The computers

[BermudaSooner]

Skip to the end if you want to know the answer. Full analysis below.

Anderson & Hester:

1. Bama
2. Utah
3. Texas
4. OU
5. Tech
6. Florida
7. Penn St
8. Boise
9. Georgia
10. USC

Texas is very close to Utah, and has somewhat of a lead over OU. Since distance doesn't matter, just place in an individual computer poll, it is imperative that Utah maintains its lead on Texas, or OU jumps Texas.

With a win at OSU, OU will have an impressive 4-1 record vs the top 25. No other team in Anderson's poll will have that. Texas' schedule strength right now is 2, and OU's is 18. Those should come much closer after this week.

Billingsley:

1. Bama
2. OU
3. Texas
4. Tech
5. USC
6. Utah
7. Florida
8. Georgia
9. Ohio State
10. Penn St.
12. Ok State

Doesn't look like OU can improve any in this poll with a win at OSU. We could hope Tech passes Texas and gives us some distance, but that doesn't look likely with Baylor and Aggie on the schedules. Probably no improvement possible here.

Sagarin:

Using his normal formula, it is UT #1, OU #2. Using the Elo Chess method that the BCS uses, it is as follows:

1. Texas
2. Tech
3. Bama
4. OU
5. Utah
6. OK State
7. Florida
8. Penn St
9. Georgia
10. USC

With OSU #6, we have lots of possibilities for improvement here. Just for info, A&M is #89, Baylor is 76, and All Barn is 78. A win at #6 has to improve OU against the competition who have terrible opponents. Remember, it is about positioning, so even if Texas stays at #1, if OU can improve to #2 or #3, we gain position and therefore BCS points. Further, the difference between OU, Bama and Tech is very very close. A win definitely puts us over those 2.

Colley:

1. Texas
2. Bama
3. Utah
4. Florida
5. OU
6. Tech

15. Ok State

Texas has a big lead here, and not sure we can gain too much on Florida. This will likely be our worst poll, so to be dropped from the BCS formula as the best and worst of each team is dropped. Florida plays #20 Florida State, so not likely to gain too much on them.

Wolfe:

1. Bama
2. Texas
3. Tech
4. OU
5. Utah
6. Penn St.
7. Florida
10. Ok State

Good news here. The raw value for Tech is 9.889. For OU is 9.888. Texas has a good lead with a raw value of 10.128, but again it is movement in position. Got to believe that OU beating #10 Wolfe ranked OSU will give us the small nudge above #79 Wolfe ranked Baylor, so OU should go from #4 to #3 at least. Not sure we catch Texas, but again if the human polls hold up, probably don't need to.

Massey:

1. OU
2. Texas
3. Tech
4. Bama
5. Utah
6. Florida
15. Ok State

Finally, a computer that works! Again this is down to position, and we do drop our best ranking, so this one may not matter much for us, but it could for Texas. Can Tech or Bama jump Texas? Probably not, so as far as deciding OU vs Texas, we don't have much to gain from a win vs OSU in the Massey poll.

So, my guesses based upon all of the above for OU vs Texas in the computers assuming a win over OSU, A&M and Baylor?

Anderson:

Currently Texas #3, OU #4, This one could very well go against us and be Texas #2, OU #4 as Texas is very close to Utah at #2, and has a good lead on OU. To be conservative, I'm going with Texas 2, OU 4.

Billingsley,

currently OU #2, Texas #3, with no improvement expected. Florida is too far behind at #7 to help us out with a win against FSU and give us some distance against Texas.

Sagarin:

I gotta believe that a win at #6 OSU moves OU to #1 from #4, and moves #1 Texas down to #2. Big move here.

Colley:

Again, not sure we can gain much here. This probably stays as is with Texas at #1, OU at #5.

Wolfe:

OU will improve from #4 to #3 at least, and lets assume Texas stays at #2.

Massey:

Nothing to improve on, OU stays at #1, Texas at #2.

So, Texas has 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 2--drop the 1 and the 3, they get 96 out of 100 points, or 0.96 - exactly where they are today.

OU has 4, 2, 1, 5, 3, 1 - drop the 5 and 1 of the 1s, we get 94 out of 100 points, or 0.94, a big improvement over the 0.90 we are today.

We need to make up 0.0084 on Texas. We gained exactly 0.04 / 3 = 0.0133. In other words, a win in Stillwater, Tech beating Baylor and NO POLLSTERS CHANGING THEIR VOTES means OU is going to Kansas City.

