College Rankings on Monday

[cj]

So, Missouri has beaten no teams of note and lost to OSU at home. OSU beat no teams of note other than Missouri. How will pollsters justify it when they undoubtedly rank Missouri ahead of OSU this week?

[ElKabong]

MNC game- USC has an easy road, they'll be ranked in the top 2 in December.

USC vs ?

Penn St (who wants the b10 in there again?)
BYU (right now, my choice)
Mizzou (no defense)
oklahoma (less than no defense, team has no heart in tough games)
TEXAS (doubt it)
Florida (deserving, but very tough to survive SEC w/o another loss)
LSU (see Florida)
Georgia (see LSU)
Bama (see Georgia)

[cj]

MNC game- USC has an easy road, they'll be ranked in the top 2 in December.

USC vs ?

Penn St (who wants the b10 in there again?)
BYU (right now, my choice)
Mizzou (no defense)
oklahoma (less than no defense, team has no heart in tough games)
TEXAS (doubt it)
Florida (deserving, but very tough to survive SEC w/o another loss)
LSU (see Florida)
Georgia (see LSU)
Bama (see Georgia)

I'm not sure USC can overcome their very weak schedule. If it comes down to three one loss teams and the others are from the Big 12 and the SEC, they'll be out. If Penn State wins out, they are in as well. So, you'd have USC having to hope the Big 12 and SEC has no one loss teams.

BYU will probably deserve to be in the big game, but the sham called the BCS will never allow it.

[Marshall Bennett]

OSU should move ahead of Missouri IMO . Texas should be # 1 in that they soundly beat the #1 team and are undefeated ... IMO . :)

[rrbauer]

Bama has only two road games left. Tennessee, where there's not much offense and the locals are wanting to pay the $7 MIL to get rid of Fulmer; and, LSU which needs to put some "D" back in their defense (but I never underestimate them on Saturday nite at home). Bama could be #1 when the SEC championship is played.

If Bama falters, Florida has only one out-of-state road game, with Vandy, who got their bubble pricked and will probably get their 2nd comeuppance this week at Georgia.

Georgia gets Florida at a "neutral" site (Jacksonville) and IMO that will decide the SEC East.

Texas gets to finish out with its toughest games at home.

Okla State will be ranked ahead of Missouri who the pollsters love to downgrade. After watching some of the bonehead throws that Daniels made last night who can argue with them?

I can see a lot of 1-loss teams being ranked ahead of USC if that's how the season ends. The Big-12 looks to me to be every bit as good as the SEC. Until the Big-10 teams start showing up with a lot more speed they are destined for the secondary bowls.

Ball State anyone?

[cj]

Ball St., Tulsa, Boise St., Utah, BYU, etc.

I'm not sure why these teams are a part of the BCS division. The have virtually no shot to win the title before the season begins.

[ghostyapper]

OSU should move ahead of Missouri IMO . Texas should be # 1 in that they soundly beat the #1 team and are undefeated ... IMO . :)

I agree texas should be ranked one but that defeat was anything but soundly. It was a back and forth game.

[JustRalph]

I swear to god, last night on the way home from Keeneland I was listening to ESPN radio on XM and this guy gives out a scenario wherein Ohio State can make it back to the championship game............. :bang: :bang: :bang:

I almost drove off the road.............. if that happens again............. I will change my Ohio Tags...............to Michigan tags............. :bang: :bang: :bang:

[ElKabong]

I'm the biggest TEXAS homer of all, but if I had a vote it would go to Bama- not TEXAS. Long way to go and I still believe we'll lose a couple. Hoping I'm wrong....

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/rankingsindex

1. Texas (39) 6-0 1,599
2. Alabama (26) 6-0 1,582
3. Penn State 7-0 1,492
4. Oklahoma 5-1 1,306
5. Florida 5-1 1,284
6. USC 4-1 1,247
7. Texas Tech 6-0 1,210
8. Oklahoma State 6-0 1,184
9. Brigham Young 6-0 1,131
10. Georgia 5-1 1,081

[ElKabong]

fwiw, why didn't 0u fall further down? It's not like they got beat by a confirmed world killer. Florida Atlantic threw the ball at will on us for 40 minutes (which is what 0u did).

