Search Results for: poll dancing

(This is a guest series by MotSaG reader Jason Nafziger. He’ll be taking a weekly look at the college football polls and pointing out the absurd, the laughable and the head scratchers. Please note that Jason is not talking about the BlogPoll. Or my ballot to the BlogPoll.)

Yeah, I’m a little late this week, but I spent the time since last week’s entry reading Death to the BCSby Dan Wetzel, Josh Peter, and Jeff Passan. It’s a surprising – sometimes downright shocking – book that will leave you angry, disillusioned, and bewildered that this is the way it is. The authors’ proposal of a sixteen-team playoff featuring all 11 conference champions (three rounds played at home stadiums and a title game at the Rose Bowl) is enticing and exactly the way it should be. Anyway, go read it.

If you need more convincing, here is a look at what this year’s playoff could look like, assuming all conference championships go to the current leader (with seeding and at-large berths based on AP poll):

(1) Oregon vs. (16) Troy
(2) Boise St. vs. (15) Northern Illinois
(3) Auburn vs. (14) Pittsburgh
(4) TCU vs. (13) UCF
(5) Alabama vs. (12) Virginia Tech
(6) Utah vs. (11) Oklahoma
(7) Wisconsin vs. (10) Stanford
(8) Ohio State vs. (9) Nebraska

The first round has some pretty sweet games already, and the second round could feature a Rose Bowl rematch, and a chance for three mid-major programs to advance to the Football Final Four! No wonder the BCS powers-that-be are scared to death of this thing.

On to the standings:

1. Oregon
2. Auburn

Despite playing virtually the exact same game as Auburn, the Ducks vaulted the Tigers in this week’s edition. The argument could be made that USC is a better team than Ole Miss, and that’s probably true, but their records are 5-3 and 3-5 respectively—hardly a major difference.

Next: Home games vs. Washington (Ore.) and Chattanooga (Aub.)

3. TCU
4. Boise State

Another flip-flop, and this one is even more bewildering because while both teams abused cupcakes last week, TCU’s cupcake was the more, well, cupcakey.

Next: Both teams face off against their prime conference challengers as Boise hosts Hawai’i and TCU travels to take on…

5. Utah

While the Spartans were busy forgetting they had a game, the Utes became the third mid-major team in the top 5. If this isn’t the year the BCS gets busted, it’s never going to happen. The winner of TCU/Utah should have first dibs on the two-spot if Oregon or Auburn falters down the stretch.

The Breakdown (full Top 25): 24% SEC, 20% Big 12, 16% Big Ten, 16% mid-major, 12% Pac-10, 12% ACC, 0% Big East [no change from last week]

(This is a guest series by MotSaG reader Jason Nafziger. He’ll be taking a weekly look at the college football polls and pointing out the absurd, the laughable and the head scratchers. Please note that Jason is not talking about the BlogPoll. Or my ballot to the BlogPoll.)

“ [#1 Oklahoma faces] #11 Missouri this Saturday. At night. On the road. Can you feel it?” – Me

Yeah, I’m patting my own back, deal with it. Perhaps just out to prove that the BCS is a complete traveshamockery, Bob Stoops essentially quit last week, punting with just over two minutes left in the game and his team down by nine. There is no way to justify this, and Stoops even admitted that a 9- point loss would look better later on than a 16-point loss (had an attempt to, you know, win failed, Missouri would have been in prime position to score again). It should be noted that in the previous two weeks, former #1’s Alabama and Ohio State each lost a road game by more than nine points. This is the world of the BCS, which has now successfully transformed the college football national championship into figure skating. Thanks.

1. Auburn

Last week, I discussed my suspicions about Auburn as a top team by pointing out that they have three 3-point victories so far against less-than-stellar competition. This week, they managed to beat LSU by seven at home. What got Auburn to this spot is the fallacy that LSU is a good team. Yes, they were undefeated up to this game and that is important. But that’s where the BCS stops looking, and that’s a big problem. Much like Auburn, LSU was just squeezing by, with only three of their wins by more than 6 points (two of those were against Vanderbilt and McNeese State).

Now, I hear your chants of the ’02 Buckeyes, and that’s a valid point; sometimes, you can win ugly all the way to the bank. (Although it’s frequently forgotten how that Ohio State team dominated its early opponents, some of whom were actually good.)

