Resumé-based Rankings | by Jay

Resumé-based rankings, i.e., the Conversation (now with hyperlinks!) Heading into week 9, here's how it shapes up:

Pts Team Conf Wins Losses BCS Wins Opp Bonus 17 LSU SEC 7 -1 5 +13 15 Boston College ACC 8 0 5 +10 14 Michigan B10 6 -2 5 +11 14 Ohio State B10 8 0 5 +9 13 Virginia ACC 7 -1 6 +8 12 Arizona St PAC 7 0 5 +7 10 Missouri B12 6 -1 4 +7 9 Oklahoma B12 7 -1 4 +6 9 Oregon PAC 6 -1 4 +6 8 South Florida BE 6 -1 3 +6 7 Kansas B12 7 0 3 +4 7 South Carolina SEC 6 -2 4 +5

Pts Team Conf Wins Losses BCS Wins Opp Bonus 6 Georgia SEC 5 -2 4 +4 5 Connecticut BE 6 -1 3 +3 5 Kentucky SEC 6 -2 3 +4 5 Penn State B10 6 -2 4 +3 5 Southern Cal PAC 6 -1 5 +1 5 West Virginia BE 6 -1 3 +3 4 Virginia Tech ACC 6 -2 3 +3 3 Auburn SEC 5 -3 4 +2 3 California PAC 5 -2 3 +2 3 Illinois B10 5 -3 4 +2 3 Wake Forest ACC 5 -2 3 +2

(Opponent Bonus = Wins of teams you've beaten - Losses of teams you lost to)
(Points = BCS Wins - Losses + Opponent Bonus)

As of week 9, there are 23 teams in the Conversation (the logical cutoff this week was 3 points).

Of course, as we know, the Conversation is not meant to be a cold, generic, Sagarin-style output. The above table is just the raw data, the starting point, and with a deft hand we may adjust it according to things like common opponents (and common sense). Right now, however, let's leave it as-is, and take a look at some bullet points that bubble up.

• LSU still atop the Convo, despite a loss. The reason's pretty simple: almost everyone they've beaten has a winning record, and their four big wins (Va Tech, So Carolina, Florida, and Auburn) were against four pretty strong teams. Still, you could (and probably should) make a case for putting unblemished Boston College into the pole position ahead of them.

• Michigan snuck back in while we weren't looking, on the strength of the Penn State, Northwestern, Purdue and Illinois wins (+13), who are collectively 22-10. That's a nice rebound from an abysmal start. Ohio State doesn't have the resume quite yet; they include 2-5 Washington and 1-7 Minnesota among their BCS wins. We'll know more tonight (OSU @ Penn State, 8pm ET on ABC) and after the Michigan-OSU showdown.

Still, having a two-loss team like Michigan among the top 4 doesn't quite taste right. Should two bad losses -- one of them really bad -- outweigh four strong wins? Perhaps a tweak of the Conversation is in order to account for Division 1AA losses.

• UVA? Where did they come from? Talk about flying under the radar. They've played 6 BCS opponents thus far, and the games that are really helping them are wins over Georgia Tech (+3) and Connecticut (+3).

• Mizzou is ahead of Oklahoma according to points, but I would flip-flop those, obviously.

• Of all the Conversation teams, Southern Cal has the weakest Opponent Bonus. Consider their resume:

* beat 0-7 Idaho
* beat 4-4 Nebraska
* beat 2-5 Wash St
* beat 2-5 Washington
* lost to 3-4 Stanford
* beat 2-6 Arizona
* beat 1-7 Notre Dame

It's safe to say they haven't played anyone yet. That's why the Oregon-Southern Cal game is the one I'm most looking forward to today (3pm ET, FSN). How good are the Trojans? We're about to find out.