BlogPoll, Week 13: Big XII Chaos Ruins Everything
Your chart is rather large, after the jump, and you'll still have to open it in another window to view the whole thing. It's a resume comparison of the Top 4.
Yes, I did knock Texas Tech all the way down to No. 8 and out of the Big XII "which is better" argument, because neither of the other teams got demolished like that. And I did put Texas ahead of Oklahoma -- even though I was initially inclined to put Oklahoma ahead of the Longhorns. But I did it because of the whole record (as you'll see below), not because of the head-to-head. As usual, Dr. Saturday best explains the fallacy of TEXAS HAS TO BE AHEAD OF OKLAHOMA HEAD TO HEAD NOTHING ELSE IS FAIR:
All three teams are 10-1. They're all 1-1 against one another. This is not about Texas > Oklahoma on Oct. 11 because there's another two and half months' worth of information, much of it -- like Texas Tech > Texas on Nov. 1, and Oklahoma > Texas Tech on Saturday -- directly contradictory to that single afternoon in the Cotton Bowl. This is not a plea for Oklahoma. But whichever of the three you advocate to represent the South in the Big 12 Championship, it has to be based on all the information.
In any case, the ballot:
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| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | -- |
| 2 | Alabama | 1 |
| 3 | Texas | 1 |
| 4 | Oklahoma | 1 |
| 5 | Penn State | 3 |
| 6 | Southern Cal | -- |
| 7 | Utah | -- |
| 8 | Texas Tech | 6 |
| 9 | Ohio State | 1 |
| 10 | Boise State | 1 |
| 11 | Oklahoma State | 2 |
| 12 | Missouri | -- |
| 13 | Georgia | -- |
| 14 | Oregon State | -- |
| 15 | Florida State | 11 |
| 16 | Ball State | 1 |
| 17 | Cincinnati | -- |
| 18 | Georgia Tech | 4 |
| 19 | West Virginia | -- |
| 20 | Boston College | 4 |
| 21 | Iowa | 5 |
| 22 | Miami (Florida) | 6 |
| 23 | Michigan State | 5 |
| 24 | Northwestern | 1 |
| 25 | California | 1 |
Dropped Out: Pittsburgh (#20), North Carolina (#21), Connecticut (#23).
Chartage, other explanatory information after the jump. As usual, tell me why I'm wrong -- for one thing, I'm not sure if Ole Miss goes in there somewhere.

First, to explain this chart: It's sort of a loose derivative of some charts Dr. Saturday did back when he was SMQ, but with a bit of my own spin. In short: All of the games played by Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma and Texas (alphabetical, you'll note), arranged into as good an order as one can do after looking at it for close to an hour. FCS teams are not included, as beating one them is not an accomplishment and any team that lost to one them would not be in the mix. Point margins are taken into account.
It's not perfect, I'll be the first to admit, which is why I didn't strictly follow it. I gave Alabama some extra credit for being undefeated; this hurts no one, as Alabama or Florida is going to fall out of the Top 2 depending on what happens in the Georgia Dome (or, perhaps, before that).
The margin between Oklahoma and Texas is rather slim, mostly because Oklahoma has by far the better out-of-conference schedule. (Arguments to the contrary, from an SEC-basing site that says Arkansas is an "SEC team" and as a result strengthens Texas' resume, are stretching more than a bit. Cincinnati and TCU are both more impressive than any of Texas' non-Big XII wins.) Texas' more difficult league schedule, though, made the difference.
Penn State moves up after clocking Michigan State and because of Texas Tech's fall. Oklahoma state moves down to No. 11 because the Texas Tech loss looks a bit worse. Florida State rockets back into the poll; I probably shouldn't have left them out last week, and so the win moves them up more than it should.
Georgia Tech and Boston College both move up four. Pay them no mind; they are ACC teams and will lose next week. Iowa continues to look impress, annihilating Minnesota two weeks after beating Penn State. (They had a bye week in between listed as "vs. Purdue.")
Miami (FL) and Michigan State get waxed and move way down, but not out. Northwestern and Cal re-appear -- why not? -- and some losers -- Pittsburgh, UNC (vs. N.C. State!) and Connecticut -- are out.
This week, I watched, in whole or (substantial) part: Ball State-Central Michigan, Miami-Georgia Tech, Tennessee-Vanderbilt, Mississippi-LSU, Oregon State-Arizona and Texas Tech-Oklahoma. I caught a few minutes here and there of some other games.
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I would put Cal or Northwestern to the sword and bring in Ole Miss – Nutt may be the craziest coach in the SEC (which is saying something), but he has a legit team.
by peachy rex on Nov 24, 2008 4:12 AM EST 0 recs
I agree that Ole Miss has a place somewhere from 20-25
I also suggest that you may have Florida State a bit too high, at least relative to Georgia Tech and BC. All three have the same record, and both GT and BC have a head to head win against FSU.
As to my own Longhorn partisanship, I think BZ’s argument is focused on Texas having played four decent (not good, merely within a deviation of mediocre) teams while OU played two teams several deviations below Tulane/Rice in Washington and UT-Chat. He may have improperly mitigated the quality of TCU/Cincinnati to some extent, but Texans also may be more naturally cynical about TCU’s odds of winning a game against top competition. I’ve been waiting for a long time for the frogs to become the spoiler they are perpetually poised to be.
I’m not sure when you’ve come around, but I’ve never gotten the impression that BON is an SEC bashing place – at least moreso than one would expect of devout Texas partisans.
proud to swim home
by learned hand on Nov 24, 2008 9:30 AM EST 0 recs
Perhaps a bit strong
But I was thinking of posts and comments like this and this.
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
by cocknfire on
Nov 24, 2008 3:24 PM EST
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Fair point
Texans tend to be a proud lot though, and the “Big 12 has no defense” narrative struck a nerve all around. I don’t think any rational person would argue that Texas high school athletes are inferior to the fertile recruiting grounds of the South (nor superior in the opposite) and since the conference, with UT in particular, has a habit of snaking away prime SEC defensive minds I think we were caught off guard at being lumped in with the ’80s WAC by the likes of Schlabach et. al.
Schadenfreude was an easier tact than approaching the matter directly, but conference chest beating isn’t our average fair. I think most of us are looking forward to an MNC game between the two highest performing conferences in the country.
proud to swim home
by learned hand on
Nov 24, 2008 5:05 PM EST
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Chart Question
Is the different value for common opponents a measure of margin of victory, home/road or something else?
by Watchman on Nov 24, 2008 12:54 PM EST 0 recs
Usually, MOV
which is why Texas’ victory over Kansas is higher than Oklahoma’s but their wins over Baylor are roughly equal
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
by cocknfire on
Nov 24, 2008 3:28 PM EST
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Which probably means Florida's win over Tennessee should be equal to Alabama's
It just adds 0.2 points to Florida, though, so it doesn’t change the rankings under the chart
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
by cocknfire on
Nov 24, 2008 10:26 PM EST
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