The Daily Player 12: Strength of Schedule's Dark Side

So Nick Saban felt he needed the Alabama Crimson Tide to make a statement game outta the clash with LSU.

Dude, it was a conference game, against another contender.

Since when is that supposed to be a statement game?

Doesn't it belie the fact that strength of schedule is just another way of hiding behind a perception in order to justify big-brand programs scheduling lo-cal non-con smörgåsbords?

 

By their own self-serving definition, aren't the Power Five conferences supposed to have a few contenders?

Maybe in the Big XII's and Pac-12's cases, this point is disguised as parity, but since when is soundly beating one of them nothing more than gaining an advantage in the conference title chase?

The answer is warped but clear:

Eye test > Conference standings

 

Exactly.

Speaking of, here's what the season's second CFP rankings look like:

1. Alabama	3. Notre Dame
2. Clemson	4. Michigan
5. Georgia	9. West Virginia
6. Oklahoma	10. Ohio State
7. LSU	11. Kentucky
8. Washington State	12. UCF

 

OK, so the top three teams are still undefeated, and the No 4 team lost to one of them in the season's shakedown cruise that is Week 1.

Still, nobody's so blind that they can't see the top teams in the CFP rankings got anywhere due to strength of schedule.

 

This is why The Daily Player 12 is back to take its annual run at bringing order to a screwed up section of the sporting world, one happy hour at a time.

 

The Daily Player 12 is based on taking the Selection Committee's objective criteria literally. More than literally, in fact. No opinions, just data.

It considers all FBS teams with two losses or less after Week 9:

• Until a conference title is clinched, division leaders will be considered as first-place teams.
• Power Five scores in non-conference games will be measured on a win-loss basis.
• Head-to-head results will be measured separately on a win-loss basis.
• Bookies are the only evaluators who put their dosh where their conclusions are. Bovada championship odds will be factored into the rankings.
• Geeks have an unbiased place in this process; Anderson-Hester computer rankings are easily understandable and will be included.

 

Damn right you do.

We see the reality that strength of schedule is a way to keep lesser brands out of the running to be an Anointed Four team.

Let's take Washington State as a prime example:

• What big-brand opponent in their right mind ...
• Is gonna schedule a non-con home-&-home in the remote outpost that is Pullman ...
• For a guaranteed payout that'll spend at 7-Eleven ...
• In a stadium that seats 35,117 fans?

 

Thank you.

So, if all the Cougars can attract in order to make budget at home games are the likes of:

• Eastern Washington and San José State as well as
• Honoring their home-&-home contract with Wyoming ...

... because the Eagles are local and the Spartans and Cowboys agreed to visit the Palouse, what else are they gonna do?

 

Nope. The Cougs take what they get and then watch the Selection Committee and national media punish them for it.

Mercifully, the Pac-12 has a nine-game conference schedule where, lately, parity reigns. Ironically, that's also to Wazzu's detriment, as their just-as-subjective quality wins opportunities are dampened.

Still, the Committee knows how to deliver diplomatic cover while patting Mike Leach & Co on the head:

 

So, to hell with strength of schedule until such time that something happens that makes it a more fair determinant.

 

The Daily Player 12 rankings are calculated on tangible fact:

• Standings matter. The Big XII has ten teams; no other conference has a division that large, so a first-place team will get 10 points, a second-place team will get 9 points, and so forth. If a team is tied for a position, it will be considered to hold the higher position. A conference champion will be awarded 5 bonus points.
• Non-con Power Five wins will be worth 3 points; those losses will be worth 1 point.
• Notre Dame's schedule will be measured against ACC teams.
• If BYU ever becomes a factor, we'll figure it out then.
• Head-to-head conference wins will be worth 3 points; those losses will be worth -1 point.
• Bovada and Geek rankings will be based on a 25-point scale and factored down by a constant of 0.3; thus, a first-place position will be worth (25 x 0.3) = 7.5 points, second place for either will be worth (24 x 0.3) = 7.2 points, and so on. If a team is tied for a position, it will be considered to hold the higher position.

There's no place for perspective.

 

Just results.

Right now, you're probably asking yourself ...

• Wait a minute. After all that rationalization, Wazzu's 11th? ... Life really is a bitch when no non-con Power Five teams will agree to play them. Maybe if we had the Selection Committee's expense account instead of our happy hour beer-&-nachos tab, we could figure out something to deal with schedule-ducking. Until then, start checking for a hearty seasonal winter warmer while you're waiting for the final poll in December.
• Ohio State above Michigan? ... That'll sort itself out in a couple of weeks, too. In the meantime, have another round ...

 

• Houston? ... When last we looked, AAC teams keep track of their games, too, even when one of the leaders gets upset by SMU. Unfortunately for the Cougars, unless they get a bump by winning the conference title, this is their ceiling. The Power Five's strength-of-schedule blackballing strikes again.
• Where's LSU after losing to Alabama? ... Speaking of perspectives, ask MC Escher:

 

For the record, here's what the Geeks have to say, based solely on games played to date, which is what the Committee's supposed to be doing:

Looks like Anderson & Hester -- they've been doing this since before the BCS days with great accuracy, incidentally -- didn't exactly buy into Saban's statement game proclamation, either.

In the meantime, The Daily Player 12 system is sticking with its happy hour beer-&-nachos. In the three seasons it's been running, it's gone 11-for-12 on Anointed Four finalists.

 

Think about that the next time you shell out a little extra for your cable-satellite-game ticket bills.

The Selection Committee and its high-end, big-budget pomposity is itself nothing more than big-brand cover.