Uberleague Rank: December 5, 2010

It matters who number one is.

Auburn and Oregon traded places this week, the final week before bowl games start. As a result, the two teams change their Uberleague ranking by a combined total of 10 positions. In real life, the two will meet in the national championship game, so their rankings are moot for this season.

Farther down the chart, two other pairs of teams traded AP ranking: Oklahoma-Boise State and Texas A&M-South Carolina. The sum total of positions changed for those pairs is one, a gain by Oklahoma. Basically irrelevant. Not like number one.

It matters who number one is.

Uberleague Rk	Team	Uberleague pts	Change in rank from last week	2010 AP Rating
1	Florida	306.80	-	-
2	Ohio State	290.38	-	6
3	USC	244.16	-	-
4	Texas	234.44	-	-
5	Auburn	198.19	+6	1
6	Alabama	197.32	+2	15
7	LSU	196.75	-2	11
8	Oklahoma	196.20	+1	9
9	Florida State	194.53	-3	23
10	Miami	174.77	-	-
11	Oregon	170.69	-4	2
12	Nebraska	163.43	-	17
13	Virginia Tech	156.15	-	12
14	Georgia	149.71	-	-
15	TCU	140.50	-	3
16	Penn State	136.60	-	-
17	Wisconsin	134.03	-	4
18	Michigan	132.34	-	-
19	Boise State	122.33	-	10
20	Tennessee	120.15	-	-
21	Utah	105.38	-	20
22	West Virginia	92.42	-	22
23	Iowa	78.69	-	-
24	Notre Dame	68.33	-	-
25	Kansas State	65.01	-	-
26	Missouri	62.93	-	14
27	BYU	61.63	-	-
28	Texas A&M	51.88	-	18
29	Stanford	49.99	-	5
30	Michigan State	49.91	-	7
31	Colorado	49.81	-	-
32	Arkansas	47.20	-	8
-
This	is	the	cut.
-
33	Louisville	47.16	-	-
34	Texas Tech	46.45	-	-
35	Washington	46.01	-	-
36	Boston College	45.58	-	-
37	Georgia Tech	45.46	-	-
38	Cincinnati	43.55	-	-
39	Ole Miss	39.99	-	-
40	Washington State	38.18	-	-
41	Oregon State	37.16	-	-
42	Clemson	36.68	-	-
43	Cal	32.56	-	-
44	Arizona State	30.76	-	-
45	Oklahoma State	30.49	-	16
46	UCLA	30.33	-	-
47	Syracuse	28.35	-	-
48	Kansas	27.06	-	-
49	Mississippi State	26.16	-	21
50	South Carolina	24.52	-	19

Uberleague Rank: November 28, 2010

We welcome an unprecedented number of new teams to the Uberleague this week. Three new teams (Stanford, Michigan State and Arkansas) made the cut this week. Arkansas and Michigan State finished their regular seasons well: Michigan State with a share of the Big 10 title, and Arkansas with a shot at a BCS bowl game. Stanford blanked Oregon State 38-0 and is a Cal game away from a potential BCS bowl game too. The three teams they displaced, Washington, Louisville and Texas Tech, have failed to be ranked all season. Neither Washington's success in the early 90's nor Louisville's success in the mid-2000s is enough to get them in to the Uberleague, at least as of this week. Texas Tech, a team just barely in for several seasons, is now just barely out.

So where to place them within the Uberleague? Stanford is of course a natural fit in the Western division, and an easy substitute for Washington. Michigan State is a natural fit in the Big Ten-dominated Northern division. But Arkansas, a team located one county away from Oklahoma, could be a natural fit in either the Big 12-dominated Central division or the SEC-dominated Southeast division. If Arkansas was placed in the Southeast division, it would mean that either another SEC team would have to move to another division or a Florida team would have to move to another division. In this case, I chose to maintain geographic ties rather than conference ties (after all, the Uberleague is meant to disrupt conference ties). Therefore Arkansas will go to the Central division, along with their rival LSU from the Texas-bordering state of Louisiana. Virginia Tech, a school just up Interstate 81 a bit from the University of Tennessee, moves to the Southeast division.

