By Hugh Falk, Pollspeak.com
TO HELL WITH THE BCS
With Texas losing, all Hell has broken loose in the polls. If you need proof, note Penn State received six (6) first-place votes in the AP Poll and Texas Tech received six (6) in the Coaches' Poll. Harris Interactive just released its sixth (6) poll of the season. There are six (6) computer polls and if you include the AP Poll and the BCS Standings, six (6) of ten rankings have Alabama No. 1. Oh, and this is my sixth (6) blog of the season. Three (half of 6) different teams received a No. 1 ranking from the BCS components: Alabama, Texas Tech and Texas. Two of those teams feature red as their school colors (crimson & scarlet), and while Texas may be orange, it's burnt orange. Can the signs be more obvious?
Not only do the BCS components disagree, there's plenty of disagreement within the human polls as well. In the AP, four different teams received a No. 1 vote (Alabama (46), Texas Tech (12), Penn State (6) and Florida (1)), while four did in the Coaches' Poll (Alabama (40), Penn State (14), Texas Tech (6) and Oklahoma (1)) and five in Harris Interactive (Alabama (79), Penn State (17), Texas Tech (16), Florida (1) and Texas (1)). While this isn't dissension of Biblical proportions, it's a far cry from the near-Nirvana of the past two weeks.
DESPERATELY SEEKING SAGARIN
Recently, I've received some feedback about the Sagarin Ratings. It can be hard to determine BCS rankings at the official Sagarin Ratings site because teams are ordered by Sagarin's standard rating instead of the ELO_CHESS rating, which the BCS uses. The inclusion of FCS teams at the official site complicates matter further, because only FBS teams play in the BCS. This week, for example, James Madison finished No. 20 in the ELO_CHESS ratings and Appalachian State ranked No. 50. Sagarin Ratings are usually the first of the BCS components made public on Sunday morning, but you can easily read the actual BCS list here at Pollspeak.
Since we're plugging Pollspeak, we just published an article detailing some BCS flaws and how to fix them. There are some serious concerns, including issues with security, which could be the BCS's undoing if not corrected. Hopefully these concerns can be addressed because I am actually a fan of the BCS overall.
SECRET DIS-SERVICE
One part of the BCS I don't like, however, is the use of secret ballots. This week I would really like to know how the coaches dropped Texas to No. 7. That's a big drop for an away team losing on a last second play to another top 10 team, especially when Texas has played the toughest schedule in the top 10 (Sagarin ranks the Longhorns' schedule seventh overall).
Looking at the AP for some clues, Maurice Patton ranks Oklahoma over Texas by the largest margin (five), but amazingly, 16 other voters followed him. Some voters have exceptionally short memories.
Jon Wilner not only cast the lone No. 1 vote for Florida, he was also the only voter to rank Texas over Texas Tech. Although the coaches may be low-balling Texas, Texas Tech is certainly one team that can rightfully jump over the Longhorns.
Finally, if you need more proof that all Hell has broken loose this week, note that in the current Wolfe Ratings Central Methodist is ranked 666. If that's not a sign, I don't know what is.
For more poll analysis, go to pollspeak.com.
Brooklyn Decker
Julie Henderson
Did You See That?
Back in Time: July 3
Comments (18) Add A Comment
How can anyone rank Texas behind OU. Texas beat OU just three weeks ago by a very decisive 10 points. I agree, let's do away with the Coaches' secret ballot and suspend the voting rights of any coach or sportswriter so far outside the scope of reality...
LongtimeTxFan
Total Comments (3)
Penn St. should be kept outside the Top 10, just in case some fool tries to get them in the BCS championship game at the end of the season.
Sandy Underpants
Los Angeles, CA
Total Comments (1126)
anyone who would rank Oklahoma behind Texas after Texas just beat them a few weeks ago needs to immediately have their vote privileges rescinded. People whine about no playoff in college football, and when we DO have the closest thing you can get to a playoff (the top teams playing each other), then the same ignoramuses ignore what just happened on the field a few weeks ago. What a bunch of dipthongs. Proof that there is too much human media bias and we need to give the computers more weight, like 50% of the formula.
Klee Irwin
Total Comments (1595)
The Sagarin ratings are about ranking teams (and conferences... sort of) and not about the BCS. I've never had any problem reading or interpreting them. And, of course, I'm anything but a fan of the BCS. I'm not saying I believe Sagarin is perfectly accurate, but it's a better indicator than other methods. However, if you really want to determine a national champion, then the only place to do that is on the field... not in some poll. :D
GlennAllen
Richmond , VA
Total Comments (198)
GOD Sandy just **** you are such an ignorant POS
The Gunslinger
Valley Cottage , NY
Total Comments (7)
Why don't people just let the season play out? It will in all likelihood sort itself out and we will be left which a much better idea in the coming weeks. After all, the Big XII is going to work itself out and so is the SEC. Best guess would be we end up with either Penn State vs. Alabama in the title game or Penn State versus Oklahoma.
