College football rankings flawed
Locations of the top 25 teams
To the untrained eye, college team rankings is a fair system that compares team talent and league position, but the system of ranking has many flaws and much to be desired.
For those of you unclear on how exactly the team rankings are calculated, the following is a breakdown of the calculation. In the current formulation, the index comprises a team’s winning percentage (25%), its opponents’ winning percentage (50%), and the winning percentage of those opponents’ opponents (25%). The opponents’ winning percentage and the winning percentage of those opponents’ opponents both comprise the strength of schedule (SOS). Thus, the SOS accounts for 75% of the RPI calculation and is 2/3 its opponents’ winning percentage and 1/3 its opponents’ opponents’ winning percentages. This formula tells the judges on where a team should be placed in their respective divisions, and a high ranking allows a team to compete in bowl games and playoffs.
The main flaw of college rankings is that the ranking formula puts heavy emphasis when it comes to strength of schedule; which gives an unfair advantage to teams of major conferences.
This also prevents smaller, but talented, schools from competing against a tougher team because their rank isn’t high enough and never will be with their current schedule. Teams from minor conferences have few opponents they can add into their schedule. This issue was very apparent when UCF football wasn’t allowed to even make a playoff appearance despite being the only team to go undefeated, only because their schedule wasn’t deemed strong enough for them to compete. The UCF Knights even defeated Auburn Tigers, whom defeated the No. 1 seeded Alabama during the regular season.
Some people think that the way college teams are ranked is the right way to decide who is a top team and who isn’t.
“I like how the rankings are made, good teams play against each other and if a smaller school want a chance then they need to compete against tougher school,” Senior Seth Van De Griek commented.
Despite some thinking the system is fine the way it is; there are major flaws and it needs to be changed.
The rankings system should give everybody a chance, especially if they’re easily beating out teams they frequently play against. It shouldn’t be based off of who’s had past success, anyone should be able to play in playoffs if their record is high enough.
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