2009 Week 4 Rankings: A Win is No Guarantee

I am sure a lot of people are expecting Florida to remain the top team after a win against Tennessee. That is usually how polls work. But the No. 2 Gators did not exactly dominate the Volunteers last week at Florida Field.

The great thing I love about the way my rankings work is that winning is a necessity, but winning in a dominating fashion is even more of a necessity. This does not mean schedule weak, as Florida is learning in its short tumble. But no team can have an off week, like Tim Tebow and the Gators had last week, and expect to hold onto their position.

Instead the most consistent teams who play the tougher schedules rise to the top. This week that top team is No. 1 Alabama.

I have been waiting for the Crimson Tide to get to the top spot after being ranked No. 4 last week. I absolutely love this team -- see my thoughts from Week 1 in their thrashing of the No. 18 Hokies in Atlanta. They play defense and run the ball well. They are, to my eye, the best team in the country right now. Clearly Florida and No. 5 Texas are riding the laurels of last season's success.

There are certainly going to be some surprises in this week's rankings -- as No. 4 Oklahoma has leap-frogged up the polls despite losing a game, something that I would consider more of a mathematical fluke than anything else -- but I would expect things to settle as the week moves on.

Here is this week's top 15:

1. Alabama 53.279
2. Florida +0.8
3. California +14.83
4. Oklahoma +15.719
5. Texas +21.004
6. USC
7. Mississippi (stats recorded before Thursday night's loss)
8. Kansas
9. Cincinnati
10. Penn State
11. LSU
12. Miami (Fl.)
13. TCU
14. Auburn
15. Missouri
The rest of the Top 25: 16. North Carolina; 17. Ohio State; 18. Virginia Tech; 19. Nebraska; 20. Florida State; 21. Boise State; 22. Michigan; 23. Brigham Young; 24. Houston; 25. Georgia

Top Offense: No. 2 Florida, Texas A&M (ranked 29th in standings)
Top Defense: No. 10 Penn State
Toughest Schedule To-Date: No. 12 Miami
Toughest Schedule Remaining: No. 4 Oklahoma
Easiest Schedule To-Date: No. 8 Kansas
Easiest Schedule Remaining: No. 21 Boise State

Game of the Week: 12 Miami (Fl.) vs. 18 Virginia Tech- the Hurricanes ridiculous start continues as the Hurricanes travel to Blacksburg, Va., to take on the Hokies. The history of this rivalry in the 2000s is well documented as Virginia Tech nearly ruined a couple Miami national championship runs. It is pretty safe to say that this game is very much in the same vein the way the Hurricanes are playing (at least until Miami hosts Oklahoma next week). This should be a very good game and could very well decide which team takes control of the ACC this year. The Hokies and Hurricanes do not rank fantastically in either offense or defense in the ratings, but we all know they have a solid defense. This game will come down to the quarterbacks and who can execute. The scary part is, both have proven they can perform under pressure in big games this season.