My 0u buddies told me long ago that when Mike Stoops left after the 2003 regular season, that 0u's defense hasn't been the same since. I have to agree. Before then their secondary made huge plays, were always in position, and tackled with authority and a purpose. That's gone now. We put 6 scores on that defense by throwing the ball all day (I'm not including the KO return) and left our top 3 RB's on the bench for most of the game.

[Marshall Bennett]

Noticed 1 - 4 Toledo beat Michigan in Ann Arbor . Anyone know if Mich. benched all of its starters ?? :p

[ElKabong]

Maybe *Michigan* will sue Rich Rod ;)

[rrbauer]

Texas, Bama, Penn State, Oklahoma and Florida.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3639689&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

[Marshall Bennett]

Texas will be hard pressed to hold on . Having just played Oklahoma , next three include Missouri , Okla. St. , and Texas Tech in Lubbock . Talk about brutal !!

[cj]

USC ahead of Oklahoma in the coach's poll is insane. For the record, I am no OU fan.

It really is a shame they ruin what could be great sport by refusing to have a playoff. Imagine how boring other sports would be if teams were selected to play for the title and didn't play there way in.

[GaryG]

Penn State is an illusion. I like Alabama to win it. They run the ball with authority and have a big time defense. The SEC title game between Bama and Florida will be a ball burner.

[Marshall Bennett]

USC ahead of Oklahoma in the coach's poll is insane. For the record, I am no OU fan.

It really is a shame they ruin what could be great sport by refusing to have a playoff. Imagine how boring other sports would be if teams were selected to play for the title and didn't play there way in.
Hopefully we'll see them face off at year's end . I agree , OU would wipe the field with them

[rastajenk]

It really is a shame they ruin what could be great sport by refusing to have a playoff. Imagine how boring other sports would be if teams were selected to play for the title and didn't play there way in.I disagree entirely. Here it is barely halfway through the season and we're beginning to discuss all the various permutations.The playoffs have begun already, it's just not the Lose-and-you're-out kind of playoffs. I'm not a big fan of the BCS as it exists, but I sure wouldn't be a fan of a playoff system, either. This works for me.

[ghostyapper]

USC ahead of Oklahoma in the coach's poll is insane. For the record, I am no OU fan.

It really is a shame they ruin what could be great sport by refusing to have a playoff. Imagine how boring other sports would be if teams were selected to play for the title and didn't play there way in.

I used to think this but seriously is there a regular season that comes even close to college football? Even the nfl is not as intense.

True we suffer some in january but I will take the 4 months of drama as opposed to college basketball's 2 weeks of fame.

[cj]

I disagree entirely. Here it is barely halfway through the season and we're beginning to discuss all the various permutations.The playoffs have begun already, it's just not the Lose-and-you're-out kind of playoffs. I'm not a big fan of the BCS as it exists, but I sure wouldn't be a fan of a playoff system, either. This works for me.

The BCS totally screws over every team not in a big conference. I don't see how excluding the little guy can make it exciting.

It certainly isn't lose any you are out, by the way. Ask LSU.

[rrbauer]

Four Big-12 teams in top Ten and Mizzou lurking in 11th spot. Of course after they beat up on each other in the coming weeks that will change. I haven't watched TT play this year but the others (plus Kansas) could all be in the top 25 when the final dust settles.

[Marshall Bennett]

Texas Tech's high octane offence will test Texas's weak secondary Nov. 1 . Tech may well be the nation's sleeper . They didn't look that sharp against Nebraska but there is no doubt they'll put points on the board . On the downside they still have games against Texas , Okla. and Okla. St. Don't count them out though , they will score and score often . :p

[cj]

Four Big-12 teams in top Ten and Mizzou lurking in 11th spot. Of course after they beat up on each other in the coming weeks that will change. I haven't watched TT play this year but the others (plus Kansas) could all be in the top 25 when the final dust settles.

Very true Rich. It can also be a harsh system to those in a very strong conference. The biggest winners are those in weak "big" conferences.

[Fwizard]

If we just picked them in baseball we would have had the Angels vs the Cubs---this is why we play the games.

