Analyzing the AP Poll: Voters Continue to Lose Faith

OSU finally got back in the win column on Saturday in a stress-filled 41-34 victory over Texas Tech in the desert. The win didn’t do much to move the needle as far as OSU’s ranking; they stayed at No. 15 in the latest Associated Press poll released on Sunday.

It was a dramatic but sloppy game for the Cowboys who made multiple mistakes for the second week in a row. Voters noticed and many dropped OSU again. Here’s a look at how AP voters ranked them this week.

It was a mixed bag. Last week after the loss, most voters had OSU in the 13-15 range. This week, despite the win, the majority of votes were in the 14-16 range.

It’s hard to blame them. OSU played an error-filled game for a second straight week. Once is a fluke, twice is a pattern. On the plus side, OSU’s lowest vote moved up from No. 21 to No. 20. Also, Andy Greder moved OSU up one spot from 12 to 11.

OSU gets a bye week at the perfect time. They need to get the offensive line healthy. They need to work on cutting down the mistakes, especially on special teams.

If OSU can come out of the bye and look impressive against Baylor and Texas the following two weeks, the voters will start to buy in again.

Remember Baylor looked improved against OU and played Kansas State close on the road. Texas meanwhile, will have the second best defense OSU will have faced this season. If OSU can win both handily, they’ll start moving back up.