http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbt11.htm I think Sagarin is the top computer system in the nation. A few curious facts.... BSU strength of schedule is 31st in the nation. That's a lot better than I thought. It'll drop, but still not too bad. Stanford & Wisconsin have so far had really fluffy schedules. Why does Oklahoma have the 15th most difficult schedule, and Oregon the 30th, and yet we're ranked #5 and their #7? Oklahoma State is 7-0 and has played the 9th most difficult schedule and still has Oklahoma coming up. That's impressive. Anyway, good stuff.
because the BCS factors in media & coaches opinion polls and those often give more weight to recent losses. If both schools were to win out, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Sooners leapfrog the Ducks as those same polls seem to favor traditional powers. STOMP
Good stuff. I would be surprised to see Oklahoma leapfrog because Oregon current has 1136 and OK 912. Our road goes through Stanford and USC. Theirs through three ranked teams but a loss to an unranked team really hurts. Seems like we all complain about the east coast bias, but the Pac and Oregon specifically, gets plenty of respect. OK also has to play at OK St. Wisconsin kinda gets the shaft because tOSU, OSU, Purdue, Minn, Ill and even Penn aren't very strong this year. That is usually a brutal schedule, but certainly a down year -- which us Duck fans can relate to with UO and Stanford being the only real contenders.
Texas Tech is ranked #19 Sooners are at #3 Olk.St. at #10 Kansas St. & home vs #16 Texas A&M. Ducks are at #6 Stanford & home vs #20 USC... STOMP
LOL, Texas Tech was unranked and sat at 4-2, having lost two consecutive games, prior to beating Oklahoma. Fact remains...they lost on Oct 22nd to an unranked team, and that is what the records will show. I respect your opinion but will be very surprised if Oklahoma jumps Oregon. They are currently 3rd in the Big12. Oregon currently holds over 200 pt lead. Won't happen anyway. Oklahoma is going to finish with 2 losses.
if you're into irrelevant facts, sure. What matters to me and I'd think most fans is what factors into the final BCS rankings, and what a team's opponents were ranked in the middle of the year isn't one of those things. It's how opponents do overall thats reflected in a team's SOS. Right now Texas Tech is 5-2 and ranked #19 and having a quality year. We'll see how it goes from here on, but right now they're doing pretty good. will they be favored in either of the road games vs top 10 opponents? Seems like a safe bet they won't win both. But if they do the sting of the recent loss to a quality opponent will have faded in the opinion polls and the SOS advantage they have will probably increase. If both schools win this weekend I bet it will be pretty tight. STOMP
People put too much emphasis on SOS. The computers weigh for 33% vs human polls and SOS occupy a % of that %. You call them "irrelevant facts" but yet these very "facts" are how the entire SoS and computer weight are measured. I'll state the fact again...Oklahoma lost to an unranked team with 2 losses. In Oregon's case, they lost to a team with ZERO losses. There is a computer based value to that - that favors Oregon. The SoS weight is somewhat complicated, but below is a good explanation for better understand - and it's primarily based on wins/losses. Strength of schedule as explained by the BCS: The third component will be the team's strength of schedule. This component is calculated by determining the cumulative won/loss records of the team's opponents and the cumulative won/loss records of the teams' opponents' opponents. The formula shall be weighted two-third (66 2/3%) for the opponent's record and one-third (33 1/3%) for the opponents' opponents record. The team's schedule strength shall be calculated to determine in which quartile it will rank: 1-25, 26-50; 51-75; 76-100 and shall be further quantified by its ranking within each quartile (divided by 25). For example, if a team's schedule strength rating is 28th in the nation, that team would receive 1.12 points (28/25 = 1.12). Should a team play a Division I-AA opponent, only the losses of the Division I-AA team shall be used in determining the opponent's record or the opponent's opponents' record. http://www.nationalchamps.net/NCAA/BCS/strength_of_schedule_explain.htm
rather then respond to your pontifications on the importance of irrelevant (not curious) facts, I thought I'd just let this play out... and it did just the way I thought. Both the opinion polls and SoS factor that the BCS takes into account favor the Sooners over the Ducks if both win out. Thats relevant I'd be thrilled with another Rose Bowl appearance. STOMP
