ABSURD poll (3rd installment)

[donovan]

No, I am not going to zero in on the fact that UT is still rated 9 spots below Cal. I have beat that dead horse enough. What is particularly ABSURD from my observations this week is that Florida is rated below several other unbeaten teams (Louisville, West Va, Boise St, Rutgers) who in NO WAY have played nearly as difficult schedule as FL has. But, they are also rated below several teams with defeats (Texas, USC, and California). This CFP Top 119 poll is STILL ABSURB!

I think prozac is in order...or maybe just have the UT schedule easier teams......Louisiville, West VA, Boise St, Rutgers.....

Another solution is to win....

[colorado_loves_football]

No, I am not going to zero in on the fact that UT is still rated 9 spots below Cal. I have beat that dead horse enough. What is particularly ABSURD from my observations this week is that Florida is rated below several other unbeaten teams (Louisville, West Va, Boise St, Rutgers) who in NO WAY have played nearly as difficult schedule as FL has. But, they are also rated below several teams with defeats (Texas, USC, and California). This CFP Top 119 poll is STILL ABSURB!

I don't understand it, either, and I was a computer science major, in college. But, that doesn't necessarily mean it's not a valid poll, at least in the context of how it's applied. Rankings are necessarily subjective.
SOS isn't necessarily addressed within any particular computer poll. The 'fallout' of Oregon St's 'upset' of USC was a top-25 ranking for Washington St. (6-3) overall. I doubt they are ranked, otherwise, so human polls do address SOS, fairly, in my opinion. As far as Tennessee is concerned, they are ranked pretty high, in most polls. Undefeated teams should be given 'benefit of the doubt' until they lose. I see nothing wrong with ranking them (Rutgers, Boise St.) higher.

[CFP Admin]

My point is this....they are weighting the results with what those teams have done in the past.....without accepting or even considering that the Big East teams are a LOT better than they gave them credit for. They automatically assumed that Maryland was a LOT weaker than FSU and weighted the calculations accordingly. However, Maryland is BETTER than FSU this year and did not receive that "name recognition boost" in the initial calculations.

And that is the reason I think the computer polls are absurd....and completely unreliable. As long as the PROGRAMMERS are inputting bogus information in thier intitial calculations...the results will always be skewed to favor the "elite" conferences. If for no other reason than the line of thought that, "Michigan is ALWAYS a good team, so it follows that they will be good this year, too". So, they give the "elite" teams a weighted score based on what they have done in years past...and the "PERCEPTION" that they will be better than all the Big East teams regardless of what they look like on paper.

Completely inaccurate assumptions. Voters certainly do this, but that is exactly what Computers Rankers do NOT do. The "playing field" is level for all 119 teams. No predetermined biases are inputed. All teams are rated on the same criteria. Please refer to Page 3 of the thread "You Are the BCS Czar" for more information.

[..fanatic]

This is an endless argument. The problem is that everyone's disappointment, with this poll or that ranker, is based on our own personal biases. I don't mean just our rooting for a particular team, either. We have biases shaped by printed and stated opinions of others. When we look at a poll or a ranker, we form a biased opinion. When we hear a commentator make a case for, or against, a playoff, we form a biased opinion. When we see something different, we call it stupid when it may actually be the most sane and accurate assessment of all.

All too often, opinions such as "This is an ABSURD POLL" are formed without researching the history, success and formulation of it. (it's not a poll, by the way, as no one voted - it's a ranker).

[mountainman]

Excerpts from news conference with West Virginia Coach Rich Rodriguez and Louisville Coach Bobby Petrino about the BCS:



[color=darkblue][i]“I said a few weeks ago that in the BCS people were questioning what was going on and it usually works out in the end,â€

[donovan]

How did we ever determine who was best before computers?

Or has there always been computers......I am so confused.

A yellow pad and a Dixon Ticonderoga worked for years...not sure why still doesn't.

[mountainman]

How did we ever determine who was best before computers?

Or has there always been computers......I am so confused.

A yellow pad and a Dixon Ticonderoga worked for years...not sure why still doesn't.

