Everyone started off saying that USC was clearly the best team in the country, and followed up the first couple of games with comments that USC was the best they'd seen.
Then they said that Oklahoma was clearly the best team in the country, and the best they'd seen. Oh yeah, and the Mizzou offense was unstoppable and the Heisman was Chase Daniel's to lose.
LSU was the unspoken class of the SEC west for those who are nervous about declaring Bama is back. They, ranked number 4, were embarrased by number 11 Florida
And all of of these teams lost in "upsets".
I'll grant that I wouldn't bet on Oregon St to beat USC many times out of 10, but of course Oklahoma St would be favored over Mizzou in a rematch, or Texas over Oklahoma. Who, given a chance to look at it again, wouldn't say LSU really hadn't accomplished much coming into the Florida game and ought to be a double digit dog.
The problem isn't the performance of the teams, the problem is the unfounded credit some teams are given due to reputation and peer pressure amongst the pundits. Oklahoma State didn't upset Mizzou. Mizzou shouldn't have been ranked 14 slots ahead of them. Texas didn't upset Oklahoma. Oklahoma had no credentials to be rated ahead of them in the first place.
The key is that when teams haven't played any real competition, a 70+% completion percentage is meaninless. I'll grant you that Texas is better than Oklahoma. I have my doubts how they would play against a team with a real and modern defense (or even Penn State's defense). Being the defending national champs is beside the point and certainly not worth a number 4 ranking. For goodness sake, someone gave Notre Dame a vote.
And you know who pays? Teams like Oklahoma State. They really have almost no shot at the national championship, simply because folks who didn't know what they were talking about ranked them way behind big rep teams at the start of the year. If Texas and Oklahoma can essentially swap places, why not Mizzou and Oklahoma State?
In the end, it won't really matter. With it unlikely that any Big 12 or SEC team goes undefeated, USC will likely play Penn State for the championship. And teams like Oklahoma State will be like Auburn a few years back - out of consideration by folks who aren't qualified to consider in the first place.
NO polls until November. NO coaches poll (coaches make up for what little they lack in stupidity with deviousness and cronyism). NO teams in the Championship game from conferences without conference championship games. Charlie Weis sucks. Amen.
Then they said that Oklahoma was clearly the best team in the country, and the best they'd seen. Oh yeah, and the Mizzou offense was unstoppable and the Heisman was Chase Daniel's to lose.
LSU was the unspoken class of the SEC west for those who are nervous about declaring Bama is back. They, ranked number 4, were embarrased by number 11 Florida
And all of of these teams lost in "upsets".
I'll grant that I wouldn't bet on Oregon St to beat USC many times out of 10, but of course Oklahoma St would be favored over Mizzou in a rematch, or Texas over Oklahoma. Who, given a chance to look at it again, wouldn't say LSU really hadn't accomplished much coming into the Florida game and ought to be a double digit dog.
The problem isn't the performance of the teams, the problem is the unfounded credit some teams are given due to reputation and peer pressure amongst the pundits. Oklahoma State didn't upset Mizzou. Mizzou shouldn't have been ranked 14 slots ahead of them. Texas didn't upset Oklahoma. Oklahoma had no credentials to be rated ahead of them in the first place.
The key is that when teams haven't played any real competition, a 70+% completion percentage is meaninless. I'll grant you that Texas is better than Oklahoma. I have my doubts how they would play against a team with a real and modern defense (or even Penn State's defense). Being the defending national champs is beside the point and certainly not worth a number 4 ranking. For goodness sake, someone gave Notre Dame a vote.
And you know who pays? Teams like Oklahoma State. They really have almost no shot at the national championship, simply because folks who didn't know what they were talking about ranked them way behind big rep teams at the start of the year. If Texas and Oklahoma can essentially swap places, why not Mizzou and Oklahoma State?
In the end, it won't really matter. With it unlikely that any Big 12 or SEC team goes undefeated, USC will likely play Penn State for the championship. And teams like Oklahoma State will be like Auburn a few years back - out of consideration by folks who aren't qualified to consider in the first place.
NO polls until November. NO coaches poll (coaches make up for what little they lack in stupidity with deviousness and cronyism). NO teams in the Championship game from conferences without conference championship games. Charlie Weis sucks. Amen.
