P5 is a money club. Not a talent club. Not a skill club. A money club.
Now, money can buy talent and skill, but not exclusively.
The true P5 are the Sagarin ranked 80 or better (5 conferences x 16 teams, which is where we will end up with the conferences).
Colorado, vanderbilt, maryland, etc. are not P5 teams. They are members of the P5 money club, but they are not P5 teams.
Against true P5 competition we went 5-3. The bad part: we didn't beat either of the top 30 teams we played.
So that brings us to where we really lie. Sagarin has us nailed at 36. Higher end of middle of the pack. I'll take that on a year when we lost our star QB and RB, started an RM true freshman QB, and had extended injuries at every crucial position. In fact I'm pretty pleased with that.
Now, if we can get some more depth and avoid some of the absurd lingering injuries, we will continue to move up. We have the talent and skill. Injuries and the head scratcher against mizzou are the only thing keeping this season from being special. It happens. Special seasons require a slightly better hand to be dealt.
Oh, and last year, when we were 3-0 against "P5's," we ended Sagarin ranked 56th. We moved up 20 spots this year. TWENTY.