Not a bad move. Still erks me that Ohio State at two losses will end up ahead of us in the final computer rankings. All things done, LSU had a VERY good week for the computers. All of our former opponents won except North Texas. Tennessee over Kentucky, Florida over FSU, Arizona State over Arizona, Appalachian State over Lafayette in the Div I-AA playoffs (yes, some computers actually bother to compute the strength of I-AA teams), and we have Georgia over Georgia Tech which will help us next week. The only blemish was North Texas blowing a 17-7 halftime lead over Arkansas State (which also may keep ULL out of a bowl game).
So what do you think is the best that LSU can move up in the computers by next week? 5th or 6th? what will it take from the computers assuming we are 2nd in the human polls when it is all said and done?
Really hard to give a definite answer with the way the human polls are calculated into the BCS now. Every human vote counts for a substantial movement in the BCS. If Texas or USC loses, I think they move below Penn State in every computer, but above LSU in every computer. That's going to be a tough wedge affect to overcome. Virginia Tech losing in the ACC Championship game would remove one team that is positioned between us and Penn State in the computers, LSU should move ahead of Miami with ease, especially with the wins by Georgia and Florida today. Unfortunantly, I'm about to go to bed and don't have time to do the math on where we would need to be in relation to Penn State in the computers, but what would really help is to have USC or Texas wedge themselves between LSU and Penn State in both human polls. It's really a tough situation for LSU, and I don't like our chances. No doubt that our former opponents performances today helped a ton in stabilizing our position in the computers.
Sagarin must have some BIG10 fudge factor. 8 of the top 25 team are from the BIG10. I know the BIG10 is pretty balance and middle heavy but this is ridiculous. It will be interesting to see how the BIG10 fares in the bowls. A 7-4 Michigan is in the TOP 10. Go figure.
Sagarin's ratings in fact have LSU as #11. It is the ELO-CHESS rating that has LSU #7 but this is the one the BCS uses. He says the ELO-CHESS is based only on wins and losses and is therefore "politically correct." So how can he say that and put Michigan as #9 with a 7-4 record?
I really question Sagarin's rankings after this year (as you point out a 4 loss team in the top ten). All I can figure is the ELO-CLASS rankings must REALLY emphasize strength of schedule, because there's no way a 4 loss Michigan team should be ahead of a BCS conference 1 loss team like UCLA.
In describing the ELO he says "only winning and losing matters." You have to remember Sagarin is a bama homer. He has Auburn lower than the other polls and he is really penalizing bama because he is pissed off they lost to Auburn:rofl:
Jerry Palm's comments this morning probably reflect the thinking of most around the country: True dat: a nice week by Tiger opponents may give LSU a little more computer love...only to see it offset by voters who tuned in and exclusively watched Friday's game---some probably for the first time all season w/o being distracted by a dozen or so other games going on simultaneously--to watch what was hardly the Tiger's finest hour this season. If it isn't one thing...:cuss:
