The "Power" Conferences

[BlueHair]

A team that hasn't been tested should be ranked higher than a team that has been tested and failed.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I like to go by what I see on the field. Maybe Sagarin has found a way to quantify "didn't want to be there", but I doubt it. The PAC 10 champion got thoroughly dominated by Boise St. Who cares about the 8th place teams? They are irrelevant to the argument. The only teams that matter are the best teams. The depth argument is really, really dumb.

11 point domination? Interesting, what would you call what the 7th place ACC team did to the 2nd place MWC team on the road?

[New Mexican Disaster]

11 point domination? Interesting, what would you call what the 7th place ACC team did to the 2nd place MWC team on the road?

It was domination in both cases.

[BlueHair]

11 point domination? Interesting, what would you call what the 7th place ACC team did to the 2nd place MWC team on the road?

Oregon was totally outplayed. Quite frankly, it was an embarrassing performance. Florida St. dominated BYU, too. Like I said, the only teams that matter are the top teams. So far what we know is that the WAC top team is better than the PAC 10 top team. So Boise is more deserving than Oregon. After the Fiest Bowla we will know if the WAC or the MWC is more deserving. If Boise St. beats TCU, I will gladly say that the WAC is better. It's dumb we have to have these arguments. Let's play it off and see who the last team standing is. People argue that a playoff would make bowls irrelevant. If the pundits are to be believed, bowls are already irrelevant because team from AQ conferences don't want to play unless they are in the BCS championship. Last year, even a BCS bowl wasn't enough for Alabama. USC is the PAC 10. No other team is ever good enough to be considered elite. I have little doubt TCU would have gone undefeated in the PAC 10.

[John McClain]

11 point domination? Interesting, what would you call what the 7th place ACC team did to the 2nd place MWC team on the road?

I'm not defending the BSU win over Oregon, but do you really feel that the FSU/BYU game was indicative of both teams, especially now that you have seen them both play a season's worth of football? Somehow we all know that game was an aberration for both teams.

[falafel]

11 point domination? Interesting, what would you call what the 7th place ACC team did to the 2nd place MWC team on the road?

Ease off, dude, it still hurts!

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Let's play it off and see who the last team standing is.

I don't believe that will ever happen.

Your argument of basing teams rankings on one game is silly and short sighted, and if I didn't believe you were just trolling me because you know I'll respond then I would be worried about your sanity.

I also don't believe for a second that if BSU wins you will trumpet the WAC being better and more deserving than the MWC for the next year.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I'm not defending the BSU win over Oregon, but do you really feel that the FSU/BYU game was indicative of both teams, especially now that you have seen them both play a season's worth of football? Somehow we all know that game was an aberration for both teams.

That was my point to BlueHair. He indicated that he does believe it was indicative and that BYU wouldn't finish better than 8th in the ACC while FSU would finish second and likely challenge for the MWC.

[BlueHair]

I'm not defending the BSU win over Oregon, but do you really feel that the FSU/BYU game was indicative of both teams, especially now that you have seen them both play a season's worth of football? Somehow we all know that game was an aberration for both teams.

I'm not convinced BYU would beat Florida State if they played again. They might, but I would never argue with an FSU fan that BYU is better. They have scoreboard. I suppose I could say BYU wasn't interested, or the field conditions weren't right, or BYU was disappointed because they weren't ranked high enough, but I wouldn't have any credibility. FSU won and that is that.

[BlueHair]

That was my point to BlueHair. He indicated that he does believe it was indicative and that BYU wouldn't finish better than 8th in the ACC while FSU would finish second and likely challenge for the MWC.

That's not what I said. I said the WAC champion is better than the PAC 10 champion. The other teams are irrelevant.

[statman]

Sagarin doesn't give a crap about what conference the team plays in. That's silly.

Of course it does. Inter-league play is not uniform. Neither is home v away scheduling. Assumptions have to be made - yes, even in "unbiased computer models" (a completely ridiculous phrase, btw). To truly rank the leagues without assumptions about the power of the conferences in the equations would require a couple decades of only inter-conference play (basically, you'd have to have every team play every other team both home and away)...

[il Padrino Ute]

11 point domination?

If it makes you feel better, the PAC 10 champs were able to beat the MWC 3rd place team at home by 7.

[statman]

11 point domination? Interesting, what would you call what the 7th place ACC team did to the 2nd place MWC team on the road?

I'd call it a 5-0 turnover differential...

[statman]

Best unbiased estimator of conference power - how many players do they put into the NFL...

[BlueHair]

I also don't believe for a second that if BSU wins you will trumpet the WAC being better and more deserving than the MWC for the next year.

Not for the next year, for this year. If Boise beats TCU I will say that the WAC champion is better than the MWC champion.

I am against automatic qualifiers. Why reward a team this year just because a team from their conference was good last year?