INCSOC
Total Comments (408)
Because that would eliminate the whole "my team is better than your team" debate, which is the most fun some people have in their typical day... sad, but true. :D (Of course, the whole debate is fostered by the BCS and the polls. It's a vicious cycle... circle... cycle?... whatever.)
GlennAllen
Richmond , VA
Total Comments (198)
I wouldn't count on it all working itself out. As long as the BCS contains a factor that can be manipulated by coaches, sportwriters, or uneducated fans, people like Larry B above will continue to make it worse than it already is. Just look at USC who lost to a now unranked Oregon State (5-3) or Florida who lost to a now unranked Ole Miss (5-4) team... They are both much higher in the polls, in part, because the voters just want to see them play (whether out of loyalty, nostalgia, or just to screw over a better team)...
LongtimeTxFan
Total Comments (3)
want some funny reading, you got to go to this Jon Wilner's poll at his paper and read the comments following his AP ballot. He is getting eviscerated.
Klee Irwin
Total Comments (1595)
USC dropped from 5th to 7th in the BCS even though their rank in both the human polls stayed the same. I love it. The computers know. You play in that weak **** pud conference called the Little Sisters of the Pac 10, it comes back to bite you. You can't fool the computers. The biased media and the Dirty Tricks Watergate USC alums don't get it, but the unbiased computers can't be fooled.
Klee Irwin
Total Comments (1595)
The Pollspeak article on the flaws of the BCS was very good, nice work. You did have a few minor typos but no one is perfect (and it was a loooooong piece). However, it was very thoughtful and well reasoned. I'd say I agree with you -- however, IIRC, the basis for using the AP and Coaches poll was that each group gave a national championship trophy and the six conference commissioners/presidents wanted to tie that into together into one trophy. Unfortunately, the AP folks wouldn't play ball and only the coaches (ACFA) signed that contract to vote the winner #1 (irrespective of their actual feelings).
I do think you're right, for good or bad, the BCS has convinced enough voters of its legitimacy to name the "national champion" that they could act without the coaches poll. However, I'm not sure the conference commissioners/presidents that make it up will do so.
Finally, I think one of the reasons it likely is run like someone's hobby in the basement family room is that, again, the conference commissioners/presidents want to control the ball of wax as much as possible, rather than allowing the BCS to be a truly independent organism of its own.
Franco
Total Comments (78)
Pud-knocker, the human voters dropped USC from #5 to 6 and 7 a week before the computers did. So, so much for conspiracy theories. And computers just calculate the information (good and/or bad) that the humans input, so there's no real difference anyway.
Sandy Underpants
Los Angeles, CA
Total Comments (1126)
I was talking about this week jackarse. Pay closer attention next time. Despite not moving down in the human polls, their computer ranking alone cost them 2 spots in the BCS. That's what happens when you only play 2-3 tough games a year.
Klee Irwin
Total Comments (1595)
The BCS moved USC to #7 where the humans put them last week. So if anything, the humans are ahead of the computers. I can't wait to hear you explain next weeks rankings to me when USC moves up again.
Sandy Underpants
Los Angeles, CA
Total Comments (1126)
Any team that has fans who use the term "jackarse" or "arse" in general, should be excluded from Div I-A for an eternity. The proper term is jackass on this side of the pond, whether or not it gets asterisks. Jackass.
beachgator
Total Comments (401)
Jackass.Jackass.Jackass.Jackass.Jackass.Jackass.Jackass.Jackass.Jackass.Ja ckass.Jackass.
I think I got it. Jackass.
Klee Irwin
Total Comments (1595)
That wouldn't be so bad if Oklahoma had wins it could stack up against Texas' and say that losing to Texas in Dallas is about the same as losing at Texas Tech, but had accomplished more otherwise. But that's not the case here. OU has beat a Cinci team that should be ranked, a TCU team that's highly ranked, and a Kansas team that used to be ranked. Which is pretty good. But Texas has taken down Oklahoma, Missouri, and Oklahoma State.
CuseFanInSoCal
San Diego , CA
Total Comments (181)
Yeah, I don't understand that either.
I mean, okay, OK lost 3 weeks ago, so they've had time to climb the polls. So put one or the other right above one or the other, that's cool.
But by 5 whole margins in some cases?
When TX won on neutral ground, and lost on at a night away game? I don't see how that works out to say that OK is better than TX.
Tarstark
Salinas , CA
Total Comments (51)
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