(10-29-2014 09:50 AM)stever20 Wrote: actually Alabama in 2011 DID have close to the quality wins that Oklahoma St did...
Alabama beat #6 Arkansas, #22 Penn St, and #25 Auburn
Okla St beat #8 Kan St, #14 Oklahoma, and #24 Texas
that's pretty damn close if you ask me.
Depends on how you look at it. There is a reason OSU was number 2 almost across the board in the computer rankings:
Their overall SOS was somewhat equal.
OK ST's -opponents' record was 81-63 (56.25%)
Alabama's was 74-59 (55.6%)
However if you only include wins, it looks like this:
OK ST's -opponents' record was 75-57 (56.81%)
Alabama's was 61-59 (50.83%)
OK State played nine conference games, a P5 opponent OOC, and no 1AA team. Alabama played 8 conference games, one P5 opponent, and a 1AA team.
Alabama beat 2 good teams in Penn St (9-3) and Arkansas (10-2), and a BCS ranked Auburn who was 7-5, and not ranked in any human poll. The only other team with a winning FBS record they played was LSU. They also had a weak conference schedule as their SEC opponent's in conference record was 26-38 (40.6). It drops to a very ugly 18-38 of the seven teams they beat (32.14%)
OKS St beat two good teams in Oklahoma St and Baylor, a and a BCS ranked Texas who was 7-5, and not ranked in any human poll. They also played 3 other teams with a winning record. Their opponent's Big 12 Conference record was 37-44 (45.68%), and of the teams they beat it was 34-38 (47.2%).
And finally, the final SOS rank for each:
Code:
Team_ NCAA_ A&H_ CM_ Sag*_ KMass_
OKS___ 7___ 9____ 2___ 3___ 5
Ala____ 3___ 22___ 24__ 15__ (over 10)
* Sagarin ratings are post bowl, as I could only find top ten for pre-bowl rankings for Sagarin which had OK St 6, and Alabama outside of the top ten.
So by any reasonable method, Oklahoma State had a better SOS, especially if you account for who you beat (Alabama did not beat LSU in the regular season). Thus the only reason they were given the spot, is because of who they lost to.