thr@cbscc.UUCP (Tim H. Robinson) (09/26/85)
In my opinion, there is no sport better than college
football. My main gripe with college ball, other than not
calling holding penalties on passing plays, is the
ridiculous system of picking its champion - the infamous
bowl/poll system. The AP/UPI/USA Today/ESPN/etc "Top 20
Poll" has recently chosen such undeserving champs as Georgia
in 1980 and especially BYU in 1985, which made a mockery of
college football. Since the bowls and polls are here to
stay and since I am fed up with the polls ruining my
favorite game, I have decided to post my own weekly Top Ten
to vent my frustrations.
I have several opinion on how polls should work. Polls
should be relatively dynamic, should take into account the
quality of a team's opponents, should not take into account
the tradition behind a team's name, and should weigh games
late in the season more heavily than games early in the
season since the outcome on January 1st certainly means more
than what happened on August 31st. My criteria of the "Top
10" is simple - I believe the #1 team can beat every other
team in the nation right now, the #2 team can beat every
other team right now except for #1, etc. This criteria
obviously is not practical since a team stacks up better
against some teams than others, but I'll give it a try. In
light of these opinions and criteria, here is my Top Ten and
explanations for the week of September 23rd. Any comments
are welcome and will be taken into consideration for next
week's poll.
Tim's Top Ten - 9/23
--------------------
1) Michigan (2-0-0) (-)
2) Auburn (2-0-0) (-)
3) Iowa (2-0-0) (-)
4) Oklahoma (0-0-0) (-)
5) Maryland (2-1-0) (-)
6) Florida State (3-0-0) (-)
7) Ohio State (2-0-0) (-)
8) Penn State (3-0-0) (-)
9) Southern Methodist (1-0-0) (-)
10) Alabama (3-0-0) (-)
Michigan - How can anyone argue with this choice after
Michigan's victory over Notre Dame and blowout of South
Carolina. Both games were more lopsided than the score
indicated. Michigan will try to solidify their top spot
with a victory this week over Maryland. Michigan
exemplifies a team that looks good on the field but not on
paper.
Auburn - They have looked very good so far but have yet to
play a quality opponent. Let's see how they do at
Tennessee.
Iowa - Similar to Auburn. They have looked great but have
played no one.
Oklahoma - They look great on paper but let's wait until
Minnesota to see how they look on the field. Do not
underestimate the Golden Gophers; they won't stop the
Sooner's offense but they will put a lot of points on the
board. Ricky Foggie is one of the most dangerous offense
weapons in the game and Lou Holtz has proven he can beat
Oklahoma.
Maryland - After the fluke loss against Penn State, they
have looked very impressive, especially in their 28-0 win at
West Virginia. They continue their killer schedule in a
showdown at Michigan.
Florida State - They did not look good last week coming off
their upset win over Nebraska. They tend to play to the
level of their competition.
Ohio State - They looked better against Colorado than they
did against Pittsburgh, but then again, who wouldn't. This
team is not a contender without Keith Byars, yet.
Penn State - They have not looked real good in any of their
3 wins, but they have won against pretty tough opponents.
Southern Methodist - SMU should be a power but they showed
nothing in their opening win.
Alabama - They looked better last week than they did against
against Georgia or Texas A&M. The Tide could improve into a
power.
- Tim Robison