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Two blogs, one poll.

Purity of thought

By StewMonkey13

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Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

6 years ago Patrick Vint, author, managing editor, and co-founder of Black Heart Gold Pants, got fed up with lazy polls in college football.  Preseason polls holding too much weight over what was actually happening on the field.  The standard win move up, lose move down that is seen every week in the two most popular polls.  Vint then commissioned the creation of the BHGPoll for entry into the old College Football Blog Poll, a pure resume ranking system.  It cares not for any preseason weighting.  All that matters is what happens on the field.

The Blog Poll stopped running a couple of years ago, and with it, so too did the BHGPoll.

Earlier this season I went searched, unfulfilled, for another, similar, resume ranking.  I appreciate the efforts put into ratings like Sagarin, Football Outsiders, and our very own Hoegher.  However, all of those systems are predictive in nature and carry over preconceptions every year.  As Vint put it originally, I'm looking for "purity of thought."  I finally just reached out to Vint to see if I could resurrect the once great and controversial poll.

What follows is a new and improved version of that rating system.  It has no preconceived notions.  It cares not for a team's history.  All it cares about for a given team is if their record, how many points they've scored, how many points they've given up, and who they have played.

Some fun haters find these types of rankings disingenuous.  But of course, fans of teams that historically benefit from preseason inertia mostly would.  Fuck those guys.

Lets get to the stats:

