ESPN's College Football Power Poll is laughably wrong and completely moronic

[FSUTribe76]

MSN

"Here’s the latest top 25 from ESPN’s Football Power Index:

1. Alabama
2. Georgia
3. Oklahoma
4. Ohio State
5. Clemson
6. Michigan
7. Florida
8. Oregon
9. Penn State
10. Auburn
11. Texas
12. UNC
13. Texas A&M
14. Iowa
15. Iowa State
16. Ole Miss
17. Michigan State
18. Cincinnati
19. Wisconsin
20. Arkansas
21. Notre Dame
22. Virginia Tech
23. NC State
24. USC
25. Pittsburgh"

There are some notably stupid rankings like Iowa only being one spot ahead of Iowa State, Penn State only being one spot ahead of Auburn, and Oklahoma still being in the top 3, but the absolute laugher and easiest to prove how stupid this methodology is.....is Oregon being 4 spots behind Ohio State after easily defeating Ohio State AT Ohio State. So stupid.

 

[torbee]

Everything at ESPN is designed to prop up the SEC. Period, the end.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

You think they would be embarrassed to put that out there.

 

[West Duval Nole]

Everything at ESPN is designed to prop up the SEC. Period, the end.

It's a damn shame as they are also the money behind manipulating much of college football.

 

[ping72]

It's a damn shame as they are also the money behind manipulating much of college football.

Honestly, I think they would fail miserably if somebody brought a lawsuit.

The fact that the number one broadcaster of sports is also the number one opinion/commentary on sports is a huge conflict of interest.

Now that their deal with the SEC is getting ginormous… They will make a ton more money the more often they say the SEC is good and other teams are bad.

 

[onlyTheObvious]

It all shakes out in the end.

my Oliver Stone starter kit tells me they do this on purpose so their talking-heads got some topics.

 

[FSUTribe76]

And how is Texas ranked over aTm? And trust me....I hate the traitor Jimmy James Jim Bob.

 

[srams21]

Oklahoma is the most overrated team in the country imo. Barely beat Tulane and Nebraska.

 

[ping72]

And how is Texas ranked over aTm? And trust me....I hate the traitor Jimmy James Jim Bob.

Oklahoma is the most overrated team in the country imo. Barely beat Tulane and Nebraska.

Guess who’s moving to the SEC??

 

[noleclone2]

It has FSU ranked ahead of 49 teams. It’s horrible. Junk.

 

[FSUTribe76]

It has FSU ranked ahead of 49 teams. It’s horrible. Junk.

I thought the same thing, but didn't bother to count the teams. Frankly, as bad as we played against Wake which was a blowout AND Wake looked almost as discombobulated as we did AND they took it easy on us in the fourth quarter......I doubt there's very many FCS teams we could beat. And I'd probably bet on West Florida or Valdosta State (Div 2's number 2 and 3 teams at the moment) beating us as well.

 

[DFSNOLE]

Everything at ESPN is designed to prop up the SEC. Period, the end.

I'm glad areas outside of the southeast recognize this.

It's a damn shame as they are also the money behind manipulating much of college football.

Which is why the ACC, B1G and PAC12 formed their alliance. They want to make sure other networks have a substantial piece of the pie to lessen the control of ESPN.

 

[West Duval Nole]

Which is why the ACC, B1G and PAC12 formed their alliance. They want to make sure other networks have a substantial piece of the pie to lessen the control of ESPN.

I still don't understand how that is even going to work since the ACC could muck the whole thing up since they are in bed with ESPN until 2036. And is any other network really going to pony up money. To me the only thing the alliance could really do is in voting for changes like to the playoffs and other rules changes.

 

[sober_teacher]

does anyone even know if they’ve ever bothered to explain how this works? Supposedly it’s based on analytics but it’s b
never made sense to me.

 

[Slappy Pappy]

Espn, by their own admission, weight things like previous year's record, recruiting rankings, returning starters, etc. in their FPI system which weights their Power Rankings throughout the season. Again, they admit that the idea is to give more weight to traditional top programs. Sec/Blueblood bias.

