Friday, August 17, 2007

the Gunther Rating System: the BCS Years

These are the final regular-season, pre-bowl rankings from the BCS Years according to my system.

1998
RankConfTeamPointsW-LW%oPoints
1SECTennessee542.80(12-0)100%977.64
2ACCFlorida State503.74(11-1)91.67%1,658.39
3Big12Texas A&M398.18(11-2)84.62%1,645.50
4CUSATulane391.85(11-0)100%-638.60
5Big10Ohio State373.20(10-1)90.91%748.47

Tennessee & Florida State by a large margin. Yes, Tulane was undefeated too, but their Opponent's Points (my version of Strength of Schedule, calculated by adding a team's opponent's total points) was atrocious.

1999
RankConfTeamPointsW-LW%oPoints
1ACCFlorida State507.48(11-0)100%1,197.31
2BigEastVirginia Tech446.26(11-0)100%303.00
3Big12Nebraska421.70(11-1)91.67%1,101.47
4MACMarshall413.51(12-0)100%-606.38
5SECAlabama398.36(10-2)83.33%1,853.52

Florida State & Virginia Tech. This time Marshall's schedule did them in.

2000
RankConfTeamPointsW-LW%oPoints
1Big12Oklahoma567.64(12-0)100%1,012.19
2ACCFlorida State486.43(11-1)91.67%1,625.52
3BigEastMiami (Florida)435.06(10-1)90.91%1,089.46
4Pac10Washington361.73(10-1)90.91%1,136.08
5BigEastVirginia Tech352.19(10-1)90.91%980.19

This one requires some explanation. Everyone was upset when Florida State made it to the NC game over Miami (FL) even though they'd lost to the Hurricanes that year. The reason they're such a solid #2 in my rankings is because
#1 - they played a significantly tougher schedule
#2 - they played one more game than Miami did (and won)
#3 - all but 1 of their wins was by more than 26 points.
Miami's game against D1-AA McNeese State definitely hurt them. But I'll still count this as the one strike against my rating system because the outrage did force the BCS Committee to make adjustments to their own system.

2001
RankConfTeamPointsW-LW%oPoints
1BigEastMiami (Florida)511.11(11-0)100%807.04
2Big12Colorado378.61(10-2)83.33%1,374.87
3SECTennessee363.03(10-2)83.33%1,624.34
4Big12Nebraska362.85(11-1)91.67%1,147.56
5SECFlorida349.49(9-2)81.82%1,083.06

Miami (FL) is a solid #1 this year, and there's a logjam at #2 with a lot of teams fighting for the position. The choice is Colorado though, with their demolition of Nebraska and conference championship over Texas. Yes, they had two losses, but they were early in the year and to excellent teams. This year shows how important it is to end the regular season on a high note.

2002
RankConfTeamPointsW-LW%oPoints
1Big10Ohio State614.66(13-0)100%1,480.06
2BigEastMiami (Florida)605.29(12-0)100%1,259.75
3SECGeorgia506.11(12-1)92.31%1,566.11
4Pac10Southern California494.77(10-2)83.33%2,445.31
5Big10Iowa473.68(11-1)91.67%867.02

Ohio State and Miami (FL) by a landslide.

2003
RankConfTeamPointsW-LW%oPoints
1SECLouisiana State490.19(12-1)92.31%842.60
2Pac10Southern California447.07(11-1)91.67%794.09
3MACMiami (Ohio)446.86(12-1)92.31%392.76
4Big12Oklahoma432.95(12-1)92.31%1,321.91
5Big10Michigan411.11(10-2)83.33%1,179.79

Interestingly, the fight for #2 wasn't between Southern California & Oklahoma, but between USC and Miami (OH). Southern California's SoS wasn't all that great, but it was better than Miami's. Their single loss was a good one too, at California in overtime by a field goal. At the same time, Miami provided a text-book comeback season: their first game was a bad loss to 10-3 Iowa, but they ran the table after that, showing how useful losing at the beginning rather than the end of the season can be.

2004
RankConfTeamPointsW-LW%oPoints
1Pac10Southern California551.14(12-0)100%1,221.02
2Big12Oklahoma548.93(12-0)100%1,226.67
3SECAuburn531.37(12-0)100%596.47
4MtnWestUtah445.53(11-0)100%-47.80
5WACBoise State427.23(11-0)100%128.66

Auburn's SoS killed them this year - who knows if they would have been #2 if their non-conference slate had included even just one decent team. SoS kept Utah & Boise State down here too.

2005
RankConfTeamPointsW-LW%oPoints
1Pac10Southern California553.88(12-0)100%1,165.42
2Big12Texas546.13(12-0)100%1,075.61
3Big10Penn State418.80(10-1)90.91%1,066.44
4Big10Ohio State393.54(9-2)81.82%1,647.25
5ACCMiami (Florida)332.65(9-2)81.82%670.23

Southern California & Texas by a wide margin.

2006
RankConfTeamPointsW-LW%oPoints
1Big10Ohio State555.21(12-0)100%859.58
2SECFlorida519.35(12-1)92.31%1,992.12
3WACBoise State491.04(12-0)100%89.32
4Big10Michigan433.28(11-1)91.67%1,448.68
5BigEastLouisville422.18(11-1)91.67%847.15

Finally, Ohio State and Florida comfortably. Boise State was undefeated, but their SoS was far below Florida's.

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