[Bubbles]

I'm not sold on Penn State at all. Maybe it's the Michigan bias talking, but the Big Ten seems to be so even and weak, and Penn State really hasn't played anyone of substance outside the conference (unless you count Oregon State). Plus, Illinois and Purdue both stayed in their games with PSU for a while. Their acid test comes in two weeks, when they travel to Columbus to play a good, but not great, Ohio State team. I'd still hate to see them get in over Alabama if Saban's bunch loses a game or two; the Tide would steamroll them, as would Texas.

[ElKabong]

BYU was pwn3d by TCU Thurs nite. Complete and total domination. Physically the Cougs were embarrassed. That game really surprised me after watching BYU a couple of times in Sept.

Fwiw, even tho I'd like to see a playoff of some sort, Marshall and Jenks comments on the regular season being of huge importance isn't lost on me either. That's been the arguement for the current system the past 15 yrs. Every saturday I am absolutely glued to the tv from 11am- midnite watching football (i don't watch the nfl much). I used to do teh same w/ hoops, but nowdays I wait until March. I know it all boils down to what happens there.

The MNC has implications, TONIGHT. It's a must see game. If this were a basketball game it would be "an intersting" game but it wouldn't have NC implications.

[dav4463]

My school the University of North Texas is proudly hanging on to #120 out of 120 teams!

[Marshall Bennett]

My school the University of North Texas is proudly hanging on to #120 out of 120 teams!
Haven't checked but SMU can't be far behind , or at least shouldn't be . :)

[dav4463]

SMU is 50 points better than North Texas this season!

[highnote]

Here are my rankings after the week 8 games. There are a few teams whose ranking is suspect due to the nature of my computer program, but overall it looks reasonable.

1. Texas 1069.4
Penn St. 1068.5
Oklahoma St. 1061.6
Texas Tech 1057.3
Oklahoma 1056.7
Tulsa 1056.6
TCU 1053.1
Alabama 1052.5
Ohio St. 1052.5
10. Ball St. 1051
USC 1050.7
Utah 1049.2
Florida 1049
Boise St. 1046.2
Georgia 1040.4
Missouri 1039.9
Georgia Tech 1039.6
Florida St. 1038.2
BYU 1038.1
20. Iowa 1038.1
Arizona 1037.5
Boston Coll. 1036.9
South Florida 1036.4
Northwestern 1030.3
Minnesota 1030.2
Kansas 1029.5
Kentucky 1029.3
North Carolina 1028.6
Pittsburgh 1027
30. Michigan St. 1026.8
Cincinnati 1026
LSU 1024.2
California 1023.8
Air Force 1023.4
Northern Illinois 1022.2
Louisville 1021.5
Illinois 1021.1
South Carolina 1020.4
Virginia Tech 1020.2
40. Oregon 1019.9
Vanderbilt 1019.9
Oregon St. 1019.8
W. Michigan 1019.5
Houston 1019.4
Miami (FL) 1019
Nebraska 1018.8
Kansas St. 1017.3
West Virginia 1017.1
Troy 1017
50. Arkansas St. 1016
Notre Dame 1015.6
Connecticut 1015.3
San Jose St. 1015.2
Maryland 1014
Auburn 1012
Cent. Michigan 1012
Clemson 1011.3
Nevada 1010.6
New Mexico 1010.6
New Hampshire 1007.8
Tennessee 1007.7
Baylor 1007.2
Virginia 1007.2
LA Lafayette 1007.1
Wake Forest 1006.9
Mississippi 1006.1
Fresno St. 1005.3
Navy 1004.4
Cal Poly 1004.1
Rice 1003.4
East Carolina 1002.9
Colorado 1001.2
Wisconsin 1000.3
Duke 999
75. Akron 998.2
Stanford 997.3
Gardner-Webb 997.2
Buffalo 996.2
UC Davis 995.6
North Dakota St. 995.4
Western Ill. 995.3
Sacramento St. 995.1
Florida Intl. 994.5
Delaware 994.4
New Mexico St. 994.2
McNeese St. 994.1
Wofford 993.7
Arizona St. 993.6
Rutgers 993
Southern Miss 992.9
Bowling Green 992.5
William & Mary 992.4
Texas St. 992.1
Central Arkansas 992
UTEP 991.8
Ohio 991.6
Memphis 991.4
Sam Houston St. 991.4
Northern Arizona 991.2
100. Temple 990.9
Furman 990.7
Louisiana Tech 990.7
Purdue 990.6
Southern Ill. 990.3
Richmond 989.8
Samford 989.6
Georgia Southern 989.1
James Madison 989.1
Northern Iowa 989.1
Massachusetts 988.9
Illinois St. 988.8
Virginia Military 988.4
Jacksonville St. 988.1
Nicholls St. 988.1
South Dakota St. 988.1
Villanova 988.1
Delaware St. 988
Appalachian St. 987.8
Towson 987.8
Alabama A&M 987.7
Norfolk St. 987.5
Missouri St. 987
UCLA 986.9
Hofstra 986.6
Northern Colorado 986.6
Rhode Island 986.6
Citadel 986.2
Colorado St. 986
Southern Utah 985.9
Grambling St. 985.3
Army 985.1
Eastern Wash. 984.5
Weber St. 984.1
Arkansas 983.7
UNLV 983.3
Maine 983.1
Youngstown St. 983.1
SE Missouri St. 982.6
Hawaii 982
Iowa St. 981.3
Tenn-Martin 981.2
Alabama St. 980.7
LA Monroe 980.7
SE Louisiana 980.7
Morgan St. 980.6
Stephen F. Austin 980.5
Marshall 980.3
Southern 980.3
Texas A&M 980.2
150. Mississippi St. 980
Northwestern St. 980
Middle Tenn. St. 979.7
Michigan 979.6
Toledo 979.5
Tulane 979.5
Eastern Illinois 979.4
Coastal Carolina 979.1
Northeastern 978.8
West. Kentucky 978.3
N.C. State 978.2
Portland St. 977.9
Montana St. 977.4
Miami (OH) 976.8
UAB 976.1
Indiana 976
Charleston S. 975.7
Eastern Kentucky 975.5
S. Carolina St. 975.2
Texas Southern 975.2
UCF 975.1
Western Carolina 975
Idaho St. 974.5
Florida Atlantic 973.7
Chattanooga 971.2
Tennessee Tech 971
Kent St. 970.8
Murray St. 969.7
East. Michigan 966.1
Syracuse 966
Alcorn St. 965.1
Indiana St. 964.9
Wyoming 961.6
Utah St. 960.9
SMU 960.2
Washington 959.4
San Diego St. 955.6
Washington St. 944.8
Idaho 934.2
North Texas 932.4