 

[FAUlty Gator]

Espn, by their own admission, weight things like previous year's record, recruiting rankings, returning starters, etc. in their FPI system which weights their Power Rankings throughout the season. Again, they admit that the idea is to give more weight to traditional top programs. Sec/Blueblood bias.

Then there needs to be a lever that's pulled in there that instantly puts the losing team of a head 2 head matchup behind the winner if the records are the same or the winner's is better. And certainly not four behind. A head to head matchup is one of the few things that isn't subjective.

 

[West Duval Nole]

I still don't understand how that is even going to work since the ACC could muck the whole thing up since they are in bed with ESPN until 2036. And is any other network really going to pony up money. To me the only thing the alliance could really do is in voting for changes like to the playoffs and other rules changes.

Which by the way, could be a huge FU to the SEC and OK and Texas if they voted against expansion of the playoffs or limited it to a max of 2 teams from any 1 conference, so the money is split evenly among the conferences.

 

[BubsFinn]

Oklahoma is the most overrated team in the country imo. Barely beat Tulane and Nebraska.

Yeah, but once they get into the Big 12 pillow fight schedule, who is going to challenge them?

 

[jellyfish10]

As a lifelong Iowa fan, being ranked as highly as we are this early scares the shit out of me. For those of you that wanted to jump on the bandwagon, proceed with caution. You will most likely get tossed off and get run over by every wheel multiple times, and this wagon has a fugg load of wheels.

 

[mthawkeyes]

Looks like there may be a GIGO problem with their formula.

 

[whatsup13579er]

Is the ESPN FPI the one that takes into account recruiting rankings and last seasons performance? Hence why the top 10 looks the way it does...

 

[Funky Bunch]

Maryland not in there but Virginia Tech is? Lol

 

[ANYCHawk]

ny other network really going to pony up money. To me the only thing the alliance could really do is in voting for changes lik

Its about lessing the SEC's power.

It was never about individual TV deals. But, it was not letting the SEC dictate things like playoff changes, NIL, or scholarship limits. With 20 schools, some very powerful, no individual league could match that. Now as one unit the Alliance outnumbers the SEC 2 to 1.

 

[BioHawk]

Oklahoma is the most overrated team in the country imo. Barely beat Tulane and Nebraska.

They may or may not be good, but their resume certainly doesn't justify the ranking they are getting. Oh well, rankings before week 6 or 7 are generally worthless anyway.

 

[FSUTribe76]

Its about lessing the SEC's power.

It was never about individual TV deals. But, it was not letting the SEC dictate things like playoff changes, NIL, or scholarship limits. With 20 schools, some very powerful, no individual league could match that. Now as one unit the Alliance outnumbers the SEC 2 to 1.

I still don't understand how that is even going to work since the ACC could muck the whole thing up since they are in bed with ESPN until 2036. And is any other network really going to pony up money. To me the only thing the alliance could really do is in voting for changes like to the playoffs and other rules changes.

With my preferred two pod system (which works great for ANY even numbered conference), you can actually easily blend the three leagues together. Just have the teams play 8 games within the league and 2 outside of the league with one from each other league.

Let me explain and show an Example. So Each team plays their podmate, the whole pod from their league above them, the full pod from their league below them and then one nongeographical "rival". Those six games become the teams permanent schedule of rivalries. Then you play two more against constantly rotating teams within the conference. And two more against the other leagues, one from each league.

