MajorMike
01-30-2007, 11:13 AM
Parrish: The Thoughts
By Gary Parrish
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Updated: Jan/29/2007 07:38 PM
Poll Attacks: Give Ducks some love
No matter how much Alabama loses, the voters are still in love.
No matter how much Oregon wins, the voters don't seem to notice.
That's what the new rankings taught me this week. As always, here's a rebuttal, per The Poll Attacks.
AP poll: I'm not interested in singling out any voters for the silliness that is ranking Alabama No. 19 in the AP poll. But if you want to see who's responsible and discuss it among yourselves, here's the link to the ballots. Some of these people don't appear to know the season has even started. But I'm certain they're good folks with solid intentions, so take it easy on them despite the fact the Crimson Tide are 15-5 overall, 2-4 in the SEC, losers of four of their past six games and still lacking a win over what would equate to a top 40 team, using the latest AP poll as the gauge.
Alabama is 19th.
You read that correctly. But don't be mad at the Crimson Tide. It's not like they're ranking themselves, and I'm certain Mark Gottfried is just as baffled by the position, though probably flattered by the respect.
Coaches poll: I'm OK if you want to put Pittsburgh and Texas A&M in the top 10. They're not in my top 10. But if you like them, put them in the top 10 and I won't complain or call you stupid. They're good teams, the both of them. We all agree on that point.
But neither should be ranked ahead of Oregon in the coaches poll.
The rankings order of No. 7 Pittsburgh, No. 8 Texas A&M and No. 9 Oregon can't be validated with any bit of tangible evidence. Once you look at what these schools have done, it should be pretty clear Oregon deserves to be higher than No. 9, and certainly ahead of Pitt and Texas A&M.
How do I know?
Because I looked.
Here's what I found, and I assigned numbers to all the teams in the coaches poll down through the "others receiving votes" to give us rankings from No. 1 Florida to No. 43 Northern Iowa.
-- Pittsburgh --
Overall record: 19-3.
Number of wins against the Top 25 in the coaches poll: Zero.
Number of losses to the Top 25 in the coaches poll: Three (at No. 2 Wisconsin, at No. 14 Oklahoma State, vs. No. 15 Marquette).
Number of wins against "others receiving votes" in the coaches poll: One (vs. No. 29 Georgetown).
Number of losses to "others receiving votes" in the coaches poll: Zero.
Number of losses to someone outside the top 43 in the coaches poll: Zero.
-- TEXAS A&M --
Overall record: 17-3.
Number of wins against the Top 25 in the coaches poll: One (vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State).
Number of losses to the Top 25 in the coaches poll: One (vs. No. 5 UCLA).
Number of wins against "others receiving votes" in the coaches poll: One (vs. No. 35 Winthrop).
Number of losses to "others receiving votes" in the coaches poll: Two (at No. 37 LSU, at No. 40 Texas Tech).
Number of losses to someone outside the top 43 in the coaches poll: Zero.
-- OREGON --
Overall record: 19-2.
Number of wins against the Top 25 in the coaches poll: Three (vs. No. 5 UCLA, at No. 17 Washington State, at No. 22 Arizona).
Number of losses to the Top 25 in the coaches poll: Zero.
Number of wins against "others receiving votes" in the coaches poll: Two (at No. 29 Georgetown, vs. No. 30 Stanford).
Number of losses to "others receiving votes" in the coaches poll: One (vs. No. 31 Southern California).
Number of losses to someone outside the top 43 in the coaches poll: One (at Washington).
However you slice it, Oregon has the better credentials.
The Ducks have the same amount of wins as Pitt, and two more than Texas A&M.
The Ducks have one less loss than both Pitt and Texas A&M.
The Ducks are 5-1 against the top 43 while Pitt is 1-3 and Texas A&M is 2-3. And though I'm not typically into excusing losses, it's crazy not to acknowledge that Oregon's loss at Washington came while Aaron Brooks, the Pac-10's leading scorer, was suspended for an elbow he fired at a Washington player last season. Had Brooks played, it's not a stretch to assume Oregon would've won. But even if you don't want to discount that defeat, the Ducks still have wonderful credentials, and it's hard to explain any ranking for Ernie Kent's team that doesn't place them in the top five.