Just how close is it? If I'm wrong on Sagarin and OU doesn't jump from #4 to #1 due to beating #6 away, but rather jumps to #2 and Texas stays at #1, we only gain 0.0067--not enough to make up the 0.0084. Given how close this is, it could come down to, for example, whether one of TCU's opponents beats someone else, thus slightly improving TCU, and slightly improving OU.

[Collier11]

what? ;)

Jerry Palm said it will be very close if there are no upsets and OU will slightly get past ut

[Sooner98]

Wow. Good analysis.

[TopDawg]

Sagarin:

I gotta believe that a win at #6 OSU moves OU to #1 from #4, and moves #1 Texas down to #2. Big move here.

Sagarin's predictor has us finishing #2 with a win over OSU (and a Texas win over A&M).

[LRoss]

Nice work, those were the kind of numbers I was looking for.

[BermudaSooner]

what? ;)

Jerry Palm said it will be very close if there are no upsets and OU will slightly get past ut

That's cause he called me, and I showed him my analysis. ;)

[UTsucks]

Dam I need a scotch now reading that :pop:

[BermudaSooner]

Sagarin's predictor has us finishing #2 with a win over OSU (and a Texas win over A&M).

Really? This is really going to be close then. Looks like we need to make up some ground in one of the other computer polls then.

Come on, isn't this more fun that a playoff?

[TopDawg]

94.60 for Texas
93.71 for OU

They're currently at 93.53 (UT) and 92.32 (OU).

You can see it here (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbt08.htm)

If I understand it correctly ELO_CHESS is where they are currently ranked (it's what the BCS uses). PREDICTOR is some sort of measure of how many points are available to them combined with the likelihood that they get those points. RATING is a combination of the two...where they are now and the prediction of what they'll get.

Now I may be misunderstanding his RATING. It might not be a predictor of what they actually might end up with, but I'm not sure why else he'd have it in there if it's not.

[BermudaSooner]

94.60 for Texas
93.71 for OU

They're currently at 93.53 (UT) and 92.32 (OU).

You can see it here (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbt08.htm)

If I understand it correctly ELO_CHESS is where they are currently ranked (it's what the BCS uses). PREDICTOR is some sort of measure of how many points are available to them combined with the likelihood that they get those points. RATING is a combination of the two...where they are now and the prediction of what they'll get.

Now I may be misunderstanding his RATING. It might not be a predictor of what they actually might end up with, but I'm not sure why else he'd have it in there if it's not.

No, that isn't correct. Predictor or "Pure Points" is Sagarin's "not politically correct" ranking--meaning it takes into account scoring margin. The BCS didn't want to encourage running up the score, so Sagarin created his Elo Chess method which just deals with wins and losses. I thought it used to have points up to a cut off (14 as I recall), but his website now says just wins and losses.

As far as I know, nobody has published any "what if" rankings before.

[BermudaSooner]

Just realized--was it Middle Tenn State that cancelled on us and so we had to find Chattanooga? If this turns out against us, something completely out of our control that happened before we played a down could be the difference.

Ugh.

[MiccoMacey]

All this pre-supposes the votes all stay the same.

If we beat OSU on the road, we'll probably pick up some more votes.

How does that factor in?

[SoonR4Life]

very good analysis!

[noobalicious]

A few thoughts, but a well written piece:

Re: Anderson & Hester Ratings
Utah jumped from #4 to #2 this week with a Texas Tech loss ahead of them and win over a quality opponent (BYU in the top 25). Their points in his rating system moved from .793 to .805. Texas actually dropped from .805 to .803. We jumped from .768 to .786. This rating system appears to be based around rewarding teams for quality wins. Strength of schedule is a big factor. Utah jumped .012 with a win over a top 25 team. We jumped .018 with a win over a top 10 team. Texas doesn't play a quality opponent this week so they shouldn't get any movement. We do, so we should gain some points there. We'll at least make it closer, but still be well short. I think this will honestly stay as-is, UT 3 and OU 4.

Re: Sagarin
Don't be so sure. Sagarin's ratings are notoriously quirky. The ELO Chess, Predictor and actual ranking values can be wildly different. Like OSU is #12 in his actual ranking, but #6 in the ELO Chess - which is what the BCS uses. I have no idea what his formula is, but anything is possible here. Usually a win over a quality opponent helps, and we are fractions of a point behind Alabama and Texas Tech in his poll. Texas #1. All three have lower tier opponents this week. Logic would seem to dictate we'd move up, but again, I've seen crazy things happen in this poll.

