NCAAF 2019 Rankings after Week 11

NCAA Football Top 25 Rankings

Updated: Week 11, 11 NOV 2019

(Delta Calc'd from Week 10, 4 NOV 2019)

(Click here for a more detailed explanation of my NCAAF rating system)

Some of these rankings my surprise you, but keep in mind that there is no bias towards any team or preconceived notions, and the only thing considered is what each team has accomplished so far.

(For those viewing from a phone, tap the rankings and rotate to enlarge)

Notes:

• #1 LSU increases its lead at the top spot with a big win over #11 Alabama. Alabama fell 5 spots from #6. This is not so much due to Alabama losing value in their rating (they only lost 0.73 points for losing to the #1 team), but more due to the other teams around them increasing their rankings, albeit only slightly. I mentioned last week that the teams rated #6-#11 were only separated by 2.65 points... which means even small changes in rankings can cause large movements in rankings.
• The human polls have Alabama at #4 (We'll see on Tuesday where the CFP committee has them). This is pretty ridiculous and highlights the human bias problem. Is Alabama a top 5 team? Maybe... but they haven't proven it. Including LSU, their Strength of Schedule is ranked #62 (last week it was #100). Their top three wins are #42 Texas A&M, #48 Tennessee, and #62 South Carolina (who just lost to Appalachian State!). The problem here is that if we just keep assuming Alabama is one of the best despite their on the field performance... it takes away a spot from a team who has proven their capability and earned a top 5 spot. 
• By the way, I do not believe, even if Alabama wins out, that they should be in the playoffs. They do not have a win over a Top 40 team. Their only opportunity for a Top 25 win is Auburn (they also have #51 Miss St and Western Carolina on their schedule). Fun fact about Western Carolina... they are ranked #101... in Div I-AA!!!! Looks like the SEC needs to work on their scheduling if they are going to lose to 1 of their 2 ranked teams they play if they still want to get into the playoffs.
• Ohio State remains comfortably ranked at #2.
• Minnesota jumps to #3 (up 11 spots) after defeating Penn State. Meanwhile, Penn State only falls one spot despite losing 5.71 points... largely due to the sizable lead they had in the ratings in previous weeks over the other top 10 teams. It will be interesting to see where the committee ranks Minnesota. They were very low (#17) due to the fact that we really didn't have a benchmark for their undefeated season given their vastly inferior competition. However, now we do have a benchmark, and I believe they *should* vault up well into the top 10.
• Clemson drops two spots and loses 0.75 points after beating #93 NC State. Similar to last week, the negative rating adjustment they received from learning more about their opponents outweighed the small positive rating increase they received from beating a bad team.
• Cincinnati drops to #12, despite winning. (See the note about Clemson above).
• Below, I have included my calculated Strength of Record compared to ESPN's. Strength of Record (SoR) is a measure of how an average Top 25 team would perform against a given team's schedule, relative to that team's record (better than or equal to).
• Top 10 // Top 25  Teams for each conference:
• ACC: 1 // 1 
• Big 12: 1 // 5
• Big Ten: 3 // 5
• Pac 12: 1 // 2
• SEC: 3 // 5

Poll Comparison

As always, please leave questions/comments below! If you would like to see more than just the Top 25, or any ratings for Div I-AA, Div-II, or Div-III, just let me know!