[Pace Cap'n]

Here are my rankings after the week 8 games. There are a few teams whose ranking is suspect due to the nature of my computer program, but overall it looks reasonable.

1. Texas 1069.4
Penn St. 1068.5
Oklahoma St. 1061.6
Texas Tech 1057.3
Oklahoma 1056.7
Tulsa 1056.6

Oklahoma rules!

[rrbauer]

(#1 Votes)Points
o 1 T. Tech (80,224) 4,013,126
o 2 Penn St. (7,419) 3,354,814
o 3 Florida (2,036) 3,050,488
o 4 USC (849) 3,017,786
o 5 Boise St. (473) 2,798,012
o 6 TCU (283) 2,779,904
o 7 Georgia (911) 2,746,098
o 8 Alabama (9,505) 2,662,473
o 9 Utah (466) 2,649,301
o 10 Minnesota (621) 2,595,939
o 11 Ball St. (394) 2,576,690
o 12 Tulsa (155) 2,541,333
o 13 BYU (418) 2,436,561
o 14 Maryland (341) 2,208,603
o 15 Oklahoma (769) 2,133,626
o 16 Kansas (94) 2,099,051
o 17 Texas (41,050) 2,080,159
o 18 Oklahoma St. (337) 1,930,134
o 19 Missouri (292) 1,672,780
o 20 South Florida (65) 1,627,298
o 21 LSU (183) 1,624,571
o 22 Ohio St. (455) 1,611,828
o 23 Michigan St. (390) 1,606,134
o 24 Florida St. (688) 1,595,127
o 25 Oregon (260) 1,541,705
o 26 UNC (236) 1,492,137
o 27 West Virginia (499) 1,217,596
o 28 California (130) 1,084,565
o 29 Connecticut (140) 653,762
o 30 Pittsburgh (78) 440,161

