More Proof of College Football's West Coast Bias

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More Proof of College Football’s West Coast Bias

Filed on August 19th, 2007 in NCAA Football ⋅ ⋅

Just a few hours after I wrote about the obvious flaws of the preseason poll, ESPN.com has published an article that completely asserts my view that the preseason voters, as we’ve known for years, are not smart.

ESPN.com’s Mark Schlabach has compiled a list of the most overrated and underrated teams and conferences over the last ten years. While the overrated list reads like a who’s who of college football, the underrated list is headed by teams that, surprise surprise, play on the west coast.

Here is the list, as compiled by ESPN.com. The list is compiled by comparing preseason rankings to postseason rankings over the last 10 years:

Most overrated teams in last 10 years:
1. Florida State (-63)
2. Tennessee (-58)
3. Washington (-42)
4. Miami (-35)
T5. Ohio State (-34)
T5. Nebraska (-34)
7. Florida (-33 1/2)
8. Michigan (-25)
9. Texas (-24)
10. Clemson (-22)

Most underrated teams in last 10 years:
1. Washington St. (+51)
2. Boise State (+48)
3. Oregon (+32 1/2)
4. Arkansas (+26)
5. Wisconsin (+23)
6. Louisville (+20)
7. TCU (+18)
T8. Boston College (+17)
T8. Iowa (+17)
T8. Maryland (+17)

BCS Conferences:
1. Pac-10 (+60 1/2)
2. Big East (+9)
3. Big 10 (+3)
4. SEC (-12 1/2)
5. Big 12 (-78 1/2)
6. ACC (-102)

Now, let me break it down a little more than ESPN does. First of all, of the 10 most overrated teams, only one plays in either the Mountain or Pacific time zones. Of the most underrated teams, two of the top three are in the Pac-10, and number two plays in the Mountain time zone. While I admit that this is hardly proof of a definitive west coast bias, it goes into the pile of evidence we already have.

The biggest piece of evidence on the west coast bias front, is the conference rankings. Over the past 10 years, the Pac-10 has been by far the most underrated conference in the nation. Maybe that’s why every year at this time, we have to be force fed the story of how great the SEC is and how the Pac-10 is one-deep. Maybe if the Pac-10 didn’t have to prove themselves over and over again, we wouldn’t have to keep having the same argument.

Again, this is not exactly a smoking gun, but it helps my argument, so I’m presenting it. All I’m asking for is a little fairness. Maybe if USC beats this years SEC regular season champion by five touchdowns, the Pac-10 will get some respect.

I don’t mean to turn this into another rant against the SEC, because they are not the culprit in this one. This is the rest of the “big name” football programs that are year after year awarded preseason rankings based only on their history, not their teams accomplishments. For some reason teams like Florida State have to be given a high ranking, just because they’re Florida State. It won’t be until we can straighten this out that we’ll have fairness in college football.

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