I’m not saying that Auburn is going to lose to Ole Miss this Saturday. At night. On the road. I’m just saying that sometimes patterns form for a reason.

2. Oregon

The Ducks bumped their offensive pace up to 0.92 points per minute with their 60-13 tar-and- feathering of UCLA Thursday night. If this team continues to improve on defense, it will be unstoppable regardless of the opponent in the title game. If not, well… at least we’ll get a hell of a shootout.

Then again, the Ducks play a resurgent USC this week. The Trojans are a rare team with nothing to lose or gain. Are the Ducks ripe for plucking?

3. Boise State

Boise State didn’t play last week, which is a lot like Boise State playing.

4. TCU

TCU beat Air Force 38-7. Right now, I’d pencil them in as the team who will beat Missouri in a bowl game.

5. Michigan State

While I must admit I am enjoying watching our old buddy Dantonio having success (and proving he can smile), as a Buckeye fan, I really hope Ferentz takes him out this week. If that doesn’t happen, I’m not sure if this team can lose. I’m also not sure how they’re not ahead of at least TCU.

The Breakdown (full Top 25): 24% SEC, 20% Big 12, 16% Big Ten, 16% mid-major, 12% Pac-10, 12% ACC, 0% Big East

(This is a guest series by MotSaG reader Jason Nafziger. He’ll be taking a weekly look at the college football polls and pointing out the absurd, the laughable and the head scratchers. Please note that Jason is not talking about the BlogPoll. Or my ballot to the BlogPoll.)

Now it’s time to get down to business. We are at the halfway point in the season and the initial BCS standings are out and they do not disappoint! By which I mean that they are awful, a mockery of justice and common sense.

1. Oklahoma

Despite sitting at #3 and #4 in the two human polls that make up a large portion of the standings, the Sooners find themselves poised to lose yet another BCS Championship Game. Their resume includes a convincing 30-point win over #17 Florida State, an 8-point victory against #19 Texas and several close calls against the likes of Utah State (7 points, USU is 2-4), Air Force (3 points, 5-2), and Cincinnati (2 points, 3-3). They face #11 Missouri this Saturday. At night. On the road. Can you feel it?

2. Oregon

The Ducks are an offensive machine, still keeping up an amazing pace of 0.9 points per minute. If they continue at this rate, they’ll waddle out of their bowl game with over 700 points. No, their defense is not great, and they haven’t played many impressive teams. Still, they are easily a top 5 team at this point. Unless you’re a BCS computer, that is. Only one number-cruncher has the Ducks ranked higher than #7.

3. Boise State

Boise State continues to coast on their “ impressive” wins over Virginia Tech (5-2) and Oregon State (3-3). Their last three opponents have a combined 6 wins so far this year, and there doesn’t appear to be a serious threat left on the schedule (although a loss at Nevada isn’t out of the question). The Broncos are going to need help to get to the title game, probably in the form of fewer than 2 undefeated BCS conference teams. Don’t count them out.

4. Auburn

The Tigers teamed up with Arkansas last week to steal all the points from all the other SEC games. The problem is, that shootout against a team that was missing its gunslinger for the majority of it is Auburn’s best win of the year. This team is highly suspect with 3-point wins against Mississippi State, Clemson (in OT), and Kentucky.

5. TCU

Another mid-major with a thin schedule, TCU rounds out the top 5 with just a 9-point win over Oregon State propping them up. The Frogs’ other 6 opponents have won an average of 3 games apiece, and that includes Tennessee Tech, a team that may not actually exist.

6. LSU
7. Michigan State
8. Alabama

Apparently, Nick Saban’s contract with the devil still applies even when he leaves a school.

9. Utah
10. Ohio State

I don’t like the look of that at all. Here’s hoping the Buckeyes rage against the rest of the Big Ten and storm back up the standings. There’s not a team above us that can’t be had.

The Breakdown (full Top 25): 24% SEC, 24% Big 12, 16% Big Ten, 12% Pac-10, 12% mid-major, 8% ACC, 4% Big East.

(This is a guest series by MotSaG reader Jason Nafziger. He’ll be taking a weekly look at the college football polls and pointing out the absurd, the laughable and the head scratchers. Please note that Jason is not talking about the BlogPoll. Or my ballot to the BlogPoll.)

