National Program Rankings: Can We Break Into the Top 25?

Every year, College Football News ranks the 120 football programs from top to bottom. The following is the list for the Big 12 teams, including Missouri (they're not gone yet) and West Virginia.

#4 Oklahoma
#5 Texas
#11 TCU
#13 WVU
#17 Missouri
#32 Ok. State
#39 Texas Tech
#60 Kansas
#75 Kansas St.
#87 Baylor
#97 Iowa State

The rankings measure and weigh game results, attendance, # of drafted players, etc. for the five seasons running from 2006 through 2010. One of the weaknesses of these rankings is that conference games in the WAC are counted the same as conference games in the Big 12 or SEC. As such, a team like TCU will be given a statistical leg up over the next four years, until they start replacing records padded with WAC teams, with the same Big XII record everyone else has had to play (except for the teams in the old North Division, that is).

Oklahoma State just passed Texas Tech in the rankings, this year, jumping from #51 the previous two years to #32, while Tech dropped to #39 from #34 in 2010 and #29 in 2009. The primary factor in OSU's leap forward is due to our 4 - 7 record from 2005 dropping off, to be replaced with the 11 - 2 record from 2010.

Next year, we should move up even more, as we will replace 2006's 7 - 6 season with the final results from this current season. That is why the Baylor victory was our first "gravy" game, because we won our 8th game, which means we'll get at least 1 more point because of the better record. Each subsequent victory this year will add addtional points, meaning we could earn as many as 6 addtional FBS points for the 2011 season, if we go undefeated and win the MNC.

Equally promising is, that after the 2012 season, we will drop off the resuts from the 2007 season, when we finished 7 - 6, but only got credit for 6 FBS victories due to our game against Missouri State that year. As such, even with an expected drop off next year, we should be able to hold our advancement, even if we only become bowl eligible and finish 6 -7 for the season (a result nobody on this board would anticipate).

As a result, we should see our program's ranking vault into the Top 25 by 2013, if not by next year.

This year's NFL draft can also help us rise higher. The Cowboys have only achieved a paltry 8 draft selections in the five years analyzed. By comparison, TCU has had 15 players drafted in the same time span. Each player drafted counts the same has half a FBS victory. Therefore, we earned 4 points for our drafted players this year. When the next ranking comes out, however, the 2007 draft will be dropped, which means OSU will only lose a full point, because that draft included Corey Hilliard to New England and Ryan McBean to Pittsburgh. OSU should get no fewer than 4 players drafted in 2012 (Blackmon, Adcock, Weeden and Martin). So we should gain at least another full point, with additional half points coming with every draftee named, which could come from players like Josh Cooper, Jamie Blatnick, Grant Garner, et al.

Attendance is also up considerably this year, which should lift us up slightly.

It looked like we had an Elite Win by beating Texas A&M. All Aggie had to do was only lose twice more and the Cowboys would've secured our first in the five year period that will be inlcuded in next years rankings. Teams you beat on the road can only lose three games, and vanquished teams played at home must only lose two. Even if we beat OU this year, we will have to hope OU wins all of their other games, including their bowl, to give us those points. We also could get an Elite win by winning our bowl, which will likely be against an undefeated team, or one with just one loss.

All in all, we look pretty good for moving up to around the #25 ranking next year, especially with teams #25 Oregon State and # 24 Tennessee having down years.

Hope you enjoyed the read.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.


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Really interesting... But if we got to the National Championship and won would that not be an elite win?? Lol.

Let's take down team SEC

Attendance will never be in our favor. To be fair it should be weighted to regional population statistics.

Average attendance for all 120 teams is 43,900, or 4.39 points. The attendance figure is one way that tradition and market popularity is factored into their determination of the best programs, which rightfully should be a small part of any equation.

If we keep packing our stadium, we'll be lifted up pretty well above the mean. Our best chance to beat this is with Academic Progress Rates or Drafted players.

Even this beautiful woman thinks you should be able to bump your own post at least one time!

Don't hate me (because I'm a wee bit intoxicated, atm), but think this is kinda pointless. I mean, whatever formula you come up with for measuring football programs is gonna be skewed (whether intentionally or not) towards popularity, or on-field performance, or some other factor. For example, the state of Oklahoma has a lower population that many states like California or Texas, so our attendance record is probably unfairly set back a bit. While at the same time, why do the number of NFL draft players have an impact on this rating? Who determines how much weight a drafted player carries against the on-field record or attendance record of a university?

I think this thing is completely subjective, and very vague. We might as well compare what the greatest "Thing" in the universe is. Magnets? Cowboy football? Italian food? Arnold Swarzenegger before he became a washed-up actor and governor of California? Antiseptics?

Maybe it's because I don't understand why OSU is below programs like Missouri, West Virginia, and Texas, or maybe I'm just right. Anyways, my buzz is wearing off, and it's approaching time to go to bed(semicolon) sorry for the rant. Go Pokes!

I like it. We've come a long way in 5 years.

#1 She ain't all that pretty, and #2 that's pretty creepy.

Do you always take an attempt at humor as "creepy?" But thanks for "giving me a bump!"

No, creepy attempts at humor are creepy.

What's our overall record as a program?

really bad. I think we just got over .500 if I remember correctly

People who never get the joke are creepy. But you never noticed the looks you get, because they all turn away so that you can't see them roll their eyes.

I'm pretty sure you don't understand the definition of creepy, and calling you out for your creepiness is hardly turning away to roll my eyes.

No, I turned away to roll my eyes at you for not getting the joke. You're really weird, aren't you? Aside from that, you're also very adept at hijacking a thread, and don't have a clue what constitutes a good looking woman. So sad for you.

Rx is right. That was creepy. I got the joke and it was still creepy, and not funny. Move on.


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You move on. I'm not the one calling other fans names. Until now.

What absolute jerks you two are.

I got the joke. It was creepy. And the non-sequitur post of a half-naked young girl is the hijack, not someone else calling you out for it. If you want to drool and leer at pics on the internet it's your business. But please don't involve the rest of us in your creepiness.

It was a joke, jackwad. You're definitely an uptight little prig, aren't you? Just because mommy punished you when you when she caught you with those magazines doesn't mean you have to come on here and enforce your stunted morality, when it is a woman wearing what you would see at ANY apartment complex pool. The more you talk, the more you reveal yourself to be the weirdo.

Talk some more! You're giving me lots of laughs.

Do you even know what a "bump" is? What, did you think, I was trying to make some kind of sexual reference? It was your own dirty mind that made it creepy. I just now figured out why you were offended. How pitiful for you.