Why do the computers love this team so much? Sagarin 13th, S&P 14th, FPI 15th

[DancingRabbit]

In years past I've bitched about these rankings putting teams in front of us with worse W/L records. No team in front of us with a worse W/L this year.

Must be the defense. Along with having a pulse on offense.

https://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/
https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ncaa
http://www.espn.com/college-football/statistics/teamratings?tab=fpi

[Liverpooldawg]

In years past I've bitched about these rankings putting teams in front of us with worse W/L records. No team in front of us with a worse W/L this year.

Must be the defense. Along with having a pulse on offense.

https://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/
https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ncaa
http://www.espn.com/college-football/statistics/teamratings?tab=fpi

It's also who we have lost to.

[TNDawg35]

Cause we are a lot better than what we have played in our losses. Everyone knows it. That’s why Vegas has loved us so much. Everyone thought it was just a matter of time before everything clicked...

[BrunswickDawg]

When you lose to #4, #12 & #14 (2 of which were in the road) and beat 2 ranked opponents when unranked, the indexes are set up - just like RPI in basketball- to factor it in.

[Liverpooldawg]

Cause we are a lot better than what we have played in our losses. Everyone knows it. That’s why Vegas has loved us so much. Everyone thought it was just a matter of time before everything clicked...

The computer rankings don't work like that.

[Jack Lambert]

Cause we are a lot better than what we have played in our losses. Everyone knows it. That’s why Vegas has loved us so much. Everyone thought it was just a matter of time before everything clicked...

When espn game day was picking they all picked A&M but one of them said that vegas had them as a under dog and they know what they are talking about.

[Todd4State]

It's also who we have lost to.

Two posts in one day that I agree with!

Who hacked your login?**

It's who we've lost to and also where. Two of our losses were on the road. All of our losses were disappointing to us and rightfully so- however in basketball terms we don't have any "bad losses". Kentucky is better than they were thought to be. They could win 10 games with a loss to A&M on the road in OT and probably Georgia. Florida has 10 wins teed up. LSU should win 10 with losses to Alabama and Florida.

It's also why I am interested to see where the rankings have us Tuesday.

[Commercecomet24]

We are 2 and 3 against ranked teams and have dominated the other games and 2 of those 3 losses were road losses.

[Quaoarsking]

It helps that the Sagarin has Auburn and A&M, teams we beat by double digits, as top 20 teams

[Political Hack]

The teams we've lost to have good records against tough schedules. It'll even out as the season continues.

[DancingRabbit]

When you lose to #4, #12 & #14 (2 of which were in the road) and beat 2 ranked opponents when unranked, the indexes are set up - just like RPI in basketball- to factor it in.

Yeah, ranking-wise we have the best losses

But we usually are losing to decent teams the last few years. But we do have the 2 ranked when played wins this year. Dan didn't have many of those outside of 2014.

I do think there's some "game control" stats and lack of "explosive plays" against our defense stats that play into it. Back in 2014-2016 the computers didn't like us so much.

[Jack Lambert]

Yeah, ranking-wise we have the best losses

But we usually are losing to decent teams the last few years. But we do have the 2 ranked when played wins this year. Dan didn't have many of those outside of 2014.

I do think there's some "game control" stats and lack of "explosive plays" against our defense stats that play into it. Back in 2014-2016 the computers didn't like us so much.

This is why the play off committee will be kind to us Tuesday.

[Todd4State]

The teams we've lost to have good records against tough schedules. It'll even out as the season continues.

The season is almost 75% over. Unless Kentucky, Florida, or LSU tank it- which is possible- I think we're still going to have good numbers as long as we take care of business.

[Todd4State]

It's interesting to me that two of the three have Florida behind us right now.

[BrunswickDawg]

It's interesting to me that two of the three have Florida behind us right now.

I think that the UF game is the one loss that people can make an argument of “bad loss.” Being at home, against an unranked UF should have been a win. A dropped TD and a dropped pick 6 seal that game for us.

[Political Hack]

The season is almost 75% over. Unless Kentucky, Florida, or LSU tank it- which is possible- I think we're still going to have good numbers as long as we take care of business.

We will but I expect UF and UK to drop a couple of games the next few weeks. It wouldn't surprise me to see UK lose their next two.