Yeah, that happened. The season has officially begun as the preseason #1 has been taken out, execution-style, by an afterthought of a team coached by a former legend who by all accounts would rather be golfing. Also officially beginning this week is the Harris Interactive Poll, the other poll that actually means something in the BCS formula and the one that insists its better to wait and see teams in action before judging where they stand. A noble and logical approach, to be sure, and one that certainly results in at least a couple major differences from the weekly preseason adjustment method the Coaches’ Poll uses, right?

Well…

Here is what waiting six weeks to make an “informed” decision gets you: Four variations between the two polls, each of which is merely a one-spot swap of two teams (Nebraska and TCU share the #4 and #5 slots, etc.) Hoo boy! Good thing you spent all that time collecting and poring over data, eh? I bet those coaches feel like a bunch of mountain rubes now!

1. Ohio State
2. Oregon
3. Boise State

Both polls agree on the top three and if they all win out, only Boise is in real danger of getting jumped, should Nebraska or Oklahoma also go unbeaten. Things are shaping up for another messy situation for the BCS, which probably means the exact opposite will happen. A rematch of last year’s Rose Bowl would make an interesting title game and I know you’re all starving for another helping of Boise/TCU.

4. Nebraska
5. TCU
6. Oklahoma

Two mid-majors ranked before a single SEC team? Goodbye, Tebow, indeed.

7. Auburn
8. Alabama
9. LSU

Oh good, there they are! I was getting worried! Do you ever get the feeling that the voters use SEC teams like masonry mortar?

10. Utah

For those of you keeping score at home, that’s 30% Mid-Major, 30% SEC, 20% Big 12, 20% Teams That Will Play For The Title and not a single ACC or Big East team in the Top 10 (Florida State wanders in at #17, West Virginia at #25).

Next Week: Actual BCS Standings! There is some concern over certain prognosticators’ claims that our Buckeyes would be around #5 in the BCS right now. I don’t buy it, and I’m pretty confident that if Ohio State pulls out the win this weekend, they will be the BCS #1 come Monday.

(This is a guest series by MotSaG reader Jason Nafziger. He’ll be taking a weekly look at the college football polls and pointing out the absurd, the laughable and the head scratchers. Please note that Jason is not talking about the BlogPoll. Or my ballot to the BlogPoll.)Last week, I tried to summon up some drama in the polls by cheering for the underdogs in some of the big time battles on the slate. It almost worked…

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State

First, I attempted to dethrone the king, throwing my considerable influence (trust me, I was way under the influence) behind the Gators of Florida. If you’d ever wondered what it would look like if an elephant stomped on an alligator repeatedly for three hours (with a twenty minute break to pick pesky osteoderms out of the ridges on his soles), you got your answer Saturday night.

As for Ohio State, their win over Illinois was a little too close for comfort. With Oregon storming up the charts, Ohio State may need more than just wins to stay in the title hunt. Did I mention how much I hate the BCS?

3. Oregon
4. Boise State

These two swap places, and Boise’s dreams of finally crashing the title party are fading by the week. With no impressive opponents left, the Broncos should be able to run the table. Just like last year. I’m anticipating a similar outcome.

Oregon, meanwhile, thwarted my second upset try, overcoming a 21-3 first quarter deficit to shut Stanford out in the second half, bringing their own point total up to 283 for the season (that’s .94 per minute).

5. TCU
6. Nebraska
7. Oklahoma
8. Auburn
9. LSU
10. Utah

A little shakeup here, thanks to my final two upset spells. Michigan State offed Wisconsin and established themselves as a team the rest of Big Ten needs to start worrying about. And then, to bring my upset-sorcery record to an even .500, the newly hapful Vols of Tennessee pulled out a close one against LSU, taking advantage of some classic poor time management by Les Miles and—what? A penalty? They had HOW MANY guys on the field?!?

Anyway, let’s try this again:

Go Gamecocks!
Go Cougars!
Go Cyclones!
Go Spartans!

Next Week: The first Harris Poll of the year!!!! I know, but try to get some sleep.

(This is a guest series by MotSaG reader Jason Nafziger. He’ll be taking a weekly look at the college football polls and pointing out the absurd, the laughable and the head scratchers. Please note that Jason is not talking about the BlogPoll. Or my ballot to the BlogPoll.)

