Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ucla-cs.ARPA Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!ittatc!dcdwest!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!ucla-cs!lor From: lor@ucla-cs.UUCP Newsgroups: net.sport.football Subject: Re: Bowl Results/Conference Strengths/# Message-ID: <8263@ucla-cs.ARPA> Date: Tue, 7-Jan-86 20:11:04 EST Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.8263 Posted: Tue Jan 7 20:11:04 1986 Date-Received: Thu, 9-Jan-86 06:00:55 EST References: <30400012@ISM780B.UUCP> <2695@umcp-cs.UUCP> Reply-To: lor@ucla-cs.UUCP (Edward Lor) Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department Lines: 94 It seems like the OU fans still think the Big Eight is a tough conference. Well, let me show some of my findings from the USA Today power ratings. This rating is the only mean to my knowledge that rates every team in Division I-A and I-AA. This is the average rating from teams of each major football conference (PCAA and Mid-American excluded): rating ranking in the power chart SEC 81.93 25 Big-Ten 78.31 33 SWC 75.81 42 PAC-10 75.54 43 ACC 75.31 44 Big Eight 71.59 58 WAC 68.03 74 In other words, an average SEC team gets a rating of 81.93 and ranked 25th in the country. But wait a minute, I have long claimed that the Big Eight is a Big-2, little-6 conference. We all know Oklahoma and Nebraska are powerhouses, but how about the other teams? Let's look at the average rating of the 3rd to last team in each conference: rating ranking in power chart difference SEC 78.89 32 7 Big-Ten 74.48 46 13 PAC-10 72.91 49 6 SWC 72.87 49 7 ACC 71.07 60 16 Big Eight 64.30 90 ** 32 ** WAC 62.59 94 20 The Big Eight dropped 32 places without the big 2. What does it tell? the conference simply has little left after Oklahoma and Nebraska. Sure, you can easily discard this kind of statistics as "unscientific", or "what do mathematicians know about football?" But this finding simply illustrates how strong your claim that "the Big Eight is a tough conference" is. In my opinion, that is the major reason why either Nebraska or Oklahoma goes 11-0 or 10-1 after the regular season each year. They don't get any competition within the conference. I am not the only one who think that, so do many other football fans in the country, the media, and even the big boss of ABC. Don't sell me craps like "Colorado came within two yards of beating Washington," or "Oklahoma State beat Washington this year, but I suppose you just consider them another Pac 10 patsy." These are not proper overall assessments of the Big Eight. Washington is only a joke this year. Be honest, just think which little brother in the Big Eight can be serious conference/ national contender each year. You certainly can't say Oklahoma St. and Colorado are on par with Tennesse, Iowa, UCLA, or Miami, and Oklahoma/Nebraska get top rankings because they are heads and shoulders above these top teams. Yes, you may say these comments on the Big Eight are sour grapes, but ignoring these assessments are just hiding your head under the sand. How about OU's non-conference schedule? Minnesota (7-5), Texas (8-4), and SMU (6-5) aren't really world-beaters. Defeating these teams indicates the sooners are a good football team, but does not mean they are the best. The only non-conference contender they scheduled was the one they couldn't defeat. You may say Oklahoma played six bowl teams in their schedule. But who cares? Bowls are really cheap in these years. I just don't want to waste any space to argue with Ron Vaughn that "OU had the highest rated defense *EVER*, against a tough schedule, ever mention that? OUs nosegaurd was picked the best down lineman in the nation, and linebacker bosworth won the first butkis award as the best linebacker. murphy was ANOTHER all-american on defense. we are talking about the #1 defens this year, and one of the best ever, by anyones yard-stick." I posted an article two months ago explaining how *GREAT* their defense really is. I am glad to send any interested party a copy. Sure, I have to give credits to the Sooners for playing good, solid football. They lived with what they are scheduled and beat the teams they were supposed to beat, as BYU did last year. They also deserved credits for not giving cheap touchdowns to the Penn St. defense, which was a major reason of the Lions' 11-0 season. However, this system of determining national champions is really nonsense. Oklahoma wins the national title only because of this system. We just know they are the best within their brand of football: running game and strong rushing defense. Just like Penn St. after the regular season, they haven't proved that they are the best team in the country. Well, since we will never have a playoff, we have to live with it. If my school is ranked number 1, I certainly will say the same things the sooner fans have said. -- Eddy Lor ...!(ihnp4,ucbvax)!ucla-cs!lor lor@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU Computer Science Department, UCLA