BlogPoll Calling: Week 13 Ballot Submitted
by Todd on Nov 24, 2008 8:00 AM CST
in Football
16 comments
 |
||
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | -- |
| 2 | Utah |  6 |
| 3 | Boise State | 4 |
| 4 | Florida |  1 |
| 5 | Oklahoma | 1 |
| 6 | Texas | 2 |
| 7 | Southern Cal | 2 |
| 8 | Penn State | 1 |
| 9 | Oklahoma State | 4 |
| 10 | Ohio State | 1 |
| 11 | Texas Tech | 9 |
| 12 | Missouri | 2 |
| 13 | Ball State | 2 |
| 14 | Georgia | -- |
| 15 | TCU | 1 |
| 16 | Cincinnati | 2 |
| 17 | Oregon State | 2 |
| 18 | Oregon | 2 |
| 19 | Michigan State | 7 |
| 20 | Boston College | 6 |
| 21 | Western Michigan | -- |
| 22 | Northwestern | 4 |
| 23 | Mississippi | 3 |
| 24 | Georgia Tech | 2 |
| 25 | Florida State | 1 |
1. Alabama - idle
2. Utah - vs BYU - W 48-24
3. Boise State - at Nevada - W 41-34
When the good doctor ranked Alabama #4 behind Texas Tech, Texas, and Florida last week based on the fact that they all are playing "better" football than Alabama, despite Florida and Texas having a loss each on their records, I generally shrugged and thought to myself "it will all play out, and it's not a real poll anyway, so whatevs man. Whatevs." But one point that was made in his post kind of stuck with me this week and I vowed, should Texas Tech throw the whole thing into disarray with a loss to OU, I would take it into consideration on my own ballot:
"The only commenter who attempted to actually address Alabama's resumé in relation to those of the teams around it on the ballot argued that I was wrong to "make it okay to lose," and that's a valid point. But Utah, Boise State and Ball State also haven't lost, and no one is arguing for any of them to ascend into even the top five based on their perfect records...much less to the top."
So since the Red Raiders decided to give me an opportunity, I'm running with it. Both the Utes and Broncos have run the gauntlet this season with some quality wins to their names (Oregon State, TCU, BYU for the Utes, and Oregon for Boise plus a ton of blowouts over less than stellar competition, which is just as much evidence that's being thrown around in Florida's favor), so I'm putting them here at #'s 2 and 3, respectively.
4. Florida - vs The Citadel - W 70-19
Style points against a 1AA team (and not even a good one) count for nothing.
5. Oklahoma - vs Texas Tech - W 65-21
I went back and forth over this one, but I'm going with the points differential tie breaker thing and putting the Sooners ahead of Texas.
6. Texas - idle
7. Southern Cal - idle
8. Penn State - vs Michigan State - W 49-18
9. Oklahoma State - idle
10. Ohio State - vs Michigan - W 42-7
11. Texas Tech - at Oklahoma - L 21-65
12. Mizzou - idle
13. Ball State - at Central Michigan - W 31-24
Despite being unbeaten, they don't have the same resume that Boise and Utah have, and also haven't really looked all that great the two times I've gotten to see them.
14. Georgia - idle
15. TCU - vs Air Force - W 44-10
16. Cincinnati - vs Pitt - W 28-21
17. Oregon State - at Arizona - W 19-17
18. Oregon - idle
19. Michigan State - at Penn State - L 18-49
20. Boston College - at Wake - W 24-21
21. Western Michigan -idle
22. Northwestern -vs Illinois - W 27-10
23. Ole Miss -at LSU - W 31-13
24. Pitt -at Cincinnati - L 28-21
24. Georgia Tech - vs Miami (FL) - W 41-23
25. Florida State - at Maryland - W 37-3
Dropped Out: #17 Pitt, #22 LSU, #23 Maryland, #24 BYU, #25 Miami (FL)
0 recs |
16 comments
Email
Print
Comments
Ignoring unbeaten teams is one of the reasons I HATE polls!
I mostly ignore them or make fun of them until the end because they are just CRAZY to me, or I just “don’t get it.” For example, how can OU be below UF when they scored almost the same number of points, allowed almost the same number of points, have the same record and the only difference is the quality of the teams they played in the game this weekend and defeat? I guess I just don’t get it. That is why Saban’s disregard for the polls works so well for me!
by crimsongirl on Nov 24, 2008 8:20 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
I think you can ignore unbeatens...