By Gary Parrish
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Updated: Jan/29/2007 07:38 PM
Poll Attacks: Give Ducks some love
No matter how much Alabama loses, the voters are still in love.
No matter how much Oregon wins, the voters don't seem to notice.
That's what the new rankings taught me this week. As always, here's a rebuttal, per The Poll Attacks.
AP poll: I'm not interested in singling out any voters for the silliness that is ranking Alabama No. 19 in the AP poll. But if you want to see who's responsible and discuss it among yourselves, here's the link to the ballots. Some of these people don't appear to know the season has even started. But I'm certain they're good folks with solid intentions, so take it easy on them despite the fact the Crimson Tide are 15-5 overall, 2-4 in the SEC, losers of four of their past six games and still lacking a win over what would equate to a top 40 team, using the latest AP poll as the gauge.
Alabama is 19th.
You read that correctly. But don't be mad at the Crimson Tide. It's not like they're ranking themselves, and I'm certain Mark Gottfried is just as baffled by the position, though probably flattered by the respect.
Coaches poll: I'm OK if you want to put Pittsburgh and Texas A&M in the top 10. They're not in my top 10. But if you like them, put them in the top 10 and I won't complain or call you stupid. They're good teams, the both of them. We all agree on that point.
But neither should be ranked ahead of Oregon in the coaches poll.
The rankings order of No. 7 Pittsburgh, No. 8 Texas A&M and No. 9 Oregon can't be validated with any bit of tangible evidence. Once you look at what these schools have done, it should be pretty clear Oregon deserves to be higher than No. 9, and certainly ahead of Pitt and Texas A&M.
How do I know?
Because I looked.
Here's what I found, and I assigned numbers to all the teams in the coaches poll down through the "others receiving votes" to give us rankings from No. 1 Florida to No. 43 Northern Iowa.
-- Pittsburgh --
Overall record: 19-3.
Number of wins against the Top 25 in the coaches poll: Zero.
Number of losses to the Top 25 in the coaches poll: Three (at No. 2 Wisconsin, at No. 14 Oklahoma State, vs. No. 15 Marquette).
Number of wins against "others receiving votes" in the coaches poll: One (vs. No. 29 Georgetown).
Number of losses to "others receiving votes" in the coaches poll: Zero.
Number of losses to someone outside the top 43 in the coaches poll: Zero.
-- TEXAS A&M --
Overall record: 17-3.
Number of wins against the Top 25 in the coaches poll: One (vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State).
Number of losses to the Top 25 in the coaches poll: One (vs. No. 5 UCLA).
Number of wins against "others receiving votes" in the coaches poll: One (vs. No. 35 Winthrop).
Number of losses to "others receiving votes" in the coaches poll: Two (at No. 37 LSU, at No. 40 Texas Tech).
Number of losses to someone outside the top 43 in the coaches poll: Zero.
-- OREGON --
Overall record: 19-2.
Number of wins against the Top 25 in the coaches poll: Three (vs. No. 5 UCLA, at No. 17 Washington State, at No. 22 Arizona).
Number of losses to the Top 25 in the coaches poll: Zero.
Number of wins against "others receiving votes" in the coaches poll: Two (at No. 29 Georgetown, vs. No. 30 Stanford).
Number of losses to "others receiving votes" in the coaches poll: One (vs. No. 31 Southern California).
Number of losses to someone outside the top 43 in the coaches poll: One (at Washington).
However you slice it, Oregon has the better credentials.
The Ducks have the same amount of wins as Pitt, and two more than Texas A&M.
The Ducks have one less loss than both Pitt and Texas A&M.
The Ducks are 5-1 against the top 43 while Pitt is 1-3 and Texas A&M is 2-3. And though I'm not typically into excusing losses, it's crazy not to acknowledge that Oregon's loss at Washington came while Aaron Brooks, the Pac-10's leading scorer, was suspended for an elbow he fired at a Washington player last season. Had Brooks played, it's not a stretch to assume Oregon would've won. But even if you don't want to discount that defeat, the Ducks still have wonderful credentials, and it's hard to explain any ranking for Ernie Kent's team that doesn't place them in the top five.