SEC Sets All-Time Record with 7 Teams in Top 15 of AP Poll

[BusSport]

In the discussion of the AP Poll, you guys are missing the real headlines: that the SEC just set the all-time AP Poll record for most teams from 1 conference in the Top 15 with 7.

It's certainly all the media organizations want to talk about.

ABC's headline is "SEC Dominating AP Poll Again":

That gives the SEC seven teams in the top 15, the first time that's happened since the AP poll started in 1936.

USA Today's headline is "SEC with 5 teams in top 10 of AP poll", and ESPN's headline is "SEC again dominates AP poll":

South Carolina's win over Georgia vaulted the Gamecocks 10 spots to No. 14 in The Associated Press college football poll, giving the Southeastern Conference an unprecedented seven teams in the top 15.

The NCAA's headline is "SEC lands five teams in top 10 of AP poll, unprecedented seven in top 15":

With South Carolina's back-on-the-map, 38-35 win against then-No. 6 Georgia on Saturday, the Gamecocks vaulted 10 spots in The Associated Press college football poll to No. 14. That gives the SEC seven teams in the top 15, the first time that's happened since the AP poll started in 1936.

Plus the NCAA takes a potshot at the Pac-12:

[...] some thought that the Pac-12 had become the better top-to-bottom league.

Well, look at those good ol' boys now.

While the Pac-12 has become a jumbled mess outside of No. 2 Oregon, the SEC again appears to be the class of college football.

S-E-C! S-E-C! S-E-C!

 

[taka85]

everyone thought it was such garbage that the SEC had 8 teams in the preason top 25... and after 3 weeks, you really can't make an argument any of them don't belong. however you could make a possible argument for a 9th or 10th SEC team perhaps.

 

[4down20]

If we finish with that many I'll be impressed.

I have a bunch of SEC teams in my top15, but that's not going to last once SEC West teams start playing each other, since 5 of them are SEC West teams.

 

[taka85]

If we finish with that many I'll be impressed.

I have a bunch of SEC teams in my top15, but that's not going to last once SEC West teams start playing each other, since 5 of them are SEC West teams.

true. for some reason pollsters think that if the #7 team goes on the road to the #2 team and plays a highly competitive game but loses by a FG, the #7 team must not actually be worthy of the #7 ranking.

i've never quite understood that.

 

[4down20]

true. for some reason pollsters think that if the #7 team goes on the road to the #2 team and plays a highly competitive game but loses by a FG, the #7 team must not actually be worthy of the #7 ranking.

i've never quite understood that.

That's not how it works.

What happens is 1 guy thinks #2 is going to win, and another guy thinks #7 team is going to win. So 1 person ranks the #2 team higher and the other guy ranks the #7 team higher.

The end result(#2 and #7) are just the averages. If #7 losses, then people are not going to rank them higher as often, so they end up dropping. It's not 1 guy going - oh let's drop this team more. It's the people who had them above #7 etc moving them down and correcting themselves that does it.

People say - how can South Carolina be ranked #15 a few weeks ago. Truth is, there probably wasn't a single person who ranked South Carolina that high(I don't actually know). What happened was the teams that individual people ranked above South Carolina weren't agreed upon by everyone else, so even if everyone ranks South Carolina #20, they can still move up in the average.

 

[24seven]

While the heavy presence of the SEC is worth note, the "all time record" part is largely meaningless given that all the conferences used to be smaller. As they grow, such records will naturally be broken. In fact, the record for the percentage of conference teams in the Top-Whatever may not be broken.

 

[4down20]

While the heavy presence of the SEC is worth note, the "all time record" part is largely meaningless given that all the conferences used to be smaller. As they grow, such records will naturally be broken. In fact, the record for the percentage of conference teams in the Top-Whatever may not be broken.

Good point as well.

 

[taka85]

That's not how it works.

What happens is 1 guy thinks #2 is going to win, and another guy thinks #7 team is going to win. So 1 person ranks the #2 team higher and the other guy ranks the #7 team higher.

The end result(#2 and #7) are just the averages. If #7 losses, then people are not going to rank them higher as often, so they end up dropping. It's not 1 guy going - oh let's drop this team more. It's the people who had them above #7 etc moving them down and correcting themselves that does it.

People say - how can South Carolina be ranked #15 a few weeks ago. Truth is, there probably wasn't a single person who ranked South Carolina that high(I don't actually know). What happened was the teams that individual people ranked above South Carolina weren't agreed upon by everyone else, so even if everyone ranks South Carolina #20, they can still move up in the average.

while you make a good point, i'm sure it still happens.

