Too much emphasis on early games

[HuskerNation1]

One thing I have noticed the past few years in college football is that how one conference performs against another conference has huge ramifications on rankings for those conferences the entire season. A couple years ago the BIG lost several of the early games to SEC and Pac 12 opponents, and for the remainder of the year decent Big Ten teams were ranked lower than these other conferences, only to outperform the competition in the bowl season. This year it seems just the opposite has happened, with Wisconsin's win over LSU really inflating the rankings for the BIG all season long. When NU took Wisconsin to overtime, it was as if NU was a great team all of a sudden because they played well against the might Badgers who beat LSU. Then next week the real NU was exposed against OSU. In reality, the BIG had several teams with good records, but as we have seen in this bowl season, many of the teams were ranked too high. I realize sometimes it comes down to matchups, but its a rather embarrassing performance from our conference.

I am hoping in the coming years that pollsters, along with the CFP committee, do not over emphasize early games as an indicator for how to position an entire conference. Am I the only one that thinks this happens?

 

[Swiv3D]

Look kids, another pointless thread!

 

[HuskerNation1]

Look kids, another pointless thread!

Why pointless, and why the need to comment if you feel that way...

 

[hskrpwr13]

Youre not incorrect, but how do you propose to solve it? This sport is based off rankings, and the rankings SHOULD reflect the games' results.

 

[HuskerNation1]

Youre not incorrect, but how do you propose to solve it? This sport is based off rankings, and the rankings SHOULD reflect the games' results.

Well I think there needs to be some national dialogue from the sports pundits and pollsters to acknowledge this is a trend that spans multiple conferences. Its not easy but one way to address this would be to have a Big Ten/SEC challenge like we have the Big Ten ACC challenge where multiple teams from the same conference face off. That would provide a more representative sample of conference strength and depth.

 

[hskrpwr13]

Youre not incorrect, but how do you propose to solve it? This sport is based off rankings, and the rankings SHOULD reflect the games' results.

Well I think there needs to be some national dialogue from the sports pundits and pollsters to acknowledge this is a trend that spans multiple conferences. Its not easy but one way to address this would be to have a Big Ten/SEC challenge like we have the Big Ten ACC challenge where multiple teams from the same conference face off. That would provide a more representative sample of conference strength and depth.

More data points, but it doesn't change your issue. If it were done in November, then sure, but never going to happen.

 

[HuskerNation1]

Youre not incorrect, but how do you propose to solve it? This sport is based off rankings, and the rankings SHOULD reflect the games' results.

Well I think there needs to be some national dialogue from the sports pundits and pollsters to acknowledge this is a trend that spans multiple conferences. Its not easy but one way to address this would be to have a Big Ten/SEC challenge like we have the Big Ten ACC challenge where multiple teams from the same conference face off. That would provide a more representative sample of conference strength and depth.

More data points, but it doesn't change your issue. If it were done in November, then sure, but never going to happen.

Well my initial point is that a single game between two different conferences is setting the tone for the entire conference for the entire season. Thus, if you had several matchups early in the season it would be a better indicator of conference strength and depth, and that is where a conference challenge would be intriguing. I'm not sure if Delaney would go for something like that though.

 

[Landlord]

Youre not incorrect, but how do you propose to solve it? This sport is based off rankings, and the rankings SHOULD reflect the games' results.

Well I think there needs to be some national dialogue from the sports pundits and pollsters to acknowledge this is a trend that spans multiple conferences. Its not easy but one way to address this would be to have a Big Ten/SEC challenge like we have the Big Ten ACC challenge where multiple teams from the same conference face off. That would provide a more representative sample of conference strength and depth.

Needs to be? Why? What does it matter?

 

[HuskerNation1]

Youre not incorrect, but how do you propose to solve it? This sport is based off rankings, and the rankings SHOULD reflect the games' results.

Well I think there needs to be some national dialogue from the sports pundits and pollsters to acknowledge this is a trend that spans multiple conferences. Its not easy but one way to address this would be to have a Big Ten/SEC challenge like we have the Big Ten ACC challenge where multiple teams from the same conference face off. That would provide a more representative sample of conference strength and depth.

Needs to be? Why? What does it matter?

Well it there is no dialogue nothing will get changed. It took a lot of dialogue about having a playoff before we finally got the CFP. And prior to that it took dialogue to come up with the BCS in the late 90s. We have also seen dialogue on the long-term health issues from older players lead to focused attention on player safety and helmet improvements.

 

[Redux]

Playing an early tough game is a huge advantage if you go 11-1. Doesn't mean squat if you lose 4.

 

[Landlord]

Well it there is no dialogue nothing will get changed. It took a lot of dialogue about having a playoff before we finally got the CFP. And prior to that it took dialogue to come up with the BCS in the late 90s. We have also seen dialogue on the long-term health issues from older players lead to focused attention on player safety and helmet improvements.

But what is the negative fallout of people thinking certain conferences are good or bad right now? How is that negatively influencing college football in a way that needs to be changed?

 

[HuskerNation1]

Well it there is no dialogue nothing will get changed. It took a lot of dialogue about having a playoff before we finally got the CFP. And prior to that it took dialogue to come up with the BCS in the late 90s. We have also seen dialogue on the long-term health issues from older players lead to focused attention on player safety and helmet improvements.

But what is the negative fallout of people thinking certain conferences are good or bad right now? How is that negatively influencing college football in a way that needs to be changed?

The point is that when there is one marquee matchup early in the season between top power conferences, the conference team that wins tends to benefit the rest of the teams in that conference throughout the rest of the season. I have seen this play out several years now. A few years ago the SEC had 5 or 6 teams in the top 15 throughout the entire season, and they kept playing each other during conference play so each matchup was deemed as two of the best teams playing each other, but when the bowls came around, the SEC did not do as well as they had been hyped the whole season. I think this is playing out in the Big Ten as well. You see this happen in NCAA basketball to an extent, where in recent years the Big 12 was viewed most favorably by the NCAA committee only to end up performing poorly in the tournament, bit given there are 64 teams and many games, its different than football where season rankings still tend to be crucial in determining who makes the final four.

 

[Magnus]

The SEC schools have figured this out. They play conference games earlier, and always schedule a scrimmage non-conference cupcake game the weekend before their end-of-season rivalry games.

 

[NUance]

The SEC schools have figured this out. They play conference games earlier, and always schedule a scrimmage non-conference cupcake game the weekend before their end-of-season rivalry games.

Yeah, I like the way SEC schools schedule their games. They generally have a patsy midway through the season to give their guys a breather. I'd like to see us do that.

 

[Redux]

We should be scheduling a cupcake before Rivalry week and playing like Northwestern in week 2.