ACC Pod 1 (Plays ACC Pod 7 and ACC Pod 2)
FLORIDA STATE ----> boston college
VIRGINIA ----> unc

ACC Pod 2 (Plays ACC Pod 1 and ACC Pod 3)
CLEMSON ----> wake
GEORGIA TECH ----> duke

ACC Pod 3 (Plays ACC Pod 2 and ACC Pod 4)
NORTH CAROLINA ----> uva
NC STATE ----> syracuse

ACC Pod 4
WAKE FOREST ----> clemson
DUKE ----> gt

ACC Pod 5
LOUISVILLE ----> miami
PITTSBURGH ----> vt

ACC Pod 6
SYRACUSE ----> nc state
BOSTON COLLEGE ----> fsu

ACC Pod 7 (Plays ACC Pod 6 and ACC Pod 1)
MIAMI ----> louisville
VIRGINIA TECH ----> pitt

+++++++++++++++++++++

BIG 10 Pod 1 (Plays BIG 10 Pod 7 and BIG 10 Pod 2)
IOWA ----> ohio state
NEBRASKA ----> wisconsin

BIG 10 Pod 2 (Plays BIG 10 Pod 1 and BIG 10 Pod 3)
INDIANA ----> maryland
PURDUE ----> rutgers

BIG 10 Pod 3
ILLINOIS ----> michigan
NORTHWESTERN ----> msu

BIG 10 Pod 4
MINNESOTA ----> penn state
WISCONSIN ----> nebraska

Big 10 Pod 5
MICHIGAN ----> illinois
MICHIGAN STATE ----> northwestern

BIG 10 Pod 6
OHIO STATE ----> iowa
PENN STATE ----> minnesota

BIG 10 Pod 7 (Plays BIG 10 Pod 6 and BIG 10 Pod 1)
MARYLAND ----> indiana
RUTGERS ----> purdue

++++++++++++++++++++

PAC 12 Pod 1 (Plays PAC 12 Pod 6 and PAC 12 Pod 2)
USC ----> oregon
UCLA ----> washington

PAC 12 Pod 2
CALIFORNIA ----> utah
STANFORD ----> arizona

PAC 12 Pod 3
OREGON ----> usc
OREGON STATE ----> colorado

PAC 12 Pod 4
WASHINGTON ----> ucla
WASHINGTON STATE ----> arizona state

PAC 12 Pod 5
UTAH ----> cal
COLORADO ----> oregon state

PAC 12 Pod 6
ARIZONA ----> stanford
ARIZONA STATE ----> washington state

So in other words, with this setup Iowa would permanently play Nebraska, Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, Maryland and Rutgers and then plays two rotating Big 10 foes, one ACC and one PAC.

 

[tumorboy]

It has FSU ranked ahead of 49 teams. It’s horrible. Junk.

In the FCS correct?

 

[torbee]

With my preferred two pod system (which works great for ANY even numbered conference), you can actually easily blend the three leagues together. Just have the teams play 8 games within the league and 2 outside of the league with one from each other league.

Let me explain and show an Example. So Each team plays their podmate, the whole pod from their league above them, the full pod from their league below them and then one nongeographical "rival". Those six games become the teams permanent schedule of rivalries. Then you play two more against constantly rotating teams within the conference. And two more against the other leagues, one from each league.

ACC Pod 1 (Plays ACC Pod 7 and ACC Pod 2)
FLORIDA STATE ----> boston college
VIRGINIA ----> unc

ACC Pod 2 (Plays ACC Pod 1 and ACC Pod 3)
CLEMSON ----> wake
GEORGIA TECH ----> duke

ACC Pod 3 (Plays ACC Pod 2 and ACC Pod 4)
NORTH CAROLINA ----> uva
NC STATE ----> syracuse

ACC Pod 4
WAKE FOREST ----> clemson
DUKE ----> gt

ACC Pod 5
LOUISVILLE ----> miami
PITTSBURGH ----> vt

ACC Pod 6
SYRACUSE ----> nc state
BOSTON COLLEGE ----> fsu

ACC Pod 7 (Plays ACC Pod 6 and ACC Pod 1)
MIAMI ----> louisville
VIRGINIA TECH ----> pitt

+++++++++++++++++++++

BIG 10 Pod 1 (Plays BIG 10 Pod 7 and BIG 10 Pod 2)
IOWA ----> ohio state
NEBRASKA ----> wisconsin