Back then, Donovan, the folks making the call of which teams were the best were folks who knew football.

Nowadays, some of these guys, that is some of the so called experts, don't know a football from a pomegranate. It's become more and more about showmanship, entertainment, politics, money, etc, etc, etc .......

[..fanatic]

No, I am not going to zero in on the fact that UT is still rated 9 spots below Cal. I have beat that dead horse enough. What is particularly ABSURD from my observations this week is that Florida is rated below several other unbeaten teams (Louisville, West Va, Boise St, Rutgers) who in NO WAY have played nearly as difficult schedule as FL has. But, they are also rated below several teams with defeats (Texas, USC, and California). This CFP Top 119 poll is STILL ABSURB!

I think prozac is in order...or maybe just have the UT schedule easier teams......Louisiville, West VA, Boise St, Rutgers.....

Another solution is to win....

[mountainman]

Take Superman -7 and Captain American -2.

[Spence]

This is an endless argument. The problem is that everyone's disappointment, with this poll or that ranker, is based on our own personal biases. I don't mean just our rooting for a particular team, either. We have biases shaped by printed and stated opinions of others. When we look at a poll or a ranker, we form a biased opinion. When we hear a commentator make a case for, or against, a playoff, we form a biased opinion. When we see something different, we call it stupid when it may actually be the most sane and accurate assessment of all.

All too often, opinions such as "This is an ABSURD POLL" are formed without researching the history, success and formulation of it. (it's not a poll, by the way, as no one voted - it's a ranker).

Exactly, we all form an opinion based on our bias. What on person thinks is reasonable another calls absurd and vice versa. Whether or not you agree with one poll or another depends largly on your bias. The human polls have very loose rules they go by to rank teams. Like "I started Ohio State high and I have been given no reason to drop them". But the computers go by a different set of rules, they are black and white. They follow a criteria and spit out a result. They don't look at their rankings and say "Cal lost to Tennessee so it would be crazy to put tennessee in front of them" They don't think at all. They just follow their criteria.

People say Tennessee should be ranked in front of Cal (I agree) but using the same rule should Oregon State be ranked ahead of USC? Humans make that determination also and it would seem to go against the other argument. Last year TCU beat #2 ranked Oklahoma, should TCU have been ranked #2? Only CLF would answer yes to that question. Maybe later in the year Oklahoma was a better team, but they weren't that day. Why couldn't the same argument be applied to Cal and Tennessee?

Who is right, this computer poll or that one? The AP, Coaches, or Harris? The answer lies somewhere in the middle. That is why the BCS uses human and computer polls. Sometimes even that doesn't work. The system will never be perfect, but if it was it would make our lives pretty boring during football season.

[Derek]

No, I am not going to zero in on the fact that UT is still rated 9 spots below Cal. I have beat that dead horse enough. What is particularly ABSURD from my observations this week is that Florida is rated below several other unbeaten teams (Louisville, West Va, Boise St, Rutgers) who in NO WAY have played nearly as difficult schedule as FL has. But, they are also rated below several teams with defeats (Texas, USC, and California). This CFP Top 119 poll is STILL ABSURB!

I think prozac is in order...or maybe just have the UT schedule easier teams......Louisiville, West VA, Boise St, Rutgers.....

Another solution is to win....

You are absolutely clueless!

Leo is correct, in case you were wondering.

[bama_girl]

Ask yourself this question...........


Could Batman beat up Superman? Or would Spiderman take Captain America??

aquaman could beat all four of them with one fin tied behind his back!!!!!!!!!



heehee!

[Spence]

Superman might take everyone down, but Spiderman is and has always been the coolest superhero.

[donovan]

Sounds like to me, this would be a good reason to start a new National Poll.............But..dang it...Only those matches that are Super Heros against Super Heros that have a good SOS. I do not want to see Bat Girl ranked up with Superman, no matter how many wins she has against......who does she fight, anyway. I vote for Lamont Cranston.....if you can not see them, where do you know to punch.

[Spence]

Bat Girl has a very good SOS depending on how you look at it.