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12/4/2007, 10:17 PM
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December 4, 2007
David Fox
Rivals.com College Football Staff Writer
Take a look at the three components of the BCS standings, and they all start to take on their own characteristics.
The USA Today coaches poll almost resembles class elections in high school. Friends stick together and vote for their own cliques – or, in this case, coaches favor their own conferences, former coaches or former assistants.
The Harris poll tends to fall in line with the Associated Press and coaches polls, though with 114 voters, some oddities are bound to show up (anyone up for a Hawaii-Kansas championship game?).
Steve Spurrier, who once had Bob Stoops as his defensive coordinator, voted Stoops' Sooners No. 1 on his ballot.
As for the computer rankings, figuring out their logic and inner workings is about as likely as your ability to take apart your laptop and reassemble it.
We've sifted through all 114 Harris poll ballots, all 60 coaches ballots and all six of the computer rankings. Here are some of the oddities (or absurdities) that make up the BCS standings:
# An Ohio State-LSU pairing in the championship game was the most popular selection in the human polls, but the game didn't receive a ringing endorsement. The Buckeyes and Tigers received the Nos. 1 and 2 votes (regardless of order) in 31 of 60 coaches' ballots and 54 of 114 Harris poll ballots. Ohio State-Oklahoma was the next-most-popular pairing, with that duo ranked in the top two in 17 Harris poll ballots and seven coaches' ballots (tied with Ohio State-Georgia in that poll).
# The 60 coaches in the coaches poll came up with nine 1-2 combinations: 31 for Ohio State-LSU, seven for Ohio State-Oklahoma, seven for Ohio State-Georgia, six for LSU-Oklahoma, four for Ohio State-USC and two for LSU-USC.
# Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer would have had an LSU-Virginia Tech rematch in the title game. He voted the Tigers first and Hokies second.
# New Mexico State coach Hal Mumme either values Hawaii's undefeated record, sides with the WAC or simply has an affinity for teams that throw the ball 50 times a game. He was the only voter in the coaches poll to give Hawaii a first-place nod.
# Florida Atlantic coach Howard *************** ranked Ohio State first and Kansas second.
# No surprise here: Coaches are the biggest boosters of their teams. Jim Tressel, Les Miles and Bob Stoops voted their teams first in the coaches poll. Mark Richt put his team second.
# Was Stoops not impressed by LSU or was he trying to help his own cause? He turned in the lowest vote for the Tigers in the coaches poll, ranking them sixth on his ballot. Here are the other low votes for top contenders: Ohio State was ranked sixth by Florida International coach Mario Cristobal, Georgia was ranked 10th by Wyoming coach Joe Glenn and Oklahoma was ranked 10th by Clemson coach Tommy Bowden/
# His former Big 12 brethren received no favors from outgoing Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione, who left Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas out of his top five.
# Steve Spurrier helped his former defensive coordinator by being the only coach other than Stoops to vote Oklahoma first.
# Harris poll voters came up with a dozen different 1-2 combinations: 54 for Ohio State-LSU, 17 for Ohio State-Oklahoma, 13 for Ohio State-Georgia, nine for Ohio State-USC, seven for LSU-Oklahoma, five for Ohio State-Kansas, four for Ohio State-Virginia Tech and two for Ohio State-Hawaii. The other four 1-2 matchups: Larry Keech, a former sportswriter with the Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record, voted Hawaii first and Kansas second; Los Angeles Daily News reporter Brian Dohn had LSU first and Georgia second; College Football Radio Network founder Mike Grace had LSU No. 1 and Virginia Tech No. 2; and Denny O'Brien, who covers East Carolina for the bonesville.net Web site, had LSU first and USC second.
# Former Cal quarterback great Craig Morton gave LSU its lowest vote in any of the human polls, ranking the Tigers 11th in the Harris poll, behind two teams it defeated (No. 5 Virginia Tech and No. 7 Florida). The other lowest rankings in the Harris: Ohio State was fifth on one ballot, Oklahoma was ninth on one ballot and Georgia was 10th on two ballots.
Frank Beamer's Hokies were blown out by LSU early in the season, but that didn't keep the computuers from placing Virginia Tech ahead of the Tigers.
# Four computers (Anderson & Hester, Sagarin, Massey and Wolfe) put Virginia Tech ahead of LSU. The Tigers beat the Hokies 48-7 in the second week of the season. Three computers (Anderson & Hester, Colley and Massey) ranked Missouri ahead of Oklahoma even though the Sooners defeated Mizzou twice this season.
# Virginia Tech was ranked first in three computer polls and second in one, presumably because of two factors. The removal of margin of victory from the BCS formula had no way to distinguish Tech's 41-point loss to LSU from a loss by a field goal. Moreover, the Hokies' loss in Baton Rouge may be viewed differently by some computers because it was a loss on the road, rather than at home.
# Missouri's edge over Oklahoma – most striking in the Anderson & Hester poll, where the Tigers were ranked second and the Sooners eighth – could be because there is no head-to-head component in some rankings. In other words, Missouri's top wins (over BCS No. 8 Kansas and No. 13 Illinois, both on neutral fields) and two losses (to No. 4 Oklahoma, on the road and on a neutral field) may mean more to some computers than Oklahoma's top wins (two over No. 6 Missouri and one over No. 19 Texas) and two losses on the road to unranked teams Colorado and Texas Tech.
# The Billingsley Report was the most "human" of the computer polls, as it was the only one to have Ohio State at No. 1 and LSU at No. 2. Fifth-ranked Oklahoma also finished ahead of 10th-ranked Missouri in those rankings.
