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Message: [QUOTE="Phil, post: 2501514, member: 66"] "...if you are a top 25 team, you beat other top 25 team..." On the surface, this sounds plausible but with deeper analysis it's not quite so simple. Let's start with who you are supposed to beat if you are a top 25 team. To start with, you can't just be a top 25 team, you must be at some position in the top 25. USF was right on the cusp; ranked 25th in the AP poll and now 22nd and the coaches poll. Who are you supposed to be able to beat if you are number 25? In theory, nobody. However, for multiple reasons, we anticipate that the team ranked number 25 should have occasional wins against teams in the top 25, even if they are expected to have a losing record. So, for example, if you play numbers 20, 21, 22, 23 and number 24, not expect to win them all or even most but you are to be able to win one or two. I'll bet that, if you compile enough data, will see that this happens. (I don't think you will disagree with that and I don't miss that the question is how would South Florida do in those games.) The problem is that South Florida doesn't have any of those teams on its schedule. They only played one top 25 team so far (using Massey ratings) and that was Notre Dame ranked number two. Surely you aren't expected to have to beat Notre Dame to deserve a top 25 rating? They did play them within 10. More troubling, to be sure is two losses to teams outside the top 25. The Oklahoma loss strings the most; the loss to Michigan State hurts but Massey has them at number 30 so not very far outside the top 25. Their upcoming schedule isn't going to shed a lot of light on the situation. Two games against Connecticut but neither are likely to be wins. With one other exception the strongest remaining team is Houston at number 72. That one exception is Ohio State, but it's a stretch to argue you need to be the 10th ranked team in the nation to deserve a spot in the top 25. [/QUOTE]

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