BIG 10 Pod 2 (Plays BIG 10 Pod 1 and BIG 10 Pod 3)
INDIANA ----> maryland
PURDUE ----> rutgers

BIG 10 Pod 3
ILLINOIS ----> michigan
NORTHWESTERN ----> msu

BIG 10 Pod 4
MINNESOTA ----> penn state
WISCONSIN ----> nebraska

Big 10 Pod 5
MICHIGAN ----> illinois
MICHIGAN STATE ----> northwestern

BIG 10 Pod 6
OHIO STATE ----> iowa
PENN STATE ----> minnesota

BIG 10 Pod 7 (Plays BIG 10 Pod 6 and BIG 10 Pod 1)
MARYLAND ----> indiana
RUTGERS ----> purdue

++++++++++++++++++++

PAC 12 Pod 1 (Plays PAC 12 Pod 6 and PAC 12 Pod 2)
USC ----> oregon
UCLA ----> washington

PAC 12 Pod 2
CALIFORNIA ----> utah
STANFORD ----> arizona

PAC 12 Pod 3
OREGON ----> usc
OREGON STATE ----> colorado

PAC 12 Pod 4
WASHINGTON ----> ucla
WASHINGTON STATE ----> arizona state

PAC 12 Pod 5
UTAH ----> cal
COLORADO ----> oregon state

PAC 12 Pod 6
ARIZONA ----> stanford
ARIZONA STATE ----> washington state

So in other words, with this setup Iowa would permanently play Nebraska, Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, Maryland and Rutgers and then plays two rotating Big 10 foes, one ACC and one PAC.

So Iowa plays only 1 of its 4 trophy game rivalries each year, and it’s the shittiest one with the newest trophy?

Nope. Nope. Nope.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Guess who’s moving to the SEC??

Exactly. I saw Texas up there too, but realized they are going to the SEC.

 

[ANYCHawk]

With my preferred two pod system (which works great for ANY even numbered conference), you can actually easily blend the three leagues together. Just have the teams play 8 games within the league and 2 outside of the league with one from each other league.

Let me explain and show an Example. So Each team plays their podmate, the whole pod from their league above them, the full pod from their league below them and then one nongeographical "rival". Those six games become the teams permanent schedule of rivalries. Then you play two more against constantly rotating teams within the conference. And two more against the other leagues, one from each league.

ACC Pod 1 (Plays ACC Pod 7 and ACC Pod 2)
FLORIDA STATE ----> boston college
VIRGINIA ----> unc

ACC Pod 2 (Plays ACC Pod 1 and ACC Pod 3)
CLEMSON ----> wake
GEORGIA TECH ----> duke

ACC Pod 3 (Plays ACC Pod 2 and ACC Pod 4)
NORTH CAROLINA ----> uva
NC STATE ----> syracuse

ACC Pod 4
WAKE FOREST ----> clemson
DUKE ----> gt

ACC Pod 5
LOUISVILLE ----> miami
PITTSBURGH ----> vt

ACC Pod 6
SYRACUSE ----> nc state
BOSTON COLLEGE ----> fsu

ACC Pod 7 (Plays ACC Pod 6 and ACC Pod 1)
MIAMI ----> louisville
VIRGINIA TECH ----> pitt

+++++++++++++++++++++

BIG 10 Pod 1 (Plays BIG 10 Pod 7 and BIG 10 Pod 2)
IOWA ----> ohio state
NEBRASKA ----> wisconsin

BIG 10 Pod 2 (Plays BIG 10 Pod 1 and BIG 10 Pod 3)
INDIANA ----> maryland
PURDUE ----> rutgers

BIG 10 Pod 3
ILLINOIS ----> michigan
NORTHWESTERN ----> msu

BIG 10 Pod 4
MINNESOTA ----> penn state
WISCONSIN ----> nebraska

Big 10 Pod 5
MICHIGAN ----> illinois
MICHIGAN STATE ----> northwestern

BIG 10 Pod 6
OHIO STATE ----> iowa
PENN STATE ----> minnesota

BIG 10 Pod 7 (Plays BIG 10 Pod 6 and BIG 10 Pod 1)
MARYLAND ----> indiana
RUTGERS ----> purdue

