NCAA Week 3

[steamthief]

At the very least, it means that most of the experts who vote recognize that the SEC is the dominant conference by far. I might have to eat crow over this at some point, but I doubt you'll ever see another conference have 5 teams in the top 10 at any point in the season.

Five in the top ten is impressive. ECU, Penn State and Oregon should be ranked higher than they are. But hey, that's why they play the games!

 

[Brad Barker]

SEC vs. BIG XII would make for some great games at the end of the season. hell, there might even be an opening at the Rose Bowl, the way the big 10 (except for penn state) and the pac 10 (except for south central) are playing.

total tangent here:

the way that the polls are conducted, from what any semi-aware observer can ascertain, is totally cock-eyed. the participants are basically trading futures, not the assets, contrary to what i think would be the more sane approach.

if coaches and the media were voting on ACTUAL CURRENT PERFORMANCE, penn state would be a top 10 team, ECU would be very close to entering the top 10 (and probably would have been in it until nearly blowing it against tulane), south florida would be higher, etc. but instead, the media seems to LOVE to vote with their sole criterion being HOW WILL THE TEAMS END UP AFTER THE SEASON IS OVER? it definitely seems to me that they are voting on the future performance of the team, subject to the constraint of present performance, instead of PRESENT PERFORMANCE ITSELF!

and to make matters worse, THESE POLLS ACTUALLY DO DETERMINE HOW THESE TEAMS FINISH!

i believe that i'm forced to conclude that college football works more like wall street than it does an actual national sports competition.

 

[Eublet]

SEC vs. BIG XII would make for some great games at the end of the season. hell, there might even be an opening at the Rose Bowl, the way the big 10 (except for penn state) and the pac 10 (except for south central) are playing.

total tangent here:

the way that the polls are conducted, from what any semi-aware observer can ascertain, is totally cock-eyed. the participants are basically trading futures, not the assets, contrary to what i think would be the more sane approach.

if coaches and the media were voting on ACTUAL CURRENT PERFORMANCE, penn state would be a top 10 team, ECU would be very close to entering the top 10 (and probably would have been in it until nearly blowing it against tulane), south florida would be higher, etc. but instead, the media seems to LOVE to vote with their sole criterion being HOW WILL THE TEAMS END UP AFTER THE SEASON IS OVER? it definitely seems to me that they are voting on the future performance of the team, subject to the constraint of present performance, instead of PRESENT PERFORMANCE ITSELF!

and to make matters worse, THESE POLLS ACTUALLY DO DETERMINE HOW THESE TEAMS FINISH!

i believe that i'm forced to conclude that college football works more like wall street than it does an actual national sports competition.

Agree and disagree. Voters do vote on how they think teams will finish, and the competition they have to look forward to at any given moment plays a big role in this.

ECU shouldn't be any higher because chances are most teams in the top 10 right now would beat them if they were to meet this Saturday. THAT's how people think of things when they vote.

Also, any semi-respectable school that makes it through their season gets a chance to prove that they are the real deal. ECU will be the same if they can keep it together. Remember Hawaii of last year? Went undefeated, and minus a game or two, totally dominated their competition? Well, they got a shot at Georgia, and 99% of us knew it was a waste of everyone's time, and the game result proved it. You can argue that Hawaii at least deserved the chance, but in the end it was a shame for Georgia, Hawaii, the sponsors, the fans, and everyone else who had to watch them get trampled so badly. While a team like last year's Hawaii can beat the odds every once in a while and beat a top calibur team competing for the national championship, it's a long shot and the voters all know it. They're reluctant to rate little bitty teams like ECU high up in the polls this early in the season cause they know they'd get killed by most everyone else who's up there with them. But if they make it all year cleaning house, everyone will feel sorry for them and give them their chance. More than likely they'll blow it, but you never know. Until then, they're doing good to be right where they are.

I say let the season play out and we'll see how things go.

 

[steamthief]

SEC vs. BIG XII would make for some great games at the end of the season. hell, there might even be an opening at the Rose Bowl, the way the big 10 (except for penn state) and the pac 10 (except for south central) are playing.

total tangent here:

the way that the polls are conducted, from what any semi-aware observer can ascertain, is totally cock-eyed. the participants are basically trading futures, not the assets, contrary to what i think would be the more sane approach.

if coaches and the media were voting on ACTUAL CURRENT PERFORMANCE, penn state would be a top 10 team, ECU would be very close to entering the top 10 (and probably would have been in it until nearly blowing it against tulane), south florida would be higher, etc. but instead, the media seems to LOVE to vote with their sole criterion being HOW WILL THE TEAMS END UP AFTER THE SEASON IS OVER? it definitely seems to me that they are voting on the future performance of the team, subject to the constraint of present performance, instead of PRESENT PERFORMANCE ITSELF!

and to make matters worse, THESE POLLS ACTUALLY DO DETERMINE HOW THESE TEAMS FINISH!

i believe that i'm forced to conclude that college football works more like wall street than it does an actual national sports competition.

One of the best posts I've ever read on the BCS system and college football. Well put, Brad.

 

[Eublet]

Current performance is only relevant in respect to the caliber of team you are playing. And in the early part of the season, no one really knows what the caliber of any team is. So, they go buy conference schedule, past history of play, returning starters, and good ol' gut feeling. It's not much different than basketball's March Madness and the seeding of the playoffs. TIn the basketball playoff, the little teams have to proove they deserve to be there right off by beating the big guys, whereas in college football it is assumed that the little guys have to prove they deserve a chance, while teams from the stronger conferences are expected to have better teams. In the end, anyone who can handle their regular season will at least be looked at very closely. If they dominate their regular season like Hawaii did, then they'll have a shot. If they struggle early on, as Georgia did, then they'll get left out to some extent. Of course, hind sight is 20-20, and everyone knows that Georgia should have faced LSU for a championship last year as they were clearly the best two teams at the end of the season. Talk about voting based on current performance!

