Right now, My Numbers have Alabama as the #1 seed based on the Tide's Top 10 schedule strength and what has become the most efficient defense in the country. Yes, 'Bama took a week off vs. Charleston Southern, but who in the SEC didn't last weekend?
Oklahoma got a scare but held on to beat TCU and continued their climb up the My Numbers leader board this week, now all the way up to #2. No two ways about it, my formula really likes the Sooners.
Clemson slides a notch to #3 off a sloppy, 4-turnover win over Wake Forest.
And speaking of sloppy, Notre Dame holds on to the #4 spot this week despite a hard-on-the-eyes win over a Boston College team that wouldn't win the MAC this year. I strongly suspect that My Numbers would lean Oklahoma over Notre Dame when the dust settles, should both teams win out.
But My Numbers are of a different mind set than the AP Poll regarding large, Midwestern state, land grant college football teams. My Numbers weren't impressed with Iowa beating yet another Big 10 bottom-feeder (Purdue) and have actually shoved the Hawkeyes down a rung or two the past few weeks despite the gaudy 11-0 record (Why? Overall schedule. Check the fine print. The SOS column.). Similarly, My Numbers only bumped Michigan State up a couple spots this week despite the dramatic win over Ohio State. The eye test / one-game-sample contingent will cry to the heavens over the injustice of MSU being rated so low, particularly those wearing green and white. And I get it. All I'll say is we're all about the full body of work here. If you want soft, squishy, non-math, opinion-based polls rather than cold-hearted metrics, that stuff is easy to find. :)
I will say this, Spartan fans: I suspect you'll be a lot happier with the treatment you'll get from the committee on Tuesday night, particularly the sliding (if not completely different) measurement scale that group uses from team-to-team... OK, all kidding aside, congrats are due to MSU for the huge win in the Horsehoe. There obviously is a lot to be said for teams (and coaches!) that find ways to win football games regardless of venue and circumstance, and simple spreadsheet approaches like mine will never be able to fully quantify the "it" factor that some teams have and others don't. Once I crack that, I'll quit my day job for sure. In the meantime, that is why committees of experts are necessary to sort this stuff out.
Hell, as long as the Spartans can keep on winning games that they don't have a lead in at any point in regulation, they're going to be just fine!!
| rank | team | W | L | SOS | OEFF | DEFF | MN Rating | Last Week |
| 1 | Alabama | 10 | 1 | 8 | 52 | 1 | 11.1 | 1 |
| 2 | Oklahoma | 10 | 1 | 32 | 12 | 11 | 13.7 | 3 |
| 3 | Clemson | 11 | 0 | 47 | 25 | 8 | 18.6 | 2 |
| 4 | Notre Dame | 10 | 1 | 29 | 9 | 58 | 19.1 | 4 |
| 5 | Ohio State | 10 | 1 | 61 | 29 | 5 | 23.6 | 5 |
| 6 | Ole Miss | 8 | 3 | 36 | 8 | 18 | 24.3 | 12 |
| 7 | Stanford | 9 | 2 | 24 | 22 | 61 | 25.1 | 10 |
| 8 | Oklahoma State | 10 | 1 | 49 | 21 | 52 | 25.7 | 9 |
| 9 | Iowa | 11 | 0 | 62 | 43 | 15 | 26.4 | 7 |
| 10 | North Carolina | 10 | 1 | 68 | 2 | 40 | 26.7 | 15 |
| 11 | TCU | 9 | 2 | 44 | 5 | 53 | 27.3 | 11 |
| 12 | Florida State | 9 | 2 | 59 | 16 | 19 | 28.3 | 13 |
| 13 | Oregon | 8 | 3 | 15 | 4 | 101 | 29.6 | 22 |
| 14 | Baylor | 9 | 1 | 65 | 1 | 42 | 29.9 | 18 |
| 15 | LSU | 7 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 50 | 29.9 | 8 |
| 15 | UCLA | 8 | 3 | 41 | 32 | 23 | 29.9 | 21 |
| 17 | Michigan | 9 | 2 | 50 | 62 | 3 | 30.0 | 16 |
| 17 | Mississippi State | 8 | 3 | 37 | 23 | 41 | 30.0 | 20 |
| 19 | Florida | 10 | 1 | 52 | 91 | 7 | 30.1 | 6 |
| 20 | Michigan State | 10 | 1 | 48 | 71 | 51 | 32.4 | 23 |
| 21 | Georgia | 8 | 3 | 55 | 38 | 14 | 33.4 | 19 |
| 22 | Northwestern | 9 | 2 | 31 | 119 | 9 | 33.6 | 24 |
| 23 | Utah | 8 | 3 | 14 | 93 | 49 | 34.6 | 17 |
| 24 | USC | 7 | 4 | 9 | 20 | 79 | 36.0 | 14 |
| 25 | Pittsburgh | 8 | 3 | 25 | 64 | 76 | 37.4 | 31 |
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