| There are some huge differences between the | | | | Which poll is more accurate? Well, the AP |
| final AP Top 25 College Football Poll, and | | | | Poll is based on one's opinion of a team, its |
| the Final Sagarin College Football Ratings. | | | | record and the strength of its opponent. |
| | | | Sagarin is based on a mathematical formula |
| For openers, here is the AP Top 25 Poll as | | | | involving statistics compiled by an MIT grad |
| voted by the nation's sportswriters and | | | | (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). You |
| sports broadcasters: 1 Louisiana State, 2 | | | | decide. |
| Georgia, 3 Southern California, 4 Missouri, 5 | | | | |
| Ohio State, 6 West Virginia, 7 Kansas, 8 | | | | By studying the Sagarin ratings, here are |
| Oklahoma, 9 Virginia Tech, 10 Boston College | | | | some facts I have uncovered that could |
| and Texas (tie), 12 Tennessee, 13 Florida, 14 | | | | impress your friends, and win you some bets |
| Brigham Young, 15 Auburn, 16 Arizona State, | | | | (or drinks) at your favorite pub: |
| 17 Cincinnati, 18 Michigan, 19 Hawaii, 20 | | | | |
| Illinois, 21 Clemson, 22 Texas Tech, 23 | | | | 1) The team that played the toughest schedule |
| Oregon, 24 Wisconsin, and 25 Oregon State. | | | | this year was UCLA. The next 4 in order were |
| | | | Washington, Florida, Nebraska and Oregon. |
| Here is the Sagarin Ratings: 1 Louisiana | | | | |
| State, 2 Kansas, 3 West Virginia, 4 Southern | | | | 2) The lowest rated 1A team with only 1 loss |
| California, 5 Oklahoma, 6 Missouri, 7 | | | | was Hawaii (12-1) at No. 35 among 119 1A |
| Georgia, 8 Oregon, 9 Virginia Tech, 10 | | | | teams. |
| Florida, 11 Ohio State, 12 Texas, 13 Auburn, | | | | |
| 14 Arizona State, 15 Tennessee, 16 Oregon | | | | 3) The highest rated 1AA team with only 1 |
| State, 17 Brigham Young, 18 Kentucky, 19 | | | | loss was Northern Iowa (12-1) at No. 62 among |
| Cincinnati, 20 South Florida, 21 Michigan, 22 | | | | 242 1A and 1AA teams. |
| Clemson, 23 Boston College, 24 Texas Tech, | | | | |
| and 25 Arkansas. | | | | 4) The highest rated 1AA team was Appalachian |
| | | | State (13-2) at No. 44. |
| Comparing the Sagarin Ratings to the AP Poll, | | | | |
| notice these differences: | | | | 5) The lowest rated 1AA team with at least 11 |
| | | | wins was Dayton (11-1) at No. 134. |
| 1) Sagarin rates Kansas much higher (2nd | | | | |
| rather than 7th), Oregon much higher (8th | | | | 6) The highest rated team that was winless |
| rather than 23rd), and Oregon State much | | | | this year was 1A Southern Utah (0-11) at No. |
| higher (16th rather than 23rd). | | | | 204. |
| | | | |
| 2) Sagarin rates Georgia much lower (7th | | | | 7) The lowest rated team among all 242 1A and |
| rather than 2nd), Ohio State much lower (11th | | | | 1AA teams? That would be1AA La Salle (0-10) |
| rather than 5th) and Boston College much | | | | at No. 242. The lowest BCS Standing of No. |
| lower (23rd rather than 10th). | | | | 242 also belonged to La Salle, which just |
| | | | missed a "hat trick" by playing the 241st |
| 3) Sagarin has 3 teams in the top 25 that the | | | | weakest schedule. |
| AP Poll does not-Kentucky at 18, South | | | | |
| Florida at 20 and Arkansas at 25. The AP Poll | | | | 8) Playing the weakest schedule this year and |
| replaces these teams with Hawaii at 19, | | | | in last place at 242 was 1AA Wagner (7-4), |
| Illinois at 20 and Wisconsin at 24. | | | | rated at No. 222. |
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