++++++++++++++++++++

PAC 12 Pod 1 (Plays PAC 12 Pod 6 and PAC 12 Pod 2)
USC ----> oregon
UCLA ----> washington

PAC 12 Pod 2
CALIFORNIA ----> utah
STANFORD ----> arizona

PAC 12 Pod 3
OREGON ----> usc
OREGON STATE ----> colorado

PAC 12 Pod 4
WASHINGTON ----> ucla
WASHINGTON STATE ----> arizona state

PAC 12 Pod 5
UTAH ----> cal
COLORADO ----> oregon state

PAC 12 Pod 6
ARIZONA ----> stanford
ARIZONA STATE ----> washington state

So in other words, with this setup Iowa would permanently play Nebraska, Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, Maryland and Rutgers and then plays two rotating Big 10 foes, one ACC and one PAC.

None of this makes sense from a Big 10 perspective

 

[FSUTribe76]

None of this makes sense from a Big 10 perspective

Why so? I looked up the top rivalries in the Big Ten and all were preserved.

 

[torbee]

Why so? I looked up the top rivalries in the Big Ten and all were preserved.

Iowa-Minneosta
Iowa-Wisconsin

Both trophy games. Both not annual in your pod system.

 

[FSUTribe76]

Iowa-Minneosta
Iowa-Wisconsin

Both trophy games. Both not annual in your pod system.

I see Iowa-Minnesota listed in the top 25 Big Ten rivalry games but not Wisconsin. You can easily fix that by making Minnesota, Iowa’s nonregional rivalry. Wisconsin doesn’t make sense geographically and wasn’t listed anywhere as a real rivalry so I didn’t factor it in. It might be something like FSU/Virginia and Miami/Virginia Tech where I just need to mix and match more than one nongeographic rivals.

 

[torbee]

I see Iowa-Minnesota listed in the top 25 Big Ten rivalry games but not Wisconsin. You can easily fix that by making Minnesota, Iowa’s nonregional rivalry. Wisconsin doesn’t make sense geographically and wasn’t listed anywhere as a real rivalry so I didn’t factor it in. It might be something like FSU/Virginia and Miami/Virginia Tech where I just need to mix and match more than one nongeographic rivals.

Iowa-Wisconsin is one of the best, oldest and most even rivalries in the Big 10. It is also the two most-similar fanbases. And I don’t understand your geographic argument- Iowa borders Wisconsin.

 

[The Tradition]

I thought the same thing, but didn't bother to count the teams. Frankly, as bad as we played against Wake which was a blowout AND Wake looked almost as discombobulated as we did AND they took it easy on us in the fourth quarter......I doubt there's very many FCS teams we could beat. And I'd probably bet on West Florida or Valdosta State (Div 2's number 2 and 3 teams at the moment) beating us as well.

I'm thinking that dying from COVID would be better than watching the rest of this season.

 

[denmar81]

Last seasons performance weighted into a current seasons ranking is the dumbest ****ing thing I’ve ever heard of related to a ranking system. Wish ESPN would completely disappear.

 

[FSUTribe76]

Iowa-Wisconsin is one of the best, oldest and most even rivalries in the Big 10. It is also the two most-similar fanbases. And I don’t understand your geographic argument- Iowa borders Wisconsin.

You gotta start somewhere. I obviously traced it over to Indiana first. I’ll give it some thought and rearrange the Big Ten.

 

[ANYCHawk]

Why so? I looked up the top rivalries in the Big Ten and all were preserved.

You gotta start somewhere. I obviously traced it over to Indiana first. I’ll give it some thought and rearrange the Big Ten.

The whole pod system makes sense only on paper not in reality. And nobody in the Big 10 is gonna want to give up game against Michigan, or Iowa or Minnesota to play Boston COllege more. That's why it doens't make sense.

