There are some huge differences between the final AP
Top 25 College Football Poll, and the Final Sagarin College Football
Ratings.
For openers, here is the AP Top 25 Poll as voted by the
nation's sportswriters and sports broadcasters: 1 Louisiana State, 2
Georgia, 3 Southern California, 4 Missouri, 5 Ohio State, 6 West
Virginia, 7 Kansas, 8 Oklahoma, 9 Virginia Tech, 10 Boston College and
Texas (tie), 12 Tennessee, 13 Florida, 14 Brigham Young, 15 Auburn, 16
Arizona State, 17 Cincinnati, 18 Michigan, 19 Hawaii, 20 Illinois, 21
Clemson, 22 Texas Tech, 23 Oregon, 24 Wisconsin, and 25 Oregon State.
Here
is the Sagarin Ratings: 1 Louisiana State, 2 Kansas, 3 West Virginia, 4
Southern California, 5 Oklahoma, 6 Missouri, 7 Georgia, 8 Oregon, 9
Virginia Tech, 10 Florida, 11 Ohio State, 12 Texas, 13 Auburn, 14
Arizona State, 15 Tennessee, 16 Oregon State, 17 Brigham Young, 18
Kentucky, 19 Cincinnati, 20 South Florida, 21 Michigan, 22 Clemson, 23
Boston College, 24 Texas Tech, and 25 Arkansas.
Comparing the Sagarin Ratings to the AP Poll, notice these differences:
1)
Sagarin rates Kansas much higher (2nd rather than 7th), Oregon much
higher (8th rather than 23rd), and Oregon State much higher (16th
rather than 23rd).
2) Sagarin rates Georgia much lower (7th
rather than 2nd), Ohio State much lower (11th rather than 5th) and
Boston College much lower (23rd rather than 10th).
3) Sagarin has
3 teams in the top 25 that the AP Poll does not-Kentucky at 18, South
Florida at 20 and Arkansas at 25. The AP Poll replaces these teams with
Hawaii at 19, Illinois at 20 and Wisconsin at 24.
Which poll is
more accurate? Well, the AP Poll is based on one's opinion of a team,
its record and the strength of its opponent. Sagarin is based on a
mathematical formula involving statistics compiled by an MIT grad
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology). You decide.
By studying
the Sagarin ratings, here are some facts I have uncovered that could
impress your friends, and win you some bets (or drinks) at your
favorite pub:
1) The team that played the toughest schedule this
year was UCLA. The next 4 in order were Washington, Florida, Nebraska
and Oregon.
2) The lowest rated 1A team with only 1 loss was Hawaii (12-1) at No. 35 among 119 1A teams.
3) The highest rated 1AA team with only 1 loss was Northern Iowa (12-1) at No. 62 among 242 1A and 1AA teams.
4) The highest rated 1AA team was Appalachian State (13-2) at No. 44.
5) The lowest rated 1AA team with at least 11 wins was Dayton (11-1) at No. 134.
6) The highest rated team that was winless this year was 1A Southern Utah (0-11) at No. 204.
7)
The lowest rated team among all 242 1A and 1AA teams? That would be1AA
La Salle (0-10) at No. 242. The lowest BCS Standing of No. 242 also
belonged to La Salle, which just missed a "hat trick" by playing the
241st weakest schedule.
8) Playing the weakest schedule this year and in last place at 242 was 1AA Wagner (7-4), rated at No. 222.
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley
Ed
Bagley's Blog Publishes Original Articles with Analysis and Commentary
on 5 Subjects: Sports, Movie Reviews, Lessons in Life, Jobs and
Careers, and Internet Marketing. My intention is to inform, educate,
delight and motivate you the reader.
Read my articles on "The
Sagarin Ratings: What They Are, How to Read Them and What to Do With
Them", "How to Predict When Teams Are Overrated and Due for an
Unexpected Loss", my 14 consecutive weekly wrap-up articles on the 2007
College Football Season, and my 32-game bowl season wrap-up series. The
bowl wrap-up is strictly for hard core football junkies; it goes on for
17 pages.
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