Chasing the AP top 25

[jesterondirt]

Starting at the 18th spot down, here is the last AP poll released prior to bowl season after week 15.

Even assuming were #39 (no guarantees), just doesn't look like enough room to get there.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/rankings/_/poll/1/seasontype/2/year/2016/week/15

18 VT W (35-24 over Arkansas)
19 Lsu
20 Florida
21 Iowa
22 Pitt L (31-24 against NW)
23 Temple L ( 34-26 to Wake)
24 Nebraska L (38-24 to Tennessee)
25 USF W (46-39 against South Carolina)
26 Houston L (34-10 to San Diego State)
27 Utah W (26-24 against Indiana)
28 Boise L (31-12 to Baylor)
29 Washington state L (17-12 to Minnesota)
30 Texas A&M L (33-28 to Kstate)
31 Air Force W (45-21 against USA)
32 Navy L (48-45 to La Tech)
33 Tennessee W (38-24 against Nebraska)
34 San Diego State W (34-10 against Houston)
35 W. Kentucky W (51-31 against Memphis)
36 Miami W (31-14 against WVU)
37 Georgia Tech
38 Kansas State W (33-28 against aTm)

 

[Tulsafanzz]

Thanks for the good information Jester. The sad truth is a Coach Graham-run up the score-4th quarter probably gets this Tulsa team a higher chance of getting ranked than a classy Coach Monty 4th quarter.

TU could've hit 70+ if we ran it up. A crazy final score might have gotten us in the final AP poll.

Since our game was at such an obscure time, with low TV viewership, I don't think our high quality, high class performance will get us the recognition we deserve.

BTW, I am NOT saying we should run it up, I'm only looking at our chances of getting ranked. I'd take Monty over Graham any day.

 

[HuffyCane]

Since our game was at such an obscure time, with low TV viewership,

The game rated just under one million viewers, not counting the jobless and/or retired drunks sitting in bars watching it.

That's more viewers than the MAC and CUSA Championship games. Games that mattered. Played on Saturdays. It also out viewed all of the college basketball the previous weekend, iirc.

If USF would have lost like they were supposed to, we would be in. As it stands, it is unlikely. I'm just fine being the University of Also Receiving Votes. You don't have to rank us or even rate us. Just respect us and keep us in the conversation.

If anything hurts the rating it will be how long it has been since we played. But if you play well, the media will remember. More than once in the last few days, I've seen the heads on ESPN mention OSU struggling against Tulsa as a reason to keep OSU out of the playoff and the context wasn't a slight to us. It also helps that our coach is quietly becoming the guy to watch next year for a big time promotion. Some in the media will be currying favor with him by rating him this season. We might sneak in. Who knows?

 

[HuffyCane]

Thanks for the good information Jester. The sad truth is a Coach Graham-run up the score-4th quarter probably gets this Tulsa team a higher chance of getting ranked than a classy Coach Monty 4th quarter.

It is sad, but this is the truth. Graham was a carny barker and the youngish media looking for fresh topics listened, because lets face it, you get assigned to cover the GMAC Bowl in the middle of the week, there isn't a whole to grab a readers attention. I am still pissed at his absurd self serving assertion on national television that Notre Dame was the biggest win in program history. Ummm ... We won at Arkansas when they were in the Top 10. We beat A&M at home when they were ranked. We won the freaking Orange Bowl (Rice has too, but Okie State still hasn't). But the sheepish media just nodded and assumed he was right and printed it because in the internet age you go to press in seconds, rather than have someone like Bill Connors read your work, do something called editing and fact checking, and tell the reader whether or not your coach is a blowhard. I don't have many beefs with Graham, but that is one of them. As for running up the score, I have no problem with that the two times that Graham did it while bowling. Both Bowling Green and Ball State kept their starters in. If memory serves, everyone who travelled played for Tulsa in the Ball State game. IIRC even the third string walk on back up kicker got a kickoff. They ran their mouth before the game and got what they deserved.

 

[lawpoke87]

Ratings for our bowl game were just what one would expect for that time slot....awful. We were the lowest rated bowl game and even beaten by the FCS semifinal. Ohio - Troy had more the double our viewers. Again...time slot.

 

[nevadanatural]

Huffy brought up something about the media that continues to irritate me, lack of fact checking. I do think it is the instant consumption of today's world but whether it's sports, medicine, politics, etc. it seems that people publish the first thing they hear without verifying. Even worse, because it is in print (type or electronic) people also believe it without doing any further research.

 

[TUBballJunkie]

Opening on the road at a top 10 OSU will be enough pressure with a new QB.

Get out of Stillwater with a win and pollsters will notice.

 

[TUBballJunkie]

Fwiw it looks like we get into the Sagarin top 25 year end. We were at 29 Tuesday night and there were losses ahead of us since then.

 

[lawpoke87]

We're still at 29 entering today. We would need four teams who haven't yet played to drop below us. Don't think that's possible.

 

[aTUfan]

Nor all bad.
We start the at around #79?

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

That's more viewers than the MAC and CUSA Championship games. Games that mattered. Played on Saturdays. It also out viewed all of the college basketball the previous weekend, iirc.

You could play college football on a Tuesday at midnight and it would still out draw any basketball games. There is just a different level of viewership between the two sports.

 

[Lumpuckeroo]

Opening on the road at a top 10 OSU will be enough pressure with a new QB.

Get out of Stillwater with a win and pollsters will notice.

OSU will be loaded on offense next season, would like to have Dane and company at Stillwater for the upset rather than breaking in a new quarterback.

 

[lawpoke87]

OSU may have the best wide receiver group in the country next season. Our DBs will have their hands full. Washington brought a safety up in run support and left there corners without support over the top. I don't expect TU to use that scheme.

 

[Li'l Eric Coley]

One thing's for sure, our staff won't have a bad dream, poop its pants, and change the gameplan 24 hours before kickoff

 

[jesterondirt]

Made it up to #35 with 10 votes.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/rankings/_/poll/1/seasontype/3/year/2016/week/1