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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2014
PAGE 9
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Preseason rankings are like toilet paper. Only difference is toilet paper is actually useful. But they belong in the same place."
David Shaw, Stanford Coach
GoStanford.com
FACT OF THE DAY
The preseason No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 has finished no higher than No. 7 in the final poll over the past four years.
ESPN
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: How many teams have been ranked No. 1 preseason and retained the No. 1 spot at the end of the season?
A: 1 — Florida State in 1993 and 1999
USA Today
THE MORNING BREW
Football rankings are not set in stone
Football fans want to know where their team stands from week to week. Every Sunday afternoon the Associated Press Top 25 poll comes out, as does the USA Today Poll. ESPN also has its power rankings. What purpose do the polls serve this early in the season?
The BCS got one thing right ed its rankings at week nine. By then, teams have proven — or not proven — themselves enough to justify their rankings. Upsets are still going to happen that late in the season, like the Iron Bowl last season between Auburn and Alabama which saw Auburn kick Alabama 34-28.
ing in cash. Most of the time, it's a guaranteed win against the FCS teams. Upsets do happen, like Appalachian State at Michigan in 2007, but more often than not, it's chalked up as an "easy win."
Most teams play all non-conference teams for the first three or four weeks of the season. Many FBS teams play teams from the FCS in hopes of boosting their record while bring-
With high-profile teams playing lesser profile teams early in the season, how should they expect to be ranked higher than a Wisconsin team losing to LSU? They shouldn't, but in this system, they are. Thankfully, many teams
are starting to move away from this practice. There's always an argument over strength of schedule versus end of the season record. Take Boise State in 2006, that didn't advance into the national championship
game despite its 13-0 season record.
game despite its 15-0 season record.
Just three weeks into the season, 16 different teams have, if only momentarily, held a Top-10 spot of the AP Top 25. Out of the teams that were ranked in the Top 10 during week one, six are still ranked that high. The other four teams have shifted up or down throughout the following weeks. South Carolina was ranked No.9 during week one. By week three, it had fallen to No.24, almost off the charts, because of a loss to Texas A&M in
week one.
Last season, two of the final Top 10 teams of the season weren't ranked at the beginning of the season. Missouri finished No.5 and the University of Central Florida finished at No.10. Neither team even received votes during the
first week of the 2014 season. Out of the Top 25 from week one to after the National Championship Game. only 15 teams were still ranked from the beginning of the season.
Even though the rankings are out there — and probably always will be — remember they're fluid, especially early in the season. A number by a team's name isn't definite. It's a number people put next to a team, gauged on basic inflated statistics.
This week in athletics
Edited by Rcb Pyatt
Tuesday
No events
Wednesday
No events
Thursday
No events
Friday
Volleyball
North Texas
Noon
Lawrence
Saturday
Volleyball
Arkansas
7:30 p.m.
Lawrence
Sunday
Soccer
St. Mary's
1 p.m.
Lawrence
Monday
Women's Golf
Lady Paladin Invitational
All day
Greenville, S.C.
Volleyball
Cleveland State
7:30 p.m.
Lawrence
Football
Central Michigan
2:30 p.m.
Lawrence
Auburn tailbacks 1, 1A keep ground game strong
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The two tailbacks for No. 5 Auburn so far have complemented each other nicely and helped the Tigers' running game remain one of the nation's best despite losing Heisman Trophy finalist Tre Mason.
AUBURN, Ala. — Cameron Artis-Payne came into the season eager to prove he's got speed and Corey Grant aimed to show he has between-the-tackles power.
"I think everybody individually has their reasons why we run the ball so hard and why we say we have a chip on our shoulder," Grant said.
Whatever drives them, it's working. Auburn (2-0) enters Thursday night's visit to No. 20 Kansas State ranked fifth nationally in rushing offense. Artis-Payne stands eighth among individual runners in yards per game.
Coach Gus Malzahn still calls Artis-Payne and Grant Tailbacks 1 and 1A, though the former has gotten twice as
many carries.
Mason was a combination of speed and compact power and the kind of workhorse who took over in the Southeastern Conference championship game against Missouri. He and quarterback Nick Marshall were the key cogs for the first SEC offense to lead the nation in rushing.
This season, the speedster Grant has had success running between the tackles. Artis-Payne has flashed some big-play potential on the outside, saying after the San Jose State game that he "wanted to come out and show my speed because everybody says I'm a bruiser."
Malzahn said the 5-foot-11, 210-pound Artis-Payne and Mason, a third-round draft pick by the St. Louis Rams, have a similar style in that regard.
"I think there's probably more similarities than there are differences," the coach said. "Tre was such an exceptional between-the-tackles runner, and I think Cameron has some
of those same traits. Cameron also has gotten a little quicker and a little faster from this time last year. He probably lost anywhere from 5-10 pounds, and I really think that's helped him."
Both Artis-Payne and Grant rushed for 600-plus yards last season. Artis-Payne already has 289 yards and four touchdowns, trailing only Georgia's Todd Gurley in the SEC in yards per game.
Grant has topped 80 yards in each of the Tigers' first two games and is averaging 8.8 yards on 20 carries.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Grant's mind-set, though, always goes back to the question he's faced most often: "Can I run between the tackles?"
"Going into every game this year, I'm trying to be a more physical back," he said. "As I'm running the ball, there have been some times where I could have got out of bounds but I'd rather lower my shoulder and try to break that tackle or get two or three more yards."
Auburn running back Cameron Artis-Payne breaks the tackle of San Jose State linebacker Christian Tago to score a first-quarter touchdown during the game in Auburn, Ala., last Saturday.
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