[dutchboy]

These voters must be drunk. Boise State, TCU, MInn rodents in the top 10. We can only hope these are the same dimwits that are being polled for President.
(#1 Votes)Points
o 1 T. Tech (80,224) 4,013,126
o 2 Penn St. (7,419) 3,354,814
o 3 Florida (2,036) 3,050,488
o 4 USC (849) 3,017,786
o 5 Boise St. (473) 2,798,012
o 6 TCU (283) 2,779,904
o 7 Georgia (911) 2,746,098
o 8 Alabama (9,505) 2,662,473
o 9 Utah (466) 2,649,301
o 10 Minnesota (621) 2,595,939
o 11 Ball St. (394) 2,576,690
o 12 Tulsa (155) 2,541,333
o 13 BYU (418) 2,436,561
o 14 Maryland (341) 2,208,603
o 15 Oklahoma (769) 2,133,626
o 16 Kansas (94) 2,099,051
o 17 Texas (41,050) 2,080,159
o 18 Oklahoma St. (337) 1,930,134
o 19 Missouri (292) 1,672,780
o 20 South Florida (65) 1,627,298
o 21 LSU (183) 1,624,571
o 22 Ohio St. (455) 1,611,828
o 23 Michigan St. (390) 1,606,134
o 24 Florida St. (688) 1,595,127
o 25 Oregon (260) 1,541,705
o 26 UNC (236) 1,492,137
o 27 West Virginia (499) 1,217,596
o 28 California (130) 1,084,565
o 29 Connecticut (140) 653,762
o 30 Pittsburgh (78) 440,161

[cj]

Oklahoma St 18? Yeah, that poll has merit.

The Big 12 South is probably the best division of a conference I have ever seen. The funny thing is that there is a distinct chance none of them will get a chance to play for the title. The argument could be made the best 4 teams in the country reside there.

[rrbauer]

These voters must be drunk. Boise State, TCU, MInn rodents in the top 10. We can only hope these are the same dimwits that are being polled for President.

This poll was hung up and made available (you can vote your opinion at ESPN.COM...link was on their home page) before yesterday's games were played so some of the voting doesn't reflect yesterday but everyone that watched TT-Texas last night must've voted! This thread has nothing to do with voting for President...there's another OT section to vent your political spleen!

[highnote]

Here are my ratings after the Saturday night, Nov 1st games. There might be a couple of late games that weren't included. The main thing that is interesting is how the top 10 has changed with the loss by Texas to Texas Tech.

It's also interesting that even though Florida has lost one game this season they are now at Number One.

If two teams are within a few points, it's hard to say if one is really better or worse than another, so take these ratings with a grain of salt.

However, if a team has a 20 point advantage and you are getting points or big odds, then I would make a nice wager on them.

Arkasas is probably a lot better than these ratings indicate. They play a tough schedule. These ratings might improve if I place a bigger weight on games played in stronger conferences.

The goal was to leave subjectivity out of the equations. So if I try to rank a conference it causes other problems. Not that these can't be improved. But these work pretty well for betting purposes. Not that I ever bet them. :D