A B C D E F G H I J K
1 Team Adj. Ave Rank SOS Rank Unadj Rat Rank Unadj Ave Rank Adj Rat Rank
2 Utah 111.552 1 162.796 8 506.5151567 2 84.419 1 669.311 1
3 Clemson 96.417 2 113.007 26 465.4975331 6 77.583 3 578.504 3
4 Louisiana State 86.46 3 71.605 51 447.1580808 7 74.526 5 518.763 8
5 Alabama 83.191 4 137.728 17 444.6100306 8 63.516 9 582.338 2
6 Florida 80.852 5 144.367 14 421.5975144 10 60.228 12 565.965 4
7 Ohio State 80.679 6 67.37 53 497.3811862 3 71.054 7 564.751 5
8 Michigan 80.67 7 164.226 7 400.4615001 12 57.209 16 564.688 6
9 Iowa 79.874 8 31.131 67 527.9849686 1 75.426 4 559.116 7
10 California 79.706 9 103.269 32 374.9676664 14 62.495 11 478.236 12
11 Michigan State 73.538 10 113.753 24 401.0133328 11 57.288 15 514.766 9
12 Memphis 73.457 11 1.682 81 439.056753 9 73.176 6 440.739 14
13 Florida State 71.401 12 48.028 60 380.3807528 13 63.397 10 428.408 16
14 Northwestern 70.113 13 168.08 4 322.7108432 21 46.102 29 490.79 10
15 Texas Christian 68.944 14 -2.269 85 484.8743015 4 69.268 8 482.606 11
16 Notre Dame 67.984 15 138.505 16 337.3813115 19 48.197 27 475.886 13
17 Texas A&M 67.314 16 94.279 37 309.6025641 25 51.6 22 403.881 17
18 Baylor 67.175 17 -81.405 113 484.4564273 5 80.743 2 403.051 18
19 Oklahoma 66.588 18 94.64 36 304.889601 26 50.815 23 399.529 19
20 West Virginia 64.734 19 164.746 6 223.6604128 38 37.277 36 388.407 20
21 Mississippi State 62.897 20 85.233 47 355.0467769 15 50.721 24 440.28 15
22 Navy 61.637 21 11.924 74 296.2587831 28 59.252 13 308.183 31
23 Stanford 57.351 22 46.108 61 297.9997343 27 49.667 25 344.108 24
24 Texas 56.27 23 271.959 1 65.65957589 70 10.943 70 337.618 25
25 Western Michigan 55.974 24 148.307 12 187.5366539 42 31.256 42 335.843 26
26 Brigham Young 54.951 25 159.524 11 225.1328797 37 32.162 40 384.657 21
27 Mississippi 54.67 26 42.629 63 340.0608624 17 48.58 26 382.689 22
28 Oklahoma State 54.4 27 -12.582 89 338.9829506 18 56.497 17 326.401 27
29 Penn State 54.329 28 106.88 29 273.4260002 32 39.061 33 380.306 23
30 Illinois 53.854 29 94.134 38 228.9893818 36 38.165 34 323.123 28
31 Louisville 53.409 30 210.955 2 109.5002237 62 18.25 61 320.455 29
32 Tennessee 51.706 31 125.926 21 184.312751 44 30.719 43 310.239 30
33 UCLA 48.07 32 92.858 39 195.562023 41 32.594 39 288.42 32
34 Washington 47.573 33 147.84 13 137.5977808 57 22.933 53 285.438 33
35 Pittsburgh 47.004 34 42.564 64 239.4570885 34 39.91 31 282.021 35
36 Southern California 46.739 35 113.384 25 167.0485785 49 27.841 47 280.433 36
37 Auburn 46.516 36 109.239 27 169.8546621 47 28.309 45 279.093 37
38 North Carolina 45.318 37 -45.78 105 317.6889477 22 52.948 19 271.909 40
39 Utah State 44.192 38 58.059 59 207.0916097 40 34.515 37 265.15 41
40 Duke 42.311 39 -28.497 99 282.3604238 30 47.06 28 253.863 42
41 Arizona State 40.632 40 128.171 19 156.255181 52 22.322 54 284.426 34
42 Boise State 39.666 41 3.319 79 274.3459992 31 39.192 32 277.665 38
43 Houston 39.534 42 -115.16 122 352.3649778 16 58.727 14 237.204 46
44 Georgia Tech 39.4 43 192.441 3 83.3605272 68 11.909 69 275.802 39
45 Toledo 37.608 44 -91.389 117 317.0361396 23 52.839 20 225.647 48
46 Cincinnati 36.739 45 90.737 40 129.694442 59 21.616 56 220.432 49
47 Appalachian State 36.14 46 -106.83 120 323.6701121 20 53.945 18 216.841 51
48 Boston College 35.843 47 105.96 30 144.9409974 54 20.706 57 250.901 43
49 Oregon 35.631 48 82.841 48 166.5757164 50 23.797 51 249.417 44
50 Kansas State 35.531 49 99.937 34 113.2492903 61 18.875 59 213.186 52
51 Georgia 35.232 50 24.722 72 221.8988622 39 31.7 41 246.621 45
52 Kentucky 34.844 51 39.367 65 169.6985553 48 28.283 46 209.066 53
53 Indiana 33.17 52 87.307 44 144.8837028 55 20.698 58 232.191 47
54 Arkansas 33.009 53 166.126 5 31.92544632 78 5.321 78 198.051 55
55 Temple 31.839 54 -120.37 125 311.4021329 24 51.9 21 191.034 56
56 Texas Tech 31.245 55 -13.075 90 231.7889372 35 33.113 38 218.714 50
57 Miami (FL) 29.941 56 21.339 73 158.3094997 51 26.385 49 179.649 60
58 South Florida 28.948 57 70.431 52 103.2591784 64 17.21 64 173.69 61
59 Nebraska 28.785 58 108.527 28 92.9679383 66 13.281 67 201.495 54
60 Missouri 26.931 59 58.436 58 130.0841794 58 18.583 60 188.52 57
61 Wisconsin 26.737 60 1.703 80 185.4550181 43 26.494 48 187.158 58
62 East Carolina 26.531 61 88.993 42 96.72633838 65 13.818 65 185.72 59
63 Marshall 24.537 62 -115.73 123 287.4926777 29 41.07 30 171.761 62
64 Virginia Tech 24.265 63 104.852 31 65.00494103 71 9.286 71 169.857 63
65 Iowa State 22.017 64 127.061 20 5.041515635 83 0.84 83 132.103 67
66 Central Michigan 21.97 65 89.06 41 64.73197534 72 9.247 72 153.792 64
67 Western Kentucky 21.168 66 -116.23 124 264.4067334 33 37.772 35 148.173 65
68 Minnesota 20.75 67 97.255 35 47.99551478 75 6.857 75 145.25 66
