The Polls (AP, Coaches, & CFP, etc.)

[LovelandBuckeye]

http://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa...ohio-state-oklahoma/5v4jvls3b14c1qg0jek4rwydz

College football's top-five parity problem actually no problem at all
Bill Bender @BillBender92

You either love it or hate it.

The haters would say college football has a parity problem in 2018. It's a five-pointed problem that features Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State and Oklahoma. The other 124 teams? They're just trying to catch up. The haters will use it as an excuse to talk College Football Playoff expansion, the growing gap between the Power 5 and Group of 5 and to say that the regular season just isn't as exciting as it used to be. Sizing up the competitors from week to week is basically a copy-and-paste exercise.

What's the problem? There's a "Power 5 within the Power 5," and it's ruining college football.

Or not. Adjust that thinking now. Remember how riveting the two-way race was between USC and Texas in 2005 — where you knew those teams were simply better than everybody else and there was nothing anybody could do about it? This feels like that — except five teams from four conferences are involved. It might not be fun, say, five years from now, but you have to appreciate the domination in the short term.

Those five schools have combined for 75 percent of the College Football Playoff appearances so far, and appear to be a good bet to snag at least 75 percent of those appearances this year. The numbers are staggering so far.

Those five schools have combined to outscore opponents 568-154 – an average score of 47.8 to 12.3. That's a five-touchdown difference, and it shows on the field every Saturday.

The quarterbacks have made it entertaining, too. Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa, Georgia's Jake Fromm, Ohio State's Dwayne Haskins and Oklahoma's Kyler Murray would be a good bet to fill the row at the Heisman Trophy ceremony if it were tomorrow. Clemson's Kelly Bryant is right in the mix if he can hold off freshman phenom Trevor Lawrence. The backup options, including Jalen Hurts, Justin Fields and Tate Martell look capable when pressed into the action.

Seriously. Will Alabama average 50 points per game with Tagovailoa at the controls? It has so far. Is Kyler Murray the next Baker Mayfield? Is Haskins Ohio State's best quarterback ever? How many running backs does Fromm have at his disposal? Is Clemson's offense actually better with Bryant and Lawrence sharing time? None of those is a ridiculous question.

Cont'd ...

But what about these guys?

 

[BB73]

And how do both the writers and the SIDs both have Wiscy far above BYU?

They’re sure, without further context, that the game was a fluke?

Based on what?

I only ask the question to point out the answer to it, which we all know.

Cal is undefeated and beat BYU, who only has that loss and beat Wiscy. Any person paying attention would have Cal ahead of BYU and BYU ahead of Wiscy. Maybe none of them should be ranked, but if you're going to rank any of them, it should be in that order.

 

[TampaBuckeyes]

Pretty neat.


FWIW - I think you guys should jump us. Beating TCU in Dallas was a big deal.

Bama
OSU
Clemson
Dawgs
Oklahoma

That feels right.

Why not vote on what teams people have actually played this year rather than last year?

LSU Played 'Canes and Auburn and no one else has a schedule that compares so far
OSU Played TCU
ND Played UM
Stanford Played USC
Clemson Played aTm
UGA Played SC
Bama Played Louisville
PSU Played Pitt
OU Played UCLA
Auburn Played LSU(close L) and Washington

Don't place them on who they have on their schedule yet but who they have played SO FAR. TCU>UM>USC>aTm>SC>Louisville>Pitt>UCLA

Go5 teams just shouldn't count as a win by the polls and FCS teams shouldn't count as a win by the NCAA.

Ole Miss is a perennial dumpster fire that literally cheated to get ahead. Now they got caught and they are shit again. Bama might as well have played a MAC team... or Rutgers. Don't give them credit for that.

 

[cincibuck]

Think TV. College football sells best in the Deep South and Texas. But just as they need Stephen Asshole and the white guy with a 3 day beard to always disagree and yell at each other to draw viewers, they need to have villains from the North and West to threaten the SEC/ACC for supremacy and bowl game match ups. Right now, Bama, Georgia, Auburn and LSU are sure to draw better than Big Ten match ups EXCEPT OSU - Penn State and The Game. ND - Stanford will draw well, but outside those three games you have a great deal of dog shit to sell to people who’d rather watch the NFL. The polls reflect the strength of college football in the south and the shit show the Big Ten put out in the first three weeks.

 

[Ryan36_1]

Why not vote on what teams people have actually played this year rather than last year?

