.	126.3
8	Arkansas	124.9
9	Wisconsin	124.1
10	TexasA&M	121.5
11	Boise St.	120.3
12	Michigan	119.7
13	Florida St.	119.1
14	Michigan St.	118.3
15	Georgia	117.8
16	Notre Dame	116.8
17	Houston	115.8
18	Missouri	114.9
19	Texas	114.6
20	S. Carolina	114.4
21	Kansas St.	114.2
22	T C U	114.1
23	Utah	112.8
24	California	112.8
25	Virginia Tech	112.3
26	Miami(FL)	112.3
27	Florida	111.8
28	Nebraska	111.4
29	Baylor	111.0
30	Tulsa	110.5
31	Arizona St.	110.0
32	B Y U	109.9
33	Clemson	109.6
34	Penn St.	108.4
35	Mississippi St.	108.1
36	U C L A	108.0
37	Ohio St.	107.4
38	Virginia	107.3
39	Vanderbilt	107.1
40	W. Virginia	107.0
41	Washington	107.0
42	Georgia Tech	106.4
43	Cincinnati	106.1
44	N. Carolina St.	105.9
45	Iowa	104.9
46	LouisianaTech	104.9
47	Oregon St.	104.9
48	Pittsburgh	104.6
49	Nevada	104.6
50	WakeForest	104.5
51	N. Carolina	104.2
52	Arizona	103.9
53	Auburn	103.6
54	Washington St.	103.6
55	Northwestern	103.4
56	Iowa St.	103.3
57	Southern Miss.	103.1
58	S. Florida	102.9
59	Tennessee	102.9
60	Illinois	102.0
61	Rutgers	102.0
62	BostonColl.	101.6
63	Louisville	101.5
64	Temple	99.6
65	Toledo	99.4
66	TexasTech	99.0
67	Purdue	98.6
68	Air Force	98.6
69	Utah St.	98.1
70	San Diego St.	97.1
71	Northern Illinois	96.6
72	Duke	96.1
73	Navy	95.4
74	Wyoming	95.2
75	Central Florida	94.6
76	Arkansas St.	94.5
77	Connecticut	94.0
78	Kentucky	93.7
79	Western Michigan	93.6
80	Hawaii	93.5
81	Minnesota	93.2
82	S M U	93.0
83	San Jose St.	92.8
84	Fresno St.	92.0
85	East Carolina	91.9
86	Colorado	91.6
87	Maryland	91.4
88	Syracuse	91.3
89	Miami(O)	90.6
90	Ole Miss	89.3
91	FloridaInt’l	89.1
92	OhioU	88.7
93	WesternKy.	88.6
94	Kansas	87.8
95	U T E P	86.1
96	UL-Lafayette	85.7
97	Colorado St.	85.4
98	Idaho	85.3
99	UL-Monroe	84.8
100	New Mexico St.	84.6
101	Marshall	84.4
102	Ball St.	83.4
103	Army	83.0
104	Rice	82.8
105	Bowling Green	82.7
106	U A B	82.2
107	Kent St.	81.7
108	Indiana	81.7
109	Eastern Michigan	80.4
110	North Texas	79.3
111	Buffalo	77.5
112	U N L V	77.4
113	Troy	76.9
114	Central Michigan	76.5
115	MiddleTennessee	72.8
116	New Mexico	71.1
117	Tulane	68.7
118	Memphis	68.2
119	FloridaAtlantic	61.8
120	Akron	59.1

 

By Conference

Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
FloridaState	5-3	7-4	119.1
Clemson	6-2	9-2	109.6
North CarolinaState	3-4	6-5	105.9
WakeForest	5-3	6-5	104.5
BostonCollege	2-5	3-8	101.6
Maryland	1-6	2-9	91.4
Coastal Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Virginia Tech	6-1	10-1	112.3
Miami-FL	3-4	6-5	112.3
Virginia	5-2	8-3	107.3
Georgia Tech	5-3	8-3	106.4
North Carolina	2-5	6-5	104.2
Duke	1-6	3-8	96.1

 

Big East Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
West Virginia	3-2	7-3	107.0
Cincinnati	3-2	7-3	106.1
Pittsburgh	3-2	5-5	104.6
South Florida	1-4	5-5	102.9
Rutgers	4-2	8-3	102.0
Louisville	4-2	6-5	101.5
Connecticut	2-3	4-6	94.0
Syracuse	1-4	5-5	91.3

