Dr. Saturday - NCAAF

The Harris poll: What up with that? Other than making up a third of the all-important BCS standings, nobody knows, exactly. But the Oklahoman's Berry Tramel assures us the Harris operation is manned only by the most methodical, wise and conscientious college football experts alive:

True story from the Boone Pickens Stadium pressbox Saturday night.

I asked Harris poll voter Pat Quinn, the former Oklahoma State University sports information director, how he would vote OU and Texas if the Sooners won Saturday night.

"Oh, I don’t know," Quinn said. "Doesn’t really matter."

Really?

"I think Alabama and Penn State will probably play for the national championship," Quinn said.

You do?

"They're the only undefeated teams, aren't they," Quinn said.

Uh, actually, Penn State has a loss.

"Oh well," Quinn said, "those Big Ten teams have a lot of votes."

Aside from being a former Oklahoma State SID, Quinn is currently a reporter for the Stillwater News-Press, where he sometimes writes about the Cowboys. After OU's win Saturday night, the difference between Oklahoma and Texas in this week's Harris Poll was six points. Penn State was about 400 points back, at No. 6.

I write thousands of words on this and related subjects every day. For once, I'm speechless.

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  1. gtne91
    1. Posted by gtne91 Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:43 pm EDT

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    This is part of the problem with Harris/Coaches poll voters (and AP for that matter). They ATTEND too many games. Voters should be REQUIRED to stay at home with at least 4 TVs, all on different games all day saturday. Plus, they cant miss the Tues/Wed/Thurs/Fri/Sun games on ESPN.
  2. Adam
    2. Posted by Adam Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:45 pm EDT

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    The standards in Stillwater are pretty high.
  3. Joshua H
    3. Posted by Joshua H Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:23 pm EDT

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    That's it. We need a playoff in 2009! This whole thing has become a joke. You could get away with this crap up until 25 years ago but ESPN killed traditional college football wether you like it or not. Let's get our brackets ready for December Madness!
  4. irishbro9
    4. Posted by irishbro9 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:25 pm EDT

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    The NCAA needs to get its head screwed on .and try a playoff for next year.Feel bad for good teams who dont get a shot at a good bowl. Hell lets face it a team who is 12-0 durning the season should get a chance to play a top ranked team it all adds up to the MONEY for a zillion bowl games
  5. 4.0 Point Stance
    5. Posted by 4.0 Point Stance Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:55 pm EDT

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    People need to realize that playoff would not solve the OU/Texas/TTech cf. "But a playoff will settle it on the field!" Uh, those teams -did- settle it on the field; and they each beat each other. A playoff is basically saying, ok, let's replay the same games, the first time didn't count.
  6. The Thrilla in Vanilla
    6. Posted by The Thrilla in Vanilla Thu Sep 03, 2009 11:01 pm EDT

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    "I think Alabama and Penn State will probably play for the national championship," Quinn said.
    You do?
    "They're the only undefeated teams, aren't they," Quinn said.
    Uh, actually, Penn State has a loss.
    "Oh well," Quinn said, "those Big Ten teams have a lot of votes."
    --------------------------------------------------
    Incredible. Simply amazing. I was born only to see this.
  7. Kenny
    7. Posted by Kenny Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:49 pm EDT

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    Wow.............just................wow
  8. CuseFanInSoCal
    8. Posted by CuseFanInSoCal Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:48 pm EDT

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    #6 - it wouldn't solve the issue of who won the Big 12 South. But a 16-team, 11 conference champs + 5 at-large (at-large teams and seeding determined by a basketball-style committee) single-elimination tournament would solve the issue of who's national champs in a way that leaves little room for error. If I make the rash assumption that the higher-ranked team will win all the conference championship games (somewhat of a stretch for Florida/Bama), and the at-large teams selected exactly match the next 5 teams in the BCS ratings (which my system would not require, but I can't project exactly who a hypothetical selection committee might select) my playoffs look like so...
    East
    1. Alabama (SEC)
    2. Florida (at-large 2)
    3. Penn State (B10)
    4. Ohio State (at-large 4)
    5. Ball State (MAC)
    6. Cinci (Big East)
    7. Boston College (ACC)
    8. Troy (Sun Belt)
    West
    1. Oklahoma (B12)
    2. Texas (at-large 1)
    3. USC (P10)
    4. Utah (MWC)
    5. Texas Tech (at-large 3)
    6. Boise (WAC)
    7. TCU (at-large 5)
    8. Tulsa (CUSA)
    Note that Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech are all in the playoffs.
  9. RotoKim
    9. Posted by RotoKim Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:51 pm EDT

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    Cuse Fan,
    I like the idea, quite a bit. The only qualm I have is actually just a quibble - instead of having two brackets, I'd just go 1-16 overall. Thus, if the two best teams are in the East or in the West, they can still meet up in the Championship game, theoretically.
  10. LD
    10. Posted by LD Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:01 pm EDT

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    The problem with the 16-team playoff is you have to have a +1 first. Get to that and expand later.
  11. Kev Oh
    11. Posted by Kev Oh Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:50 pm EDT