Re: Colley
Actually, Colley offers a simulator, which is nice and removes a lot of the hypothesizing. If everyone wins at the top, we're #3 behind UT and FLA in that order. Yes, we would jump Alabama (who plays Auburn) and Utah (who is idle). I'd factor that jump to #3 into your calculations since thats a CERTAINTY.

So I'd guess we'd be #3 ish in Sagarin (being more conservative there) and calling a #3 in Colley. That means we have a 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4. 93 out of 100 points and that's being way more conservative than you with Sagarin. However, the .03 / 3 = 0.1 and that is more than the 0.08 that we need to make up. So I would agree with your assessment, but it would be by a RAZOR thin margin.

Things that would help:
* Kansas beating Mizzou. We both had Kansas on our schedules. However Texas had Mizzou. Kansas losing would give us a hit on our strength of schedule, while Texas' would be a wash since they played both teams.
* Nebbish handling Colorado. Nebraska played us. Colorado played Texas. Another place to make up a disparity.
* FIU over Florida Atlantic (Fla Atl played Texas)
* East Carolina beating UTEP (UTEP played Texas)
* Arkansas losing to LSU (Arkansas played Texas)
* Rice losing to Houston (Rice played Texas)

I think that 3 out of the 4 Texas opponents losing is very possible, maybe all of them. Again, this doesn't guarantee anything for us, but some of these computer rankings are extremely close so everything matters.

Also want to root for: Cincy over Cuse. TCU is done so they can't hurt or help us. Chattanooga doesn't count towards BCS ratings (FCS team). Washington finishes against Cal on 12/06.

I think this discussion is moot if we beat OSU by more than 2 touchdowns. Or if Texas only wins by 2 touchdowns or less. Or a combination of the 2. That would allow us to make enough gains in the human polls to ice it.

Texas has to pray for a Tech loss at Baylor, a close game at OSU but not a loss, or a huge blowout of Texas A&M (not likely to help much if OU handles OSU).

[ousooners182]

Yeah say we gain like..20 more point lead in each poll..how would that factor in? would we be ok if we were only 2 in the sagarin...

i got to admit.

thisis fun
!

[JLEW1818]

Okay Bermuda,

If we beat State by 14 + , and the humans stay the same. Will we jump? Or is that not really an answerable question? I have no clue how the computer part works.

[ousooners182]

margin of victory isnt in the computers anymore impretty sure but it sure would help us pick up more votes in the coaches and harris.

[noobalicious]

Yeah say we gain like..20 more point lead in each poll..how would that factor in? would we be ok if we were only 2 in the sagarin...

and

If we beat State by 14 + , and the humans stay the same. Will we jump? Or is that not really an answerable question? I have no clue how the computer part works.

OK, we stand to make up ground in the computers. Texas has pretty much plateaued. This has to do with our remaining opponents and how good they are. If Alabama loses, then all bets are off and could be UT 1 and OU 2, but for arguments sake lets assume the top 5 all wins.

Let's also assume the computers stay homers for UT. 0.96 BCS avg for Texas in the computers, 0.90 for us.

20 point increase in the Harris and Coaches assuming UT gets the same amount of votes?

Coaches for us: 0.939 avg
Harris for us: 0.919 avg

This would give final BCS rankings of: UT .9209 and OU .9193

So no, that would not be sufficient for us to jump, in and of itself. We would be short by 0.0016. Again that is assuming NO movement in the computers. Basically if we gain a 20 point lead in the Harris and Coaches, and gain in just ONE computer ranking, we're in.

[noobalicious]

Actually, to respond to my own post...the Colley computer rating has a simulator and if the top 5 all wins, we move up to #3 in that ranking. So yes, a 20 point increase in both the Harris and Coaches would BARELY get us in.

[GrapevineSooner]

Bermuda's done a nice job of summing up the computer polls and the likelihood of OU moving up in those with a possible razor thin margin proving to be the difference either way.

All well and good, IMO.

I'd just like to state the following:

114x23 = 2622
61x24 = 1464

What importance does this have?

Well, the first number is the median point value for the 3rd place spot in the Harris poll. The second is the median point value for the 2nd place spot in the USA Today Poll.

Right now, OU has 2598 points in the Harris Poll, or 24 points below the median. And in the USA Today Poll, they have 1412 points, or 52 points below the median.

In other words, they still stand to make up a lot of ground in the human polls.

And when you consider...

Texas plays A&M at home.
Alabama plays All Barn.
Florida plays Florida State.

