CFB Rankings question re: Arizona/Oregon
Also, the AP and Coaches poll voters were clearly wrong to keep Zona unranked this far into the season (Zona has proven that), yet their error will keep Zona from being ranked appropriately since preseason rankings are such a huge factor in the ranking system. When the selection committee releases their first seeding of the top 4 teams 3 weeks from now, is this the type of nonsense they should ignore? If the polls still have Oregon in or close to the top 4, and Zona is ranked lower than Oregon, would it be controversial for the committee to ignore the pull of the preseason rankings and deem Zona more worthy of a playoff spot?
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:40 AM ^
The voters will still see that Oregon is a good team that got caught on a night they didn't have their best stuff, plus the stupid penalty. Arizona will most likely be ranked, but not higher than Oregon...imho.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:15 AM ^
Everyone's going to remember the penalty on Oregon, but Arizona suffered one just as bad, so I think it was even. After a failed 3rd down, Arizona got a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct that looked like total BS. The announcers made the point that you can't hear what he said, but I don't remember the ref being that close to them either. Arizona totally deserved the win.
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:50 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 12:35 PM ^
News flash...water is wet...that is all.
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:51 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 10:48 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:53 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:44 AM ^
MSU is playing Nebraska at home, so beating them shouldn't offset their loss to Oregon.
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:55 AM ^
We've all come to expect a lack of logic in the weekly writers and coaches polls (Virginia Tech was rated behind Ohio State immediately after VT's win in Columbus).
But there's no way --- based on results as of this very moment --- that a logical ordering can justify Oregon ahead of Arizona (by extension, Michigan State ahead of Arizona either). I'd nearly guarantee the coach and writers polls will have them Oregon, MSU, Arizona ... hopefully the committee is smarter.
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:56 AM ^
Oregon's defense not that good. Exposed by a decent Arizona team.
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:56 AM ^
Oregon's defense not that good. Exposed by a decent Arizona team.
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:57 AM ^
UH BULLSHIT
Oregon got "caught on a night?" What the fuck are you smoking? THEY LOST LAST YEAR TO ARIZONA WITH A WAY WIDER POINT GAP!!!!
Maybe RichRod just has them figured out, like Tressel to Michigan.
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:59 AM ^
So, I'll ask you this...do you think Oregon would lose that game 6 or even 8 times out of 10? I don't. I think Oregon was caught napping on them, just my opinon though. I think I already know your opinion, so I suppose we can leave it at that.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:18 AM ^
Hard to see how Oregon is caught napping against a team that embarassed them last year. Having said that, I guess if I had to bet on a 10-game series I'd give Oregon the edge but not by much at all. Against Michigan, I'd pick Oregon 10-0.
Hazardc, it's possible to disagree without being an asshole about it.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:36 AM ^
Maybe they overlooked Arizona last season after beating them 49-0 in 2012. Overlooking an opponent after getting smoked the last time, their worst loss in years, would reflect a level of arrogance beyond what ND and Michigan are accused of having. A more likely explanation is that Oregon can't figure out how to stop RR's offense.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:46 AM ^
have great points, but I still think that Oregon is the better football team and wins vs Zona the majority of the time. Call it overconfidence or the short week for a Thursday night game...whatever you want.
October 3rd, 2014 at 10:14 AM ^
Just remember, zona was also down two of their key linemen last night as well
and now they've beat them twice in a row, home and away.
October 3rd, 2014 at 10:25 AM ^
And the way RRod runs an offense, I'm sure they have the quick strike capability and scoring points for them shouldn't be a problem. But, Zona was ranked 75th in the country in scoring defense, true to RRod form...allowing 26.6 points per game. Oregon, averaging over 42 pts per game, had their average cut in half last night. I'd say that's a big upset at home against a team not known for their defense.
October 3rd, 2014 at 10:27 AM ^
#34 Sagarin Arizona has also escaped
26-23 @ #91 UTSA 35-28 v #66 Nevada 49-45 v #57 California
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/October 3rd, 2014 at 11:20 AM ^
Have all of Oregon's games been this close or have they beaten anyone decisively?
October 3rd, 2014 at 10:32 AM ^
Oregon had a bye week last week, so they had 12 days to prepare for this game.
I think the OL injuries had an effect, but as many have said, I don't Oregon's D is good and that certainly wasn't effected by OL injuries.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:00 AM ^
At least if you're like me and pay attention to the Sagarin ratings and other predictors, it will be interesting to see there how much Oregon falls versus any rise Arizona sees when the data rolls over on Monday. Right now, for example, Oregon's overall Sagarin rating is 93.32, which is 3rd overall, and Arizona is 34th at 78.25. Both of these relative positions were close to their overal AP rank too, within a few spots if the list were comprehensive anyway.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:04 AM ^
to keep Zona unranked so far. Before this game, Zona had beaten up on some creampuffs, barely squeaked by a crappy UTSA team and required an unbelievable miracle comeback to beat a not exactly great Cal team.