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    That man should lose all rights to vote for anything, ever. I bet he voted Bush for a 3rd term
  12. Alaska Hokie
    12. Posted by Alaska Hokie Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:36 pm EDT

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    Why would you need a +1 first, LD? Just implement the 16-team system at the end of next season.
    I used to be a backer of an eight-team playoff, but then I realized who would have been left out this year. A 16-team system is far better.
  13. Paul
    13. Posted by Paul Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:00 pm EDT

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    Playoffs or not, forget the polls. There are awful Harris Poll stories like this every year, though this one definitely exceeds expectations of misery. Give me a selection committee a la the NCAA tournament, working off tools like the computer rankings, strength of schedule calculations, etc. A committee using a base like the RPI works awfully nicely for college hoops, doesn't it?
  14. Capital
    14. Posted by Capital Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:01 pm EDT

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    stop snitching
  15. Capital
    15. Posted by Capital Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:01 pm EDT

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    stop snitching
  16. Randy R
    16. Posted by Randy R Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:55 pm EDT

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    CusefaninSoCal,
    I like the way you think. I have a short attention span so break it into N,SE & W. then you'd have my vote. If Penn St., plays for a national championship, I'll never watch college football again. I don't care who plays just not THE OHIO STATE SUCKEYE's again.
    How about a UT/USC replay...
  17. LD
    17. Posted by LD Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:01 pm EDT

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    You go with a +1 because there's no way the powers that be go for wholesale change to a 16-team playoff. Besides, why would you want a 16-team playoff? No one wants to see Bama play Tulsa. No one wants to see OU play Troy. Start with a +1 and once that's established you can work towards an 8-team playoff. I realize the concept of incremental change is anathema to a bipolar community with a propensity for slack-jawed outrage and overreaction, but I'm just putting it out there as a judicial precedent.
  18. thronedoggie
    18. Posted by thronedoggie Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:08 pm EDT

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    Has it occurred to anyone that the OSU SID might be joking?
    I work in a cube farm with a bunch of engineers, and pretty much ANY of them (who follow NCAAF at all) know that Penn State lost a game. They might not be sure to WHOM they lost, but they know that much.
    The SID could be sidestepping a question that he felt placed him in a difficult spot by making a joke.
    Just a possibility.
  19. CuseFanInSoCal
    19. Posted by CuseFanInSoCal Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:48 pm EDT

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    Jeff - the reason for the east/west regional split is to reduce travel distances (any playoff with more than 4 teams has to play the first round or two at the home stadium of the higher seed -- or just possibly a nearby NFL stadium -- or no tickets will be sold), so it's at least remotely possible for fans of the road team to make first and second round games, and the semi-final sites may actually be reachable by car. It also reduces costs.
    Randy R - Even getting a rational east/west bracket is tough; this year happened to fall out with 8 eastern teams and 8 western teams, but more often than not a minor conference champ is going to get sent to the 'wrong' regional as convenient.
    LD - if you're arguing for a 4-team playoff/seeded +1 now, then an 8-team playoff later, and ending with a full-on sixteen team playoff, I'll support that plan. The only pseudo-playoff I won't support as better than the current system is the 'pure +1' where you play the 'traditional bowls' (which have no tradition as far as I'm concerned, since this year's USC/Penn State game will be only the second matchup of the Big Ten champ and Pac 10 champ in the Rose Bowl in the BCS era, and the first only happened because the BCS screwed USC out of the title game); I don't like that one, because it rarely helps, and sometimes will give you a #1/#2 game in the traditional bowls.
  20. HUh!!
    20. Posted by HUh!! Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:06 pm EDT

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    his knowlege of the game is about as good as the pieces you write,,,,
  21. 4.0 Point Stance
    21. Posted by 4.0 Point Stance Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:55 pm EDT

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    16 teams? Will never happen. Anyway, does anybody truly believe that Troy or Tulsa deserves a shot at the MNC?
  22. CuseFanInSoCal
    22. Posted by CuseFanInSoCal Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:48 pm EDT

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    I believe it's possible that at some point the champion of CUSA or the Sun Belt may deserve at least as much of a shot at the real national championship (the point of a 16-team playoff being to have a non-mythical NC) in football as the Ivy League or MEAC champ does in basketball.
  23. Vince Regan
    23. Posted by Vince Regan Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:38 pm EDT

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    Thrilla - ya gotta aim higher than that.
    Stillwater News-Mess shines on as the worst local paper in a college football town - fish are ashamed to be wrapped in it.
  24. TH2008
    24. Posted by TH2008 Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:06 pm EDT

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    "we need the play-off for college football" said MR.OBAMMA
    that why i vote for him, he know what he talking about jajajaja
  25. mikez34
    25. Posted by mikez34 Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:20 pm EDT

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    No matter how many teams you put in the playoffs you will ALWAYS have a team that is left out. The best solution is a plus 1. The traditional bowl structure stays intact and there are usually only 3 teams who are truly deserving of a title shot.

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