Florida 1077.5
Texas Tech 1074.2
Penn St. 1073.1
Oklahoma 1070.7
Texas 1067.9
Alabama 1065.2
Oklahoma St. 1061.3
TCU 1060.6
USC 1059
Boise St. 1058.6
Missouri 1054
Ball St. 1053.4
Utah 1051.5
Tulsa 1050.2
Ohio St. 1047.7
BYU 1042.5
North Carolina 1039.3
Florida St. 1038.3
Georgia Tech 1036.6
California 1035.9
West Virginia 1035.6
Georgia 1033.9
Michigan St. 1033.4
Air Force 1033.2
Arizona 1032.5
Iowa 1032.5
Northwestern 1030.3
Kansas 1029.3
Miami (FL) 1028.4
South Carolina 1028
Minnesota 1027.6
Northern Illinois 1025
W. Michigan 1023.6
Oregon 1023.2
LSU 1023
Cincinnati 1022.8
Oregon St. 1022.7
South Florida 1021.6
Notre Dame 1020.6
Boston Coll. 1019.6
Illinois 1018.4
Louisville 1017.8
Clemson 1017.5
LA Lafayette 1017.4
Cent. Michigan 1017.2
Maryland 1016.6
Nebraska 1016.5
Connecticut 1016.3
Rice 1015.5
Kentucky 1015.2
Mississippi 1015.1
Virginia Tech 1015
Navy 1014.6
Troy 1014.6
Vanderbilt 1014.3
Pittsburgh 1013.5
San Jose St. 1011.1
Virginia 1009.5
Houston 1008.3
Arkansas St. 1008.1
New Hampshire 1007.8
Stanford 1006.7
Wake Forest 1006.6
Rutgers 1006.3
Wisconsin 1005.4
Southern Miss 1005
Cal Poly 1004.1
Nevada 1003.2
Buffalo 1002.9
East Carolina 1002.9
Fresno St. 1002
New Mexico 1001.8
Duke 999.9
Baylor 998.8
Kansas St. 998.8
Akron 998.2
Auburn 997.6
Gardner-Webb 997.2
Bowling Green 997
Memphis 996.7
UC Davis 995.6
North Dakota St. 995.4
Western Ill. 995.3
Sacramento St. 995.1
Delaware 994.4
Tennessee 994.4
McNeese St. 994.1
Wofford 993.7
Texas A&M 993.6
William & Mary 992.4
Texas St. 992.1
Central Arkansas 992
Sam Houston St. 991.4
Marshall 991.2
Northern Arizona 991.2
Temple 991
Purdue 990.9
Furman 990.7
Southern Ill. 990.3
Arkansas 990.1
Louisiana Tech 990.1
Richmond 989.8
Samford 989.6
Georgia Southern 989.1
James Madison 989.1
Northern Iowa 989.1
Massachusetts 988.9
Illinois St. 988.8
Virginia Military 988.4
Jacksonville St. 988.1
Nicholls St. 988.1
South Dakota St. 988.1
Villanova 988.1
Delaware St. 988
Appalachian St. 987.8
Towson 987.8
Alabama A&M 987.7
UTEP 987.7
Norfolk St. 987.5
Army 987.1
Colorado St. 987
Missouri St. 987
Hofstra 986.6
Northern Colorado 986.6
Rhode Island 986.6
Citadel 986.2
Southern Utah 985.9
Grambling St. 985.3
Eastern Wash. 984.5
Weber St. 984.1
Florida Intl. 983.8
Mississippi St. 983.3
Maine 983.1
Youngstown St. 983.1
Colorado 983
SE Missouri St. 982.6
LA Monroe 981.9
Tenn-Martin 981.2
UCLA 980.9
Alabama St. 980.7
SE Louisiana 980.7
Morgan St. 980.6
Stephen F. Austin 980.5
Southern 980.3
Arizona St. 980.2
Northwestern St. 980
Ohio 979.9
Eastern Illinois 979.4
Indiana 979.3
Coastal Carolina 979.1
Northeastern 978.8
New Mexico St. 978.6
Hawaii 978
Portland St. 977.9
Florida Atlantic 977.8
Kent St. 977.8
Montana St. 977.4
Toledo 977
UNLV 976.8
Charleston S. 975.7
Eastern Kentucky 975.5
N.C. State 975.5
S. Carolina St. 975.2
Texas Southern 975.2
Western Carolina 975
Syracuse 974.9
Idaho St. 974.5
Middle Tenn. St. 973.4
UCF 971.7
Chattanooga 971.2
Tennessee Tech 971
Michigan 970.8
Murray St. 969.7
Utah St. 969.7
Iowa St. 968.9
Wyoming 967.8
West. Kentucky 967.7
Tulane 965.2
Alcorn St. 965.1
Indiana St. 964.9
Miami (OH) 961.7
East. Michigan 959.2
UAB 957.9
SMU 953.9
Washington 950.5
San Diego St. 941.8
Idaho 940.6
North Texas 939.6
Washington St. 934.9

[sammy the sage]

this shows the WORTHINESS of these rankings........

"Northern Illinois 1025
W. Michigan 1023.6
Oregon 1023.2
LSU 1023""

:lol: :D :rolleyes: :faint:

[highnote]

this shows the WORTHINESS of these rankings........

