My biggest gripe about the BCS

[emmitt01]

There should be no polls or rankings before October! Why? Because you get crap like this week's USA today poll. Texas is ranked #21...four spots ahead of TCU. How is Texas ranked at all, much less ahead of the Rose Bowl champs?! Which of their FIVE wins last season was so impressive? And even IF you buy that they're better than TCU because the frogs lost their first game...tell me why Baylor, the team that beat them, isn't even ranked in this poll.

And this isn't all about Texas...they're just the biggest example of the inherent flaw in the system.

[GreenN'walinsVet]

There should be no polls or rankings before October! Why? Because you get crap like this week's USA today poll. Texas is ranked #21...four spots ahead of TCU. How is Texas ranked at all, much less ahead of the Rose Bowl champs?! Which of their FIVE wins last season was so impressive? And even IF you buy that they're better than TCU because the frogs lost their first game...tell me why Baylor, the team that beat them, isn't even ranked in this poll.

And this isn't all about Texas...they're just the biggest example of the inherent flaw in the system.

Emmitt, while i completly agree the poll system is screwed up you cant say the "BCS" The polls used in the BCS formula are not relesased unitl after the 5th week of the season i believe.

What really gets me about the polls is when teams like Oregon drop 10 spots for getting beat by a team in front of them in the poll in what amounted as a home game for the said higher ranked team or similarly ranked team.

P.S. Emmitt, see you in 22 hours!!!!!

[emmitt01]

Emmitt, while i completly agree the poll system is screwed up you cant say the "BCS" The polls used in the BCS formula are not relesased unitl after the 5th week of the season i believe.

What really gets me about the polls is when teams like Oregon drop 10 spots for getting beat by a team in front of them in the poll in what amounted as a home game for the said higher ranked team or similarly ranked team.

P.S. Emmitt, see you in 22 hours!!!!!

That's the problem though, those polls are out NOW. The USA today poll I mentioned is the coaches poll. It's one of two polls used in the BCS formula...the other being the AP, which is also already released (and was before week 1 of the season) and has Texas ranked #24 with TCU at #25.

So now teams that had played ZERO games this season are given rankings which they need only keep winning (or lose to equally arbitrarily ranked teams) to keep!

[GreenN'walinsVet]

That's the problem though, those polls are out NOW. The USA today poll I mentioned is the coaches poll. It's one of two polls used in the BCS formula...the other being the AP, which is also already released (and was before week 1 of the season) and has Texas ranked #24 with TCU at #25.

So now teams that had played ZERO games this season are given rankings which they need only keep winning (or lose to equally arbitrarily ranked teams) to keep!

Forgot the Coaches Poll was part of the BCS (what a joke of a poll that is). At least the AP poll is not part of the formula. The Harris poll is the other poll used and that i know doesnt come out unitl the 5th week.

by the way we are now T-minus 20 hours

[CMJ]

The AP crowns their own National Champion (granted usually the BCS champ). Actually so do the Football Writers Association of America - again typically the BCS Champ (and in the days before the BCS, they tended to agree with the consensus champ, unless of course there was a year where there a vote split).

Anyways - in a way I find the FWAA the most legitimate (even though they're the least publicized) since I don't believe they even rank teams until the end of the season.

Not that any of these are terribly valid. I guess I tend to rank the AP above everything (yes over the BCS) because they've been handing out their trophy since the 1930's.

[NT80]

The AP crowns their own National Champion (granted usually the BCS champ). Actually so do the Football Writers Association of America - again typically the BCS Champ (and in the days before the BCS, they tended to agree with the consensus champ, unless of course there was a year where there a vote split).

Anyways - in a way I find the FWAA the most legitimate (even though they're the least publicized) since I don't believe they even rank teams until the end of the season.

Not that any of these are terribly valid. I guess I tend to rank the AP above everything (yes over the BCS) because they've been handing out their trophy since the 1930's.

I like the AP rankings too. But it all means nothing since this is the only football division (at any level) with NO playoffs!

[CMJ]

I like the AP rankings too. But it all means nothing since this is the only football division (at any level) with NO playoffs!

I mean, it does and it doesn't mean anything/everything. Most people who follow the sport seem to think it has meaning, otherwise they wouldn't talk about it, call schools' champions, or endlessly argue about rankings all season.

Not sure why you bolded "their trophy" -- as they actually do bestow a trophy. Hell, so does the FWAA. I remember when Auburn won in January, they had a pretty cool photo taken with all their national title trophies from the 2010 season sitting on a table.

Edited September 9, 2011 by CMJ

[LongJim]

The polls typically sort themselves out as the season goes on. They always look ridiculous the first few weeks. But here we are talking about it, which is why it will always be hard to make changes to the system.