Ducks Roundtable: Looking at the BCS computer rankings
By Brian Spaen
In this week’s edition of Pat Forde’s “Forde-Yard Dash” at Yahoo! Sports, he kicks off the article giving us the current computer rankings. Oh, does it come with some surprises.
Oct 6, 2012; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators cheer during the game against the LSU Tigers at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE
How do you like Alabama not just being removed from the top spot, but all the way down to sixth place due to their schedule? Oregon is behind them as well with the same reasoning. The Crimson Tide make the top five however, thanks to Ohio State being ineligible at fourth place. Technically at fifth place is West Virginia, benefiting from a big win at Texas last week.
The rest of the pack counting up to the top spot? South Carolina, Notre Dame, Florida.
Discuss.
Mike: I agree that Notre Dame, Florida, South Carolina plus West Virginia will be high since they have higher profile wins. Alabama and Oregon do have wins over ranked teams the others mentioned just have more at this point of the season. I’m not a fan of how the BcS computers work but based on that seeing Pat Forde and others confirm the thoughts don’t surprise me at all. The Ducks will have plenty of chances as the season goes on to get into the heart of Pac-12 play, I guess in my mind I’m already prepping myself to see them down in these week one rankings.
Ricky: I feel like Oregon should be in the Top 5 instead of Notre Dame, but are not because of their strength of schedule at the moment. If Notre Dame beats Standford this week, then I think Oregon might need one or even two wins against USC before being in the Top 5 (most likely one). After reading the article, my top five would be in this order: Alabama, Oregon, WVU, Florida, and South Carolina.
Brian: The problem with computers is they don’t have the ability to watch teams. Crunch up numbers and stats all you want, but the eye test also needs to pass. Plus, it’s ridiculous to completely remove margin of victory. Alabama’s dominating win over Michigan is valued the same as Notre Dame’s. Anybody can see that both Florida and ND are not necessarily that great on offense yet, and Alabama’s A.J. McCarron is slightly dropping in efficiency but still holds 12 touchdowns to zero interceptions. Oregon continues to do work each week, and showing that much domination should be worth something. It’s not time to hit any panic buttons, however. The meat of the Pac-12 schedule is still left for the Ducks. Win them all, and unless Notre Dame goes undefeated and their schedule holds up as top in the nation, they should be in.
Raymond: I don’t agree with Ohio State being the 4th best team in the country. I guess beating up on Nebraska really vaulted them but the Big Ten is not that great this year as Wisconsin and Michigan State have struggled. It’s still too early to figure out who the best five or six teams in the country.
The Autzen Zoo staff includes lead editor Brian Spaen along with staff writers Joe Soriano, Mike Vamosi, Raymond Mencke, Jr., and Ricky Widmer.