USC Complaints…
USC fans and the media seem to be in an uproar now that the BCS rankings have determined that USC is going to play fourth ranked Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
I completely disagree with the assertions of these two groups that USC is undeniably #1 — “by concensus.”
First, when you look at the poll results both polls are won by USC by about 1% of the vote. The ESPN poll has the three ranked like this…
USC — 1542
LSU — 1516
OU — 1449
The AP poll has the three in the same order, but the number of votes is slightly differnent…
USC — 1595
LSU — 1580
OU — 1481
Basically, the “concensus” is something that could have easily been swung either way in the voting. Also, the poll results show how many 1st place votes each team got, and while USC got more coaches and media writers giving them first, they must have also gotten a fair number of third place and lower votes to keep the results as close as they are. End First Point.
Secondly, USC is at the top simply because they were the first team of the three to record their loss. If we had time for a few more weeks to go by then I imagine that we’d see OU work its way back up to the top.
Other quick reasons why USC is definately NOT the #1 team in the nation…
Computer results matter. Human polling is a human process, it’s flawed and it’s partial.
USC has the weakest strength of schedule.
USC has played only one of the top 25 teams… LSU and OU have each played three or more. LSU lost to the BCS number 15 team, and OU just lost to K-State, the conference champions, and decidedly top 10 team. UCS lost to 7-6 team — California.
Also, USC has played two teams that OU and LSU also played — Auburn and UCLA (These are called common games and are often used in tie breaking situations.) USC went 23-0 against Auburn while LSU put up a 31-7… pretty close, but LSU edges out USC. USC went 47-22 against UCLA while OU put up an awesome 59-24 game. OU definately edges out USC there too.
Essentially, if you made this into a tie situation, and used all the traditional tie-breaking stats, such as head-to-head play, win-loss-tie percentage, common games, strength of schedule, margin of victory, etc, etc… USC would be the obvious choice for third place, and thus would be the obvious choice for being the team that doesn’t get to go to the Championship game.
I think that there are human biases involved in the polls, and while they are an important part of the decision process, I don’t think that the BCS should be disbanded simply because the “human polls” didn’t match up with the BCS outcome. If USC had an equivalent strength of schedule or equivalent stats then they’d be at the Sugar bowl… it was that close.
Final Note — I think that some media personalities and some coaches dislike the BCS because it takes decision powers away from them. They are still an important factor in deciding the rankings, but they are no longer the last word. No one with power likes it when a system of impartiality (or predictable, systematic partiality) steps in and takes up half of the power. That’s just the nature of these things.
Posted by David under News... National |