Lincoln Riley has the Sooners back on top
While Alabama and Clemson continue to sit atop the latest Associated Press and Coaches Polls, here at Sports Talk From Top to Bottom we believe Oklahoma is the top team in the country, at least to this point in the season. Using GamePlan Magazine’s preseason power rankings we crunched the numbers through the first three weeks of the season and these rankings are what we came up with.
Baker Mayfield just keeps the Sooner offense rolling along as Lincoln Riley takes over for Bob Stoops. The standout senior has completed almost 77-percent of his passes for 1,046 yards and 10 touchdowns, and no interceptions! Oklahoma also leads the Big 12 in scoring defense, pass defense, passing efficiency, passing efficiency defense and first downs gained per game. Senior Ogbonnia Okoronkwo leads the conference in sacks with four through three games and Parnell Motley is in a 5-way logjam atop the Big 12 with two picks to date.
In order to be considered for these rankings a school had to acquire a power ranking of 120 or better. Calculating the number of votes a school received by the AP and Coaches polls collectively breaks any ties in power rankings. Of course, the school with the most votes is given the higher ranking. Should there still be a tie, the school that increased their power ranking by more points over their preseason power ranking gets the higher ranking.
To the right of each school is, of course, its won-loss record, offensive scoring average, defensive scoring average, the average power ranking of the school’s opponents and the school’s power ranking. Any school with at least a 120 power ranking that did not make the Top 25 is included in the ‘Other Contenders’ list at the bottom of the page.
2017 College Football Top 25
1. Oklahoma 3-0 47.7 12.3 109.3 137
2. Clemson 3-0 39.0 10.0 114.3 134
3. Penn State 3-0 47.0 4.7 103.3 134
4. Oklahoma State 3-0 54.0 17.3 110.7 134
5. Alabama 3-0 35.3 13.3 116.3 133
6. Wisconsin 3-0 43.3 10.0 108.7 133
7. Washington 3-0 47.0 12.3 108.7 132
8. Ohio State 2-1 34.3 19.7 121.0 131
9. Mississippi State 3-0 47.7 9.3 117.3 130
10. Georgia 3-0 31.0 14.3 118.0 129
11. Virginia Tech 3-0 40.7 13.7 112.0 129
12. Texas Christian 3-0 49.0 14.3 114.7 129
13. Southern Cal 3-0 39.3 26.3 118.7 128
14. Michigan 3-0 32.7 14.7 115.7 128
15. Louisiana State 2-1 26.3 15.7 117.7 128
16. Oregon 3-0 56.0 23.0 111.7 128
17. West Virginia 2-1 46.3 22.3 112.3 128
18. Kansas State 2-1 39.0 13.3 110.7 128
19. Auburn 2-1 23.7 10.3 115.3 127
20. Miami (Fla.) 1-0 41.0 13.0 110.0 126
21. Washington State 3-0 43.3 22.3 111.7 126
22. Vanderbilt 3-0 28.0 4.3 116.0 126
23. Wake Forest 3-0 43.7 9.0 107.0 126
24. South Florida 3-0 40.0 20.7 104.7 125
25. Notre Dame 2-1 39.0 18.7 115.7 125
Other contenders: Florida State 0-1 124, Utah 3-0 124, North Carolina State 2-1 124, Colorado 3-0 123, Stanford 1-2 123, Houston 2-0 123, Duke 3-0 122, Texas 1-2 122, UCLA 2-1 122, Florida 1-1 121, Maryland 2-0 121, Minnesota 3-0 121, Boise State 2-1 121, Colorado State 2-2 121, Georgia Tech 1-1 121, San Diego State 3-0 120, Kentucky 3-0 120, Tennessee 2-1 120, Purdue 2-1 120, Texas A&M 2-1 120.
