It's the College Football thread!

[Eroberer]

For those who are at all interested in college basketball, I just wanted to point out an interesting tidbit of information. UNC (your reigning Natl Champs) just got a commit from the #1 PF in the nation, Brandan Wright, giving them what is a concensus (sp?) #1 overall 2006 recruiting class, including the #1 PG, Tywon Lawson, the #1 SG with Wayne Ellington, in addition to the #3 Center in the nation, Deon Thompson, and the #13 Center, Alex Stepheson. Congrats to us! I'm posting this here because I doubt there is very much interest anywhere else for this kind of information.

Also, I would like to say that Brandan Wright, who signed with Carolina today, was previously considered a veritable lock to dook. UNC was considered 4th in a group of 4 contending for this services of the #1 PF in the nation, so it was a very good surprise.

Linky: http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=78&p=9&cfg=bb&c=4&yr=2006

[Imran Siddiqui]

WTF?!

GET OUT OF THE ****ING COLLEGE FOOTBALL THREAD WITH THAT CRAP!

*ahem* start your own thread for that, mmm k?

[DanS]

Yeh, give us a break, Eroberer!

[Drake Tungsten]

Well you asked for the BCS. BCS doesn't come out until tomorrow... but they take the average of the Coaches and AP poll (IIRC), which is 10.5 for Notre Dame and then apply the computers.

How informed a college football fan are you if you didn't notice the uproar when the AP poll pulled itself out of the BCS and the Harris poll was created to replace it?

[gjramsey]

My top ten for the week.

1. USC
2. Texas
3. Virginia Tech
4. Georgia
5. Texas Tech
6. UCLA
7. Alabama
8. Miami
9. LSU
10. ND

Boston College looks darn good also. The top 3 are pretty darn close, but I can't move USC outta #1 until they get beat. Texas is kicking butt in the Big XII, but that conference is really down this year. After Texas and Tech, there is a huge drop off in quality of teams. And they face each other this weekend at Austin.

[reismark]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Well you asked for the BCS. BCS doesn't come out until tomorrow... but they take the average of the Coaches and AP poll (IIRC), which is 10.5 for Notre Dame and then apply the computers.

They *used* to do it that way, but I believe it's now set up so that the two human polls (remember, no more AP in the BCS, so what goes in for Notre Dame is their #8 in the Harris poll - up from #11 the week before, I might add - and their #12 in the coaches' poll) and the average of the computer polls each get an equal weight.

We'll see where things stand on that front in a few hours...

[DanS]

Damn. I'm still heartbroken. A piece of my heart was left on the field on Saturday. ND played championship-level ball, but lost. There's all sorts of silver lining to the game of the decade, but man, what a profound bummer.

[Drake Tungsten]

I'm just pissed that the fourth team in as many weeks had a chance to beat USC, but couldn't seal the deal. Notre Dame didn't blow it nearly as badly as Arizona State, but it's still a shame.

[DanS]

so what goes in for Notre Dame is their #8 in the Harris poll

Isn't it the other way around. Was #8, now #11. Regardless, rankings still don't mean much at this point in the season. If Notre Dame wins the rest of its games, it's BCS bowl-bound. Its fate is in its own hands.

[DanS]

I might add that this kind of situation is why we don't have a playoff system. If they take the top 4, then Notre Dame might have a second bite at the USC apple, even though they have 2 losses. I don't think that's right.

[Imran Siddiqui]

They *used* to do it that way, but I believe it's now set up so that the two human polls (remember, no more AP in the BCS, so what goes in for Notre Dame is their #8 in the Harris poll - up from #11 the week before, I might add - and their #12 in the coaches' poll) and the average of the computer polls each get an equal weight.

Ah... slipped my mind. They are going back to making the computer polls and human polls equal weight? Interesting.

I might add that this kind of situation is why we don't have a playoff system. If they take the top 4, then Notre Dame might have a second bite at the USC apple, even though they have 2 losses. I don't think that's right.

Aroo? If Notre Dame is in the Top 4, then many other teams that are now in the Top 10 have 2 or more losses as well, including one of the 4 who are now undefeated.

[reismark]

Here's your BCS fix, everybody...

THE STATE OF THE BCS - Week 1

CURRENT BCS STANDINGS
The bracketed sequence following a team's name in the BCS standings refers to (in order) the team's Harris Interactive poll ranking, the team's USA Today coaches' poll ranking, and the average of the six computer rankings (Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey, Jeff Sagarin, and Peter Wolfe). The average of these three rankings determines the team's BCS ranking.

1. Southern California [1, 1, 1]
2. Texas [2, 2, 2]
3. Virginia Tech [3, 3, 4]
4. Georgia [4, 4, 3]
5. Alabama [5, 5, 5]
6. Louisiana State [7, 7, T9]
7. Texas Tech [9, 8, 7]
8. Miami [6, 6, T13]
9. California-Los Angeles [8, 9, 11]
10. Penn State [12, 14, 6]
11. Florida State [10, 10, T13]
12. Boston College [13, 11, 15]
...
17. West Virginia [20, 20, 12]

-----

The one thing that stands out to me in these standings, other than how firmly delinated the top five are from the rest of the pack (it's a drop-off of almost .12 percentage points from Alabama to LSU) is the utterly disgraceful way which the computer rankings have treated Notre Dame, who are two bad breaks away from being undefeated and firmly in the title hunt. (They stand at #16, ranked in the top 12 in both human polls, and a ridiculously low #25 by the computers.) Instead of having the shot to contend for a BCS berth that they deserve, the computers will make it difficult for them to get even close, even if Notre Dame wins out the rest of the way. Shame on you, machines.

