A look at the polls. Wait... what?!

you read correctly. this is a FBC first as we'll actually look at Northwestern's spot in the rankings. there are a number of different RPI systems out there, and despite using similar methodologies (25% winning percentage, 50% opponents' winning percentage, 25% opponents' opponents winning percentage) they don't all add up to the exact same result.

the Wildcats come in 6th on CBSsports.com, while NU is 7th according to sites here and here, as well as the most widely used CollegeRPI.com, which purports to be the "official" RPI. those sites reward NU's strength of schedule - ranked somewhere between 9 and 11, which i simply don't understand.

the math gets a little more complicated with Jeff Sagarin's ratings, but the results are more realistic. here Northwestern comes in 36th, with a SOS of 202. this seems more in line with their actual schedule.

yesterday we told you that NU received four points in this week's AP poll (none in the USA Today coaches' poll). for comparison's sake, Butler is 34 in AP and 32 in USA Today while Florida State is 37 AP and tied-39 USA Today. the Big Ten has three ranked teams - Purdue, Michigan State and Ohio State - with Michigan and Wisconsin on the fringe.

there is certainly no shame in losing at now 7-0 Butler, and it is in NU's best interests that the Bulldogs keep winning. similarly, Northwestern gets a boost from Florida State's win over Florida on Sunday night. we want NU's wins (and losses) to look as strong as possible. of course, relative strength of wins and losses is used primarily to differentiate teams on the bubble come Selection Sunday. seven games into the schedule on December 9 is a little to early for NU bubble talk, so i'll stop myself there.