We are trying something new this season: attempting to put a weight on records by measuring in certain factors. It is the first attempt (plus I barely made Cs in Statistics 101 &102 when I was at the Capstone), so it may need some tweaking in the future.
Some of you had queries about it and I have some clarifications.
- Week 1, Mississippi State played at Southern Miss. Should they get 0.5 point for winning on the road? No. No credit is awarded for winning at a cupcake's stadium.
- Also Week 1, Texas A&M played in Houston but only received 0.125 point for neutral location. College Station to Houston is in just under 100 miles. Phoenix to Houston is about 1,100 miles. More fans, more familiarity, easier commute.
- So, why should they get any points at all? Even with all the advantages listed above, there is nothing like playing in your home stadium on your field with your locker room in front of your fans/students, etc. etc. etc.
A new tweak added is holding off on "Win over a ranked opponent = additional 0.5" until the end of the regular season. The logic (if there is any) is that a team ranked in September, may not be in December. [Hi Auburn!] By that time, perhaps I can come up with a good bonus equation.
Below is the key.
Win-Loss Record key:
- SEC - conference record
- P5 - non-SEC record against Power 5
- MM - record against Mid Majors/Non-Power 5 but projected bowl participant
- CC - record against cupcakes
Trying something new this season, we will attempt to put a weight on records.
- Win over P5 = 1 point
Win over a ranked opponent = additional 0.5(See above)- Road win = 0.5
- Neutral site win = 0.25
- Win over a MM = 0.5
- Win over a CC = 0
- Loss to CC = -1
- Loss to MM = -0.5
- Home loss = -0.5
So, a few Monday morning hangovers, wouldn't you say?...
South Carolina Gamecocks (2-4, SEC 0-4, P5 1-4, MM 1-0, CC 0-0) 1.25 Points
Points this week: 0 loss at LSU.
Vanderbilt at South Carolina 3pm/4pm, SECN
What a crazy couple of weeks it has been for the Gamecocks Nation. Historical floods moved their game with LSU to Baton Rouge and then the abrupt quitting of the Ol Ball Coach (yes, I said "quitting"). This is a crossroads for the SC football program: Do they go big like they did with Spurrier and Lou Holtz or do they put their trust in a hot coordinator or maybe an up-an-comer from a smaller school? A few names that are sure to be batted around include Bama DC Kirby Smart, Memphis Head Coach Justin Fuente, and Temple's Matt Rhule who spent four seasons at Western Carolina.
The following is a poll at The State:
What would be the best way for USC to honor Steve Spurrier, who resigned as the Gamecocks' football coach Oct. 12?
- By naming the field at Williams-Brice Stadium for him 39%
- By putting a statue of Spurrier outside Williams-Brice 24%
- By starting a football scholarship fund in his name 15%
- The school should not honor Spurrier at this time 23%
Florida Gators (6-0, SEC 4-0, P5 4-0, MM 1-0, CC 1-0) 5.5 Points
Points this week: 1.5 road win (0.5) at Mizzou (1).
Florida at LSU 6pm/7pm, ESPN
Suspended quarterback Will Grier said in a press conference he "took an over-the-counter supplement that had something in it. I did not check with the medical staff before taking it." It is uncanny how well he recollects a moment that he did not think too important. Florida coach Jim McElwain said the University will appeal the decision. If what Grier says is true, it is unfortunate but very unlikely he sees the field again this season or until October 2016 for that matter. The NCAA is notoriously strict on this matter. You may recall the case of UGA offensive lineman Kolton Houston who took three years to get reinstated. Some good info on NCAA drug testing can be found here.
Tennessee Volunteers (3-3, SEC 1-2, P5 1-3, MM 1-0, CC 1-0) 0.5 Points
Points this week: 1 home win over UGA.
Tennessee has the weekend off to prep for Bama.
