Koki Riley: What to do with Miami, and why Utah made a leap in AP Top-25 Poll after Week 10

On Thursday, Awful Announcing — a blog dedicated to covering sports media news nationally — pondered whether I was the best or worst AP poll voter. 

I don’t have a clue which side of the spectrum I land on, but I appreciate the fact that there’s at least one person who is listening to the reasoning behind my selections. I always strive to provide fair and honest analysis, even if it’s extreme or unique in comparison to the consensus.

So with that said, let’s break down my poll after Week 10.

My AP Top-25 poll after Week 10

1. Indiana, 2. Texas A&M, 3. Ohio State, 4. Alabama, 5. Georgia, 6. Texas Tech, 7. Notre Dame, 8. Ole Miss, 9. BYU, 10. Oregon, 11. Louisville, 12. Oklahoma, 13. Utah, 14. Miami, 15. Southern Cal, 16. Texas, 17. Missouri, 18. Vanderbilt, 19. Michigan, 20. Washington, 21. Tennessee, 22. Illinois, 23. Virginia, 24. Georgia Tech, 25. Iowa

Just missed: Houston, TCU, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati

What I did with Miami

It felt like dropping Miami to No. 14 in my poll wasn’t enough after the Hurricanes’ loss to SMU. The loss means Miami is just 2-2 in ACC play and the Ponies already had three defeats heading into this week, including two losses to middling at best teams in Baylor and Wake Forest.

But this loss wasn’t as devastating as it may have seemed on the surface. SMU still only has one defeat in conference play, and Miami’s only other loss comes to a Louisville team that I have at No. 11 in my poll.

It seems like Miami’s College Football Playoff hopes are done, but the Hurricanes still have a win over a top-10 team (Notre Dame) and dominated a pretty good South Florida team. The Notre Dame win kept Miami ahead of Texas and USC. Neither team holds a win that impressive, and they have flaws in their own right.

Texas earned a huge win over Vanderbilt this week and beat Oklahoma, but also lost to Florida and probably should’ve fallen to lowly Kentucky and Mississippi State. USC snuck past Nebraska on the road this week and beat Michigan, but the Trojans — unlike Miami — lost to the Irish.

Sliding up to No. 6 in Miami’s place was Texas Tech after the Red Raiders dominated another Big 12 team (Kansas State) on Saturday. Besides one loss with the backup quarterback on the road, Tech has been unstoppable.

I prefer the Red Raiders over Notre Dame, given that the Irish needed a late touchdown to pull away from a woeful Boston College team this weekend and have a weaker strength of record, according to ESPN.

Utah’s rise

Utah’s lack of stellar play at quarterback still makes me nervous, but its resume has become impossible to ignore at this point.

When they haven’t lost, the Utes have blown everyone out, including this weekend when they crushed Cincinnati 45-14 at home. It was the sort of statement victory they needed, given that their best win before this week was over Sam Leavitt-less ASU at home.

The lopsided wins, combined with the fact that its only defeats came to top-10 teams in my poll, were why the Utes made a meteoric rise in my rankings this week.

Other notes

Virginia is at No. 12 in the overall poll, but is only 24th in my poll for a couple of different reasons. The Cavaliers have a great overtime win over Louisville, but close wins over North Carolina, Florida State and Washington State, and a loss to NC State make me question what their actual quality is.

Oddly enough, the team below them in my poll also lost to NC State this week. I’ve consistently been lower on Georgia Tech because of the lack of competition it’s faced to this point, despite being undefeated.

The Yellow Jackets still made my poll because beating Duke on the road isn’t easy, and an 8-1 record for a Power Four conference team is still pretty good. They’ll be tested to end the year as they face Pittsburgh and Georgia to finish the season.

Iowa was the last team out a week ago, but the Hawkeyes are in this week despite not playing because Houston and Cincinnati lost. Iowa lacks a strong win, and the Iowa State loss doesn’t look great, but the Hawkeyes have managed to be the only team that’s lost to Indiana by single digits.