College football is a funny game. It's chaotic nature distinguishes it from every other major organized sports league in America. It's the only NCAA sport whose champion is not decided by a tournament-based system. Hell, the NCAA doesn't even officially declare a national champion of the "Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision." The coaches/computer/media polls are certainly one of the nuttiest parts of this crazy sport that we love, and I'm not here to clarify the confusion. I'm here to add to it.
My power rankings order teams based strictly on what I believe to be the quality of each team, not desert. I believe USC is the sixth best team in the country, not that they deserve to go to the Rose Bowl before Washington or any other Pac 10 team with a better record. The basic test I used for the rankings is "Would team #1 usually beat team #2?" and so on. You'll notice that I only have one non-BCS conference team in the top 25, three fewer than most official polls. That's because I think these team generally suck and would usually lose to the teams I have ranked. (I think Boise State and Utah would be middling Pac 10 teams at best. Houston and TCU would be Big 12 bottom-feeders.)
One of the major flaws of the poll system is that it begins before the season does. Pollsters usually rank the teams based off of how many returning starters they have and how they did in the previous seasons bowl game. The drawback to having a preseason polls is that teams can only rise up the poll so fast and so far making the poll itself a determining factor in who finishes at the top. Those that start at the top have a clear advantage over those who don't. A major reason why the undefeated 2004 Auburn Tigers didn't play in the BCS national championship game was that they began the year ranked 17th in the AP Poll and 18th in the ESPN/USA Today Poll. This is why I believe polling shouldn't begin until after the third week of the season when we have at least a small sample size of performances to rank the teams based off of. (And why I'm starting mine now).
You can follow my rankings every week for the rest of the season here. Let me know how much you think they suck.
Monday, September 21, 2009
College Football Power Rankings
Monday, October 27, 2008
"Kerry Collins Doesn't Suck"
ESPN.com's Paul Herskey posted an article previewing tonight's Colts-Titans game in which a few Titans talked about QB Kerry Collins. Albert Haynesworth sounded less than enthused with Collins' play thus far for the undefeated Titans. The Titans superstar DT had this to say:
"Peyton [Manning] is still a great quarterback and everyone would love to have him on their team," he said. "What Kerry has come in and done is not made mistakes for us, put us in good situations and let the defense do a lot of the work.
"Peyton has to carry [his] team and Kerry doesn't. He just needs to make plays and not make mistakes, that's all we ask of them ... There is not as much pressure on Kerry as Peyton. He's the face of that franchise. You know here, the face of the franchise is going to be Vince [Young]. So all Kerry has to do is go out there and basically not lose it, which he hasn't. He's played well for us."
By "play[ing] well," it sounds like Haynesworth means, "not sucking." Collins has thrown three touchdown passes in the six games so far and has a passer rating of 74.2. Even Collins himself isn't so sure how well he's playing, as he said, "Maybe my numbers don't jump out, but I think offensively as a whole, we've been fairly productive."
Most people wouldn't expect the offense of the NFL's only remaining undefeated team to be described as "fairly productive." So, are the Titans a group of honest and humble players in a league of egomaniacs? Or is there a little concern in Tennessee that their title hopes hinge on a quarterback that is only not sucking?
(Note: Collins' stat line vs. Colts in the first half tonight: 11/18 for 74 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs = not sucking!)
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Am I A Fantasy Football Legend? Maybe...
The NFL regular season is finally upon us. Rejoice! Sing for the heavens! Turdurkens for everyone! (Note: the pic is the first google image search result for "fantasy football")
In addition to all of this, it's a time for betting and of fantasy football. And I am amazing when it comes to that. Don't believe me? Read on.
Well, obviously SoBDD and myself are avid fantasy football fans. We're in two leagues together. My record in those 2 leagues? 2-0. His? 0-2. Conincidence? Probably. Hilarious? Undoubtedly.
Taking a look at the rosters of my three major teams, I just want to point out that I was smart enough to start Chris Johnson, smart enough to draft Eddie Royal in a spot where he is worth a 14th round pick next year, and dumb enough to sit both he and Michael Turner this week. All in all, I'm 4-0 as an owner. Not too shabby at all.
In addition to my fantasy football prowess thus far, I've also shown some ability as a bettor. SoBDD dragged me into a competition over at one of his favorite blogs (VEGASWATCH.NET) where you have to take the over/under on the Vegas line for wins for an NFL team from each division. You can navigate around vegaswatch for my picks (or just spend some time reading as it's a fantastic blog). You'll also notice at the bottom of the linked article that the individual in first place is... YA BOI, DOCTOR DOZER! This may not last, so celebrations are definitely in order. See you never.
Signed,
The Doctor