It's not out of the realm of possibility that any kind of a win in Stillwater in primetime on Saturday night would be enough to erase the deficit.

EDIT: After re-evaluating my own numbers, Noobalicious was right in posting that a 20 point swing in both human polls would leave us a bit short with the computer rankings notwithstanding.

So I edited my own post.

And considering the lead Alabama has on everybody else in the USA Today and Harris Polls, it wouldn't hurt us if they struggled a bit against All Barn.

[JLEW1818]

so will texas actually lose points in the computer polls?

[noobalicious]

so will texas actually lose points in the computer polls?

I doubt it. They will probably stay pretty close to where they are right now, if not exactly there. I don't think it could get higher if everyone in the top 5 wins.

The only difference will be what our ranking is.

[BermudaSooner]

so will texas actually lose points in the computer polls?

What noob said, but also remember, it isn't about points in the computers but rather position. If a computer has:

UT .9999
Florida .9998
Bama .9997
OU .9996

or

UT .9999
florida .9700
Bama .9500
OU .9300

We get the same amount of "points." We are 4th in both polls. So polls where we can make up something is good. The Wolfe polls for example provides a good place for us to move up as we are .0001 behind Tech, and they play Baylor and we play OSU.

It is all about positioning. We could, for example, be helped out by Florida providing some space between us an Texas in a poll, or by Florida jumping Texas and moving them closer down to OU. We could be helped by FSU beating Florida in that the Colley poll has Florida ahead of us, but behind Texas. Florida losing helps us close the gap, and thus the distance in the computer polls.

[Lott's Bandana]

I had to go back and look at the date of the first post in this thread.

Any computer that has Tech ranked ahead of a team that beat them by 44 points the night before needs to be unplugged and thrown into a lake.

Was Saturday night a dream?

Great system.

[RedstickSooner]

I think they should include margin of victory, but cap it at, say, 14 against teams that aren't in the top-25. Running it up on patsies is meaningless, but when you blow out a top-10 team like we did, it's absurd you don't get any credit for it.

Also, why do some of these computers have TTech above us? Did they have a tougher schedule than we did?

[RedstickSooner]

so will texas actually lose points in the computer polls?

It should. The record of one of its quality wins would drop from 9-2 to 9-3.

[BermudaSooner]

Any computer that has Tech ranked ahead of a team that beat them by 44 points the night before needs to be unplugged and thrown into a lake.


Well, when A beats B, B beats C, and C beats A, how do you rank them? By definition, one of the teams has to be above a team that beat it.

[Jason White's Third Knee]

Skip to the end if you want to know the answer. Full analysis below.

Anderson & Hester:

1. Bama
2. Utah
3. Texas
4. OU
5. Tech
6. Florida
7. Penn St
8. Boise
9. Georgia
10. USC

Texas is very close to Utah, and has somewhat of a lead over OU. Since distance doesn't matter, just place in an individual computer poll, it is imperative that Utah maintains its lead on Texas, or OU jumps Texas.

With a win at OSU, OU will have an impressive 4-1 record vs the top 25. No other team in Anderson's poll will have that. Texas' schedule strength right now is 2, and OU's is 18. Those should come much closer after this week.

Billingsley:

1. Bama
2. OU
3. Texas
4. Tech
5. USC
6. Utah
7. Florida
8. Georgia
9. Ohio State
10. Penn St.
12. Ok State

Doesn't look like OU can improve any in this poll with a win at OSU. We could hope Tech passes Texas and gives us some distance, but that doesn't look likely with Baylor and Aggie on the schedules. Probably no improvement possible here.

Sagarin:

Using his normal formula, it is UT #1, OU #2. Using the Elo Chess method that the BCS uses, it is as follows:

1. Texas
2. Tech
3. Bama
4. OU
5. Utah
6. OK State
7. Florida
8. Penn St
9. Georgia
10. USC

With OSU #6, we have lots of possibilities for improvement here. Just for info, A&M is #89, Baylor is 76, and All Barn is 78. A win at #6 has to improve OU against the competition who have terrible opponents. Remember, it is about positioning, so even if Texas stays at #1, if OU can improve to #2 or #3, we gain position and therefore BCS points. Further, the difference between OU, Bama and Tech is very very close. A win definitely puts us over those 2.

Colley:

1. Texas
2. Bama
3. Utah
4. Florida
5. OU
6. Tech

15. Ok State

Texas has a big lead here, and not sure we can gain too much on Florida. This will likely be our worst poll, so to be dropped from the BCS formula as the best and worst of each team is dropped. Florida plays #20 Florida State, so not likely to gain too much on them.