Tennessee defensive tackle Shy Tuttle will miss the rest of the season with a broken fibula and torn ankle ligament. The true freshman was injured Saturday in a 38-31 victory over Georgia. He played in each of Tennessee's first six games accumulating 10 tackles, one fumble recovery, and a blocked kick against Arkansas.
Auburn Tigers (3-2, SEC 0-2, P5 1-2, MM 1-0, CC 1-0) 1.25 Points
Points this week: 0 did not play.
Auburn at Kentucky Thursday, 6pm/7pm, ESPN
You may be thinking "what the heck is Auburn doing playing on a Thursday night, home of the MAC?" Most teams that agree to weeknight games do so to give their programs more exposure. For the Tigers, it is not a bad way to split up the season. With an open date last Saturday, this gave Auburn 12 days until the UK game and nine more until a trip to Arkansas. This has also given Gustav Malzahn time to figure out who the starting quarterback will be. As of this writing, he has yet to announce if it will be redshirt freshman Sean White or junior Jeremy Johnson.
Kentucky Wildcats (4-1, SEC 2-1, P5 2-1, MM 1-0, CC 1-0) 2.5 Points
Points this week: 0 did not play.
Auburn at Kentucky Thursday, 6pm/7pm, ESPN
The Thursday night game benefits the Wildcats in an unexpected way as well. Big Blue Madness, the unofficial tip-off to the 2015-16 men’s and women’s basketball seasons, is set for Friday Oct. 16 at Rupp Arena. If Mark Stoops wants to keep his audience engaged, he needs to win this game.
LSU Tigers (5-0, SEC 3-0, P5 4-0, MM 0-0, CC 1-0) 5 Points
Points this week: 1 home win over SC (technically an away game but that means nothing in this model).
Florida at LSU 6pm/7pm, ESPN
The Bayou Bengals are starting to look like a team of destiny. Things just keep breaking their way and now they may have a new piece to up their game. Against South Carolina, Les Miles gave true freshman Derrius Guice 16 carries and he made the most of them gaining 161 yards and a touchdown, outgaining that Fournette guy who only had 158 on 20 rushes and a TD. Sophomore Darrel Williams also got in on the act with 10 carries for 61 yards and two scores.
Ole Miss Rebels (5-1, SEC 2-1, P5 2-1, MM 1-0, CC 2-0) 3 Points
Points this week: 0 win over CC NMSt.
Ole Miss at Memphis 11am/12pm, ABC(or ESPN2 in other regions)
Could this be a trap game for the Rebels? I have been talking about Memphis over at Random Thoughts for weeks now. The Tigers are 5-0 after a 10-3 campaign last season that included a bowl win over BYU. Ole Miss took out their anger from the bitter loss to Florida on poor little New Mexico State. One week from Saturday, they host Texas A&M. Is the venom gone? Will the Rebs be caught looking ahead to the Aggies?
Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-2, SEC 1-2, P5 1-2, MM 0-0, CC 3-0) 1 Point
Points this week: 0 win over CC Troy.
Louisiana Tech at Mississippi State 11am/12pm, SECN
Finally, the Clanga-Clangs got to see an MSU quarterback not named Dak. Prescott was feeling under the weather and frankly not really needed against Troy. Thus, he only played the first four series and turned the reins over to Nick Fitzgerald. The redshirt freshman was 6-7 for 141 yards, 2 TDs, and 0 INTs to go with 29 yards on the ground in 8 carries and another score.
Missouri Tigers (4-2, SEC 1-2, P5 1-2, MM 1-0, CC 2-0) 1.5 Points
Points this week: -0.5 home loss to Florida.
Missouri at Georgia 6:30pm/7:30pm, SECN
Don't expect to see Maty Mauk behind center any time soon. During Missouri's 21-3 loss to Florida on Saturday night, Mauk's verified Twitter account favorited two tweets that were poking fun at Mizzou fans who wanted Mauk replaced with backup quarterback Drew Lock. Lock, a true freshman, struggled mightily against Florida's defense going 16-39 for 151 yards and two interceptions. The Missouri O was 1-14 on third down conversions.