 

[whatsup13579er]

Will someone get FSU a map?

 

[FSUTribe76]

Iowa-Wisconsin is one of the best, oldest and most even rivalries in the Big 10. It is also the two most-similar fanbases. And I don’t understand your geographic argument- Iowa borders Wisconsin.

Ok so I rearranged it in a slightly less straightforward geographic style to make sure I hit all of the "named" rivalries (at least listed in Wikipedia).

Pod 1 (Plays Pod 7 and 2)
IOWA ----> purdue
NEBRASKA ----> maryland

Pod 2 (Plays Pod 1 and 3)
WISCONSIN ----> rutgers
MINNESOTA ----> penn state

Pod 3 (Plays Pod 2 and 4)
MICHIGAN ----> nw
MICHIGAN STATE ----> indiana

Pod 4
PENN STATE ----> minnesota
OHIO STATE ----> illinois

Pod 5
MARYLAND ----> nebraska
RUTGERS ----> wisconsin

Pod 6
PURDUE ----> iowa
NORTHWESTERN ----> michigan

Pod 7 (Plays Pod 6 and 1)
ILLINOIS ----> osu
INDIANA ----> msu

So that has every named rivalry in Wikipedia. In the below, I'll bold the named "rivalries".

For example, Iowa would now permanently play Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Purdue, Illinois, and Indiana.

Ohio State would permanently play its "rivalry" (which I have to say seems like Alabama claiming a rivalry against Vanderbilt, but whatever) against Illinois as well as Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Maryland and Rutgers. That gives the POS Eastern teams you stupidly added a "rival" as well and gives OSU the ability to always play marquee games in the Alliance against USC, Oregon, Notre Dame, FSU, and Clemson without worrying about having too difficult of a schedule.

Michigan would permanently play Ohio State, Michigan State, Penn State, Minnesota, Wisconsin and its "rival" Northwestern.

Penn State would permanently play Minnesota, Ohio State, Maryland, Rutgers, Michigan and Michigan State.

Nebraska would permanently play Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Maryland.

Michigan State would permanently play Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Penn State and Ohio State.

Wisconsin would permanently play Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Michigan, Michigan State and Rutgers.

Minnesota would permanently play Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Iowa, and Nebraska

Illinois would permanently play Ohio State, Indiana, Northwestern, Purdue, Iowa and Nebraska

Indiana would permanently play Michigan State, Purdue, Northwestern, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska.

Northwestern would permanently play Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Purdue, Maryland and Rutgers.

Purdue would permanently play Michigan State, Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern, Maryland and Rutgers.

Maryland would permanently play Penn State, Rutgers, Ohio State, Nebraska, Northwestern and Purdue.

Rutgers would permanently play Penn State, Maryland, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Northwestern and Purdue.

So I preserved all of the named rivalries and still kept it mostly geographic so that "new" rivalries would develop. I did have to screw over Northwestern and Illinois by forcing them to play your new Eastern POS teams but...who cares about them. And they still kept their historic rivals anyways.

 

[FSUTribe76]

The whole pod system makes sense only on paper not in reality. And nobody in the Big 10 is gonna want to give up game against Michigan, or Iowa or Minnesota to play Boston COllege more. That's why it doens't make sense.

Well no one wants to give up a game against Clemson, Virginia Tech, USC, or Oregon to play Northwestern, Indiana and Rutgers. See how that works?

But the reality is, they're not going to pair up (*&*( teams to good ones in the Alliance. The whole point of the Alliance is to create big games with nationwide interest. So it's designed to add to the tv roster Michigan versus Oregon, Michigan versus FSU, Ohio State versus Clemson, and Ohio State versus USC. That creates marquee games for your tv lineup that are MUCH bigger than Ohio State versus Purdue or Michigan versus Rutgers.

And I'm sure that's what it will look like, they're not going to pair up USC with Rutgers or Northwestern. It will be a home game and then away versus Ohio State, then a home game and away versus Michigan, then a home game and away versus Penn State and then maybe start over again with Ohio State.