"Northern Illinois 1025
W. Michigan 1023.6
Oregon 1023.2
LSU 1023""

:lol: :D :rolleyes: :faint:

If LSU beats Alabama next week then I'll admit that LSU is rated too low on my numbers. However, I have them at 35 and the AP has them at 15. The further down the scale you get the more divergence there is between AP, USA Today, BCS and other polls.

Pittsburgh is number 25 on AP and doesn't even show up in the top 25 in USA Today, BCS or Yahoo.

My rankings are made for chess, so they aren't reliable until about 30 ratings by a team. So by playoff time, the numbers will be a little better, but still too few games will have been played.

Look, last week Texas was number one. Now they're number 5 or 7 depending on the poll. I submit that the AP polls weren't much better than mine.

Just because Texas lost to Texas Tech, does that mean Penn St. is suddenly better than Texas?

As I said, the way I use these numbers is to bet a team with a big advantage on my scale when generous odds are being offered. So far, it has produced a profit.

If your team wins the national championship you get bragging rights. Me, I want to win money backing my opinion, I don't care who wins as long as I am on the right side of the bet. :ThmbUp:

I am certain there are millions of ways to make better rankings. But given that I am mainly a horseplayer and only mildly interested in college football and do not want to spend too much time making ratings these work pretty well.

My ratings had Kansas rated number one last year in college basketball. I won my office's March Madness pool by picking Kansas to go all the way. The year before I came close to winning, but I used the AP poll. It just goes to show it pays to be different -- and LUCKY!

[sammy the sage]

so W. Mich is the 33 team in the country... :p :D :faint:

[Marshall Bennett]

You get an " A " for effort with your list . I don't totally agree with many of the strengths you've established for the smaller schools , but with schedules as they are , its difficult to argue . Indiana , though not a powerhouse , would likely roll over at least a dozen of the small schools you've placed above them . The top of your list however is a valid opinion I wouldn't challenge . I beleive perhaps you simply stretched your means compiling such a lengthy list of teams . M.B.

[highnote]

I don't totally agree with many of the strengths you've established for the smaller schools , but with schedules as they are , its difficult to argue . Indiana , though not a powerhouse , would likely roll over at least a dozen of the small schools you've placed above them . The top of your list however is a valid opinion I wouldn't challenge . I beleive perhaps you simply stretched your means compiling such a lengthy list of teams . M.B.

As I said, the one way this method can be improved (and is currently used in international soccer) is to rate the strength of the game. So teams that play a game in a weak division would have that game rated lower than say a game played between Texas and Texas Tech. The problem is that if you don't rate the strength of the game properly then the rating could be way off.

There are small schools who play weak schedules, but win lots of games. As a result they get a high rating. However, even if they win all their games they will not be rated number one in the country on my scale. Look at Ball St. Great team, undefeated, but they aren't rated number one. They're about number 11. Are they the 11th best team in the country? Hell if I know. But if they play a team rated 20 points lower and I'm getting good odds on Ball St, I'll bet them to win.

So when looking to bet two teams from the same division I believe these ratings give you a good indication of which team is stronger. The ratings work in that case because the teams have similar schedules.

Considering all teams start the season with 1000 points and the only factor is the final score, the rating of the opponent and home field advantage, it's amazing that these ratings work as well as they do.

The inventor of this system, the physicist Arpad Elo, was a genius.

But, it's just a rating theory. Nothing more.

If a horse runs the biggest Beyer figure of the year, does that mean it is the fastest horse in the country and will win all of it's races? No. It's just an attempt to quantify their performance.

Same with Elo ratings. It's an attempt to quantify the skill level of a team or chess player. After the next game, the ratings will change again. As more and more games are played, the "theory" is that the ratings will start to converge to their true value.

That W. Michigan is rated higher than LSU is after 8 games only shows that there have not been enough games played for the ratings to fully converge.

Looking at the top 10 or so teams in my list, it's amazing that the ratings work as well as they do.

By the way, W. Michigan (mid-american league) plays Illinois (big-ten) next week. W.Mich is 7-2 and Ill is 5-4. This should be a good game. W. Mich's last game is against Ball St. That should be really good.

We'll see. Maybe W. Mich is better than people think? I have no idea.

[highnote]

I beleive perhaps you simply stretched your means compiling such a lengthy list of teams . M.B.