Wolfe:

1. Bama
2. Texas
3. Tech
4. OU
5. Utah
6. Penn St.
7. Florida
10. Ok State

Good news here. The raw value for Tech is 9.889. For OU is 9.888. Texas has a good lead with a raw value of 10.128, but again it is movement in position. Got to believe that OU beating #10 Wolfe ranked OSU will give us the small nudge above #79 Wolfe ranked Baylor, so OU should go from #4 to #3 at least. Not sure we catch Texas, but again if the human polls hold up, probably don't need to.

Massey:

1. OU
2. Texas
3. Tech
4. Bama
5. Utah
6. Florida
15. Ok State

Finally, a computer that works! Again this is down to position, and we do drop our best ranking, so this one may not matter much for us, but it could for Texas. Can Tech or Bama jump Texas? Probably not, so as far as deciding OU vs Texas, we don't have much to gain from a win vs OSU in the Massey poll.

So, my guesses based upon all of the above for OU vs Texas in the computers assuming a win over OSU, A&M and Baylor?

Anderson:

Currently Texas #3, OU #4, This one could very well go against us and be Texas #2, OU #4 as Texas is very close to Utah at #2, and has a good lead on OU. To be conservative, I'm going with Texas 2, OU 4.

Billingsley,

currently OU #2, Texas #3, with no improvement expected. Florida is too far behind at #7 to help us out with a win against FSU and give us some distance against Texas.

Sagarin:

I gotta believe that a win at #6 OSU moves OU to #1 from #4, and moves #1 Texas down to #2. Big move here.

Colley:

Again, not sure we can gain much here. This probably stays as is with Texas at #1, OU at #5.

Wolfe:

OU will improve from #4 to #3 at least, and lets assume Texas stays at #2.

Massey:

Nothing to improve on, OU stays at #1, Texas at #2.

So, Texas has 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 2--drop the 1 and the 3, they get 96 out of 100 points, or 0.96 - exactly where they are today.

OU has 4, 2, 1, 5, 3, 1 - drop the 5 and 1 of the 1s, we get 94 out of 100 points, or 0.94, a big improvement over the 0.90 we are today.

We need to make up 0.0084 on Texas. We gained exactly 0.04 / 3 = 0.0133. In other words, a win in Stillwater, Tech beating Baylor and NO POLLSTERS CHANGING THEIR VOTES means OU is going to Kansas City.

Just how close is it? If I'm wrong on Sagarin and OU doesn't jump from #4 to #1 due to beating #6 away, but rather jumps to #2 and Texas stays at #1, we only gain 0.0067--not enough to make up the 0.0084. Given how close this is, it could come down to, for example, whether one of TCU's opponents beats someone else, thus slightly improving TCU, and slightly improving OU.




Pfft.





Nerd.

[Lott's Bandana]

Well, when A beats B, B beats C, and C beats A, how do you rank them? By definition, one of the teams has to be above a team that beat it.

I know your question is rhetorical, but I'll answer by saying...

The computer in my head has sensory input.

The visual component of my formula saw Goliath throw David into the Red Sea over the weekend.

Computers calculate with factual data...what happened Saturday night is a fact.

Given a three-way tie, the beatdown in Norman was a much more impressive win at this point in the season than TT's win in Lubbock or the RRS. This should be part of the double-secret formula somehow.

[The Maestro]

I know your question is rhetorical, but I'll answer by saying...

The computer in my head has sensory input.

The visual component of my formula saw Goliath throw David into the Red Sea over the weekend.

Computers calculate with factual data...what happened Saturday night is a fact.

Given a three-way tie, the beatdown in Norman was a much more impressive win at this point in the season than TT's win in Lubbock or the RRS. This should be part of the double-secret formula somehow.


AGREED, AGREED, AGREED! And in the three way tie we have only ONE team totally dominated the other from start to finish. We saw a lead disappear against Texas and a key injury in the game was a big part of that. No, our offense did do what was needed only scoring 7 points the last 28 minutes, but Texas, in no way, dominated us. Texas at Tech? Tech dominated the first half, blew the lead and then won on the last play. We pounded Tech from the first gun to the final snap. Not to mention our non-conference is FAR SUPERIOR to that of Tech and Texas. While Tech struggled to beat Nebraska, we crushed them.

NO COMPUTER can possibly be considered unbiased and well thought out if it has Tech ahead of us.

