(12-01-2020 02:43 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote: (11-30-2020 07:14 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote: (11-30-2020 12:37 AM)UCengr Wrote: (11-29-2020 11:02 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:
Wow, that has to be one of the best stats I've seen so far that exemplifies how crazy the 2020 CFB season has been.
2020 exposed some of the P5 shell game.
For example, Tennessee is currently sitting at 2–5 with games still to play (lose) against Florida and Texas A&M. That 2-5 record wouldn’t look nearly as bad, and their computer numbers would be greatly inflated had they gotten their 3 annual body bag games against Charlotte, Furman, and Troy that were cancelled due to Covid.
If Michigan still had Arkansas State and Ball state on the schedule, 2-4 right now wouldn’t look so bad and their computer numbers would be helping conference mates.
Those annual buy games not only fund small/broke programs, but they help to prop up entire P5 conferences by inflating records and computer rankings.
I don't see how that's "exposing" a "shell game."
Those Charlotte & Troy type games are literally every game on Coastal Carolina's schedule. The only P5 they faced was 0-8 Kansas.
This year showed why out-of-conference games are necessary to demonstrate the SEC's dominance. Without them, you have decent teams like Tennessee and South Carolina at 2-7.
In 2017, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt combined for 11-1 out-of-conference and 1-23 against the SEC (not counting Vandy beating Tennessee). "Out of conference" included 5 wins over bowl-eligible teams (including 8-5 Kansas State) as well as over 5-6 Georgia Tech. The only loss was to #9 TCU.
That same year, Mississippi State was 4-4 against the SEC and 5-0 in out-of-conference, including a win over 8-5 Louisville. It earned them a #19 ranking at the end of the year.
In 2018,4 SEC teams that were each 5-3 in-conference went 19-1 out-of-conference, including wins over 3 teams who ended the season ranked and 11-3 UAB (9 bowl-eligible teams). SEC also-ran Auburn (3-5 in-conference) also destroyed their non-conference slate, going 5-0 with wins over 10-4 Washington and 6-7 Purdue by 49 points in their bowl game.
I found this Bearcats schedule on sports-reference.com/cfb
Somehow I like the schedule: 11 Games in regular season.
Last 3 games against a ranked opponent.
G Date Time Day School Opponent Conf Pts Opp W L Streak Notes
1 Sep 19, 2020 12:00 PM Sat (13) Cincinnati Austin Peay Non-Major W 55 20 1 0 W 1
2 Sep 26, 2020 3:30 PM Sat (14) Cincinnati (22) Army Ind W 24 10 2 0 W 2
3 Oct 3, 2020 3:30 PM Sat (15) Cincinnati South Florida American W 28 7 3 0 W 3
4 Oct 24, 2020 9:00 PM Sat (9) Cincinnati @ (16) SMU American W 42 13 4 0 W 4
5 Oct 31, 2020 12:00 PM Sat (7) Cincinnati Memphis American W 49 10 5 0 W 5
6 Nov 7, 2020 3:30 PM Sat (6) Cincinnati Houston American W 38 10 6 0 W 6
7 Nov 13, 2020 12:00 PM Fri (7) Cincinnati East Carolina American W 55 17 7 0 W 7
8 Nov 21, 2020 3:30 PM Sat (7) Cincinnati @ UCF American W 36 33 8 0 W 8
9 Dec 4, 2020 Fri (7) Cincinnati @ (22) Tulsa American
10 Dec 5, 2020 Sat (7) Cincinnati @ (22) Tulsa American
11 Dec 12, 2020 Sat (7) Cincinnati @ (22) Tulsa American