USC No. 1 -- and plans to stay that way

NCAA lug heads ^ | 12-7-03 | By Ivan Maisel

[cherry]

don't confuse me with an Oregon fan....I'm not....but Mich. the all powerful pretty much lost that game from the git-go...

It was MY team that stomped Oregon....lol

nonetheless, I think the Pac 10 will win the majority of their bowl games this year....

[SAJ]

Not on the date the game was played.

[PRND21]

You just blew your argument. Check what Auburn was ranked when USC shut them out.

[SAJ]

This goes directly to the heart of the argument.

The question is: Is the National Champion supposed to be the best team in the nation A) Over All The Season, or B) At The End Of The Season?

I don't give a hang which one, but the BCS algorithm is and always has been contradictory in this regard.

The notion of rating ''strength of schedule'' at the end of the season and by total result is just plain stupid. Suppose a contender plays a very strong team early. The other team is 4-0 at that point and has absolutely stomped all four opponents. The contender loses to this team, but, in the very next game, our hypothetical strong team's star QB (doubtless a Heisman candidate in this assumption), gets injured, out for the season. The team loses its remaining games, finishing 5-7.

Now, our hypothetical contender is punished on a ''strength of schedule'' basis by the BCS, having lost to a 5-7 team.

Insane, absolutely insane. If schedule strength is to be considered, it must be done real-time, as of the date of the actual game being played, excluding only the first, and possibly the second, week of the season (pre-season polls are kwapola to start with -- why reward or penalise anyone?)

[PRND21]

Let's hope this breaks the BCS' back.

[JonH]

When we are done talking about K-State getting a couple of favorable calls, lets not forget they put a good old fashioned whipping on the Sooners. The game was not close and hopefully the Heisman voters had not already voted because the Josh White was a bust in what was OU's first big test. I have heard White was injured but if that is true, they must not have a back-up. I like LSU's chances in the Sugar Bowl.

If you ignore the BCS ranking problem, the match-ups are more interesting than they have been in the past. USC - Michigan could be a great game if both teams are clicking. Florida State should get revenge against Miami and OSU will have their hands full with KSU.

[SAJ]

Bump for THAT, m'friend! Fold, spindle, and mutilate the BCS putzes.

Jeez, I know (and I've taught) undergraduates who could come up with a more statistically valid algorithm than the one BCS uses.

[Teacher317]

Several indicators of just how bad this system is:

Miami (OH), ranked 14th and 15th in the AP and ESPN polls, is ranked 3rd, 4th, 6th, 9th, 10th, and 22nd by the various other pollsters.

USC, ranked overwhelmingly #1 by both major polls, is #3 in FIVE of the seven "computer" polls.

Jeff Sagarin, one of the "computers", has Miami (OH) 3rd in the country with Kansas St (who just whalloped #1 Oklahoma to reveal this farce) 13th... The NYTimes has Miami (OH) 22nd, and K State 6th.

[dfwgator]

The way I see it, a championship team would have taken care of business against K-State.

[dfwgator]

Who woulda thunk that Miami(OH) would be ranked higher than Miami(FL)?

[bonesmccoy]

I guess this basically comes down to the question of who names the top team.

I would like to know who AFCA really is.

Please post the board of directors and the names of the executive officers of AFCA.

[bonesmccoy]

What?

USC DID PLAY THE NUMBER TWO PAC-10 TEAM on Nov 1

USC 43
WASH STATE 16

[Ciexyz]

Yup, there's TWO national championship games. Maybe that's what the big money promoters wanted all along.

[bonesmccoy]

I'd really like to know the exact names of the board and members of AFCA.

[cartoonistx]

[MPJackal]

"They could fix all this by stating that the national title game MUST involve only conference champions (excluding independents)".


So independents get an advantage? How is that fair? IMHO the BCS is a lot better than the old system. USC lost to Cal, Cal pretty much sucks, as did 80+ % of USC's opponents. Oklahoma has a great team, went undefeated in the regular season. Yes they took K State lightly and got beat. I don't think it will happen again. Oklahoma will blow LSU out, Michigan will stomp USC and all this will be moot. You heard it here first. And FYI I am an Ohio State fan. Go Bucks

[Dolphy]

You seem to ignore the fact that a poll was taken of the coaches in the country, and they think the best team in the land is USC.

Then they took a poll of all the sportswriters, and they think so, too.

And the week before they thought Oklahoma was the number one team. Nobody knows, the BCS is no more screwed up than a bunch of writers and coaches. I mean who among them thought Oklahoma was going to be stomped? All the talk was about LSU, USC and who would get the second spot.

[bonesmccoy]

so, what's your spread on the Rose Bowl?

[MPJackal]

Michigan -9

[Joe_October]

... makes silly games like Boise St/Hawaii critical to the national championship....

This was explained before. That game held no more weight than any other game during the season. It was only important because of the emotion we attached to it and the result was not known. So, it was indeed more dramatic to the view who attached some special value to the game.

The more I see of it, the more it is clear that the BCS is brilliant. We are all watching and talking and, again, the BCS got it right. I say get rid of the writers' and coaches' polls and we will have the problem solved.

And before you flame me, remember USC lost to Cal. No amount of ciphering can elimninate that little fact. If Oklahoma had lost to Rutgers - maybe we could talk.