 

Big Ten
Leaders Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Wisconsin	5-2	9-2	124.1
PennState	6-1	9-2	108.4
OhioState	3-4	6-5	107.4
Illinois	2-5	6-5	102.0
Purdue	3-4	5-6	98.6
Indiana	0-7	1-10	81.7
Legends Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Michigan	5-2	9-2	119.7
MichiganState	6-1	9-2	118.3
Nebraska	4-3	8-3	111.4
Iowa	4-3	7-4	104.9
Northwestern	3-4	6-5	103.4
Minnesota	1-6	2-9	93.2

 

Big 12
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Oklahoma	5-2	8-2	127.1
OklahomaState	7-1	10-1	126.3
TexasA&M	4-4	6-5	121.5
Missouri	4-4	6-5	114.9
Texas	3-4	6-4	114.6
KansasState	6-2	9-2	114.2
Baylor	4-3	7-3	111.0
IowaState	3-4	6-4	103.3
TexasTech	2-6	5-6	99.0
Kansas	0-8	2-9	87.8

 

Conference USA
East Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Southern Mississippi	5-2	9-2	103.1
Central Florida	2-5	4-7	94.6
East Carolina	4-3	5-6	91.9
Marshall	4-3	5-6	84.4
U A B	3-5	3-8	82.2
Memphis	1-5	2-9	68.2
West Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Houston	7-0	11-0	115.8
Tulsa	7-0	8-3	110.5
S M U	4-3	6-5	93.0
U T E P	2-5	5-6	86.1
Rice	3-4	4-7	82.8
Tulane	1-7	2-10	68.7

 

Independents
Team		Overall	Rating
Notre Dame		8-3	116.8
B Y U		8-3	109.9
Navy		4-7	95.4
Army		3-8	83.0

 

Mid American Conference
East Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Temple	4-3	7-4	99.6
Miami(O)	3-4	4-7	90.6
OhioU	5-2	8-3	88.7
Bowling Green	2-5	4-7	82.7
Kent St.	4-3	5-6	81.7
Buffalo	2-5	3-8	77.5
Akron	0-7	1-10	59.1
West Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Toledo	6-1	7-4	99.4
Northern Illinois	6-1	8-3	96.6
Western Michigan	4-3	6-5	93.6
BallState	4-3	6-5	83.4
Eastern Michigan	4-3	6-5	80.4
Central Michigan	2-6	3-9	76.5

 

Mountain West Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
BoiseState	4-1	9-1	120.3
T C U	6-0	9-2	114.1
Air Force	2-4	6-5	98.6
San DiegoState	3-3	6-4	97.1
Wyoming	4-1	7-3	95.2
ColoradoState	1-4	3-7	85.4
UNLV	1-4	2-8	77.4
New Mexico	1-5	1-10	71.1

 

Pac-12 Conference
North Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Oregon	7-1	9-2	129.0
Stanford	8-1	10-1	127.1
California	3-5	6-5	112.8
Washington	4-4	6-5	107.0
OregonState	3-5	3-8	104.9
WashingtonState	2-6	4-7	103.6
South Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
U S C	6-2	9-2	127.1
Utah	4-4	7-4	112.8
ArizonaState	4-4	6-5	110.0
U C L A	5-3	6-5	108.0
Arizona	2-6	3-8	103.9
Colorado	1-7	2-10	91.6

 

Southeastern Conference
East Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Georgia	7-1	9-2	117.8
South Carolina	6-2	9-2	114.4
Florida	3-5	6-5	111.8
Vanderbilt	2-6	5-6	107.1
Tennessee	1-6	5-6	102.9
Kentucky	1-6	4-7	93.7
West Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
L S U	7-0	11-0	136.5
Alabama	6-1	10-1	135.0
Arkansas	6-1	10-1	124.9
MississippiState	1-6	5-6	108.1
Auburn	4-3	7-4	103.6
Ole Miss	0-7	2-9	89.3

 

Sunbelt Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
ArkansasState	7-0	9-2	94.5
FloridaInternational	4-3	7-4	89.1
Western Kentucky	6-1	6-5	88.6
U.ofLouisiana	6-2	8-3	85.7
Louisiana-Monroe	2-5	3-8	84.8
North Texas	3-4	4-7	79.3
Troy	2-4	3-7	76.9
MiddleTennessee	1-5	2-8	72.8
FloridaAtlantic	0-7	0-10	61.8