Just wanted to share this if it had not been.
December 4, 2007
David Fox
Rivals.com College Football Staff Writer
Take a look at the three components of the BCS standings, and they all start to take on their own characteristics.
The USA Today coaches poll almost resembles class elections in high school. Friends stick together and vote for their own cliques – or, in this case, coaches favor their own conferences, former coaches or former assistants.
The Harris poll tends to fall in line with the Associated Press and coaches polls, though with 114 voters, some oddities are bound to show up (anyone up for a Hawaii-Kansas championship game?).
Steve Spurrier, who once had Bob Stoops as his defensive coordinator, voted Stoops' Sooners No. 1 on his ballot.
As for the computer rankings, figuring out their logic and inner workings is about as likely as your ability to take apart your laptop and reassemble it.
We've sifted through all 114 Harris poll ballots, all 60 coaches ballots and all six of the computer rankings. Here are some of the oddities (or absurdities) that make up the BCS standings:
# An Ohio State-LSU pairing in the championship game was the most popular selection in the human polls, but the game didn't receive a ringing endorsement. The Buckeyes and Tigers received the Nos. 1 and 2 votes (regardless of order) in 31 of 60 coaches' ballots and 54 of 114 Harris poll ballots. Ohio State-Oklahoma was the next-most-popular pairing, with that duo ranked in the top two in 17 Harris poll ballots and seven coaches' ballots (tied with Ohio State-Georgia in that poll).
# The 60 coaches in the coaches poll came up with nine 1-2 combinations: 31 for Ohio State-LSU, seven for Ohio State-Oklahoma, seven for Ohio State-Georgia, six for LSU-Oklahoma, four for Ohio State-USC and two for LSU-USC.
# Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer would have had an LSU-Virginia Tech rematch in the title game. He voted the Tigers first and Hokies second.
# New Mexico State coach Hal Mumme either values Hawaii's undefeated record, sides with the WAC or simply has an affinity for teams that throw the ball 50 times a game. He was the only voter in the coaches poll to give Hawaii a first-place nod.
# Florida Atlantic coach Howard *************** ranked Ohio State first and Kansas second.
# No surprise here: Coaches are the biggest boosters of their teams. Jim Tressel, Les Miles and Bob Stoops voted their teams first in the coaches poll. Mark Richt put his team second.
# Was Stoops not impressed by LSU or was he trying to help his own cause? He turned in the lowest vote for the Tigers in the coaches poll, ranking them sixth on his ballot. Here are the other low votes for top contenders: Ohio State was ranked sixth by Florida International coach Mario Cristobal, Georgia was ranked 10th by Wyoming coach Joe Glenn and Oklahoma was ranked 10th by Clemson coach Tommy Bowden/
# His former Big 12 brethren received no favors from outgoing Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione, who left Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas out of his top five.
# Steve Spurrier helped his former defensive coordinator by being the only coach other than Stoops to vote Oklahoma first.
# Harris poll voters came up with a dozen different 1-2 combinations: 54 for Ohio State-LSU, 17 for Ohio State-Oklahoma, 13 for Ohio State-Georgia, nine for Ohio State-USC, seven for LSU-Oklahoma, five for Ohio State-Kansas, four for Ohio State-Virginia Tech and two for Ohio State-Hawaii. The other four 1-2 matchups: Larry Keech, a former sportswriter with the Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record, voted Hawaii first and Kansas second; Los Angeles Daily News reporter Brian Dohn had LSU first and Georgia second; College Football Radio Network founder Mike Grace had LSU No. 1 and Virginia Tech No. 2; and Denny O'Brien, who covers East Carolina for the bonesville.net Web site, had LSU first and USC second.
# Former Cal quarterback great Craig Morton gave LSU its lowest vote in any of the human polls, ranking the Tigers 11th in the Harris poll, behind two teams it defeated (No. 5 Virginia Tech and No. 7 Florida). The other lowest rankings in the Harris: Ohio State was fifth on one ballot, Oklahoma was ninth on one ballot and Georgia was 10th on two ballots.
Frank Beamer's Hokies were blown out by LSU early in the season, but that didn't keep the computuers from placing Virginia Tech ahead of the Tigers.
# Four computers (Anderson & Hester, Sagarin, Massey and Wolfe) put Virginia Tech ahead of LSU. The Tigers beat the Hokies 48-7 in the second week of the season. Three computers (Anderson & Hester, Colley and Massey) ranked Missouri ahead of Oklahoma even though the Sooners defeated Mizzou twice this season.
# Virginia Tech was ranked first in three computer polls and second in one, presumably because of two factors. The removal of margin of victory from the BCS formula had no way to distinguish Tech's 41-point loss to LSU from a loss by a field goal. Moreover, the Hokies' loss in Baton Rouge may be viewed differently by some computers because it was a loss on the road, rather than at home.
# Missouri's edge over Oklahoma – most striking in the Anderson & Hester poll, where the Tigers were ranked second and the Sooners eighth – could be because there is no head-to-head component in some rankings. In other words, Missouri's top wins (over BCS No. 8 Kansas and No. 13 Illinois, both on neutral fields) and two losses (to No. 4 Oklahoma, on the road and on a neutral field) may mean more to some computers than Oklahoma's top wins (two over No. 6 Missouri and one over No. 19 Texas) and two losses on the road to unranked teams Colorado and Texas Tech.
# The Billingsley Report was the most "human" of the computer polls, as it was the only one to have Ohio State at No. 1 and LSU at No. 2. Fifth-ranked Oklahoma also finished ahead of 10th-ranked Missouri in those rankings.
Just wanted to share this if it had not been.