The BCS Poll just came out following a crazy weekend in college football, which saw four top ten teams fall, including three of the top five (#2 Oklahoma State, #4 Oregon and #5 Oklahoma, along with #7 Clemson).
I'll admit, I've never been a proponent of the BCS system. I have always been in favor of a playoff. I love bowl games and don't think we should do away with those completely, but have always been in favor of an 8-team playoff.
For those unfamiliar with the awful system, the BCS is comprised of three polls: The Harris Poll, USA Today Poll and the Computer Poll. The average is taken from the three polls to give the teams their ranking. Let's look at the rankings this week, poll-by-poll:
Harris Poll
1. LSU
2. Alabama
3. Arkansas
4. Stanford
5. Virginia Tech
6. Oklahoma State
7. Houston
8. Boise State
9. Oregon
10. Oklahoma
11. Michigan State
12. Georgia
13. South Carolina
14. Wisconsin
15. Kansas State
16. Michigan
17. Clemson
18. Penn State
19. TCU
20. Baylor
21. Nebraska
22. Georgia Tech
23. Notre Dame
24. Auburn
25. Texas
USA Today
1. LSU
2. Alabama
3. Arkansas
4. Virginia Tech
5. Stanford
6. Oklahoma State
7. Houston
8. Boise State
9. Oregon
10. Michigan State
11. Oklahoma
12. Wisconsin
13. South Carolina
14. Georgia
15. Kansas State
16. Michigan
17. Clemson
18. TCU
19. Penn State
20. Baylor
21. Georgia Tech
22. Nebraska
23. West Virginia
24. Notre Dame
25. Virginia
Computer
1. LSU
2. Oklahoma State
3. Alabama
4. Arkansas
5. Kansas State
6. Oklahoma
7. Virginia Tech
8. Boise State
9. Stanford
10. South Carolina
11. Oregon
12. Houston
13. Baylor
14. Georgia
15. Michigan
16. Clemson
17. Michigan State
18. Penn State
19. TCU
20. Texas
21. Nebraska
22. Auburn
23. Wisconsin
24. Notre Dame
25. Georgia Tech
BCS
1. LSU
2. Alabama
3. Arkansas
4. Oklahoma State
5. Virginia Tech
6. Stanford
7. Boise State
8. Houston
9. Oklahoma
10. Oregon
11. Kansas State
12. South Carolina
13. Georgia
14. Michigan State
15. Michigan
16. Wisconsin
17. Clemson
18. Baylor
19. Penn State
20. TCU
21. Nebraska
22. Notre Dame
23. Georgia Tech
24. Auburn
25. Texas
So, it appears as if the human polls like the Big Ten and the computers aren't too impressed with the conference, but love the Big XII.
The human polls have Michigan State ranked 11 and 10, while they're ranked 17 in the computers. Wisconsin is ranked 14 and 12 in the human polls and 23 in the computers. That's quite the difference between the human and computer polls. The computers love the Big XII, though. The human polls have Oklahoma State ranked 6 and 6, Oklahoma at 10 and 11, Kansas State at 15 and 15, Baylor at 20 and 20 and Texas is unranked in both human polls. In the computers, Oklahoma State is ranked 2nd, Oklahoma is 6th, Kansas State 5th, Baylor 13th and Texas 20th.
With such disparity between the human and computer polls, how can we take the BCS seriously? It's a no-win situation here. Humans like the Big Ten and computers can't stand the conference. How can we accurately measure such biases of the two mediums? How can we give a completely accurate assessment of where these teams should be ranked? Unless LSU goes unbeaten with wins over Arkansas and Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and we just hand them the national championship trophy, how will we be able to decide a true champion? Alabama has lost to LSU. Arkansas has lost to Alabama. Oklahoma State has lost to TCU. Virginia Tech has lost to Clemson. Stanford has lost to Oregon. Boise State has lost to TCU. Houston has yet to lose.
The conferences haven't played each other very much, so a lot of the rankings are determined on biases. Arkansas got throttled by Alabama, while Virginia Tech got handled fairly easily by 9-2 Clemson and Oklahoma State lost to 6-4 and unranked Iowa State. If LSU wins out, then everything I state here (and elsewhere) is moot. They will have earned the national championship. If that isn't the case and it's very possible LSU could lose to either Arkansas or Georgia, chaos will ensue and I'll be repeating the "p" word time and time again - playoffs. I don't care what college football purists say. With the increasing parity in the college game, I think it's time we seriously consider doing what every other league of high school, college and professional football do - have a playoff system to decide the champion. It seems like simple enough of a concept, but don't tell that to the heads of B(C)S land.
