PAPER CHAMPIONS?!?!

[Panther FANatic]

http://www.fullysports.com/football1aa/2007/sos

Thoughts?
xrulesx xlolx

[danefan]

Its hard to do any SOS ranking when you don't include non-DI games.

Its a pretty simple concept to understand that a SOS goes down when you play teams from lower subdivisions.

[andy7171]

xeekx Holy crap! Towson is #1!!??!! xeekx

[URMite]

xeekx Holy crap! Towson is #1!!??!! xeekx

You definitely have the most interesting conference schedule. 6 of your 8 opponents still have playoff possibilities. (7 of 8 before last saturday).

[DetroitFlyer]

Wow, Dayton at #22! Against FCS teams we are 6-1. If we defeat Butler on Saturday, we become "playoff eligible". If we finish at 10-1, ( 8-1 FCS ), with a decent SOS, ( both seem likely ), an at large bid for the Flyers does not seem to be out of the question!

[lizrdgizrd]

Its hard to do any SOS ranking when you don't include non-DI games.

Its a pretty simple concept to understand that a SOS goes down when you play teams from lower subdivisions.
The problem with including non DI is that you have to then do every football team in every division to be sure of the relative strengths of each team. I would hope that throwing out DII, III & NAIA games would hurt the SOS by having fewer games included.

[lizrdgizrd]

http://www.fullysports.com/football1aa/2007/sos

Thoughts?
xrulesx xlolx
I'd love to see how this NPI is calculated:

http://www.fullysports.com/football1aa/2007/npi

Yale #4? Really? xeyebrowx

[danefan]

The problem with including non DI is that you have to then do every football team in every division to be sure of the relative strengths of each team. I would hope that throwing out DII, III & NAIA games would hurt the SOS by having fewer games included.

Good point. But that assumes that teams are "penalized" for having less games included. I'm not sure how this calculation works. Is it somewhat like an average, but they get a "0" for the non-DI game? Does my analogy making sense here?

[gophoenix]

xeekx Holy crap! Towson is #1!!??!! xeekx

Incoming... you better duck.

Elon was #1 for this 1999, 2000 and 2001 and that didn't go over well.

[lizrdgizrd]

Incoming... you better duck.

Elon was #1 for this 1999, 2000 and 2001 and that didn't go over well.
Did you ever see how it was compiled?

[stevdock]

The one thing I noticed by that and figured when the season started was how weak our schedule could be this year, especially considering Minnesota would be at the bottom of the Big Ten, and then the Great West not getting off to a good start this year. Then put SUU burying themselves with an unbelievable schedule. Not good for our Strength of Schedule.

[lizrdgizrd]

I sent an email asking how the NPI is compiled. I'll post whatever reply I get. xthumbsupx

[JohnStOnge]

I don't think those strength of schedule ratings look real plausible. Take a look at Valparaiso's schedule...even just the D-I teams as noted...then take a look at North Dakota State's. A ranking system having Valpo's schedule rated at 26 while North Dakota State's is rated at 102nd has, in my opinion, questionable credibility. And that's just one example.

I think Sagarin's schedule strength ranking looks a lot more realistic. For instance, it's got North Dakota State's slate rated 49th vs. Valpo's 204th. I think that's far more plausible.

I might be a little off on the Sagarin SOS ratings because they're not arranged in order but that should be pretty close.

Anyway, the ratings linked at the top of this thread look pretty bad to me.

[Ronin]

Very enlightening.

Taking SOS into account may change the rankings of some teams -- I was surprised to see Montana listed below Drake. :D

[FargoBison]

I don't think those strength of schedule ratings look real plausible. Take a look at Valparaiso's schedule...even just the D-I teams as noted...then take a look at North Dakota State's. A ranking system having Valpo's schedule rated at 26 while North Dakota State's is rated at 102nd has, in my opinion, questionable credibility. And that's just one example.

I think Sagarin's schedule strength ranking looks a lot more realistic. For instance, it's got North Dakota State's slate rated 49th vs. Valpo's 204th. I think that's far more plausible.