69 Rutgers 18.517 68 30.678 68 80.42489153 69 13.404 66 111.103 70
70 Arizona 17.638 69 -56.74 110 180.2062433 45 25.744 50 123.466 68
71 Bowling Green State 17.247 70 -4.302 86 125.0335303 60 17.862 62 120.731 69
72 Maryland 15.039 71 160.612 10 -70.37743301 90 -11.73 91 90.234 72
73 Washington State 14.906 72 -13.866 92 103.3001561 63 17.217 63 89.434 73
74 Ohio 14.649 73 -53.533 108 156.0729881 53 22.296 55 102.54 71
75 Syracuse 11.233 74 44.758 62 22.63818249 80 3.773 80 67.396 75
76 Virginia 10.689 75 123.666 22 -59.53153153 87 -9.922 88 64.134 76
77 Georgia Southern 10.214 76 -109.24 121 170.5264016 46 28.421 44 61.283 78
78 Middle Tennessee State 9.651 77 25.75 71 41.80767165 76 5.973 76 67.558 74
79 South Carolina 9.045 78 130.162 18 -66.8461073 89 -9.549 87 63.316 77
80 Louisiana Tech 8.362 79 -27.441 98 85.97245883 67 12.282 68 58.531 79
81 North Carolina State 8.117 80 -88.933 116 137.6327194 56 22.939 52 48.699 80
82 Wake Forest 6.206 81 87.565 43 -44.12605982 86 -6.304 85 43.439 81
83 Tulsa 6.063 82 30.61 69 5.768744228 82 0.961 82 36.379 82
84 Arkansas State 6.054 83 0.564 84 35.75809136 77 5.96 77 36.322 83
85 Air Force 5.826 84 -13.608 91 48.56274145 74 8.094 73 34.954 84
86 Vanderbilt 5.805 85 74.475 50 -39.64255779 85 -6.607 86 34.833 85
87 San Diego State 1.048 86 -46.959 106 54.29562789 73 7.757 74 7.337 86
88 Oregon State -2.351 87 87.294 45 -101.3992987 96 -16.9 96 -14.105 87
89 Northern Illinois -2.51 88 -47.132 107 29.56411299 79 4.223 79 -17.568 88
90 Akron -2.592 89 10.801 76 -28.94782936 84 -4.135 84 -18.146 89
91 Louisiana-Monroe -8.849 90 138.543 15 -191.6345451 106 -31.939 109 -53.091 90
92 Southern Mississippi -11.736 91 -92.45 118 10.29495698 81 1.471 81 -82.155 92
93 Purdue -12.274 92 118.856 23 -204.7767957 111 -29.254 108 -85.92 93
94 Kent State -12.502 93 6.944 78 -94.45915137 94 -13.494 92 -87.515 95
95 Colorado State -12.941 94 -13.98 93 -76.60829052 91 -10.944 90 -90.589 96
96 Old Dominion -14.399 95 -23.337 95 -63.05579233 88 -10.509 89 -86.393 94
97 Hawaii -14.538 96 76.213 49 -177.9774507 104 -25.425 103 -101.764 98
98 Texas State -15.141 97 65.391 54 -141.0960469 101 -28.219 107 -75.705 91
99 Southern Methodist -15.867 98 102.177 33 -197.3775417 109 -32.896 110 -95.2 97
100 Colorado -19.943 99 -43.608 104 -95.99529082 95 -13.714 93 -139.604 102
101 Connecticut -20.474 100 -16.021 94 -127.2980017 98 -18.185 97 -143.319 103
102 Rice -21.507 101 -37.162 102 -91.87953977 93 -15.313 95 -129.041 100
103 Tulane -23.203 102 60.324 56 -199.5418345 110 -33.257 111 -139.217 101
104 Louisiana-Lafayette -24.562 103 -31.79 100 -91.01987677 92 -18.204 98 -122.81 99
105 Fresno State -25.311 104 85.615 46 -262.791619 117 -37.542 114 -177.177 106
106 Ball State -27.055 105 7.586 77 -196.9722986 108 -28.139 106 -189.386 108
107 South Alabama -28.508 106 -33.019 101 -138.0317515 100 -23.005 101 -171.051 104
108 Massachusetts -28.59 107 63.071 55 -234.607711 113 -39.101 115 -171.537 105
109 Buffalo -30.566 108 -39.533 103 -143.8612703 102 -23.977 102 -183.394 107
110 Nevada-Las Vegas -30.76 109 -25.52 96 -189.802307 105 -27.115 104 -215.322 110
111 Nevada -31.602 110 -84.979 115 -136.2356115 99 -19.462 99 -221.215 112
112 San Jose State -33.598 111 -77.397 111 -157.7925349 103 -22.542 100 -235.189 113
113 Idaho -35.434 112 1.563 82 -214.1686841 112 -35.695 113 -212.606 109
114 Kansas -36.706 113 161.276 9 -381.5113355 122 -63.585 124 -220.235 111
115 New Mexico -41.486 114 -188.41 128 -101.9914331 97 -14.57 94 -290.4 116
116 Troy -42.713 115 1.453 83 -257.7309843 116 -42.955 117 -256.278 114
117 Texas-San Antonio -43.458 116 38.263 66 -342.4711674 120 -48.924 120 -304.208 117
118 Miami (OH) -44.471 117 58.907 57 -370.2032061 121 -52.886 121 -311.296 118
119 Army -45.42 118 -80.245 112 -237.6927875 115 -33.956 112 -317.938 119
120 Florida Atlantic -47.956 119 -10.288 88 -277.4460712 119 -46.241 119 -287.734 115
121 Florida International -52.693 120 -175.08 127 -193.7687886 107 -27.681 105 -368.851 121
122 Charlotte -53.444 121 -84.179 114 -236.4866839 114 -39.414 116 -320.666 120
123 Georgia State -61.961 122 -99.954 119 -271.8097775 118 -45.302 118 -371.764 122
124 Eastern Michigan -62.739 123 -6.036 87 -433.1393906 126 -61.877 123 -439.175 124
125 Wyoming -64.755 124 -56.654 109 -396.6331396 124 -56.662 122 -453.287 125
126 New Mexico State -68.193 125 11.696 75 -420.8560882 125 -70.143 127 -409.16 123
127 Central Florida -73.144 126 -27.106 97 -484.9049313 128 -69.272 126 -512.011 127
128 North Texas -75.969 127 26.46 70 -482.2734923 127 -80.379 128 -455.813 126
129 Texas-El Paso -90.38 128 -148.32 126 -393.966833 123 -65.661 125 -542.282 128