I'm wanted to rate every team in the country.

When NCAA March Madness arrives, this method picks some teams that have a good shot of upsetting a higher ranked team. Oftentimes, those small schools in the Final Four tournament are better than they are given credit for.

As I said, my ratings picked Kansas in my office's March Madness pool -- and there are a lot of sports fanatics in my office due to the fact that I work for a sports television network.

I'm sure there was a lot of luck involved. But then again, maybe not. Maybe Kansas really was the best team in the country. They did what they had to do and they were highest rated on my ratings before the tournament started -- and we have to try to pick the winners of all the brackets before the tournament even begins.

[DanG]

Once a playoff is instituted people will wonder why it wasn’t sooner.

Random Thoughts / Opinions…

• The Big-12 South offenses are obviously world class this year and their defenses top to bottom are clearly not.

• USC can still play with ANY team on a given day.

• SEC: Alabama’s offensive line is the best in the nation…period. That alone makes them formidable against anyone.

• My daughters Florida Gators have 4 weapons on offense most pro teams would kill for, although their short yardage O line is not great. Excellent special teams because of the ingenious incentive they give starters to participate. Their defense is improving as most Meyer defenses do late in the year…although they clearly lack top-20 ‘Def. talent overall.

• Suddenly I don’t hear for many people saying Joe ‘Pa needs to step down. Good for him…he literally built the program and has done more for that university then any 100 people combined. :ThmbUp:

[cj]

Once a playoff is instituted people will wonder why it wasn’t sooner.

Random Thoughts / Opinions…

• The Big-12 South offenses are obviously world class this year and their defenses top to bottom are clearly not.



Isn't part of that because they pretty much all play the spread offense? TCU took the alleged #8 team in the country to the wire last night, and they were basically destroyed by OU.

Out of conference, the Big 12 South has had no problems with other teams. OU destroyed Cincinnati and TCU. Texas embarrassed Arkansas.

I agree the defenses probably are not as strong as some of the others, but this I am sure of...there is no way OSU, OU, Texas or TT would lose to Oregon State or Mississippi. It makes no sense that Florida or USC is ahead any of them in the BCS, which is why a playoff is needed.

For the record, I'm no fan of Texas or OU, but my son is a junior at OSU. I'm still a Terps fan though!

[highnote]

my son is a junior at OSU. I'm still a Terps fan though!


You can't possibly be old enough to have a son in college! Well, at least you were smart enough to start young. My kids are only 5 and 10 and I've got at least 10 years on you!!

By the way, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State looks like the game of the week.

Judging by my ratings, TT should have an edge, but it could go either way.

Texas Tech 1074.2
Oklahoma St. 1061.3

I thought TCU was a little better than Utah, but TCU only had a 10 point edge on my scale. I like to see a 20 point edge before I feel confident about predicting the winner.

[cj]

You can't possibly be old enough to have a son in college! Well, at least you were smart enough to start young. My kids are only 5 and 10 and I've got at least 10 years on you!!


I'm 41, looking for a rocking chair!

[DanG]

Isn't part of that because they pretty much all play the spread offense? TCU took the alleged #8 team in the country to the wire last night, and they were basically destroyed by OU.

Out of conference, the Big 12 South has had no problems with other teams. OU destroyed Cincinnati and TCU. Texas embarrassed Arkansas.

I agree the defenses probably are not as strong as some of the others, but this I am sure of...there is no way OSU, OU, Texas or TT would lose to Oregon State or Mississippi. It makes no sense that Florida or USC is ahead any of them in the BCS, which is why a playoff is needed.

For the record, I'm no fan of Texas or OU, but my son is a junior at OSU. I'm still a Terps fan though!
Fair points and as you said without a playoff are complete conjecture.

I always thought a single loss to a road conference opponent is negatively weighted too much on a team’s power rating. We have all seen college age athletes experience the underdog / ‘perfect storm…

• An almost out of body emotional high.
• Favorable short-term officiating.
• Ranked opponent has key rival next week.
• Key injuries that are never credited enough in college performance.

As valid as your Big-12 South points are how should Penn State feel when they enter as #3 only to see a team pass them while their idol?

Such an unnecessarily flawed system.