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I agree with you that some changes need to be made. No doubt about it. It just really stinks that some media people can't accept the fact that LSU won the national championship game.
Below are the final computer rankings for the 2003 season:
LSU wins 6 of 7 computer polls, most by SIGNIFICANT margins over USC. Only the NYTimes poll gave USC the #1 spot, by a VERY SLIGHT margin.
LSU finishes 13th in the nation in SOS, ahead of OU who finishes 14th and USC finished 20th. LSU was mere fractions away from actually finishing 10th. Remove the Western Illinois game, which should have never been scheduled, and LSU finishes 8th.
Computer poll results:
Kevin Massey
1 LSU.........5.060
2 USC.........4.756
3 Ohio St.....4.604
4 Georgia.....4.572
5 Miami OH....4.550
Jeff Sagarin
1 LSU..........98.21
2 USC..........95.56
3 Georgia......92.01
4 Miami OH.....91.89
5 Miami FL.....91.21
NY Times
1 USC...........1.000
2 LSU...........0.996
3 Maryland......0.934
4 Ohio St.......0.927
5 Miami.........0.909
(Note: Maryland #3......hmmmmmm....makes you wonder about this poll)
Billingsley
1 LSU.........309.977
2 USC.........308.769
3 Oklahoma....295.654
4 Miami FL....291.686
5 Ohio St.....290.926
(Note: LSU started the season 30 points behind USC in the first polling for Billingsley)
Anderson-Hester
1 LSU........0.792
2 USC........0.774
3 Miami OH...0.758
4 Oklahoma...0.746
5 Ohio St....0.744
Peter Wolfe
1 LSU........7.634
2 USC........7.252
3 Miami OH...6.910
4 Georgia....6.904
5 Oklahoma...6.766
Colley Matrix
1 LSU.......0.93172
2 USC.......0.91873
3 OHIO ST...0.87783
4 Oklahoma..0.87058
5 Miami FL..0.84364
As you can see, there is as much distance between LSU and USC as there is between USC and the 3rd place team in Massey, Sagarin, Anderson-Hester and Peter Wolfe. These polls are handing No. 1 to LSU without a doubt. Billingsley is only close because teams are not considered even going into the season, he uses a preseason ranking and USC had a 30 point margin on LSU to start off with. Colley also gives LSU some breathing room ahead of USC. What can you say about the NY Times? Maryland No. 3 says it all.
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