Posted by MikeT23 on 11/8/2012 1:27:00 PM (view original):
Then how do we get the "best" teams in the NC?
Seriously, without pre-season polls, AL/OR are not the top 2. Where you start has more to do with where you finish than it ever should. Before this season started it was a gimme that AL/LSU would be in the NC if they ran the table.
You simply can not do so consistently.
ND and K St have performed the best against their respective schedules this season. That doesn't mean in any way that they are the two best teams. The biggest failure of any computer system is that computer only looks at raw data and never actually sees a game.
There is no way to quantify what the eye test shows us. Alabama is the best team in the country. Maybe Oregon could make a good case. Hell all 4 of the unbeatens can make a strong case.
What if Louisville is truly the "best" team in the country? There isn't any way to know if they are or aren't. Humans at least give them credit for being undefeated at this point, and have them ranked 10th. The 6 BCS Computers have them anywhere between 8 and 23, with the average of the rest being 12.5. I have a hard time believing they are "really" the 10th best team in the country personally.
Bottom line is the answer to your first question is simply "you can't".
As to your second comment, Alabama didn't run the table last year though did they? It was circumstances, out of their control, that allowed them to climb back up to number 2. I agree 100 % with the preseason poll carrying too much weight, but there is no system that gets the 2 best teams in the NCG other than a playoff, and even then you aren't guaranteed the two "best" teams will meet at the end.