Wednesday, August 26, 2009
I think there was a second shooter on the grassy knoll.
I think there is no way that Michael Jordan stepped away from the game he loved in his prime to pick up a sport he didn’t know or play.
Follow Clark Goble on Twitter!
But the most active conspiracy out there is the one facing the non-BCS quality football programs: the Utahs, the Boise States and the TCUs.
There’s no Zapruder film, but the evidence is in the preseason polls. Pollspeak.com, a website that has logged every week’s college football poll since 1998, did a report comparing the preseason and postseason rankings of every team.
And the results are shocking.
During the BCS era (1998-present), the highest a non-BCS team has ever been ranked in the either preseason poll is No. 14, this year’s Boise State Broncos. And yet, a non-BCS team ended up lower than No. 15 in the postseason poll just once. Non-BCS schools keep exceeding expectations time and time again.
And yet, they continue to be under-ranked.
Take a look at last year’s Utah Utes. Returning a stellar dual-threat QB, Utah looked good in the preseason, but apparently not good enough; they couldn’t crack the Top 25 in either poll.
Then the season started.
Utah took down No. 24 Michigan in the Big House to open the season and didn’t look back. They defeated Oregon State a week after the Beavers toppled USC. They squeaked by No. 11 TCU and destroyed No. 14 BYU. 12 wins. Zero losses.
But they simply couldn’t climb the polls enough.
They defeated two Top-15 opponents at the end of the season and moved up one spot in the BCS standings. One spot. Why? The big dog BCS teams sitting in front of them had a huge leg up because they started the season ranked so high.
I realize Utah simply did not have the talent that Florida or Oklahoma did. But talented teams sometimes don’t win.
And sure, strength of schedule is a factor. However, you can’t grade someone’s strength of schedule in the preseason when no one’s played a game yet.
I’m not sure where the conspiracy lies. All I know is this: teams from non-BCS conferences have no chance to climb their way to the top of the polls. Florida might go undefeated this year, but so could Utah, BYU, TCU, Kansas, Navy or Florida International.
So NCAA, let’s eliminate the preseason polls completely. Put out the first poll in October. We’ll have less to talk about right now, but more to debate later.
Give the smaller programs a fighting chance of achieving their dreams.
— —Edited by Tim Burgess
Morning Brew: The BCS is a sham
Placing TCU and Boise State against each other in the Humanitarian Bowl ...
Shroyer: BCS isn’t only judge of top ...
Kansan Shawn Shroyer kicks off the debate about the first BCS rankings ...
Senior writer talks Kansas sports
Dennis Dodd, senior writer for CBSSports.com discusses Kansas men’s basketball and the ...
Toland: No way to tell who's really ...
The most interesting match ups in college basketball won't see the court ...
Morning Brew: Ignorance is bliss
The impossibility of accurate predictions keeps football season exciting.
Dufek: The upsets are coming
In terms of upsets, 2008 has been a pretty mild season. But ...
Column: Ranking this season’s bowl games
Take a look at Kory Carpenter’s ranking of this winter’s college football’s ...
Bern: Michigan was overrated
Appalachian State’s 34-32 victory over Michigan may have been historic, but columnist ...
Toland: Voting bias spans coast-to-coast
West coast bias also prevalent in college football.
Football polls undergo major changes
After the first eight weeks of college football, fans may be surprised ...
Coaches argue about preseason polls
The debate continues about how accurately college football polls reflect team talent.
Lavieri: TCU would bring renewed rivalries to ...
The Big 12 would welcome TCU into the conference, as Missouri appears ...
Wheeler: College postseason should be tournament
With consistent upsets of unranked teams beating college football powerhouses this season, ...
Appalachian State raises more questions about ranking ...
At the end of each college football season, a normally controversial bowl ...
Could Kansas meet this season’s Cinderella team ...
The East Carolina Pirates could be considered this year’s version of last ...
KU baseball ranked in preseason polls
Jayhawks join conference rivals, including No. 1 Texas, in preseason rankings.
BCS Bowl Breakdown
Analysis of this season's bowls.
Goble: Success tied to other Big 12 ...
Kansas must beat strong opponents to play in a quality bowl game.
Beecher: Thursday not for small teams
Missouri and Nebraska square off this week in the unexpected time slot.
Robinett: Hawks have new confidence
In past years, the football team would never have fought back from ...
Wheeler: College postseason should change
Every year in December and January, the nation’s top college football teams ...
Big 12 conference remains unstable
And then there were nine...
Kansan's OK with living in the shadow ...
KU basketball traditions don't come close to clout and money of UT's ...
Blog: Initial reactions to the first BCS ...
Trevor Graff goes over the current BCS standings and explains what each ...
BCS Watch
Kansas climbs to No. 2 in the BCS rankings
Goble: Women’s basketball ranks high
Kansas could take home first women’s conference championship since 1997 if it ...
Kansas ranked for first time in 11 ...
Kansas entered the AP Top-25 poll at No. 20 this week. It ...
Breaking down challengers for conference crown
Kansan writers examine the Big XII men's race.
Ranking the Big 12
How one writer stacks up the conference's 10 teams early in the ...
Basketball preseason numbers looking good
Jayhawks are ranked number one by multiple sources.
Jayhawks ease into season
Montemayor: Football season will likely bring surprises
After unpredictable 2007 season, Jayhawks look to build on last season’s success
Press Box: November 12, 2007
Oklahoma Vs. Kansas
Coaches' Poll ranks Kansas No. 13
ESPN and USA Today almost unanimously rank North Carolina at the top.
Johnson: What a season
Kansan columnist Erica Johnson revisits the best memories from Kansas football’s historic ...
Nelson: Jayhawks deserved better
Kansas shouldn't have been the No. 1 seed in the West region. ...
Kansas offense does whatever it takes to ...
Offensive imbalance not an issue if Kansas continues to win
Hard season needed to subsidize programs
The number of teams willing to play guarantee games is fewer than ...
Jayhawks need help to move up BCS ...
Jayhawk fans may be new to having to calculate the chances that ...
Roesler: ESPN overlooks the Jayhawks
The network focuses on the negatives of the team instead of the ...
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
KUnited presidential candidate Libby Johnson and vice presidential ...
1 comment
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID