Terry, I'm curious why you feel that way. Don't the computers consider strength of schedule? Frankly, after the past weekend, I have no argument with Missouri being ranked #2. If anything, I think the human polls have gotten carried away with Boise State as a cinderella team. What? The media banding together with one mindset? Unheard of! :roll: IMO, it all washes out the way it should. If at the end Boise is #1 or #2, I won't argue with it, but to say Missouri does not deserve to be #2 at this stage of the season based on its body of work to date.....well, I guess I respectfully disagree.
Sid, I just have a hard time that Missouri is truly the #2 team in the country. Sure they beat OU, but OU is overated this year IMHO. This is the OU team that almost got beat by Air Force at home, almost lost to Cincy at their place, almost lost to Utah State at home, and had a solid lead against Texas and had to hang on at the end. I fully expect Missouri to lose two games this year, lose to Neb and somebody else.
Mizzou would most likely have to beat Oklahoma again in the Big 12 Title game so that just might push the Tigers up in the BCS standings in the 1 or 2 position. Those title games help. A strength of schedule synopsis: "Oregon has played the 81st toughest schedule in America. Boise State's slate is ranked 57th, Auburn's is third, Wisconsin's is 45th, TCU's is 67th, Michigan State's is 49th, and Missouri's is 13th. Out of the top 25 teams in the latest BCS rankings, only Utah (96th) has played an easier schedule. "
Terry, After reading your last post, I understand your reasoning. I no longer disagree with you. As for whether or not they deserve to be ranked so high, we'll know a lot more after they play Nebraska.
Lot of football left to play no doubt, if Missouri and/or Mich State makes it through undefeated more power to them. Throw in Oregon, TCU/Boise and a once beaten SEC team and there will be plenty of controversy to go around. :twisted:
I don't think a once beaten Alabama jumps unbeaten teams from the Big 10, Big 12 or Pac 10. Boise and TCU are different matters. I'm with Terry about Oklahoma, how the computers had them number one ahead of Oregon is beyond me. I can understand Auburn better, and not because they are SEC, than I can understand Oklahoma as of last week. Time will tell, the USC - Oregon game will go a long way in determining whether Oregon is one of the top two or not. The computers can bite people unfairly. I've always said I would rather have knowledgeable coaches and sports writers than a computer making the decisions. And there are wide variations in computer polls as to who is ranked high and who isn't. I've always felt that way and still do.
I think one loss Bama does have a shot at an unbeaten MSU.....but probably not as much against Oregon because of all the poll love for the Quackers and against Mizzou because of their SOS now and what it will be after they play Nebraska and possibly Oklahoma again.
:lol: Not a chance...and if it did, it would be the end of the BCS as we know it....which is a good thing, provided that it be replaced with a playoff. Given Bama's low computer ranking, 12th, they would have to leap over Sparty and everybody else and be ranked #1 in both human polls....if Sparty runs the table, that ain't gonna happen.
Sparty runs the table with a decent team in Iowa and then mops up with the slop after that and no title game. Bama finishes with LSU and Auburn in the regular season and then gets the extra benefit of the SECCG. MSU could be the one left out very easily with the above scenario. If Bama runs that table the voters will also give the Tide a slight edge.
Of course that is your position because it makes you feel better about yourself..... If they run the table, not a chance. They would have to jump them in both human polls and the computer polls and frankly I don't see them jumping them in any.....the Coaches? NFW! Computers virtually impossible barring consecutive 222-0 type victories. It would be a debacle of epic proportion...... Your comments about slop are so typical and sadly predictable....again you have some compelling need to diminish the accomplishments of others in an effort to salve your wounded Gatorness......it's juvenile. The notion that the SEC is so strong this year that all other conferences need not apply has been exposed as a bad joke. The conference is just not that strong this year and it's no secret....quit pretending, you're looking foolish.
BT.... I have watched this BCS thing closely for years and I have always been pretty damned accurate much to the consternation and even damnation of many here on this board. Alabama also plays Miss St and if they keep winning that is yet another boost to the Bama SOS. MSU could be the #3 BCS team looking in like Auburn was a few years back. MSU is rooting hard for the Gators to make the SECCG so as to kill the Bama schedule rating :wink:
No chance a once beaten Bama beats out an unbeaten team from the Big 10, Pac 10 or Big 12. Very possible they beat out an unbeaten Boise State or TCU.