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State

Bama had a bit of a close call against Arkansas, while Ohio State had a call more comparable to deep space communication. Still and all, the top two remain unbeaten and on the path to meet for the title in January. Florida will try to make things interesting this weekend. Want something interesting until then? A group of elephants is known as a “memory,” while a group of alligators is a “congregation.”

3. Boise State
4. Oregon

Ah, finally. UCLA’s castration of the Longhorns sends Texas plummeting, and the Ducks quickly flew in to replace them. A group of ducks is a “flush.”

5. TCU
6. Nebraska

Despite a poor showing against South Dakota State’s “husk” of jackrabbits, the Cornhuskers get a bump up and become the highest ranked Big 12 team during Red River Shootout (and I still say IAA too) week.

7. Florida
8. Oklahoma
9. Wisconsin
10. LSU

And again, every team that didn’t lose is shifted up a spot to accommodate for those that did. I used to suspect that the coaches’ employed graduate assistants to fill out their ballots for them, but now I’m convinced it’s Price Is Right game designers.

So, in the interest of someone who writes (and the imaginary folk who read) a weekly piece about poll fluctuation, let me just say:

Go Gators!
Go Cardinal!
Go Spartans!
Go Vols!

Also, a group of cats can be called a nuisance, a destruction, a litter, a kindle, or a dout. Some collective noun coiner really hated cats.

(This is a guest series by MotSaG reader Jason Nafziger. He’ll be taking a weekly look at the college football polls and pointing out the absurd, the laughable and the head scratchers. Please note that Jason is not talking about the BlogPoll. Or my ballot to the BlogPoll.)

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State

Again, the two big dogs in the catbird seat(s) make the pollsters’ job as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. Now that all the animal-based cliches are out of the way, it’s time to make like a monkey and pick some nits.

3. Boise State
4. Texas

These two spots also remain the same from a week ago, which makes me wonder if the pollsters aren’t watching or are just afraid to make any waves. Boise State blasted Wyoming and did so in a more impressive fashion than Texas did a week ago, so I have no problem with putting the Broncos above the Longhorns. Still, Boise’s two victories are against teams that only have one win apiece, and those are against East Carolina and Southern Utah. At some point, who you’ve beaten has to come into play. Right now, I can’t see the justification for Boise at #3.

5. TCU
6. Oregon

More lack of movement, as both teams won convincingly. I’m kind of surprised that the voters didn’t jump the Ducks another spot or two after a third straight scoreboard-scrambling performance that pushed their season scoring rate to 1.05 points per minute.

7. Nebraska
8. Florida

These two swapped places, and we have arrived at my first real gripe so far. How is Nebraska not ranked higher than #7? Not only did the Husker D erase everything we thought we knew about Jake Locker, but Nebraska’s newbie at QB Taylor Martinez came out of the game looking like, well, what we thought Jake Locker was. Instead of playing like the stereotypically slow and plodding Big Ten team they’re about to be, Nebraska is sitting at #5 in the nation in scoring offense. If the pollsters are looking for a respectable team to put at #3, I think I found them.

Meanwhile, Florida continues to play the exact game every week regardless of opponent. I don’t even know who (or if) they play this Saturday, but put me down for Gators – 31, Other Team – 16.

9. Oklahoma
10. Wisconsin
11. Arkansas

We’ll just call this group the Teams Who Managed To Outlast Opponents They Should Be Far Better Than. Maybe Georgia is better than I think, but I’m pretty sure we all expected them to be the old tire on a rope during Mallett’s passing drills.

( This is a guest series by MotSaG reader Jason Nafziger. He’ll be taking a weekly look at the college football polls and pointing out the absurd, the laughable and the head scratchers. Please note that Jason is not talking about the BlogPoll. Or my ballot to the BlogPoll.)

Now the fun begins, as we start breaking down the maddeningly nonsensical week-to-week adjustments in the polls that will eventually decide the two teams allowed to play for the National Championship.

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State

Again, no movement here, and as long as these two teams continue to win, the pollsters will have an easy job this year. Both were impressive in their wins against top teams this week, and more importantly, they were more impressive than the teams right behind them in the poll. Trust me, if the Tide and the Buckeyes stay perfect, no one outside of the Linen District will care if the Broncos did too.

