On the Bubble:
These teams will be shown in where they sit on the bubble. That fact is determined by the strength of the resume if the team in question wins out, not by where it is currently.
| Team | vs 1-10 | vs 11-25 | vs 26-40 | vs 41-80 | vs 81+ | SOS Range | Wins over
+.500 |
Off YPP
(rank) |
Def YPP
(rank) |
| Oklahoma | 1-0 | 1-0 | 1-1 | 4-0 | 3-0 | 20-75 | 3 | 8.1 (1) | 5.1 (36) |
It’s easy to understand why the committee doesn’t like Oklahoma. However, those proclaiming that Oklahoma is behind a 12-1 Pac 12 champion are overstating the case. The defense has decent numbers, the SOS numbers are improving, and the Sooners could have four ranked wins (and five Top 40 wins) when all is said and done. That’s better than what Utah is bringing to the table. Right now, Oklahoma is held back by barely beating teams. We’ll see if that lasts, though. The committee finally stopped holding it against Baylor this week.
| Team | vs 1-10 | vs 11-25 | vs 26-40 | vs 41-80 | vs 81+ | SOS Range | Wins over
+.500 |
Off YPP
(rank) |
Def YPP
(rank) |
| Utah | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 7-0 | 3-0 | 40-80 | 5 | 6.6 (10) | 4.2 (6) |
This is one of the weakest overall SOS profiles in the Pac 12, and it won’t get much better over next week. Utah is winning games convincingly, and the metrics reflect that, but I’m looking at this resume and have zero idea why or how the Utes are ranked ahead of Minnesota. Why is this resume even ahead of Oklahoma’s? If you compare 12-1 Utah to 11-1 Alabama, what’s Utah’s argument? That it’s beating up on a worse schedule in almost-comparable fashion?
| Team | vs 1-10 | vs 11-25 | vs 26-40 | vs 41-80 | vs 81+ | SOS Range | Wins over
+.500 |
Off YPP
(rank) |
Def YPP
(rank) |
| Alabama | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 4-0 | 5-0 | 40-100 | 3 | 7.7 (2) | 4.7 (17) |
This resume is ugly. The one decent win is over Texas A&M, which fell out of the polls this week. The only other teams with winning records that Alabama has beaten are Tennessee and Southern Miss. Duke has fallen into cupcake range with a 4-7 record against a weak schedule. Alabama’s metrics aren’t anywhere near the usual dominant numbers, though the offense is potent. The Crimson Tide are getting some major benefit of the doubt for blowing out bad teams, and likely for the Alabama brand and recent success. If we’re judging this resume on resume alone, there’s not much here.
| Team | vs 1-10 | vs 11-25 | vs 26-40 | vs 41-80 | vs 81+ | SOS Range | Wins over
+.500 |
Off YPP
(rank) |
Def YPP
(rank) |
| Baylor | 0-1 | 2-0 | 2-0 | 2-0 | 4-0 | 30-80 | 3 | 6.3 (23) | 4.6 (14) |
Baylor fans have a bit of a complaint that the Bears aren’t respected enough for their two ranked wins. There’s something to that. Add to that the fact that Baylor has played four Top 40 teams and this seems like a decent resume. But those SOS numbers are just ugly. The very fact that Baylor can play five Top 40 teams and still not crack the Top 40 in any SOS metric tells us just how awful the cupcakes that Baylor has played are. On pure resume, this looks like a decent one-loss picture. But the Bears are being punished for an awful nonconference schedule, and it’s hard to blame the committee for it.