[basedog]

I think that the UF game is the one loss that people can make an argument of “bad loss.” Being at home, against an unranked UF should have been a win. A dropped TD and a dropped pick 6 seal that game for us.

Either catch and u gotta wonder?

[RougeDawg]

Because we are one of the best 15 teams in the country. That is why.

[Todd4State]

I think that the UF game is the one loss that people can make an argument of “bad loss.” Being at home, against an unranked UF should have been a win. A dropped TD and a dropped pick 6 seal that game for us.


It was definitely a bad loss psychologically for our program. Looking at the numbers I can agree with you because we are ahead of them in two of the three analytical polls although it is close.


We will but I expect UF and UK to drop a couple of games the next few weeks. It wouldn't surprise me to see UK lose their next two.


Kentucky losing to Georgia is almost a given. I think they find a way to beat Tennessee on the road like they did against Mizzou and Florida. I think they win out otherwise- MTSU and on the road against struggling Louisville. Kentucky would be the most likely to tank between the two.


Florida- I disagree. They have three in a row at home against Mizzou, South Carolina, and Idaho. And then a struggling FSU on the road.

[Todd4State]

Because we are one of the best 15 teams in the country. That is why.

It's amazing what happens when the name on the front of the jersey doesn't matter.

[RougeDawg]

It's amazing what happens when the name on the front of the jersey doesn't matter.

The playoff committee has done a nice job avoiding that. Was it last year when some idiots had LSU ranked ahead of us in the polls after we skulldragged them earlier in the year?

[Todd4State]

The playoff committee has done a nice job avoiding that. Was it last year when some idiots had LSU ranked ahead of us in the polls after we skulldragged them earlier in the year?

It had to be either last year, 2014 or 1991 because those are the most recent times we've skulldrug LSU!

And the other thing that's bad about the media polls is you know there are local writers that vote for their certain hometown team no matter what.

[BrunswickDawg]

It was definitely a bad loss psychologically for our program. Looking at the numbers I can agree with you because we are ahead of them in two of the three analytical polls although it is close.




Kentucky losing to Georgia is almost a given. I think they find a way to beat Tennessee on the road like they did against Mizzou and Florida. I think they win out otherwise- MTSU and on the road against struggling Louisville. Kentucky would be the most likely to tank between the two.


Florida- I disagree. They have three in a row at home against Mizzou, South Carolina, and Idaho. And then a struggling FSU on the road.

I'm not so sure about UK and UGA. If it was in Athens, I think it is a no brainer UGA win. In Lexington, with CBS in town? This won't be the normal UGA vs. UK game. And UK has already knocked out a couple of teams that "always" beat them in UF and MSU. Georgia has struggled a little containing good running games this season - LSU put up 275 on the ground. Mizzou put up 172. UF broke some good runs but was behind to much to focus on the ground game. Bennie Snell and a mobile QB is not a good match up with UGA. I look for this game to be a lot like UGA/LSU; MSU/LSU; MSU/KY - a defensive slobber knocker won by whichever team controls the LOS enough to establish a running game. UK is capable of pulling an upset here.

[sleepy dawg]

It had to be either last year, 2014 or 1991 because those are the most recent times we've skulldrug LSU!

And the other thing that's bad about the media polls is you know there are local writers that vote for their certain hometown team no matter what.

Or like in 2014 when our local guy didn't vote for us no matter what.

[sleepy dawg]

In years past I've bitched about these rankings putting teams in front of us with worse W/L records. No team in front of us with a worse W/L this year.

Must be the defense. Along with having a pulse on offense.

https://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/
https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ncaa
http://www.espn.com/college-football/statistics/teamratings?tab=fpi

A key thing to remember (not saying you don't know this) is that these are rating systems, not ranking systems. They are not designed to say who is the most deserving. They are designed to determine who the actual best teams are despite w/l record.

[Tbonewannabe]

A key thing to remember (not saying you don't know this) is that these are rating systems, not ranking systems. They are not designed to say who is the most deserving. They are designed to determine who the actual best teams are despite w/l record.

This is supposed to show who would win on a neutral field, correct?

[sleepy dawg]

This is supposed to show who would win on a neutral field, correct?

Based on historical results and everything else remaining the same (such as no major injuries, style differences that 1 team may not be able to handle) if team 14 played team 16, team 14 would be expected to win slightly more often than team 16. However, at least for Sagrin, there is also a home field advantage number to factor in.