(10-19-2016 10:23 AM)BigEastHomer Wrote: (10-19-2016 07:31 AM)CoastalJuan Wrote: Bottom line is that ESPN can call some conferences Power 5 and some Group of 5, but it really isn't as bad as we're making it out. We complain about the NY6 bowl like we're getting the shaft, but it's not like we're sitting there with the #2 team in the country and getting rejected from the dance. Houston played in the Peach Bowl at #18, when that game should probably be played by the #5 and #6 teams.
That's all good if the ranking system wasn't so biased, which we all know it is. Of course it's expected when you have a subjective measure like that and you classify teams as "Power". Bias is built into the system. Houston's performance showed it wasn't really 18.
I agree with you there. The bias will take time to overcome, but it's not impossible. If the conference teams that Houston (or whoever is good at the time) beats win all of their P5 OOC games, and keep doing it year after year, it will be tough to argue against a high ranking.
The other problem is that, in any given year, many of our teams fall to their P5 OOC opponents, which makes our good school not look as good.
Examples from this year, assuming Houston is our champ:
Teams that play against Houston:
Navy loss to Air Force(not P5, but
4th in MWC-Mountain)
Memphis loss to Ole Miss (
6th in SEC West)
Tulsa loss to Ohio State (ok, this one can slide, but margin was bad)
Tulane loss to Wake Forest (
4th in ACC Atlantic)
SMU loss to Baylor and TCU (1st and 5th in B12)
Teams that play against Houston's conf championship opponent:
USF loss to Florida State (3rd in ACC Atlantic)
Temple loss to Penn State (3rd in Big Ten East)
UCF loss to Michigan and Maryland (1st and 4th in Big Ten East)
UConn loss to Syracuse (
6th in ACC Atlantic)
ECU losing to VT (3rd in ACC Coastal) and South Carolina (
6th in SEC East)
Cincy not scheduling anyone of note, and losing to the teams above
We only get so many OOC games to use as a measuring stick against the P5 conferences, and we're losing most of them, even to their average teams. Hard to argue that our best team is a powerhouse until that changes.