Yeah, I was going to hold off until Monday when I post my usual rankings for my next blog.. But, I haven’t done anything special lately, it’s Thanksgiving & I had a discussion that made me realize a blog that I just couldn’t pass up..
The discussion was about some things that could happen this year & what has already happened in College Football & how teams should be ranked.. The guy I was having this discussion with was explaining how USC should be the team in the National Championship game over the likes of say, Florida.. I found this interesting & so here’s the blog..
So, I’m thinking about my response to him when he told me this.. I said something like “Well, I think that in a bowl game, USC would beat any team in the nation over 50% of the time out of 100 games”.. Earlier in the day, I had said that I thought that “when it’s bowl time, it’s USC time”.. So, it made me realize something.. He’s right, for the most part.
He explained to me that once you have abunch of teams with 1 loss, that it becomes the most important as to who the teams lost to.. USC, of the 1 loss teams, has the most respectable loss. However, when you have undefeated teams, like Utah, Boise State & Ball State, that’s when you look at who beat who & by how much & all of that stuff, but, it matters less when you’re talking about 1 loss teams.. That’s a very interesting way of thinking & you know, I think he’s right. I ALWAYS compare teams full seasons & count it against them when they have a close game against someone who I thought they should’ve beaten by more. He doesn’t see it that way, he said “a win is a win” & when you’re talking about 1 loss BCS teams, that’s true. He went on to say that even a win over say, Indiana, is a win over a big time program. That’s true.
What I see when I look at USC are some unimpressive wins against the likes of California & such. He sees a one loss team that lost early in the season that has proven that they win games against BCS opponents & even some quality ones, at that, such as Ohio State.. He admits that when you’re looking at two undefeated teams that you have to basically give more weight to close wins & blowouts & the like, but, when it’s USC & Florida & they both have 1 loss, you shouldn’t give as much weight to all of that & you should look at the losses & the impressive victories that they have to rank them.
I have to say.. I learned from both what he explained from his view to me & what I had said myself, that he has a strong point & he’s probably right.. USC belongs in the National Championship game. With that said, do I stick by my ranking of them? Ofcourse.. Still, to me, they’re the #8 team in the country & Florida is better than them.. What my main point of this blog is, is that both my opinion & his opinion are both very strong on the matter & that if you combine those two trains of thought, that makes for an even better overall opinion of things.
I guess that’s why the AP Poll is so interesting. It’s 65 different opinions all thrown into one! I think if you combine my rankings with the rankings of the guy that I had that discussion with, that my rankings would become even better (imagine that)!
So, after all the games have been played (including the bowl games), I would love to bring to all of you a combined two man poll, if you will, with my rankings combined with his. I think it would be a better overall view of College Football.. Also, if you’re lucky, maybe I can have my sister throw in her opinion as well! So, maybe it will be an end of the season 3 awesome people poll.. Yes, I think that will be the title for that, haha!
