(10-28-2018 05:38 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote: So is it east coast bias or west coast conspiracy? Or... maybe its that UH ran over the #21 team in the country on prime time. Maybe its because we have a recognizable brand. Maybe its because we have the #1 offense in the country. I don't know. I do know that if we don't win out and go to a NY6 bowl, I'd love a rematch with Fresno.
Truth is, despite the notion that P5 get an advantage by having the bigger names, the human polls tend to be biased in favor of the top G5 teams, whether from the AAC or MWC or anywhere else. Here are the rankings of the four ranked G5 teams in the AP poll, and in the Massey Composite:
UCF ........... 9 (AP) ....... 15 (MC)
Houston .... 17 (AP) ...... 33 (MC)
Utah State ... 18 (AP) ...... 27 (MC)
Fresno St .... 20 (AP) ...... 18 (MC)
Notice that of the four AP-ranked G5 teams, three of them are significantly over-rated compared to what the computers say, UCF +6, Houston + 16, and Utah State +9. Only Fresno is under-rated, by -2.
You don't usually see those kinds of gaps regarding the ranked P5 teams. Among all the ranked P5 teams, 21 of them, the worst gap is +9 for Syracuse, ranked AP 22 and Massey 31.