So quickly after they have a terrible loss at UTEP, they barely squeak by at Miss. St. And somehow that gets them back in the top 25. It also bothers me with how much their stock went up after they beat us. Still bitter about that game… oh well. :P

OU’s position in the polls shows us a big problem with the poll system. You always start with what you had last week and just move people around a little bit based on win/loss. You tinker. Most pollsters don’t completely re-evaluate their votes every week. OU starts high and they have ‘cred’ because of the name on their jerseys. It takes longer for them to fall out. If Florida lost its next 3 games they would still be in the mid-20s at the worst. If OU loses to Texas they will still be in the top 25 in the Coaches poll.

With all that has been said, it is obvious that the pollsters are going to vote for their “perceived” best teams, not the “real” best teams. I feel they put very little effort into determining the order they place teams on their ballots, with those “perceived” good teams getting preference over “unperceived” good teams, or “teams that are not in the same class as the perceived good teams”. So, they do not really vote for the best teams in college football, but the teams withing their “perceived order” of teams. That is why when Tech does well enough for them to “have to” include them in the polls, they are more than willing to drop Tech as far as they “honestly” can should tech falter, even for one game. Several other teams in college football are similar to Tech and receive the same kind of stand-offish treatment. But, for us Tech fans, it seems the pollsters are purposely oblivious of Tech and where the team is at or where it is headed, especially if it is going up. This phenomena is something we fans of the Red Raiders of Texas Tech have become familiar with. Will it ever get better? Not until Tech can piece together several years of 10 to 12-win seasons, with little to no dropoff year-to-year. Because of the increased abilities of the Tech coaches to sign better talent, this time is near, with this year probably the second in that type scenario, if they go on to record at least 10 wins after the bowl games have ended. Don’t expect much from the pollsters for a few more weeks if Tech continues to win, and don’t ever expect to see Tech at #1 any time soon. Keep in mind, Tech is on the rise even if the pollsters don’t recognize it. Then, maybe-just maybe- the pollsters will begin to take Tech seriously each and every year. All we fans can do in the interim is be calm and know we will be a part of something great very soon. WRECK ’EM, TECH!

Oklahoma has a home loss against the 18-19th ranked team in the country (BYU) and a road loss against the 9th-11th ranked team in the country (the U). They have three victories, ranked in order of strength, against: 1) 4-1 Tulsa, 2) 3-2 Baylor, 3) 0-6 Idaho State.

By comparison, Tech has road losses against 2-3 ranked team (Texas) and the 23rd ranked team in the country (Houston) with four victories, in order of quality, against: 1) 3-3 k.state, 2) 3-2 N. Dakota, 3) winless New Mexico, 4) winless Rice

Taking both teams games in their entirety, I’d rank them something like this:

1T) OU over Tulsa
1T) Tech over K.State
3) One point road loss to Miami
4) One point road loss to Houston
5) One point home loss to BYU
6) 10 point road loss to Texas
7) OU’s Baylor victory
8) Our N.Dakota victory
9T) NM
9T) Rice
9T) Idaho State

Pretty comparable records. They probably have the combined better losses, and the better wins, generally, but we’ve got more of them. I don’t have a problem with OU at 20, but they certainly haven’t earned it. They should not be the only 2 loss team on the board, particularly given their lack of truly quality victories. Doesn’t Arkansas have a better resume than OU? What about Stanford? Without looking at who they’ve played… Pittsburgh?

pollsters would have to admit that they were wrong to have ranked them in the top 5 preseason. Instead, they tend to ‘tweak’ their preseason polls as the season progresses instead of considering body of work, all to protect their reputation and justify their preseason picks.

It almost seems as if they set their sights on preferred BCS bowl game participants and do everything they can to ensure those teams have a shot. OK, that sounds like a conspiracy theory and probably isn’t the case, but doesn’t it seem that teams like OU, Michigan, Ohio State and Notre Dame are given more opportunities to be successful in the polls than other, more deserving teams?

All of this is why I want a 32 team playoff or 24 with top 8 getting a buy. If they DO ever have a playoff, too many deserving teams will get screwed out of the tournament. Look at us last year, 11-1 wouldn’t haveceven got us in if it were a top 8 because we lost “late” and got “blown out.” Take dipschitte sportswriters and coaches with vested interests out of the equation. At least if they took ALL conf. Champs, you’d see better pre- conf competetion, because theoretically, OU would still control their own destiny with no conf losses, OSU would still be in it, if we won out and OSU beat UT, we’d be in it. It’s just a Beauty contest as it is now.