forum_guy
12-01-2008, 12:04 PM
BCS antics leading to disturbing poll trend
By Brad Edwards
Special to ESPN.com
In the end, it was what we expected.
It just happened far differently than anyone had imagined.
Oklahoma will represent the Big 12 South in the conference championship game against Missouri on Saturday, giving the Sooners a chance to play their way into the BCS National Championship Game with a victory.
OU earned that berth by being ranked higher than both Texas and Texas Tech in Sunday's BCS standings -- the fifth and final tiebreaker to determine the division winner.
Oklahoma entered last week with a lead on its competition in the polls that account for two-thirds of the BCS formula, but the Sooners still trailed Texas in the computer element. A road win against No. 12 Oklahoma State vaulted Oklahoma ahead of the Longhorns in that part of the equation, giving OU an advantage that seemed insurmountable.
But it was barely enough.
Even after Oklahoma's 61-41 win at Stillwater, a significant number of voters decided to drop the Sooners behind the Longhorns on their ballots, allowing Texas to take a six-point lead in the Harris poll and come within one point of OU in the coaches' poll.
In other words, the cumulative total of the human element of the BCS formula had Texas ranked ahead of Oklahoma by the slimmest of margins. It was the computers that ultimately boosted the Sooners into the Big 12 championship game, and into the national championship game if they can beat the Tigers, as well.
Whether you side with Oklahoma or Texas in this debate, it's hard not to be disturbed by what happened in the polls on Nov. 30. Certainly, voters have every right to change their minds from week-to-week, but in this case, there seemed to be a much larger agenda at work.
In any normal week, there would be no rational explanation for Oklahoma (winning 61-41 at No. 12 Oklahoma State) and Florida (winning 45-15 at No. 20 Florida State) both losing points in the polls and getting jumped by a team that had a similar victory margin in a home game against an opponent with a losing record.
Apparently, Texas' victory over Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night carried a lot of weight with the voters.
In this particular week, it's just part of the BCS game.
In the previous two seasons, several final ballots had very questionable ordering of teams, and there's little doubt that we'd see the same thing this week if these ballots were made public. But they won't be, because this isn't the final week of the regular season.
Regardless, it's clear that the polls have gotten out of control.
When the BCS was created many years ago, the polls were supposed to provide a passive element of the overall formula. But as the polls have been given more power, there's been trend toward voters attempting to serve a very active role as a virtual selection committee.
Ballots have ceased to be one man's opinion. Some of them are trying to manipulate the outcome of the race, and that's not what the polls were intended to do.
Thanks to the Big 12 for exposing yet another flaw in this system!
By Brad Edwards
Special to ESPN.com
In the end, it was what we expected.
It just happened far differently than anyone had imagined.
Oklahoma will represent the Big 12 South in the conference championship game against Missouri on Saturday, giving the Sooners a chance to play their way into the BCS National Championship Game with a victory.
OU earned that berth by being ranked higher than both Texas and Texas Tech in Sunday's BCS standings -- the fifth and final tiebreaker to determine the division winner.
Oklahoma entered last week with a lead on its competition in the polls that account for two-thirds of the BCS formula, but the Sooners still trailed Texas in the computer element. A road win against No. 12 Oklahoma State vaulted Oklahoma ahead of the Longhorns in that part of the equation, giving OU an advantage that seemed insurmountable.
But it was barely enough.
Even after Oklahoma's 61-41 win at Stillwater, a significant number of voters decided to drop the Sooners behind the Longhorns on their ballots, allowing Texas to take a six-point lead in the Harris poll and come within one point of OU in the coaches' poll.
In other words, the cumulative total of the human element of the BCS formula had Texas ranked ahead of Oklahoma by the slimmest of margins. It was the computers that ultimately boosted the Sooners into the Big 12 championship game, and into the national championship game if they can beat the Tigers, as well.
Whether you side with Oklahoma or Texas in this debate, it's hard not to be disturbed by what happened in the polls on Nov. 30. Certainly, voters have every right to change their minds from week-to-week, but in this case, there seemed to be a much larger agenda at work.
In any normal week, there would be no rational explanation for Oklahoma (winning 61-41 at No. 12 Oklahoma State) and Florida (winning 45-15 at No. 20 Florida State) both losing points in the polls and getting jumped by a team that had a similar victory margin in a home game against an opponent with a losing record.
Apparently, Texas' victory over Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night carried a lot of weight with the voters.
In this particular week, it's just part of the BCS game.
In the previous two seasons, several final ballots had very questionable ordering of teams, and there's little doubt that we'd see the same thing this week if these ballots were made public. But they won't be, because this isn't the final week of the regular season.
Regardless, it's clear that the polls have gotten out of control.
When the BCS was created many years ago, the polls were supposed to provide a passive element of the overall formula. But as the polls have been given more power, there's been trend toward voters attempting to serve a very active role as a virtual selection committee.
Ballots have ceased to be one man's opinion. Some of them are trying to manipulate the outcome of the race, and that's not what the polls were intended to do.
Thanks to the Big 12 for exposing yet another flaw in this system!