Last Relevent AP and USA Today Polls Released, Cowboys in at No. 11

STILLWATER – With the first release of the 2021 season of the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night (6 p.m. CT) this is the last Sunday where the Associated Press and USA Today football polls will carry any kind of relevance. Those polls have the preseason, September, and October to themselves, but then in November the CFP Selection Committee begins releasing their weekly rankings. It is that committee that determines the four teams to play in the College Football Playoff and also the match-ups in the New Year’s Seven bowl games, so those rankings are above and vastly more important than all others.

I’m not even sure that the AP and USA Today polls are even a solid predictor of what the CFP Selection Committee will come out with this Tuesday. They tend to rely a lot more on the coach members of the committee and their opinions as well as “eye test” on how teams look. It’s not just winning, but how you do it with the CFP Committee. They want to see well rounded football teams that have challenged themselves with a worthy schedule. Then of course, in the end winning conference championships enters the equation.

After their 55-3 win over Kansas on Saturday night, a thorough thumping of a team that good teams would be expected to dominate, the Cowboys moved up to No. 11 across the polls. We also include the Football Writer’s Association of America and National Football Foundation Super 16 Poll. In fact, the pool of voters for that poll are stronger in my opinion than that of the Associated Press.

Iowa State losing to West Virginia 38-31, and moving completely out of the polls to just receiving votes has to hurt Oklahoma State’s reputation. The Cowboys will play at West Virginia themselves next Saturday, Nov. 6 at 2:30 ct on ESPN.