Is Temple the 17th-best team in the nation?
The Owls are up to 32 points in this week's AP football poll. That's the equivalent of 29th place.
Temple is up to 32 points in this week's AP football poll. That's the equivalent of 29th place. They also got 17 points in the coaches' poll and 48 points in the Harris poll.
Breaking down the AP balloting, the Owls gained a vote from CBS College Sports play-by-play announcer Tom Hart (he called the Utah-TCU game this past Saturday), But they fell off the ballot of John Davis of the Oxford Eagle (Mississippi).
We've seen the growing consensus that the Owls are at least worth being near the Top 25, though they still haven't cracked it quite yet.
But I was still surprised to see Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette rank Temple 17th.
I also couldn't help noticing that Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle ranked the Owls 18th and Penn State 17th. So in the list below of who ranked the Owls on their ballots, I decided to also note where those voters ranked the Nittany Lions.
Mike Hlas of the Cedar Rapids Gazette rightly noted on his blog today that he was the first AP voter to rank Temple, and he says the bandwagon has a few more passengers now. Do you think the Owls can make it into the Top 25?
Of note, Ryan Finley of the Arizona Daily Star is the only writer who has MAC Western Division champions Central Michigan on his ballot, at No. 25.
Also of note, ESPN's Chris Fowler has Penn State ranked No. 22. What do you think of that?
Scott Wolf, Los Angeles Daily News: 20th / 6 points (Penn State 19th)
Ray Ratto, San Francisco Chronicle: 19th / 7 points (Penn State 18th)
Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News: 25th / 1 point (Penn State 23rd)
Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids Gazette (Iowa): 22nd / 4 points (Penn State 11th) 4 points
Keith Sargeant, Home News Tribune/Gannett (New Jersey): 25th / 1 point (Penn State 12th)
Ray Fittipaldo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: 17th / 9 points (Penn State 11th)
Travis Haney, Charleston Post and Courier (South Carolina): 24th (Penn State 13th) 2 points
Eric Schmoldt, Casper Star-Tribune (Wyoming): 25th / 1 point (Penn State 15th)
Tom Hart, CBS College Sports: 25th / 1 point (Penn State 11th)