The computer polls actually post new rankings after the bowl games. And since SOS changes can still be determined, Rich Tellshow has come up with the final tally. ..........................W-L...Comp..Coach AP....Ave....QW....SOS.....Total 1 LSU.................13 1....1.00......1......2.....1.5.....1.2.....0.52.....2.82 2 USC.................12 1....1.83......2......1.....1.5.....0.4....0.80......4.73 3 Ohio State........11 2....4.33......4......4.....4.0.....0.2....0.56.....10.29 4 Oklahoma.........12 2....5.00......3......3.....3.0......0......0.56.....10.56 LSU wins 6 of 7 computer polls, most by SIGNIFICANT margins over USC. Only the NYTimes poll gave USC the #1 spot, by a VERY SLIGHT margin. LSU finishes 13th in the nation in SOS, ahead of OU who finishes 14th and USC finished 20th. LSU was mere fractions away from actually finishing 10th. Remove the Western Illinois game, which should have never been scheduled, and LSU finishes 8th. Computer poll results: Kevin Massey 1 LSU..........5.060 2 USC..........4.756 3 Ohio St.....4.604 4 Georgia.....4.572 5 Miami OH...4.550 Jeff Sagarin 1 LSU..........98.21 2 USC..........95.56 3 Georgia.....92.01 4 Miami OH...91.89 5 Miami FL....91.21 NY Times 1 USC...........1.000 2 LSU............0.996 3 Maryland.....0.934 4 Ohio St.......0.927 5 Miami..........0.909 (Note: Maryland #3......hmmmmmm....makes you wonder about this poll) Billingsley 1 LSU.............309.977 2 USC.............308.769 3 Oklahoma......295.654 4 Miami FL.......291.686 5 Ohio St.........290.926 (Note: LSU started the season 30 points behind USC in the first polling for Billingsley) Anderson-Hester 1 LSU...........0.792 2 USC...........0.774 3 Miami OH....0.758 4 Oklahoma....0.746 5 Ohio St.......0.744 Peter Wolfe 1 LSU............7.634 2 USC............7.252 3 Miami OH......6.910 4 Georgia........6.904 5 Oklahoma.....6.766 Colley Matrix 1 LSU...........0.93172 2 USC...........0.91873 3 Ohio St......0.87783 4 Oklahoma...0.87058 5 Miami FL.....0.84364 As you can see, there is as much distance between LSU and USC as there is between USC and the 3rd place team in Massey, Sagarin, Anderson-Hester and Peter Wolfe. These polls are handing #1 to LSU without a doubt. Billingsley is only close because teams are not considered even going into the season, he uses a preseason ranking and USC had a 30 point margin on LSU to start off with. Colley also gives LSU some breathing room ahead of USC. What can you say about the NY Times? Maryland #3 says it all. Computer polls tell the whole story. Humans do not get to meddle with it and show their bias like the AP/Coaches poll. So if you have any question who is the TRUE National Champion in College Football in 2003....I have just given you the best proof there is. Go spread the word amongst your brethren. Shout it out on rooftops, on mountains high. The innocent MUST know the truth. It will set us all free, especially Trojan fans.
islstl, I'm sure you are familar with the way the Billingsley computer sets up their initial ratings. IF LSU and USC started as the same rating this year, LSU might have finished 31 points ahead of USC in that poll because LSU started the year with a rating of 236.00 and USC had a 266.000. Great thing is next year LSU is going to start with the highest initial rating!
Again, you are exactly correct. LSU had to fight hard to get up in most of these polls. Remember LSU still being ranked 11th in the NYTimes poll before the Arkansas game?
Please note that, if you take the "artificially-given/forced" ESPN/USA TODAY Coaches Poll away from LSU that the Tigers *STILL* finish ahead of USC in the "final" BCS rankings (3.22 for LSU, 4.23 for USC). Also, word has it that some AP votes purposely voted for USC as #1 in order to further express their disgust with the system; a true vote among the 60-plus AP voters would likely be closer than what it shown in the final AP.
I agree with your assessment of the AP voting debacle. There is no way 4 AP voters who watched the LSU/OU game changed their vote to USC because they thought they were all of a sudden the better team.
As a note: The Billingsley's preseason rankings are based on where you finished last year in his poll. That means next year LSU will have the highest starting ranking, USC second by 1 point, Oklahoma third and will trail us by 2, then Miami (FL), then Ohio State.
Thats kinda crappy the way he does it. That means LSU was basically 30 spots worse than USC after we lost to Texas in the Cotton Bowl. That makes no sense. He needs to re-do his preseason ranking based on recruiting and returning players.
He explains his reasoning on the side. I kind of like the idea that you can work your way up through the season, and have it carry over to the next year regardless of player losses. Let the team fail on the field before you drop them.
