Link: Rankings from The Quad September 28, 2009
Posted by Kevin in College, Football.trackback
I don’t like to constantly be complaining about college football rankings. I personally don’t like them, but I wouldn’t abolish them. If it were up to me, there would simply be less emphasis on them and more emphasis on conference record. Without getting into it, I just wanted to share a good post from The New York Times’ college blog, The Quad, called “Coaches Rock the Vote, All Wrong” -
*Houston is undefeated with two quality wins, at Oklahoma State and at home against Texas Tech. Oklahoma State has a loss to Houston and one quality win, beating Georgia. Who is ranked higher in the coaches poll? Oklahoma State, of course — at No. 12 while Houston is No. 15.
*Oregon thumped California, 42-3. Each team has one loss. Oregon has three solid wins (Utah, Purdue and Cal) and a loss to a Boise team ranked No. 5. Cal has two mediocre wins (Maryland and Minnesota) and one gigantic stinker. The coaches vote the Bears No. 18 and the Ducks No. 25.
*Penn State beat Akron, Syracuse and Temple, then melted at the first real sight of competition, losing to Iowa, 21-10. Iowa won ugly (is there any other way for a Big Ten team?) against Northern Iowa and rebounded for wins against horrible Iowa State and mediocre Arizona. Then the Hawkeyes toppled Penn State on the road. Penn State is No. 13 and Iowa is No. 17.
*Yes, as a reminder, the same people voting in these polls account for one-third of the formula that determines the B.C.S. title game. The credibility of the sport is being battered every week.
Jonathan C. Mitchell
Kevin
Buddy and I were just having this same conversation about the caoch’s poll. We think it is ridiculous how they tend to scew things in the wrong direction. They are human and they add emotion to their picks.
true. this article does a good job of illustrating how the coaches poll is completely irrational using actual evidence and details. and the last sentence is key – if it was just for fun, thats one thing, but this is a substantial factor in who plays for the national championship. tiny tiny differences in voting can have huge impacts (see oklahoma/texas final week of 2008).
Coach’s poll is total BS. If I was ranking teams, my top 5 would be Alabama, Texas, Boise State, Cincinnati, Florida.
My top 8: Florida, Alabama, Texas, Boise St., Cincy, Iowa, LSU, Houston
Florida might be the champ but they haven’t played like the best team in the country. They’ve basically played nobody. Their first real test will be at LSU. Heck, they should have dominated Tennessee but they couldn’t. Alabama has dominated everyone they’ve played including a Virginia Tech team that just killed Miami. Until Florida beats a team that is actually good, reputation doesn’t get them a top ranking (but it does for the coaches and their idiotic poll)
the philosophy needs to change. right now, the idea is your ranking is yours to lose, not necessarily which teams are playing the best football.
UF is going to actually have to lose one before they drop, and even then it wont be by much. if they lose to LSU, you think they’ll drop out of the Top 10?
It depends on how they lose. If UF loses a close game to LSU, they’d probably go no lower than 10 or 11. If they get blown out, they’d drop out of top 10.
this website is a little more unconventional.. i dont agree with it all, but its nice to see some rational thought:
“The CFN rankings go on how the teams are performing at the moment.”
http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/powerRankings
1. Bama
2. UF
3. TX
4. VaTech
5. Auburn
6. Neb
7. Iowa
8. TCU
9. Houston
10. Boise State
…
Those are some very interesting rankings from that site. I just don’t seehoe Cincy doesn’t make everyone’s top 10.