But yes, in all fairness, they now deserve to be ranked above Oregon. But polls are not fair or logical so who knows what will happen. It will be hilarious if Oregon is ranked above them.
I still doubt Zona is for real. I wouldn't be surprised if they lose a bunch of games to finish out the year.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:08 AM ^
Oregon had a close call or two already this year. They weren't caught on a bad night or necessarily looking ahead. Their defense just isn't that good, and their offensive line isn't either. They're likely going to get exposed by Stanford (again) and maybe UCLA as well. I'm happy for RichRod, especially with all the crap he had to take while he was here. I still believe he was a failure here and it never would've worked out, due in small part to our fickle and intolerable fanbase, but he seems to finally be hitting his stride again. His players undoubtedly love him, and he's likely got an administration and fanbase in Arizona that are supporting him rather than trying to run his ass out of town before he can even set up shop.
Hope he can run the table.
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October 3rd, 2014 at 11:56 AM ^
Oregon's oline is in shambles due to injuries. 4 of their starters are out. They lost their best defensive lineman last night in the first half. The guy was a dend and the announcers were commenting on how Arizona was attacking his back up in the second half with their playcalls.
Using the transitive property in sports is hard because there are so many different variables to each game.
Did you watch the MSU-Oregon game? MSU was winning at halftime and only trailing by 5 heading into the 4th quarter. I wouldn't consider that getting beaten thoroughly.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:25 PM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:11 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:15 AM ^
Don't matter to committee (supposedly). It's been nice to not have all the ranking discussion going on like we usually have. Oct 28 is the first ranking that's going to matter. We'll see what the committee comes out with.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:16 AM ^
The good thing is that the only playoff committee poll that counts will be the one after the end of the regular season. I have complete confidence that any team in a Big 4 conference (i.e., ACC, SEC, B12, P12) that ends up undefeated will make the playoffs. So Arizona doesn't need to do anything other than keep winning, and they will get in ahead of Oregon.
The only real controversy in the playoffs will be who gets in once the undefeated Big 4 teams get in. I suppose an undefeated B1G team would be the next priority, or maybe a 1-loss SEC team. If we still haven't reached 4 teams at that point, it will be interesting to see what happens next. I would think a 1-loss P12 team would probably get that last playoff spot.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:20 AM ^
The 3-3-5 defense looks pretty good stopping a spread team. I wonder how it would work against tOSU with a good DC?
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:34 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:53 AM ^
Yes, just barely good enough to be undefeated and beat the #2 team on the road.
No quite up and down enough to get trucked by a team that completed a single pass in a game against san jose st... but I am sure you have an argument why that is better.
October 3rd, 2014 at 10:10 AM ^
Why do people assume that I am defending Hoke when critiquing RR? I'm not. There is no defending Hoke. He is an awful coach and I hated the hire--a fact that can discovered if people go back and look at the announcement on this very site.
Noting that a defense isn't very good when the facts point that out should not be controversial. But for you RR sypcohants it is. Go figure.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:38 PM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:30 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:36 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:36 AM ^
Beaten to the punch.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:37 AM ^
Arizona has beaten Oregon twice in a row, so much for losing 9 of 10.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:40 AM ^
I heard somewhere that MSU would win all the rematches.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:43 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:41 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:44 AM ^
Fail.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:37 AM ^
Oregon will still finish with a better record than Arizona. Arizona will lose 3-4 games, because they don't have a great amount of talent. But that was a big win last night.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:40 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:48 AM ^
I think he's saying that Arizona has a bitch of a schedule. Splitting USC and UCLA would be an accomplishment and then they still have matchups with Washington St., Washington, Utah and Arizona St., any one of which could trip up a good team.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:38 AM ^
Don't worry about the in season polls. They are there to sell newspapers and garner clicks for Internet sites. The rankings will sort themselves out after the teams complete their season. As the saying goes, "it's not how you start, it's where you finish".
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:44 AM ^
Football is a game of matchups, and RR/Casteel do seem to have Helfrich's team figured out.
Whether that's all it is, or whether it's the start of something bigger...well, we'll find out after they play USC and UCLA over the next 3 weeks. Both of those teams have question marks, but they are both ranked (i.e. quality) and play very different brands of football from Oregon.
October 3rd, 2014 at 10:00 AM ^
That Oregon's offensive line is a mess. We as Michigan fans know very well what happens when a quarterback if forced to run for his life. That said, Oregon's defense looked incapable of stopping Rich Rod's offense. That seems like something Phil Knight and his deep pockets would attempt to fix since it is a weekness year after year.
October 3rd, 2014 at 10:05 AM ^
Weak OL, bad defense...how did Mork and the boys lose to this team?
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:45 AM ^