Because we skipped a week in our rankings to fully incorporate the major playoff games, we have some significant shifts here late in the fall.
The team we had a big question-mark for was Texas A&M. Playing in relative isolation, and winning fairly comfortably over almost everyone in their conference, the Aggies were a team we though might deserve a higher rankings, but could also drift downward.
Their close win over Kentucky pushed the Aggies up into the Top 10 (remember, not every team in out D1AA rankings plays in the NCR playoffs) from #11 to #6. That's a significant move upward.
Bowling Green also moves up and we did see they were on an upward trajectory. So we weren't totally shocked that they beat Louisville after having lost to the Cardinals twice before. But the big question for us was whether we should put them at #2.
Seriously, there's a real question as to whether the win over Louisville would move them past Louisville. With UofL leading the series between the two teams 2-1, and the loss being in overtime, then, yes, you could argue that Louisville should still be #2.
But we do weight playoff games more than other games, and we do rank teams NOW. Now what they looked like in September (unless, of course, ir is September).
All of this to say BGSU is #2, but we almost didn't do that.
If Tennessee wins this weekend's final, could we drop Bowling Green down from #2? Yes. It's possible. But as we pointed out in our preview of the semifinals, Tennessee is really the only team who hasn't faltered at some point this season.
That's why they've been #1 since Week 6.