[Collier11]

what is sad is that thru all of this, ut fans are mad at Stoops instead of the BCS. I have read where Stoops is classless, a jerk, an idiot, etc...because of his saying TT should be ahead of ut if ut is ahead of us. No, its just common sense based on that logic IMO. Is it classless the way that Mack will be out there on every radio and tv show lobbying like a politician? I dont blame either school for being mad if they are left out, I just personally want it to be UT :)

[Leroy Lizard]

* Kansas beating Mizzou. We both had Kansas on our schedules. However Texas had Mizzou. Kansas losing would give us a hit on our strength of schedule, while Texas' would be a wash since they played both teams.
* Nebbish handling Colorado. Nebraska played us. Colorado played Texas. Another place to make up a disparity.
* FIU over Florida Atlantic (Fla Atl played Texas)
* East Carolina beating UTEP (UTEP played Texas)
* Arkansas losing to LSU (Arkansas played Texas)
* Rice losing to Houston (Rice played Texas)

So I have good reasons to watch these games. The BCS is awesome!

[Collier11]

BCS is idiotic! For one, there are 3 and maybe 4 big 12 teams that deserve a BCS bid and only two will get a bid. The fact that Stoops and Mack have to lobby for votes is idiotic. The fact that we have to debate whether OU's win over Tech who beat ut is more important that texas's win over us is idiotic. There will likely be 3 12-1 teams in the Big 12 south, all losing to one another, and one will be going to the gator or cotton bowl. There is nothing awesome about this crap!

[TopDawg]

So I have good reasons to watch these games. The BCS is awesome!

You'd also have reasons to watch those if you were a gambling addict.

[JLEW1818]

Dear Bermuda,

Okay so what do we exactly want to happen this weekend as far as on the field. If the 3 way tie continues................. Do we want to crush Poke State or does it not matter as long as we win? Just tell me about the computers, because obviously the humans will do their own thing. Say the humans stayed the same for next week.

[soonerfan28]

Where are these computers that we keep hearing about?:D

[JLEW1818]

Where are these computers that we keep hearing about?:D

The athletic office at UT

[IronHorseSooner]

Actually, the human polls are the ones who take into account margin of vicotry. A human watches the game and votes how they see fit- they are the qualitative checks. The computers are, essentially, for things like SOS- they are the quantitative check. Since the only reason that we are a whisker's length behind UTerus is that we haven't played OSU, and the other two teams have, that is why UTerus is screwed. There is nothing, but politicking by Mack or a Baylor win and I don't think either will matter/happen, that can keep us out. Everybody in the media, be they friend or foe, sees it happening, it's just whether or not they have accepted it yet.

[JLEW1818]

We should still more votes with a win on the road.

[stoopified]

.

Come on, isn't this more fun that a playoff?NO! Not only NO but HELL NO!!!

[Jewstin]

Actually, the human polls are the ones who take into account margin of vicotry. A human watches the game and votes how they see fit- they are the qualitative checks. The computers are, essentially, for things like SOS- they are the quantitative check. Since the only reason that we are a whisker's length behind UTerus is that we haven't played OSU, and the other two teams have, that is why UTerus is screwed. There is nothing, but politicking by Mack or a Baylor win and I don't think either will matter/happen, that can keep us out. Everybody in the media, be they friend or foe, sees it happening, it's just whether or not they have accepted it yet.

What he said. :D We're only going to move up in the computer portion, where Texas, for some reason, has a huge lead (only .01 behind Alabama, actually). This week, their calculation will now include A&M, whereas ours will now include a much more highly regarded Oklahoma State. Huge benefit in our favor.

[Stoop Dawg]

You'd also have reasons to watch those if you were a gambling addict.

Or if you simply enjoyed the tradition and pageantry of college football.

Isn't that the main reason people watch football anyway?

[Leroy Lizard]

You'd also have reasons to watch those if you were a gambling addict.

But I'm not. So I have a reason to care about these games more than normal. Excellent!

[TopDawg]

But I'm not. So I have a reason to care about these games more than normal. Excellent!

Imagine if there was a playoff. Then there'd be even MORE games to care about! EXCELLENT!

[Stoop Dawg]

Imagine if there was a playoff. Then there'd be even MORE games to care about! EXCELLENT!

You can't compare the excitement of watching ECU/UTEP hoping for a miniscule SOS nudge to some boring USC/UF game. Be serious.

[Collier11]

even more meaningful games, as opposed to a wonderful bowl season which is coming up with about 20 undeserving teams