I might be a little off on the Sagarin SOS ratings because they're not arranged in order but that should be pretty close.

Anyway, the ratings linked at the top of this thread look pretty bad to me.

Massey is also pretty good and maybe even the best since it includes teams from all divisions.

http://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?lg=cf

[Casey_Orourke]

The Big Sky is an intersting mix:

Northern Colorado:29

Sacremento State:42

Eastern Washington:61

Weber State:62

Montana:77

Northern Arizona:84

Idaho State: 85

Portland State: 99

Montana State:113

I wonder how much this will effect the desire for a more competitive schedule for upcoming seasons.

[danefan]

Massey is also pretty good and maybe even the best since it includes teams from all divisions.

http://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?lg=cf

Except for the fact that Massey has NE Omaha (DII) ranked above USC....that's Southern Cal.... xrotatehx xoopsx

[spelunker64]

Except for the fact that Massey has NE Omaha (DII) ranked above USC....that's Southern Cal.... xrotatehx xoopsx


But UNO beat the almighty North Dakota Sioux...

[FargoBison]

Except for the fact that Massey has NE Omaha (DII) ranked above USC....that's Southern Cal.... xrotatehx xoopsx

According to Massey his rankings are better when looking at teams within divisions not as a whole. So I think he would agree with you about UNO.

[JohnStOnge]

One problem with those Massey rankings is that they do not consider margin of victory. I think that most of the people who do ratings based on mathematical models including Massey hold the opinion that ratings which consider margin of victory are better than those that do not. I think Massey has some ratings that do consider margin of victory somewhere but I don't know where to find them.

I don't think any system is going to be perfect or that you aren't going to find some things that don't appear to make sense. But the one at the top of this thread has a LOT of strange things as far as SOS goes.

[RE/MAXGriz]

I'll bet by the season's end Sothern Utah tops that list on SOS.

[gophoenix]

Did you ever see how it was compiled?

It is almost solely on opponent win/loss record.

[Griz0383]

I don't understand what all the interest is! Polls mean nothing. Playoffs and the eventual National Championship are IMO the only thing that matter! The best team in most cases wins! This is why the FCS Rocks!Montana has had the honor of playing for 5 NC's in the last 10 years and I have had a blast watching all the great teams come to Missoula for the play offs and most of them got their ass's whooped! Some teams played well and we know we can't win them all! Whats also important is the playoff experience. Montana fans are proud of their team and understand how blessed we are so when a team comes to town we try treat their fans with respect and ensure they enjoy the experience. I'v drank many beers with the fans and I don't think they pulled their wallet out once because another drink was always waiting. I have no idea what I am saying! I ruptured my pettella tendion last night and I am flying if you catch my drift! As good as I feel at the moment I will make a prediction, Griz will play for their 6th NC this year and may win it! these drugs are gooood I feel groovy!

[eaglesrthe1]

It looks to me like it's ranked by SOS, not by how said teams did against that SOS. Useless.

[FCS Go!]

I don't understand what all the interest is! Polls mean nothing. Playoffs and the eventual National Championship are IMO the only thing that matter! The best team in most cases wins! This is why the FCS Rocks!Montana has had the honor of playing for 5 NC's in the last 10 years and I have had a blast watching all the great teams come to Missoula for the play offs and most of them got their ass's whooped! Some teams played well and we know we can't win them all! Whats also important is the playoff experience. Montana fans are proud of their team and understand how blessed we are so when a team comes to town we try treat their fans with respect and ensure they enjoy the experience. I'v drank many beers with the fans and I don't think they pulled their wallet out once because another drink was always waiting. I have no idea what I am saying! I ruptured my pettella tendion last night and I am flying if you catch my drift! As good as I feel at the moment I will make a prediction, Griz will play for their 6th NC this year and may win it! these drugs are gooood I feel groovy!

Wooooohoooo! Go Griz and go Griz0383! xhurrayx