Word: bcs
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...BCS has fallen under a great deal of controversy since its inception, since people have a natural aversion to using computers to determine their fate. Most arguments against the BCS have focused on the computer rankings which favor teams that run up the score. But the biggest problem with the BCS is its overemphasis on strength of schedule...
...BCS designers didn't even intend strength of schedule to have so much weight. Early BCS literature considered strength of schedule to be only of minor consequence, since it could only differentiate teams by at most four points (since there are about 100 division 1-A teams, and the BCS adds in the ranking divided by 25). But in practice, when two teams are ranked one-two or two-three in the polls and computer rankings, the strength of schedule points can far outweigh the effects of the polls...
...within striking distance. Although the Hokies schedule was significantly weaker than the Cornhuskers, most polls and computer rankings still placed Virginia Tech far ahead of the Nebraska due to the dominance that the Hokies demonstrated on the field every week. But the overemphasis on strength of schedule in the BCS allowed the Cornhuskers to get closer to the No. 2 spot than they ever should have been...
...strength of schedule factor alone that put UCLA at No. 2 in the BCS rankings for most of 1998. That year the Bruins had one of the worst defenses statistically in Div 1-A, and they struggled to beat both Stanford and Oregon St., the two cellar teams in the Pac-10 that year. For those and other reasons, both major polls had UCLA ranked below the other two undefeated teams at the time, Kansas St. and Tennessee. But the BCS enabled UCLA to be No. 2 in the country, and only a few hundredths of a point away from...
...certain some BCS-lovers believe that the polls and the computer rankings underemphasize strength of schedule, that the BCS rankings are merely the righteous compensation, and that anyone who disagrees suffers from some anti-Nebraska or anti-UCLA bias. Even if this opinion is remotely accurate, none of these followers can possibly justify the inherently flawed way that the strength of schedule rankings are calculated...