re: Is Michigan State getting screwed in the polls?

2-0 final score

quote:

---

The fact is the BIG sucks

---

It's the #3 conference. LINK

SEC
*big gap*
PAC-12
*big gap*
ACC
Big 12
*big gap*
Big 10/AAC

Still hard to tell how big the gap is between the SEC and PAC12. SEC is clearly better, but maybe not a huge gap down to the PAC12. I agree with the rest though.

quote:

---

Colley counts all games played

---

But doesn't account for match up inequities. If the number of games played between conferences were greater, this wouldn't be much of an issue. However, due to the small number of games played between conferences, Colley, while a decent tool in looking at inter-conference match ups, has its flaws when ranking the relative strenghts of conferences.

quote:

---

SEC
*big gap*
PAC-12
*big gap*
ACC
Big 12
*big gap*
Big 10/AAC

---

I kinda disagree.

Although the B10 isn't good, I think they are up there with Big 12 and ACC.

quote:

---

SEC
*big gap*
PAC-12

---

Nope.

(but what do you know? You're the guy who watches one game of Oregon and feels confident to talk about the Pac 12)

MSU is a borderline elite team and will absolutely give a good game to whichever non-Bama SEC team they play in a bowl game.

The defense has been consistently elite. In their one loss they got jobbed, imo, by terrible officiating, from a B10 squad no less (and of course their own derpitude on offense and special teams. MSU beats Notre Dame 8 out of 10 times, imo.

Notre Dame's offensive numbers were laughable and anemic. Each scoring drive had at least one pass interference / holding call and overall MSU's defense totaled about 100 yards on discretionary penalty calls.

LINK

Until Notre Dame got called for some personal fouls late, they'd only been penalized for automatic calls like delay of game, except for one late hit out of bounds.

Wiscy too got screwed at ASU but they definitely own some responsibility for handling the last play so awkwardly. Plus, though they played @ASU tough, that night they weren't clearly better or anything. But Andersen seems like a great coach and they're improving week by week. They'll be ready come bowl time too, imo. Iowa's close loss to undefeated NIU and Penn State's close loss to UCF hurt too, of course.

Putting aside all the hyperbole, as the BCS era draws to a close, we see that during the past 15 years the SEC is barely above .500 in bowls against the Big 10, despite a bowl-game geography advantage. Plus, while the SEC's bowl slate is probably the toughest on paper, the B10's is clearly the second toughest (while also sending two teams to BCS games almost every year, bumping other teams up a slot). The B10 has a better record in BCS Bowls than both the ACC and the B12, despite playing tougher match-ups and exclusively 'away' games. Now, this year, everyone's going crazy over the ACC because Clemson beat a decent Georgia team. Neither Clemson nor Miami looks elite to me, and although FSU has been utterly dominant, I would still favor Bama in a MNC game. Not sold on the ACC at all.

I do think the B10 is at generational nadir and has been for the past two years or so. Between the Sandusky abomination, the Tatgate fiasco, and Rich Rod's flame out, from 2011 onwards the B10's top programs have been reeling. It does seem that Meyer, Hoke, and O'Brien are moving in the right direction and Andersen and D'antonio have good things going too.

But it wasn't long ago, in the 2011 draft, that 5 B10 d-lineman were drafted in the first round (including reigning NFL defensive MVP). For decades the B10 has consistently churned out NFL players on a level only eclipsed by the SEC (the ACC is right there, too, but not on a per-team basis).

Somehow Ohio State's three consecutive losses from 2006-2008, the last being a last-second loss as a huge underdog to #3 Texas in the Fiesta Bowl, obscured a 6-3 overall record in BCS games. Wisconsin's losing three Rose Bowls by <20 points didn't help, either. That's the way it goes, though. Won't change until the B10 strings together some huge ooc games. The league has the opportunity to defend itself this bowl season. If they flop again, have to point fingers at themselves.

I see a cap one game between LSU and MSU. IF MSU losses to OSU in the big ten title game. IF MSU wins out they should be top 5.