Ratings Galore

If you want to find ratings, I've got the page for you. Kenneth Massey has put together a stunning collection of computer ratings. He's got I think 93 total, most of them do a 1-119, and a compilation of all of them. Okay, the guy out-nerds me even, because he's even figured out a system to rank the ratings to see who deviates the most from the norm. Now i don't think they're all computers, in fact i'm sure they're not, but still, if you want a list of about every kind of rating system you can find, he's got it.

So, to continue a running theme... who do you think had the tougher conference schedule this year? To date, the consensus, unanimously, is that Rutgers has had a tougher Conference schedule than Ohio State. In fact it's nearly unanimous after you figure in Michigan for Ohio State and the 3 teams Rutgers has to play.

Using the average rating that Massey compiled:
The Big 10 teams that Ohio State plays includes: Penn State (27th), Iowa (50th), Michigan State (73rd), Indiana (65th), Minnesota (47th) Northwestern (84th), Illinois (83rd) and Michigan (2nd).

The Big East teams on Rutgers' schedule includes Southern Florida (46th), Pitt (49th) UConn (62nd), Louisville (6th), Cincinatti (51st), Syracuse (77th), and West Virginia (8th).

So, Rutgers has 2 top 10 teams, 5 of 7 teams in the top half of the standings. Ohio State has 1 top 10 team, and 5 of 8 teams in the BOTTOM half of the standings. And yet the perception is that Ohio State plays a tougher conference schedule.

Out of conference, Ohio State did better. Texas, (13th) Cincinatti (51st) Northern Illinois (81st) and Bowling Green (97th) compared to North Carolina (100th) Illinois (83rd), Navy (would you believe 35th?), Ohio (58th) and non-1A Howard. Interesting that outside of Howard, the two worst teams on Rutgers' schedules are from BCS conferences. I bet no one would have figured that one, right?

Out of 83 some ratings systems, 19 had Rutgers ahead of Ohio State. Not a majority but more than I would have thought.

What's interesting about it is that Massey has the rankings listed by order of how far off the norm the different polls are. The Harris Poll is 76th, the AP is 84th, and USA Today is 87th.