I'll admit, I've never been a proponent of the BCS system. I have always been in favor of a playoff. I love bowl games and don't think we should do away with those completely, but have always been in favor of an 8-team playoff.
For those unfamiliar with the awful system, the BCS is comprised of three polls: The Harris Poll, USA Today Poll and the Computer Poll. The average is taken from the three polls to give the teams their ranking. Let's look at the rankings this week, poll-by-poll:
Harris Poll
1. LSU
2. Alabama
3. Arkansas
4. Stanford
5. Virginia Tech
6. Oklahoma State
7. Houston
8. Boise State
9. Oregon
10. Oklahoma
11. Michigan State
12. Georgia
13. South Carolina
14. Wisconsin
15. Kansas State
16. Michigan
17. Clemson
18. Penn State
19. TCU
20. Baylor
21. Nebraska
22. Georgia Tech
23. Notre Dame
24. Auburn
25. Texas
USA Today
1. LSU
2. Alabama
3. Arkansas
4. Virginia Tech
5. Stanford
6. Oklahoma State
7. Houston
8. Boise State
9. Oregon
10. Michigan State
11. Oklahoma
12. Wisconsin
13. South Carolina
14. Georgia
15. Kansas State
16. Michigan
17. Clemson
18. TCU
19. Penn State
20. Baylor
21. Georgia Tech
22. Nebraska
23. West Virginia
24. Notre Dame
25. Virginia
Computer
1. LSU
2. Oklahoma State
3. Alabama
4. Arkansas
5. Kansas State
6. Oklahoma
7. Virginia Tech
8. Boise State
9. Stanford
10. South Carolina
11. Oregon
12. Houston
13. Baylor
14. Georgia
15. Michigan
16. Clemson
17. Michigan State
18. Penn State
19. TCU
20. Texas
21. Nebraska
22. Auburn
23. Wisconsin
24. Notre Dame
25. Georgia Tech
BCS
1. LSU
2. Alabama
3. Arkansas
4. Oklahoma State
5. Virginia Tech
6. Stanford
7. Boise State
8. Houston
9. Oklahoma
10. Oregon
11. Kansas State
12. South Carolina
13. Georgia
14. Michigan State
15. Michigan
16. Wisconsin
17. Clemson
18. Baylor
19. Penn State
20. TCU
21. Nebraska
22. Notre Dame
23. Georgia Tech
24. Auburn
25. Texas
So, it appears as if the human polls like the Big Ten and the computers aren't too impressed with the conference, but love the Big XII.
The human polls have Michigan State ranked 11 and 10, while they're ranked 17 in the computers. Wisconsin is ranked 14 and 12 in the human polls and 23 in the computers. That's quite the difference between the human and computer polls. The computers love the Big XII, though. The human polls have Oklahoma State ranked 6 and 6, Oklahoma at 10 and 11, Kansas State at 15 and 15, Baylor at 20 and 20 and Texas is unranked in both human polls. In the computers, Oklahoma State is ranked 2nd, Oklahoma is 6th, Kansas State 5th, Baylor 13th and Texas 20th.
With such disparity between the human and computer polls, how can we take the BCS seriously? It's a no-win situation here. Humans like the Big Ten and computers can't stand the conference. How can we accurately measure such biases of the two mediums? How can we give a completely accurate assessment of where these teams should be ranked? Unless LSU goes unbeaten with wins over Arkansas and Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and we just hand them the national championship trophy, how will we be able to decide a true champion? Alabama has lost to LSU. Arkansas has lost to Alabama. Oklahoma State has lost to TCU. Virginia Tech has lost to Clemson. Stanford has lost to Oregon. Boise State has lost to TCU. Houston has yet to lose.
The conferences haven't played each other very much, so a lot of the rankings are determined on biases. Arkansas got throttled by Alabama, while Virginia Tech got handled fairly easily by 9-2 Clemson and Oklahoma State lost to 6-4 and unranked Iowa State. If LSU wins out, then everything I state here (and elsewhere) is moot. They will have earned the national championship. If that isn't the case and it's very possible LSU could lose to either Arkansas or Georgia, chaos will ensue and I'll be repeating the "p" word time and time again - playoffs. I don't care what college football purists say. With the increasing parity in the college game, I think it's time we seriously consider doing what every other league of high school, college and professional football do - have a playoff system to decide the champion. It seems like simple enough of a concept, but don't tell that to the heads of B(C)S land.
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