PROJECTED BERTHS
Projected automatic conference berths are based on a team's record in conference play. Mandated conference tiebreakers are used where possible to break ties for automatic conference berths. In the case of a tie that cannot be broken, the tied teams' BCS ranking is used to break the tie.

ACC: Virginia Tech
Big East: West Virginia
Big Ten: Penn State
Big 12: Texas
Pac-10: Southern California
SEC: Georgia
At-Large #1: Alabama (SEC)
At-Large #2: Texas Tech (Big 12)

BCS rules mandate that no conference is permitted more than two spots in the field of six. This means that although LSU has a higher BCS ranking than Texas Tech, LSU cannot be selected for the second at-large spot since this would give the SEC more than the maximum number of two teams allowed. Since Texas Tech is the next highest-ranked team in the BCS standings without an automatic berth, it receives the second at-large berth.

-----

Things could get mighty interesting as we proceed through the rest of the season. This first set of rankings has validated two of my main points of contention from last season - that the Big East is so weak at this point that it no longer deserves an automatic berth into the BCS (just wait until West Virginia goes through its annual late season swoon - then things will really get chaotic), and that the SEC's power was and is clearly underestimated. Last year the SEC champion got screwed out of a shot at the national championship by the system - this year, the SEC is so strong that it appears as though it might have more teams jockeying for BCS slots than it can put in!

PROJECTED MATCHUPS
Rose Bowl: Southern California v. Texas
Fiesta Bowl: Alabama v. West Virginia
Sugar Bowl: Georgia v. Texas Tech
Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech v. Penn State

Pac-10 champion Southern California & Big 12 champion Texas are automatically placed into the Rose Bowl due to their #1 & #2 rankings, respectively. ACC champion Virginia Tech is placed into the Orange Bowl and SEC champion Georgia is placed into the Sugar Bowl due to traditional conference tie-ins. The only bowl to lose a traditional tie-in is the Fiesta Bowl (Big 12 champion Texas) so it gets first choice of the remaining teams. Usually, the selections to fill the remaining slots after the national championship game and the traditional conference tie-ins are done in accord with BCS rankings, meaning that the Fiesta would select SEC at-large Alabama as its first representative.

Priority for the remaining selections is based on a bowl's payout and its priority stature in previous years. (Each bowl submits a list of its top three teams, and the bowl is given the highest-listed team available based on the bowl's priority.) The BCS has established the following priority order based on these factors for this year's bowls:

1. Orange Bowl
2. Fiesta Bowl
3. Sugar Bowl

By rule, if a conference champion is available for this last stage of allocations, they cannot be ranked third on the list that a bowl submits. This means that by default, Big 12 at-large Texas Tech would be allocated to the Sugar Bowl (since it has the lowest priority). Finally, based on BCS rankings, Big Ten champion is selected by the Orange Bowl, and Big East champion West Virginia is selected by the Fiesta Bowl.

[Imran Siddiqui]

is the utterly disgraceful way which the computer rankings have treated Notre Dame, who are two bad breaks away from being undefeated and firmly in the title hunt. (They stand at #16, ranked in the top 12 in both human polls, and a ridiculously low #25 by the computers.)

When you include the machines "to counter the biases of human polls", this is what you are going to get.

What do you expect? Notre Dame hasn't beaten anyone that good. They lost to Michigan State. Yes, they almost beat USC, but so has Arizona State (albeit it didn't come down to the end in that game) and there have been a lot of teams who barely lost to a bigger opponent (Ole Miss - Bama for one). Almost won doesn't count, winning does.

And when was the last time a two loss team won the BCS Championship or AP Championship? How are they still in the title hunt?

Big East is so weak at this point that it no longer deserves an automatic berth into the BCS (just wait until West Virginia goes through its annual late season swoon - then things will really get chaotic)

Please... in your Bowl Projections, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if West Virginia beats Alabama.

[reismark]

And when was the last time a two loss team won the BCS Championship or AP Championship? How are they still in the title hunt?

I'm not saying that they should still be in the hunt for the national title... but based on who and how they've played, they should still be in the hunt for a BCS bowl. But that gap in the computers will be too much to overcome regardless of who they play.

Please... in your Bowl Projections, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if West Virginia beats Alabama.

Trust me, West Virginia won't even be in the picture by the time this is over. This team lost to friggin' SYRACUSE last year. They'll choke just like they have in the past.

[Imran Siddiqui]

based on who and how they've played, they should still be in the hunt for a BCS bowl. But that gap in the computers will be too much to overcome regardless of who they play.

And the reason is they haven't beaten anyone with a winning record aside from Michigan (which is just barely).

Trust me, West Virginia won't even be in the picture by the time this is over. This team lost to friggin' SYRACUSE last year. They'll choke just like they have in the past

I bet you are wrong. This WVU is very disciplined this year. They didn't panick when Louisville had them on the ropes, but methodically came back and ended up winning the game. This team is better than most people believe. The game against the VTech wasn't that lopsided at all.