Archive For The “Simple Ratings System” Category
At the halfway point of the FCS college football season, chances are you’re mad.
You’re mad that the human pollsters, who comprise the voters in the Sports Network or Coaches’ poll, don’t properly value your team, or your team’s opponents.
You’re mad that the folks who program the computers, who either underrate your favorite team or overrate something in another team that you, yourself, don’t value in your own rankings.
It’s just like the picture above: everyone sees the statistics and stories, and part of a football helmet, without really seeing the accurate picture.
It begs the question: is there really, honestly, a way to get an accurate picture of how to rank the Top 25 teams in the country?
Or will arguments on the relative worth of one football team vs. another always be a part of the fabric of college football, never to be settled – even after the end of the regular season?
Read more »
At the halfway point of the FCS college football season, chances are you’re mad.
You’re mad that the human pollsters, who comprise the voters in the Sports Network or Coaches’ poll, don’t properly value your team, or your team’s opponents.
You’re mad that the folks who program the computers, who either underrate your favorite team or overrate something in another team that you, yourself, don’t value in your own rankings.
It’s just like the picture above: everyone sees the statistics and stories, and part of a football helmet, without really seeing the accurate picture.
It begs the question: is there really, honestly, a way to get an accurate picture of how to rank the Top 25 teams in the country?
Or will arguments on the relative worth of one football team vs. another always be a part of the fabric of college football, never to be settled – even after the end of the regular season?
Read more »
I really thought I’d have been over it by now, but I’m not.
Last year’s Lehigh football team, who went 10-1, was denied an at-large spot to the FCS playoffs, becoming the first school with 10 Division I wins to be denied the honor since the playoff field expanded from 16 teams.
How did this happen?
The most common complaint from some Lehigh fans and many other FCS fans was that Lehigh’s “schedule strength” in 2012 simply was not cutting it when comparing them to other at-large candidates like New Hampshire, Wofford, or Illinois State.
Is it true that Lehigh scheduled themselves out of a playoff game last season – and will this season’s Lehigh schedule make it any easier to qualify as an at-large team should the Mountain Hawks be in that position again?
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(Photo Credit: The Express-Times)
You don’t have to remind anyone connected with the Lehigh football program about the drama and subjectivity of the playoff selection process.
Last season, Lehigh went 10-1, their only loss coming to eventual Patriot League winners Colgate. Despite the ten wins, the FCS Championships committee decided to deny the Mountain Hawks a playoff spot, thus making them the only school from an autobid conference with 10 or more Division I wins to be snubbed since the playoffs were expanded.
Lehigh fans might, then, see some of the news that “blindsighted” some of the FCS athletics directors with some interest.
For the upcoming season, there will be a new ratings system used by the FCS Championships committee members in that smoke-filled room. The question is, though: will it prevent future snubs like the one Lehigh endured last season?
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