Kansas is #1

I am sick of so called "analysts" refusing to actually analyze the
game. LSU has more quality wins than any other team! Let's look at
those quality wins, shall we?

Florida 8-4. A more overrated team in recent history, I do not
recall. Florida's chief claim for quality wins are over Tennessee
(who lost to an average Cal team) and Kentucky (8-5). Not exactly
what I would call premier teams or premier wins. Anybody else with
any caliber that they played, they lost. Florida is an average team
that is way overrated this year. Is Florida a quality win? Barely, a
top caliber win? No way.

Auburn 9-4. We could call Auburn a good team even though they lost to
Mississippi St AND South Florida. Their quality win is over, yep, see
above, Florida. Not much of resume really, and they lost their big
games. Wins over Tennessee Tech (4-7 in a lower division), Vanderbilt
(5-7), MIssissippi (3-9), Kansas St (5-7), and New Mexico St (4-9), do
tend to pad the schedule a tad. Maybe Auburn is a quality win, but
only if you buy in hook line and sinker to the SEC is king mentality,
and then you have to be a complete homer to swallow it all the way.

Tennessee 10-4. Do we see a pattern here? LSU beats teams that have
been beaten at least 3 other times, is this really the killer schedule
everyone wants us to believe? Losses to an average Florida, a 7-6 Cal
team, and a 7-6 Alabama team, certainly call into question just how
good Tennessee was this year. They beat Georgia pretty soundly, but
just squeaked by South Carolina (6-6) and Kentucky (8-5). So their
whole hype is really a win over Georgia. I'm not sure I buy that.

Ohio St 11-2. I'm not sure even this was thier highest quality
opponent, but let's look at Ohio St. They lose to LSU and Illinois.
We already know Illinois got hammered by U$C in their bowl game, lost
to Missouri and Iowa and Michigan. Ohio St's quality wins are Penn St
and Michigan and Wisconsin, all 4 loss teams. Despite this, their
record going into the game is 11-1 and clearly this does make a
quality win and even a high quality win.

Virginia Tech 11-3. This, in my mind is the highest quality opponent
LSU beat, and to be fair, they throttled them. V-Tech's other losses
are close ones to Kansas (12-1) and Boston College (11-3). V-Tech
doesn't have a whole lot in the way of quality wins, but avenging
their loss to Boston College was a big one, and Clemson and Virginia
are their others.

Now, more importantly than these "quality wins" we have to look at
missed opportunities for LSU. Who did they lose to? Did LSU lose in
the lights of the SEC championship? No. Did they lose to their arch
rival in a rivalry game? No. LSU lost to Kentucky and AT HOME to
Arkansas. Kentucky and Arkansas are middle of the road teams in
ranking and in record. We aren't talking ONE loss, or a fluke, we are
talking TWO losses, neither of which are to a premier team.

Now, let's look at Kansas. The biggest gripe is their lack of quality
wins. I concede that charge, but still, let's look at their wins.

Central Michigan Oh no, it's a directional school!!!! No one should
take them seriously. Okay, so they got beat by Purdue (8-5) in their
bowl game as well as the regular season and also lost to some lower
tier teams. I'm not going to equate this team with anyone in the SEC,
but their record was 8-6, and Kansas didn't beat them in a close game,
they beat them 52-7.

Oklahoma St and Texas A&M. Sure we can talk about them beating up on
the loser teams of the big 12 north, but they did also have wins
against these two. Both are 7-6, one giving a run with one of Ohio
St's QUALITY opponents.

Virginia Tech. So this is the one quality win that Kansas has that
can be looked at as a premier win. If it counts for LSU, it has to
count for Kansas.

Clearly with looking at only wins, LSU has a decided advantage over
Kansas, but as pointed out above, LSU's quality wins are inflated a
bit and the gap, while substantial is not the gigantic gorge that the
media is stuffing down our throats.

Now let's look at losses.

ONE loss to 12-2 Missouri, a team that beat the stuffing out of
Arkansas (ooh, they beat LSU didn't they?) in a rivalry game in
Arrowhead Stadium. Missouri is a bonafide top 10 team and is head and
shoulders above Kentucky AND Arkansas. There is no question that 1
loss is better than 2 and no question as to the quality of the
opponent. Kansas won the games they were supposed to, beat a good
Virginia Tech team, and had one mishap to a top 10 if not top 5 team.

The AP ranking Kansas at #7 is absolutely 100% ridiculous and out of
touch with how the season unfolded.

Kansas is my #1 team and I'm sticking with it.

Brent
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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Kansas is #1
    ... LSU has more quality wins than any other team! ... bowl game, lost to Missouri and Iowa and Michigan. ... V-Tech's other losses are close ones to Kansas and Boston ...
    (rec.sport.football.college)
  • Re: Kansas is #1
    ... LSU has more quality wins than any other team! ... tend to pad the schedule a tad. ... We already know Illinois got hammered by U$C in their bowl game, ...
    (rec.sport.football.college)
  • Re: Kansas is #1
    ...  LSU has more quality wins than any other team! ... We already know Illinois got hammered by U$C in their bowl game, ... LSU beat, and to be fair, they throttled them. ... but their record was 8-6, and Kansas didn't beat them in a close game, ...
    (rec.sport.football.college)
  • Re: Kansas is #1
    ...  LSU has more quality wins than any other team! ... Tennessee (who lost to an average Cal team) and Kentucky. ... bowl game, lost to Missouri and Iowa and Michigan. ... V-Tech's other losses are close ones to Kansas and Boston ...
    (rec.sport.football.college)
  • Re: Kansas is #1
    ...  LSU has more quality wins than any other team! ... Tennessee (who lost to an average Cal team) and Kentucky. ... bowl game, lost to Missouri and Iowa and Michigan. ... V-Tech's other losses are close ones to Kansas and Boston ...
    (rec.sport.football.college)