…like Ball State that haven’t really played anyone, but if you look at Utah and Boise, they have the exact same resumes as other teams. Utah won at Michigan (which isn’t all that tough, but it’s still a win over a BCS team on the road), beat Oregon State (who could be playing in the Rose Bowl), and both TCU and BYU are good squads and conference rivals. That’s at least as good of a resume as Southern Cal without the stain of a loss. Boise, meanwhile, has a good win over Oregon and has pretty well blown everyone else out (besides at Nevada, but it’s still a win), which is at least as good as Florida without the stain of a loss.
by Todd on Nov 24, 2008 8:37 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
I'm not sold on Boise
Oregon may as well have been starting a kid from the stands at QB (I think it was their fourth-stringer) against Boise and there really isn’t anyone else there.
Utah, on the other hand, is completely deserving of that spot. Bravo, sir!
by rugman11 on Nov 24, 2008 10:22 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Utah vs. Boise State
Utah has 3 wins against the top 30 teams; Boise State has none. There could be an argument that Utah has almost done as much as Alabama. Move Boise State down.
by Kenny483 on Nov 24, 2008 3:36 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
I'd watch that game
Utah vs. Bosie St would be a GREAT BCS game… too bad it could never happen :(
by K. brevis on Nov 24, 2008 5:19 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
AWESOME!
Screw all the playa hatas!
"With a female-IHOP, With the guys-Waffle House. With a female your pulling Wingman on-Taco Bell" ~ Comer4tide, on his favorite place to eat at 3 AM
by BamaReturns07 on Nov 24, 2008 8:30 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
I understand what you did there....
And why not? They are unbeaten but I fart in your general direction!
When you are an Alabama fan you have to hate Auburn, I hate Tennessee because i want to.
by bammer on Nov 24, 2008 8:41 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Georgia Tech
GT beat both BC and FSU, and has the same record. Just thought I’d point that out.
by Ramblin Jeff on Nov 24, 2008 9:13 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Yep
Pitt =fail. BEEEEEEES = shellacking of Canes, among the other accomplishments note above.
by Stuck in the Plains on Nov 24, 2008 9:29 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Good call...
….I’d much rather rank Tech than Pitt. Consider that oversite changed.
by Todd on Nov 24, 2008 10:30 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Why not Ball State?
Dr. Saturday also pointed out that the other BSU is undefeated. If you’re going to say that all FBS undefeateds should go at the top, fine. Otherwise, you’re saying it’s okay for the nine teams between Boise State and Ball State to lose.
You can’t decide that Ball State is subjectively lower despite being undefeated and yet say others are wrong for deciding that Alabama is subjectively lower despite being undefeated. Until you put all the zero-loss teams at the top of your ballot, you’re still trying to have it both ways.
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
by cocknfire on Nov 25, 2008 12:03 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
No...
….I think that being undefeated “with quality wins” deserves a spot at the top, which applies to Utah and Boise, but not Ball State.
by Todd on Nov 25, 2008 8:30 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
But...
…Ball State is still a cool name, so they’ve got that going for them.
by NiceLittleSaturday on Nov 25, 2008 11:56 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
But judging "quality wins" automatically makes it subjective
I mean, you know and I know that Ball State’s schedule isn’t as strong as the others, etc, etc. But it’s subjective knowledge, if you will — a judgment call.
You could say that an undefeated team has no proven ceiling, and therefore deserves to be at the top of the ballot. I’d disagree, but that would be logically consistent. It would also mean you would have to put Ball State at the top.
Otherwise, you’re introducing subjective criteria into it by taking into account the “quality” of the wins. And once you do that, the only thing that objectively makes Alabama better than any of the other teams the top of the ballot is the zero in the loss column. But — wait a minute. We just said that zero in the loss column isn’t enough to automatically put Ball State at/near the top. So we have to go back to judging the schedule as a whole.
To make a hypothetical (and absurd) argument, let’s say some team played Southern Cal, Penn State, Ohio State, Texas, Georgia, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Cincinnati, Missouri, Florida State and Mississippi — and this hypothetical team’s only loss was by one at home to Mississippi. Would you still say Alabama deserved to be ranked ahead of that team?
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
by cocknfire on Nov 26, 2008 7:48 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
