I never got clear instructions on how to handle this week’s ballot, what with the nail-biter Monday night game (even though I didn’t think I’d be ranking either team anyway) so here’s the ballot I submitted late last night. It’s loosely based on a one-week resume with a side of the previous week’s preseason expectations. I know by not ranking Oregon or TCU I’ll deserve some rebuking, but I’m willing to take those lumps. Those guys will earn their way back into the rankings.
Have at it:
Men of the Scarlet and Gray Ballot – Week 2
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LSU Tigers |  17 |
| 2 | Boise St. Broncos | — |
| 3 | Oklahoma Sooners |  -2 |
| 4 | Wisconsin Badgers | 8 |
| 5 | Baylor Bears | — |
| 6 | South Florida Bulls | — |
| 7 | Stanford Cardinal | -4 |
| 8 | Florida St. Seminoles | 1 |
| 9 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -5 |
| 10 | South Carolina Gamecocks | -3 |
| 11 | West Virginia Mountaineers | 14 |
| 12 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | -2 |
| 13 | BYU Cougars | — |
| 14 | Ohio St. Buckeyes | -1 |
| 15 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys | -1 |
| 16 | Arkansas Razorbacks | 5 |
| 17 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | — |
| 18 | Texas A&M Aggies | -7 |
| 19 | Houston Cougars | — |
| 20 | Florida Gators | — |
| 21 | Virginia Tech Hokies | -15 |
| 22 | Michigan St. Spartans | -7 |
| 23 | Iowa Hawkeyes | -7 |
| 24 | Missouri Tigers | — |
| 25 | Penn St. Nittany Lions | -2 |
| Dropouts: Oregon Ducks, TCU Horned Frogs, USC Trojans, Georgia Bulldogs, Texas Longhorns, Nevada Wolf Pack, Notre Dame Fighting Irish | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »
Was WVU really that impressive in their win over Marshall?
What methodology are you using? For some teams it looks like you’ve placed them where they’d fit had this been the first poll of the season… for others, it looks like you’ve placed them against where they fit last week. Are you resume or performance ranking?
Hope this isn’t too harsh 🙂 but honestly the whole thing seems like a mess.
@Scott – probably not. This was a case where I rated their opponent a little better than others. I probably overvalued Marshall. I have no problem moving that down.
@sportsMonkey – it is a mess. Look at those deltas. This is mostly resume ranking, with a smattering of where I had them in the preseason.
So… resume as in quality of opponents, or resume as in “this team looks this tough”?
@sM – can I say both? Right now, this is “quality” of opponents, which I realize is flismy but is what I’m working off of.
Ah, OK. So Oklahoma State is the worst team in the country then because they played Lousiana Lafayette (worst scoring defense). Got it. As long as there’s a methodology that makes sense. 😉
^ Apologies for the sarcasti-post. LOL. Just making a point.
Seriously though, it seems as if the quality of opponent point of view is very arbitrarily and inconsistently applied. By moving Baylor from nothing to top 5 indicates that you think TCU is a top 5 opponent (which clearly they aren’t if they’re getting beaten by unranked teams). It seems arbitrary to justify raising one team because of an upset (Baylor) at the same time that not rewarding a team that absolutely thumped its overmatched competition (Va Tech).
In other words, it seems like you’re ranking based on “dramatic-ness of the victory” as opposed to actual perceived strength. Which (IMO) provides a flaw where you overweigh upsets and underweigh teams that do their job easily and get off the field.
@sM – it is arbitrary, yes. Everything is when it comes to rankings. TCU was a top 5 team last year, that returned some (not all) of a top 5 defense. Baylor dropped 50 on that defense. That has to count for something. Where would you rank it? Why can’t “dramatic-ness” be a factor? I think TCU will still be a good team but I have to base the strength of opponents on something.
You bring up VT’s victory. That was over Appalachian State, a D-1AA school (albeit a good one). Even you don’t think that TCU and App State are on the same level.
Also, isn’t scoring 50 points on a great TCU defense “doing their job and getting off the field”?
eK – all good points.
I wasn’t trying to suggest that TCU and Appy St are on the same level. But the same logic that we use to know that fact is the same logic that we use to know Baylor isn’t a top 5 team. 😉
My only point about ‘dramatic-ness’ was that it seems that it would breed bias. A dramatic victory over a so-so opponent might seem more weighty than a methodical spankification over another. In fact, this same type of bias is at the root of the SEC superiority myth.
sM – I agree that a dramatic victory over a so-so opponent might seem more weighty. But in this case, I don’t think TCU is a so-so opponent, so a dramatic, down to the wire UPSET deserves maybe a little more weight. Maybe not a top-5 jump, but a significant jump nonetheless.