Why college polls need rules and regulations. Or better yet, do away with them completely.

This is an example of a real AP Poll ballot from @DougLesmerises: Link: http://t.co/K94YxTF53p Pic: pic.twitter.com/r0toVDWAG3
— The SEC Logo (@SEC_Logo) September 9, 2013

The above is a tweet I came across via The SEC Logo (@SEC_Logo).  Yes, that is an actual vote cast by an AP member for the ranking of college football teams.  I personally have no problem with this ranking, as long as it is viewed from the perspective of who is playing the "best" football as of right now and not a prediction of who will win the BCS title.  I can agree that Clemson has played some really good football the first two weekends.  They beat a Georgia team that looked really good against South Carolina.  Alabama did not look all that impressive against Virginia Tech.  Hell, I would suggest that Alabama be ranked behind Oregon, Georgia, and Louisville if we are basing it purely on quality of football played this season to date.  However, that is my main point. What are these polls actually based on?  In a vast majority of the votes, Alabama is ranked #1 overall.  And rightly so, given it's from the perspective of the reigning champ hasn't been beaten yet.  And therein lies the problem.  Too many people cast votes based on such a wide variety of criteria. With the millions upon millions of dollars that are up for grabs, ultimately based on these types of votes, there needs to be more rules in place to set guidelines on voting criteria.  Even with the playoffs coming to college football next season, the AP and USA Today polls can still play a major role in influencing the selection committee.  Can you imagine the backlash the selection committee would receive if they were to by pass a unanimous #4 ranked team in both AP and USA Today polls for any other team?  I don't even want to imagine what would happen if a by-passed team were ranked higher than #4.  Riots may break out across the country.

All in all, I think the point I'm trying to make is that the NCAA would be wise to make some sort of official statement in the off season declaring these polls invalid and of no importance in selecting playoff teams.  And they should make that statement multiple times.  OR....   they could attempt to impose rules and/or guidelines in voting for AP and USA Today members.  But in my opinion, trying to tell the media what to do is like trying to tell a spoiled child no.  So the former of the two ideas is probably the best course of action.

In the end, transparency in selection criteria will do the selection committee wonders in the eye of the public.  If the teams and the public know what it takes to make the playoffs ahead of time, then that will greatly minimize the controversy come selection time.

Good articles on college football

These are some articles pertaining to college football that I found interesting.

Impact of stats on college football playoff selection committee
       This one provides an interesting view of what stats and how these stats will be used in the selection process for the upcoming college football playoffs. Personally, I feel that there should definitely be more transparency in the selection process. Tell everyone the exact criteria that will be used in selecting teams. Also, the selection committee members should be ready to explain and justify their picks to the nation.  I would also like to see a margin of victory alongside strength of schedule as statistical components to aid in the selection process.


     Speaking of statistics, here is an article about big plays and how often they lead to points on the board. The numbers aren't all that surprising, but it is nice to have a more precise percentage to spout in those intense football discussions we all get in to.


     Hope you enjoy the reading material and feel free to leave some comments.

When it rains, it pours.

It sure has been a rough week for the LSU nation.
     First off, there was the debacle in New Orleans that some people called the BCS National Championship game. That was quite possibly the worst LSU bowl game ever and definitely the worst in recent memory, at least offensively it was.  The defense did everything they could to keep the team in the game. The offense however was very frustrating to watch to say the least.  Many would have liked to seen Jarrett Lee get a few snaps in the ball game, but it's hard to say he would have made much of a difference in the outcome of the final score.  Alabama's defensive line was beating the offensive line of LSU most of the night, making it extremely difficult for the running game to get going.  In my opinion, without an established running game the passing game didn't stand much of a chance with either Jefferson or Lee at the QB position. Well that's about as much of that game I can relive for now.  Maybe I'll discuss it more at a later date.
     Secondly, the Saints lost their playoff game to the San Francisco 49ers.  I wasn't really expecting them to win the Super Bowl, but it certainly would have been nice to get at least 1 playoff win.
     And of course last but not least, highly recruited QB Gunner Kiel backed out of his commitment to LSU and instead will be attending Notre Dame.  He is from Indiana and stated that he would like to attend college closer to home. It sure would have been nice to get the #1 QB recruit in the nation on the team but you can't really fault the kid for making a decision like that.
     All in all it has certainly been a rough 7-10 days but with plenty of returning talent on the 2012 football roster there are many reasons to look forward to next year.  Should be a great season again.

What a great day of college football

Yesterday was an unbelievable day of college football. LSU absolutely trounced Auburn 45-10, which was certainly nice to see. Alabama was a little slow starting but eventually took control of the game against Tennessee in the second half and won 37-6. More amazingly was Michigan State's Hail Mary at the final seconds to beat previously unbeaten Wisconsin, 37-31. Then after a rain delay, Texas Tech beats Oklahoma 41-38. So two high ranked unbeaten teams fall yesterday leaving 8 unbeaten teams left in FBS football. Those 8 teams are: LSU, Alabama, Stanford, Oklahoma St., Boise St., Clemson, Kansas St., and Houston. Most of those teams will actually play each other in the regular season. LSU plays Alabama Nov. 5th at 7pm central. Kansas St. plays Oklahoma St. Nov. 5th. Of the other unbeaten teams, most will play a tough schedule or at least one tough opponent in the remaining weeks. Stanford plays Oregon Nov. 12. Clemson plays Georgia Tech Oct. 29th, and South Carolina Nov. 26th.  Houston and Boise St. however don't have much of a schedule left. Houston plays SMU on Nov. 19th, although Houston is too low ranked to be a significant factor in BCS bowls. Boise St. plays TCU on Nov. 12 but that will not be a big enough game to boost Boise St. up in the rankings.  The next three weeks of college football should be really exciting. New BCS rankings should be released tonight at approximately 8:30/7:30 central on ESPN. I'll be looking for LSU to be #1 followed by Alabama at #2. The real question will be what order the remaining teams will be in and how close will they be to LSU/Alabama.

Why does the AP continue to reward cheaters?

The NCAA found USC guilty of major infractions in 2004 and 2005, in other words they cheated and got caught. The BCS had no problem stripping USC of its title in 2004, it was a unanimous vote.  So why does the AP insist on keeping USC as its proclaimed champion of that season? I'm not saying that USC wasn't the best team that season, they very likely were. What I am saying is, when you cheat and get caught you typically get punished and you certainly don't get rewarded. Unless of course you work for the AP. This sort of action is what got the AP poll removed from the BCS rankings.  This is not the first time the AP has rewarded a college football program guilty of cheating,  they did it back in 1974 with Oklahoma and there are probably other instances that occurred as well. I just don't feel like doing any more research at the moment. This is a very dangerous precedent the AP has set for itself.  It doesn't matter if you cheat and get caught, just win all the games. That's the only thing that matters.  In fact, if you win by a large enough margin some will almost forget that you played those games with a professional athlete on your team as seen by the five writers in this article.  At the very least the AP should vacate the title from 2004, showing that they won't reward teams for cheating. They should probably take a step further and declare Auburn and Utah co-champions since both finished the season undefeated and neither were caught cheating.  Every day the AP refuses to acknowledge the corrupt behavior at USC, I can only assume that the AP itself is also corrupt.