LSU Played 'Canes and Auburn and no one else has a schedule that compares so far
OSU Played TCU
ND Played UM
Stanford Played USC
Clemson Played aTm
UGA Played SC
Bama Played Louisville
PSU Played Pitt
OU Played UCLA
Auburn Played LSU(close L) and Washington

Don't place them on who they have on their schedule yet but who they have played SO FAR. TCU>UM>USC>aTm>SC>Louisville>Pitt>UCLA

Go5 teams just shouldn't count as a win by the polls and FCS teams shouldn't count as a win by the NCAA.

Ole Miss is a perennial dumpster fire that literally cheated to get ahead. Now they got caught and they are shit again. Bama might as well have played a MAC team... or Rutgers. Don't give them credit for that.

Bold to point out how pointless ANY method to rank teams based on three weeks of results is. Why not give Ole Miss credit for beating Texas Tech? And if we are basing it only on who a team has played and beat, I don't know that I agree with your ranking of wins either.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

But what about these guys?

What the fuck do the potatards have to do with this, Donny?

 

[LovelandBuckeye]

What the fuck do the potatards have to do with this, Donny?

Commenting on how teams like them piss and moan but the teams they mentioned have put in a hell of a lot more effort over the years minus maybe Clemson. Poor delivery on the joke.

 

[colobuck79]

He just wanted to say "potatards".

 

[Jake]

Why not vote on what teams people have actually played this year rather than last year?

That's just it.

Some vote based on how they think things will end up, some vote based on reputation early in the season, others vote by who won last week - isn't it great that this poll no longer crowns a champion?

The CFP is far from perfect, but thank fuck we no longer let these assholes crown a "national champion" based on their feelz.

 

[colobuck79]

Not to mention that sometimes the voters are just too tired.

 

[buckeyemania11]

Texas A&M being ranked is classic SEC!!!!111!! propping up in the polls, based on them being in the SEC alone. Yea they played Clemson close in an early season game at home, but based on last year and them beating nobody so far. Lol. No like they are barely in either, they are firmly in at 22.

Now of course Bama/Bama Nut Lickers will get to say that they "beat a team that was in the top 25 at the time" even though A&M likely finishes with 5 losses.

 

[Jake]

The thing about all of this as it pertains to the Buckeyes is fairly simple, and we all know it: winning at Crappy Valley. Otherwise, we'll need them to lose twice to reach the B1GCG.

Yeah, we got a playoff bid two years ago, but look what we did with it. I'm not expecting to get that benefit of the doubt again. We need to win the B1G with no more than 1 loss.

 

[BuckTwenty]

Texas A&M being ranked is classic SEC!!!!111!! propping up in the polls, based on them being in the SEC alone. Yea they played Clemson close in an early season game at home, but based on last year and them beating nobody so far. Lol. No like they are barely in either, they are firmly in at 22.

Now of course Bama/Bama Nut Lickers will get to say that they "beat a team that was in the top 25 at the time" even though A&M likely finishes with 5 losses.

Agree. That game was more about Clemson playing poorly than A&M being good, yet those that didn't watch the game see the score and say, "Hmmm... A&M good!"

 

[brodybuck21]

Texas A&M being ranked is classic SEC!!!!111!! propping up in the polls, based on them being in the SEC alone. Yea they played Clemson close in an early season game at home, but based on last year and them beating nobody so far. Lol. No like they are barely in either, they are firmly in at 22.

Now of course Bama/Bama Nut Lickers will get to say that they "beat a team that was in the top 25 at the time" even though A&M likely finishes with 5 losses.

do you even SEC bro? this has LONG been their formula. 3-0 fringe top 25 B1G school = barely receiving votes, 3-0 fringe top 25 SEC school = firmly ranked in top 20ish...especially if bama is up next on schedule

 

[Ryan36_1]

Texas A&M being ranked is classic SEC!!!!111!! propping up in the polls, based on them being in the SEC alone. Yea they played Clemson close in an early season game at home, but based on last year and them beating nobody so far. Lol. No like they are barely in either, they are firmly in at 22.

Now of course Bama/Bama Nut Lickers will get to say that they "beat a team that was in the top 25 at the time" even though A&M likely finishes with 5 losses.

do you even SEC bro? this has LONG been their formula. 3-0 fringe top 25 B1G school = barely receiving votes, 3-0 fringe top 25 SEC school = firmly ranked in top 20ish...especially if bama is up next on schedule

Not seeing much hate on here for Michigan State being in the top 25. If any school is over-ranked, it is them. Hard to find a satisfactory answer to where teams rank when they have played 2 or 3 games with the majority of the games effectively being scrimmages.

Point being, all rankings aren't worth the ink they are printed on right now and its just as much a blue-bloods (MSU, A&M) versus non blue-bloods (Kentucky, Iowa, Duke) problem as anything else.