 

Western Athletic Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
LouisianaTech	5-1	7-4	104.9
Nevada	4-1	6-4	104.6
UtahState	3-2	5-5	98.1
Hawaii	3-4	5-6	93.5
San JoseState	2-4	4-7	92.8
FresnoState	3-3	4-7	92.0
Idaho	1-5	2-9	85.3
New MexicoState	2-3	4-7	84.6

 

 

This Week’s Games–PiRate Ratings
Tuesday, November 22		PiRate Spread
Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
OHIO U	Miami (O)	0.6	27-26	8 1/2
Thursday, November 24		PiRate Spread
Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
TEXAS A&M	Texas	9.9	34-24	8
Friday, November 25		PiRate Spread
Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
Bowling Green	BUFFALO	2.7	27-24	-1 1/2
NORTHERN ILLINOIS	Eastern Michigan	19.2	40-21	20
TEMPLE	Kent St.	20.4	30-10	17
WESTERN MICHIGAN	Akron	37.5	48-10	28
Toledo	BALL ST.	13.2	37-24	12 1/2
SOUTH FLORIDA	Louisville	4.4	24-20	3
Houston	TULSA	2.3	37-35	3
NEBRASKA	Iowa	9.5	24-14	9 1/2
WEST VIRGINIA	Pittsburgh	4.9	28-23	7
L S U	Arkansas	14.6	35-20	12 1/2
UTAH	Colorado	24.2	38-14	20 1/2
MIAMI (FL)	Boston College	14.2	27-13	14 ½
CENTRAL FLORIDA	U t e p	11.5	35-23	10
ARIZONA ST.	California	0.2	27-27 to ot	5 ½
Saturday, November 26		PiRate Spread
Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
MICHIGAN	Ohio St.	15.3	24-9	8
Missouri   (n)	Kansas	27.1	41-14	23 ½
Rutgers	CONNECTICUT	5.5	30-24	3
Cincinnati	SYRACUSE	11.8	31-19	3
Michigan St.	NORTHWESTERN	11.9	40-28	6 1/2
Purdue	INDIANA	14.4	35-21	7 1/2
Illinois	MINNESOTA	5.8	28-22	10 1/2
Georgia	GEORGIA TECH	8.9	33-24	6
WAKE FOREST	Vanderbilt	0.4	28-28 to ot	-1 1/2
SOUTH CAROLINA	Clemson	7.3	28-21	4
NORTH CAROLINA ST.	Maryland	17.5	35-17	12 1/2
NORTH CAROLINA	Duke	10.1	34-24	13
Tennessee	KENTUCKY	6.2	20-14	8
BOISE ST.	Wyoming	28.1	45-17	32
Nevada	UTAH ST.	3.5	31-27	-1 1/2
S M U	Rice	13.2	34-21	14
Alabama	AUBURN	28.4	41-13	21
OREGON	Oregon St.	27.1	48-21	28
Virginia Tech	VIRGINIA	2.0	22-20	5
WISCONSIN	Penn St.	18.7	31-12	14 1/2
Baylor     (n)	Texas Tech	12.0	40-28	12 1/2
Florida St.	FLORIDA	4.3	30-26	2 1/2
East Carolina	MARSHALL	4.5	35-30	1
LOUISIANA TECH	New Mexico St.	13.3	31-18	19
SOUTHERN MISS.	Memphis	37.4	40-3	35 1/2
Air Force	COLORADO ST.	10.7	31-20	16 1/2
WASHINGTON	Washington St.	6.4	27-21	6 1/2
MISSISSIPPI ST.	Ole Miss	21.8	35-13	17 1/2
STANFORD	Notre Dame	13.3	34-21	6 1/2
FRESNO ST.	San Jose St.	2.2	27-25	6 1/2
OKLAHOMA	Iowa St.	26.8	45-18	28
San Diego St.	U N L V	17.2	34-17	15
SOUTHERN CAL	U c l a	21.1	38-17	14 1/2
HAWAII	Tulane	28.8	42-13	18
WESTERN KENTUCKY	Troy	14.7	27-12	6 1/2
ARIZONA	Louisiana-Lafayette	21.2	42-21	14
Florida Int’l	MIDDLE TENNESSEE	13.3	27-14	9
U a b	FLORIDA ATLANTIC	17.4	34-17	6 1/2