Oregon ranked well above USC shows why college football polls are broken

Sep 1, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Southern California Trojans quarterback Miller Moss (7) reacts after the game against the LSU Tigers at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

You might have heard the news: USC is eight spots below Oregon in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll, following Week 1 in the 2024 college football season. Wait a minute. That doesn’t make any sense at all, right? No logical person could possibly rank Oregon above USC, let alone eight spots. Not after this weekend of football we just watched.

We wrote this in our instant story on the US LBM Coaches Poll:

“USC ought to be ranked well ahead of Oregon based on the caliber of the Trojans’ performance and the quality of the opponents each team faced. USC played LSU on a neutral field. Oregon played Idaho, an FCS program, at home. Both teams won close games. Neither game was decided before the fourth quarter. Oregon led by only three points early in the fourth quarter before finally getting a small sliver of breathing room. USC’s margin of victory against LSU — seven points — was nearly as large as Oregon’s margin of victory against Idaho. Yet, Oregon is eight spots above USC because Oregon was 20 spots ahead of USC in the preseason edition of the poll.”

We have to have a conversation about this and go into the art of properly ranking teams each week. This should not be a painful or difficult process, and yet we know it will be. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Let’s explain a few things about the USC Oregon coaches poll rankings and what they actually should be.

QUALITY OF WINS, QUALITY OF OPPONENTS

Sep 1, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley with wife Caitlin Riley after the game against the LSU Tigers at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s start here:…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/oregon-ranked-well-above-usc-184058105.html

Author : Trojans Wire

Publish date : 2024-09-03 18:40:58

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