Georgia Bulldogs (4-2, SEC 2-2, P5 2-2, MM 0-0, CC 2-0) 2.0 Points
Points this week: 0 road loss to Tenn.
Missouri at Georgia 6:30pm/7:30pm, SECN
UGA is a desperate team. Dreams of a national championship run have been dashed by two straight losses and the season-ending injury of Nick Chubb. The Bulldogs have lost three straight under Mark Richt only once before which was in 2010. In that season, Richt's only losing campaign, they actually lost four straight versus South Carolina, Arkansas, at Mississippi State, and at Colorado - all regular season games. The Dawgs finished 6–7 and 3–5 in the SEC that season with a Liberty Bowl loss to CFU.
Arkansas Razorbacks (2-4, SEC 1-3, P5 1-3, MM 0-1, CC 1-0) 0 Points
Points this week: 0 road loss to Bama.
Arkansas gets to take the weekend off to rest up for Auburn.
Baseball? Are they still playing? The Arkansas-Alabama was the most-watched cable program Saturday. The game drew more than 4.8 million viewers and had a 1.5 rating on ESPN, according to SportsTVRatings.com. It outdrew MLB playoff games between the Cubs-Cardinals and Mets-Dodgers on TBS that night. It was the third most-watched college football game on cable this year behind Ohio State-Virginia Tech (10.5 million) and Alabama-Ole Miss (7.6 million).
Vanderbilt Commodores (2-3, SEC 0-2, P5 0-2, MM 1-1, CC 1-0) 0 Points
Points this week: 0 did not play.
Vanderbilt at South Carolina 3pm/4pm, SECN
Vandy had one of their more productive weekends by doing nothing. Thanks to a bye week and a South Carolina loss, they are in sixth place in the SEC East all by themselves. A win this Saturday over the Gamecocks would move the 'Dores to 3-3.
Texas A&M Aggies (5-0, SEC 2-0, P5 3-0, MM 2-0, CC 0-0) 4.25 Points
Points this week: 0 did not play.
ALABAMA at Texas A&M 2:30pm/3:30pm, CBS
Kyle Field is a different stadium from the last time the Crimson Tide visited College Station in 2013. The $485 million renovation bumped capacity up to 102,512, the largest football stadium in the SEC and fourth largest in the nation. The other major development was making the building symmetrical, building a true bowl rather than the tackle box look it previously had. Rest rooms and other amenities have been added and upgraded. Kyle Field also now boasts the second largest video screen in college football (Auburn recently installed a larger one).
Alabama Crimson Tide (5-1, SEC 2-1, P5 3-1, MM 2-0, CC 0-0) 4.25 Points
Points this week: 1 home win over Arky.
ALABAMA at Texas A&M 2:30pm/3:30pm, CBS
It might surprise you to know that the Crimson Tide and the Aggies have only met seven times. Alabama leads the series is 5-2.
1941 Alabama
1967 Texas A&M
1985 Alabama
1988 Alabama
2012 Texas A&M
2013 Alabama
2014 Alabama
TOTALS:
Team | Week 2 Points | Week 3 Points | Week 4 Points | Week 5 Points | Week 6 Points |
Florida | 0.5 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 5.5 |
LSU | 1.5 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 |
Alabama | 1.75 | 1.25 | 1.75 | 3.25 | 4.25 |
Texas A&M | 1.625 | 2.125 | 3.25 | 4.25 | 4.25 |
Ole Miss | 0.5 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
Kentucky | 2 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
Georgia | 1.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
Missouri | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 1.5 |
Auburn | 1.25 | 1.25 | 0.75 | 1.25 | 1.25 |
South Carolina | 0.75 | 0.75 | 1.25 | 1.25 | 1.25 |
Mississippi State | -0.5 | -0.5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Tennessee | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -0.5 | 0.5 |
Arkansas | -1.0 | -1.5 | -1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Vanderbilt | -1.0 | -1.0 | -1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
#ROLLTIDE!