 

[tech_iceman]

How do we know those teams weren't just overrated in the preseason? Now they're top 15 because a few of them have beaten top 10 SEC teams and jumped in the polls

 

[4down20]

How do we know those teams weren't just overrated in the preseason? Now they're top 15 because a few of them have beaten top 10 SEC teams and jumped in the polls

Because they winning?

Aka, Georgia beats Clemson, South Carolina beat Georgia, A&M beat South Carolina. And it doesn't stop there either. South Carolina beat ECU, who just beat VT, who beat Ohio St.

Can't put a ton of stock into that whole chain in general, but it's not like they are winning over just cupcakes. There are some quality wins in there.

Make your own top25, be honest, and try not to include so many SEC teams at this point.

 

[taka85]

How do we know those teams weren't just overrated in the preseason? Now they're top 15 because a few of them have beaten top 10 SEC teams and jumped in the polls

based on the results on the field, i'm inclined to think they have earned their ranking.

in addition to beating georgia, south carolina also took out a pretty decent east carolina team.
maybe clemson is hot garbage, but i doubt they are. georgia killed them.

if clemson loses a few games we don't expect, then i'd adjust my rankings a bit. i think clemson is a lot more likely to win 9 games than they are to miss a bowl game.

 

[Kevin12773]

based on the results on the field, i'm inclined to think they have earned their ranking.

in addition to beating georgia, south carolina also took out a pretty decent east carolina team.
maybe clemson is hot garbage, but i doubt they are. georgia killed them.

if clemson loses a few games we don't expect, then i'd adjust my rankings a bit. i think clemson is a lot more likely to win 9 games than they are to miss a bowl game.

No one cares about your rankings. Bye bye Sakau

 

[Kevin12773]

based on the results on the field, i'm inclined to think they have earned their ranking.

in addition to beating georgia, south carolina also took out a pretty decent east carolina team.
maybe clemson is hot garbage, but i doubt they are. georgia killed them.

if clemson loses a few games we don't expect, then i'd adjust my rankings a bit. i think clemson is a lot more likely to win 9 games than they are to miss a bowl game.

No one cares about your rankings. Bye bye Sakau

 

[tech_iceman]

Because they winning?

Aka, Georgia beats Clemson, South Carolina beat Georgia, A&M beat South Carolina. And it doesn't stop there either. South Carolina beat ECU, who just beat VT, who beat Ohio St.

Can't put a ton of stock into that whole chain in general, but it's not like they are winning over just cupcakes. There are some quality wins in there.

Make your own top25, be honest, and try not to include so many SEC teams at this point.

based on the results on the field, i'm inclined to think they have earned their ranking.

in addition to beating georgia, south carolina also took out a pretty decent east carolina team.
maybe clemson is hot garbage, but i doubt they are. georgia killed them.

if clemson loses a few games we don't expect, then i'd adjust my rankings a bit. i think clemson is a lot more likely to win 9 games than they are to miss a bowl game.

basically, it's too early to tell how good teams really are

we think someone is good because they beat a team with a number by their name... how do we know that team wasn't overrated in week one?

 

[ckhokie]

Avi bet with anyone that Ole Miss ends the season unranked.

 

[4down20]

basically, it's too early to tell how good teams really are

we think someone is good because they beat a team with a number by their name... how do we know that team wasn't overrated in week one?

Yes and no.

It's true we don't know the true strength of all teams this early, but people have a general idea of what teams are, and adjustments get made as things play out. So to say "It's too early" isn't really true because it's not an on/off switch. We know more than we don't know. Is Alabama going to finish the season 3-9? I guess it's technically possible, but not very likely. Is Alabama the best team in the country? We don't know, but we are all more than certain that it is more likely that Alabama could be the best team in the country, over finishing 3-9.

Teams that make huge drops are overall pretty rare, and it would be nothing but confirmation bias towards those cases to believe that overall the rankings are unreliable as a result.

 

[4down20]

Avi bet with anyone that Ole Miss ends the season unranked.

I'll maybe take that bet if you'll name the team that will replace them depending on how long the bet is for and who the team is.

Sweaten the pot and take a little more risk.

 

[KansasSooner]

I have to wonder if A&M or Mizzou would be ranked highly if they were still in the Big XII...hell it used to take both those teams to get to 6-0 or better to even smell the top 25.

 

[ckhokie]

I'll maybe take that bet if you'll name the team that will replace them depending on how long the bet is for and who the team is.

Sweaten the pot and take a little more risk.

No other team, just Yes or No. Ole Miss ranked in the final AP top 25. 2 weeks, winner choice on avi.

 

[occupant]

basically, it's too early to tell how good teams really are

we think someone is good because they beat a team with a number by their name... how do we know that team wasn't overrated in week one?

Here, let me save them the trouble...