Bill.....think about it. If MSU squeaks by BCS#18 Iowa on Sat.......which is all they can hope to do......and then they mundanely win over the rest of their 3 Big Ten opponenets who are having miserable seasons while Bama is beating MissSt, LSU and BCS #1 Auburn.....and throw in the SECCG game for good measure......then how do you justify what you are saying?
Easy MCG... There's an old saying: "It's better to lose early." Well... it's even better NOT TO LOSE. PERIOD Beating a 2 or 3 loss SEC East team does nothing for Bama. Beating Auburn would get Bama up to #3 or so, but they would not leap over a major undefeated. It just won't happen. If Oregon and MSU run the table, they will play for the champ. With all that said... I don't see MSU getting by Iowa, so it will probably be a moot point.
I'm not speaking for Bill, but the justification is that the Coaches will leapfrog an undefeated Sparty with a one loss Bama - when hell freezes over.....why? Because a) they know how incredibly difficult it is to run the table in the Big 10 and unworthy teams can't do it, b)they don't want the same outrageous debacle to befall them in similar circumstances. I don't see any possible way that the relative computer standings would benefit Bama so much over an unbeaten Sparty.....won't happen. I don't believe it to be mathematically possible given Sparty currently at 3 in the computers and Bama at 12 and the computers do have relevant SOS elements and I think they've given them all the consideration they deserve. In Sparty wins out, I can't imagine they are going to fall relative to others in any material manner.....rather I would expect them to improve. All that said, they do have to go into Iowa City and beat a very good Iowa team this weekend and which is not a given for anybody, not to mention going in to Happy Valley to play the Nits in what many believe could be JoePa's last home game....imagine the emotion in that stadium. But I know.....it's just slop. You gotta lose this SOS stuff as if it's the magic bullet that will provide Bama the necessary momentum to jump an unbeaten Sparty. I know it provides you comfort, but it's just not what you want it to be......
It is what it is BT. You may not like it.....may not agree.....but it is what it is and that is the BCS system that we all have to live with. If MSU gets by Iowa and then finishes out the string over 3 Big Ten teams who will have 22 losses between them while Bama is playing the highly ranked teams it will play then......the computers will not elevate MSU over Bama and I think the voters would not as well. Close on the voters......probably regionalized.......but I think Bama takes it. Now.....for both Bama and MSU to win the rest of their games is quite a stretch anyway.
It is that, but it is not what you think it is.....that only exists in your imagination. The computers don't have to elevate Sparty over Bama, they are already there in a big way. Sparty is 3rd in the computers, Bama is 12th. Bama has lost a game. If Sparty runs the table, it is virtually mathematically impossible for Bama to rise above them given that loss unless they completely change the models to provide for mulligans.....ain't gonna happen. Speaking to your SOS argument, all the computer rankings explicitly factor in strength of schedule and Bama has 4 one loss teams in front of them. What does that tell ya? Mizzou and Oklahoma both are in front of Bama in the computers and have the added benefit of playing in the Big 12, the almost unanimously highest rated conference as well as a championship game. Believe, I need desparately for Sparty to lose. While our chances are extremely remote, they are impossible with an unbeaten Sparty in front of us....
One thing for sure it will play out and none of us will be able to predict how it plays out. The other thing for sure is that in the end many of us will question how it played out and long for a playoff where it can be settled on the field between a larger group than 2 teams picked in a questionable way. Personally I sort of hope Boise is one of the 2 teams and wins the NC. Last year both Boise and TCU were unbeaten but didn't make the final 2 teams. I wouldn't be suprised if the same thing happened this year. The real question is what happens if the BCS conferences produce no unbeaten teams, and Boise is unbeaten. I know most fans of those conferences will feel their once beaten team has done more to deserve the shot at a title than either an unbeaten TCU or Boise State. I have a feeling this could be the most contentious BCS ever.
I think it's great fun if your team isn't the one getting screwed....which my Gators have no chance of being that team this year. "The computers don't have to elevate Sparty over Bama, they are already there in a big way." You completely underestimate the impact of Bama's finishing schedule.