Some notes on the numbers.  Unadjusted rating is a calculation of a team's record, points scored, points given up, and opponents record in other games.  That is then averaged by the number of games played to get the unadjusted average.  Strength of schedule is the sum of the unadjusted average of all of a team's opponents, with a penalty for any FCS teams played.  SOS is then added to the Unadjusted Rating to get the adjusted rating and then averaged for the number of games played to get the adjusted average rating, which is the ultimate rating.

B 1G Thoughts:

  • 4 B1G teams in the top 10 and 5 in the top 15, woo!
  • Michigan and Northwestern are helped dramatically with their strength of schedule.
  • There some clustering with the B1G teams. The top 3 (OSU, MI, and Iowa) are all within a point of each other.   jNW and MSU are only a few points apart.  PSU and IL are virtually tied.  Then there's IN, UNL, WI, MN, RU, and MD.
  • Of course, then there's [FILE NOT FOUND].
  • MI is rated ahead of MSU...TROLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.  A few reasons for this.
    1. Utah is so good in the poll that the loss isn't a negative.
    2. Michigan has blowout wins, and super close losses, so their overall point differential is really good.
    3. MSU's overall point differential is not that good.  They haven't blown out their weaker competition.
    4. It's pretty close and it's only about halfway through the season.
  • Hey look, Iowa's strength of schedule isn't really helping.
  • Wisconsin is trash
  • Hey there, IL, I see you.

General Thoughts:

  • Baylor's schedule is every bit as soft as everyone thinks.
  • Utah is a monster
  • UTEP is bad.
  • Navy is doing work
  • ROW THE DAMN BOAT!

I will be using this data as my OTE Power Poll vote.