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Texas Tech still leads OU in two computer rankings
 
By JOHN HOOVER, World sports writer
Published: 11/25/2008  2:27 AM
Last Modified: 11/25/2008  3:36 AM

Two of the six computer rankings used to calculate the Bowl Championship Series standings still have Texas Tech ranked ahead of Oklahoma, despite the Sooners' 65-21 win Saturday.

OU jumped ahead of Tech in both of the human polls and four of the computer rankings, but the Sagarin Index and the Wolfe ratings have Tech in front.

In the Wolfe ratings, Tech is third and OU fourth. In the Sagarin Index, Tech is second, OU is fourth.

Sagarin, whose ratings have been used by USA Today since 1985, actually publishes three ratings: a winner-loser formula, a predictor formula and a combination of the two.

The former, called Elo-Chess, discounts the score of a given game and just takes into account the winner and loser and where the game was played.

"I get lots of flak, 'Well, how could you have Oklahoma behind Texas Tech in that Chess thing; look at the score, 65-21?' The Chess specifically does not look at the score. Everybody should know that by now," Sagarin said Monday.

"The media hounded the BCS commissioners to tell the computers to ignore the scores. And now I see articles out there, 'How could anybody ignore the 65-21 score?' Because we were told to.

"The predictor is all scores," Sagarin said. "Winning by one is hardly any better than losing by one.

It's just a two-point difference. In the Chess system, the difference between winning by one and losing by one is almost infinite. You either won or you lost. That's a big difference. The biggest difference
it can be."
By JOHN HOOVER, World sports writer

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Report Comment
cjay, (11/25/2008 7:54:32 AM)
So, "The Chess specifically does not look at the score. Everybody should know that by now." What a sorry excuse for an unacceptable computer program. What everybody really knows is that the computer programs are crap!

Wake up and smell the coffee, computer programers. Don't blame others for your incompetence. Either fix the program or get out of the business.
Report Comment
McThrill, (11/25/2008 8:50:45 AM)
Must be that great out of conference schedule that TT plays that put them over the top.
Report Comment
Bird1, Tulsa (11/25/2008 8:58:34 AM)
McThrill - Can't be. A win is a win and a loss is a loss. OU & TT both have the same record. Same as Texas. I don't see how any of the three could be ranked higher than the others. Without the scores, it doesn't make any sense.
Report Comment
soonershark, Prague (11/26/2008 2:26:35 PM)
Mercedes = Ford Pinto? A car's a car. A win's a win. Shaquille O'Neal = Muggsy Bogues = NBA Center.
Report Comment
tulsaGuy, (11/26/2008 2:59:56 PM)
Dear Austin, whatever happens, graduate.

They also lead in the most important ranking, the 2008 Graduation Success Rate:

Texas Tech: 79%
OSU: 62%
OU: 46%

The Graduation Success Rate measures how many players earned a four-year degree within a six-year window, accounting for both transfers into the footabll program as well as transfers out of the football program.
Report Comment
OU Fan/Rationale, Not Rabid, tulsa (11/27/2008 6:53:18 PM)
Even if I understood the "thinking" of whomever decided these particular rankings (Elo-Chess?? Huh? Some guy named "Wolfe" no one ever heard of!!) should influence the game for the National Championship, it would make no sense whatsoever. It is the ultimate expression of nonsense that anything or anyone anywhere should rank Tex Tech, pre-game #2, above OU, pre-game #5, after a 65-21 drubbing that could and should have been at least 72-14 and could have been 100-7 if the starters had played a little more of the 4th quarter. If this doesn't completely show the BCS parameters as idiotic, nothing ever will. Jay Cronley has it 100% right, as usual, when he says the BCS is ruining the college game.

OU Fan/Rationale, Not Rabid

Report Comment
OU Fan/Rationale, Not Rabid, tulsa (11/27/2008 7:01:12 PM)
Furthermore, the Sagarin Strength of Schedule number show UT and Tech with a tougher schedule than OU. More nonsense. Just look at the schedules!

OU Fan 2
 

 
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