3. Boise State

Ah, those Broncos with their “big” win over the Hokies of Virginia Tech. You remember the Hokies, right? That’d be the team that managed a single early TD in a loss to James Madison this weekend. I think James Madison is a college, but if you tell me that Virginia Tech lost to the re-animated corpse of America’s fourth president, I won’t argue with you.

Somehow, though, the immediate and major devaluation of their only win did not hurt Boise’s ranking. It’s still a little early to call this an agenda, but Oliver Stone is watching you, pollsters.

4. Texas
5. TCU

The remainder of the top 5 holds steady as well, as both Lone Star teams cruised to fairly easy victories this week.

6. Oregon
7. Florida

Ranked team faces relatively weak BCS-level opponent. Struggles a little early, finds themselves in a low-scoring tie at halftime. Regroups and explodes for 30+ points in the second half, making the scoreboard look a little better than it should. Somehow, that equals a 2-spot boost for the Ducks, but a 1-spot drop for the Gators.

There are two possible explanations for this, and neither is logical. The first is that the voters wanted to put Oregon higher in the pre-season, but were scared off by the exit of Jeremiah “For My Next Trick, I’ll Kidnap John Hodgman And Justin Long” Masoli. Now that the Ducks are performing well, they’re ranking them where they wanted to in the first place. The second is that scoring 120 points in 120 minutes of football is just too appealing to the bottom-line watchers that fill out the ballots.

8. Nebraska
9. Oklahoma
10. Iowa

In contrast to the Ducks, all three of these teams thoroughly dominated their opponents, with each game easily over by halftime. And yet, only Oklahoma (who dismantled then-#17 Florida State) moved up, and that was only one spot. To recap: Oregon got a 2-spot bump for struggling to put away Tennessee while the Sooners got a 1-spot reward for blasting the Seminoles like a San Bruno gas line.

Apparently to accommodate the Ducks, Nebraska and Iowa actually lost a spot for their convincing wins (and Iowa’s was even over a Big 12 team who happens to be their in-state rival). And the season has just begun.

Of Note: Denard Robinson ranked 22nd this week, rest of team to transfer.

( This is a guest post by MotSaG reader Jason Nafziger. He’ll be taking a weekly look at the college football polls and pointing out the absurd, the laughable and the head scratchers. Please note that Jason is not talking about the BlogPoll. Or my ballot to the BlogPoll.)

Welcome to the first edition of Poll Dancing, a weekly look at the single most important factor in college football: someone else’s opinion of you. As much as we might hate the obscene amount of emphasis the BCS format puts on the polls (and we do hate it ever so much), we’re stuck with it, so we might as well poke it with a stick.

Here, we’ll be focusing on the two polls that actually impact the BCS ratings, the USA Today Coaches’ Poll and the Harris Interactive Poll. Since the Harris folks can’t be bothered to turn in a list of 25 teams they’ve heard of until mid-to-late September, we’ll have to make do with the one group of people in the country who are able to watch the least amount of games during football season: the coaches. (Did we mention this system sucks?)

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State

Not surprisingly, the top two teams from the pre-season poll remain unchanged, as both handily dispatched their overmatched opponents. Next week could be interesting, though: both will face a top 15 team.

3. Boise State
4. Texas
5. TCU

Now we get a little shuffling, as Boise State and TCU jumped two spots each by downing BCS conference foes, and are poised to run the table and face each other in another anticlimactic Fiesta Bowl.

6. Florida

Despite topping Miami (OH) by 22, the Gators bounced 3 spots down the poll like an errant shotgun snap. Florida’s embarrassing inability to grasp one basic fundamental concept of the game was bailed out only by the Redhawks’ embarrassing inability to grasp every basic fundamental concept of the game.

7. Nebraska
8. Oregon
9. Iowa
10.Oklahoma

The mid-majors had a hand in this group’s reordering as well. Even though Utah State couldn’t close the deal, Oklahoma paid the price of being taken to the wire by a team that’s won 13 games in the past five years. Oregon got a little extra boost from their 72-0 euthanasia of New Mexico. You know you’ve gone too far when they make you enter your initials at the end of the game.

Next Week: Lots of big games, plus Florida tries to master Connect Four.