But hey, you have to deserve the chance to be there. What I wonder is what they'll do if OSU manages to finish the rest of their season without another loss. Or if we have another 1 or 2 loss SEC team that looks as strong as Georgia did last year. Not to take anything from USC, but that schedule of theirs is quite paltry compared to most others. I'm not so sure beating Ohio State really means much these days.

 

[Yngwie 4String]

Huskers won a big and look good against New Mexico State, but the real test will come in two weeks when we play Virginia Tech. We will then have an idea of what were actually made of.

 

[MingusBass]

Why? Tradition. Here's the story.

In the stands with him (a Civil War veteran) that day was a golden eagle the old soldier had found on a battlefield during the war. He had kept it as a pet for almost 30 years. According to the story, the eagle suddenly broke free and began majestically circling the playing field. As the eagle soared, Auburn began a steady march toward the Georgia end zone for a thrilling victory. Elated at their team's play and taking the bird's presence as an omen of success, Auburn students and fans began to yell "War Eagle" to spur on their team ("war eagle" was once the common term for golden eagles). At the game's end, the eagle took a sudden dive, crashed into the ground, and died, giving his spirit to the Auburn fans. The battle cry "War Eagle" lived on to become a symbol of the proud Auburn spirit.

Tradition is a big thing here in the south, m'friend.

WAR EAGLE!

If this is true, it's the worst story ever.

 

[steamthief]

But hey, you have to deserve the chance to be there. What I wonder is what they'll do if OSU manages to finish the rest of their season without another loss. Or if we have another 1 or 2 loss SEC team that looks as strong as Georgia did last year. Not to take anything from USC, but that schedule of theirs is quite paltry compared to most others. I'm not so sure beating Ohio State really means much these days.

I think the well has run dry for OSU and BCS Championship games - they'll have a hard time climbing back from #12.

Maybe it doesn't mean much to beat the Buckeyes, but it sure does to the press and coaches. Look at who got the vast majority of #1 votes this week.

 

[Brad Barker]

If this is true, it's the worst story ever.

omg, i seriously ROFL'd at that.

definitely somewhere in the category of legend. but at least it's not "war johnny appleseed" or whatever.

the guys over at the blog "every day should be sunday" came up with this video:

i don't hold a game of patty-cake during conference play in the SEC, or against bitter in-state rivals, but, MAN, those "high lights" are just horrible.

 

[Brad Barker]

Agree and disagree. Voters do vote on how they think teams will finish, and the competition they have to look forward to at any given moment plays a big role in this.

ECU shouldn't be any higher because chances are most teams in the top 10 right now would beat them if they were to meet this Saturday. THAT's how people think of things when they vote.

Also, any semi-respectable school that makes it through their season gets a chance to prove that they are the real deal. ECU will be the same if they can keep it together. Remember Hawaii of last year? Went undefeated, and minus a game or two, totally dominated their competition? Well, they got a shot at Georgia, and 99% of us knew it was a waste of everyone's time, and the game result proved it. You can argue that Hawaii at least deserved the chance, but in the end it was a shame for Georgia, Hawaii, the sponsors, the fans, and everyone else who had to watch them get trampled so badly. While a team like last year's Hawaii can beat the odds every once in a while and beat a top calibur team competing for the national championship, it's a long shot and the voters all know it. They're reluctant to rate little bitty teams like ECU high up in the polls this early in the season cause they know they'd get killed by most everyone else who's up there with them. But if they make it all year cleaning house, everyone will feel sorry for them and give them their chance. More than likely they'll blow it, but you never know. Until then, they're doing good to be right where they are.

I say let the season play out and we'll see how things go.

if you dig through the threads from last season, i was hawaii's "chicken little" after i saw them play against san jose state. they were dead to me after that game, and i'm usually up for bcs-busters. (indeed, i'd love for the BCS to be busted up, itself.)

what am i implying? ...there ought to be just one poll in college football, and i ought to be deciding it.

Current performance is only relevant in respect to the caliber of team you are playing. And in the early part of the season, no one really knows what the caliber of any team is.

...doesn't stop there being a pre-season poll, which can actually decide who plays for all of the tostitos in january. :/

So, they go buy conference schedule, past history of play, returning starters, and good ol' gut feeling. It's not much different than basketball's March Madness and the seeding of the playoffs.

playoffs.... *sigh*

[...]
But hey, you have to deserve the chance to be there. What I wonder is what they'll do if OSU manages to finish the rest of their season without another loss. Or if we have another 1 or 2 loss SEC team that looks as strong as Georgia did last year. Not to take anything from USC, but that schedule of theirs is quite paltry compared to most others. I'm not so sure beating Ohio State really means much these days.

well, unless i'm way off base here, osu is done for this season, ESPECIALLY because voters will vote based on who they think deserves being in the championship game, and i believe that the consensus with the media is that they're done. (already.)

one of these saturdays, i'm going to try and really flesh out how i think current votes are cast, and how they create feed-back.


in my ideal system of the polls (actually, my REAL ideal system would eliminate the polls entirely, but since that's not happening...), the fluctuations from week to week would probably be very wild. for instance, i'd have placed cal in the top 15 after beating the snot out of wazzou, instead of 23 or whatever. then, of course, after saturday, i'd have voted them well out of the top 25 and possibly deny that i attend school there. :scowl: but... i think that it's only fair for a team whose performance fluctuates so wildly ought to have its rankings fluctuate equally as wildly. instead, we got the voters trading calls and puts with cal to minimize the damn risk in letting them enter the top 25!