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Message: [QUOTE="TexanMark, post: 1162923, member: 35"] HokieMark's Article...I tend to agree with him about the Halo effect from: [URL='http://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/2014/10/ot-sec-bias-in-polls-101414.html'][U]http://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/2014/1...01414.html[/U][/URL] There are 5 SEC teams in the Top 10 of the AP and USA Today polls, and only one more SEC team in the 11th through 25th spots. That means that pollsters think over a third of that league are top 10 teams. Is that legitimate, or are some of them overrated? Let's look at a couple of suspects... Alabama. The last 3 times Alabama has faced a ranked team (Auburn, Oklahoma, Ole Miss), the Tide has lost. In fact, 'Bama has not beaten a ranked team since they handed an overrated LSU team its 3rd loss of the 2013 season. Despite all that, the AP and USA Today both have Alabama ranked #7. The real problem is the way pollsters treat a team when it loses. When Alabama lost its first game, it fell 4 spots. By contrast, when Oregon lost on the same weekend it fell 10 spots and Oklahoma fell 7 spots. It's tough to overcome that much bias. [IMG]https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gvgIFd18rz4/VDyCHSWLEpI/AAAAAAAAJeo/2lL1CiWcjC0/s1600/PollBias-AfterLoss.png[/IMG] Ole Miss? Their claim to fame is beating that same, overrated Alabama team, as well as a Texas AM team which wouldn't have been ranked had they faced South Carolina later in the season (after the Gamecocks were already exposed). I agree that Ole Miss is very good, but I don't think the Rebels are really playoff material; fortunately there's plenty of season left to prove it one way or the other. Texas AM. The Aggies have beaten the following teams this year: South Carolina (3-3), Lamar (FCS), Rice (3-3), SMU (0-5), and Arkansas (3-3). That means A+M's victories have come over one FCS team and four FBS opponents with a combined record of 9-14. Sorry, folks, that's just not very impressive! [IMG]https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZY4Id99G644/VDyDx3EtN7I/AAAAAAAAJe0/QZMgo-bAuzk/s1600/TAMU-foe-WinPct.png[/IMG] The Aggies have also lost 2 in a row, to Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Good losses? So what? Kansas State's only loss is to Auburn - why aren't they in the top 10 with Alabama and Georgia? Mississippi State. The Bulldogs appear to be for real. Good for the SEC - they have a bona fide contender. [/QUOTE]

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