Uberleague Rk	Team	Uberleague pts	Change in rank from last week	2010 AP Rating
1	Florida	306.80	-	-
2	Ohio State	290.38	-	6
3	USC	244.16	-	-
4	Texas	234.44	-	-
5	LSU	196.75	-	11
6	Florida State	196.16	+2	20
7	Oregon	195.69	-	1
8	Alabama	195.47	-2	17
9	Oklahoma	193.93	-	10
10	Miami	174.77	-	-
11	Auburn	173.19	-	2
12	Nebraska	167.64	-	13
13	Virginia Tech	156.15	+1	12
14	Georgia	149.71	+1	-
15	TCU	140.50	+3	3
16	Penn State	136.60	-	-
17	Wisconsin	134.03	+2	4
18	Michigan	132.34	-1	-
19	Boise State	124.60	-6	9
20	Tennessee	120.15	-	-
21	Utah	104.79	-	21
22	West Virginia	91.92	+1	23
23	Iowa	78.69	-1	-
24	Notre Dame	68.33	-	-
25	Kansas State	65.01	-	-
26	Missouri	61.83	-	15
27	BYU	61.63	-	-
28	Texas A&M	51.16	-	19
29	Stanford	49.99	+7	5
30	Michigan State	49.91	+8	7
31	Colorado	49.81	-2	-
32	Arkansas	47.20	+8	8
-
This	is	the	cut.
-
33	Louisville	47.16	-3	-
34	Texas Tech	46.45	-3	-
35	Washington	46.01	-3	-
36	Boston College	45.58	-3	-
37	Georgia Tech	45.46	-3	-
38	Cincinnati	43.55	-3	-
39	Ole Miss	39.99	-2	-
40	Washington State	38.18	+1	-
41	Oregon State	37.16	+1	-
42	Clemson	36.68	+1	-
43	Cal	32.56	+2	-
44	Arizona State	30.76	+2	-
45	Oklahoma State	30.49	-6	16
46	UCLA	30.33	+1	-
47	Syracuse	28.35	+1	-
48	Kansas	27.06	+2	-
49	Mississippi State	25.62	+3	22
50	South Carolina	25.24	+1	18

Uberleague Rank: November 21, 2010

Uberleague Rk	Team	Uberleague pts	Change in rank from last week	2010 AP Rating
1	Florida	306.80	-	-
2	Ohio State	282.88	-	8
3	USC	244.16	-	-
4	Texas	234.44	-	-
5	LSU	211.18	-	6
6	Alabama	206.95	-	9
7	Oregon	195.69	-	1
8	Florida State	195.03	+2	22
9	Oklahoma	187.68	-	14
10	Miami	174.77	-2	-
11	Auburn	173.19	+1	2
12	Nebraska	164.30	-1	16
13	Boise State	157.33	-	3
14	Virginia Tech	154.73	-	13
15	Georgia	149.71	-	-
16	Penn State	136.60	-	-
17	Michigan	132.34	-	-
18	TCU	130.50	-	4
19	Wisconsin	126.89	-	5
20	Tennessee	120.15	-	-
21	Utah	103.74	-	23
22	Iowa	90.23	-	24
23	West Virginia	79.92	-	-
24	Notre Dame	68.33	-	-
25	Kansas State	65.01	-	-
26	Missouri	61.83	-	15
27	BYU	61.63	-	-
28	Texas A&M	52.66	-	17
29	Colorado	49.81	-	-
30	Louisville	47.16	-	-
31	Texas Tech	46.45	-	-
32	Washington	46.01	-	-
-
This	is	the	cut
-
33	Boston College	45.58	-	-
34	Georgia Tech	45.46	-	-
35	Cincinnati	43.55	-	-
36	Stanford	40.47	-	7
37	Ole Miss	39.99	-	-
38	Michigan State	39.66	-	11
39	Oklahoma State	38.83	+4	10
40	Arkansas	38.63	-	12
41	Washington State	38.18	-2	-
42	Oregon State	37.16	-1	-
43	Clemson	36.68	-1	-
44	Arizona	33.63	+1	20
45	Cal	32.56	-1	-
46	Arizona State	30.76	-	-
47	UCLA	30.33	-	-
48	Syracuse	28.35	-	-
49	NC State	28.22	+9	21
50	Kansas	27.06	-1	-

Uberleague Rank: November 14, 2010

Uberleague Rk	Team	Uberleague pts	Change in rank from last week	2010 AP Rating
1	Florida	306.80	-	-
2	Ohio State	282.88	-	8
3	USC	257.80	-	20
4	Texas	234.44	-	-
5	LSU	216.53	-	5
6	Alabama	204.68	-	10
7	Oregon	195.69	-	1
8	Miami	186.31	+3	24
9	Oklahoma	185.59	-1	16
10	Florida State	182.53	-1	-
11	Nebraska	174.91	-1	9
12	Auburn	173.19	-	2
13	Boise State	157.33	+2	3
14	Virginia Tech	153.48	-1	14
15	Georgia	149.71	-1	-
16	Penn State	136.60	+1	-
17	Michigan	132.34	+1	-
18	TCU	130.50	-2	4
19	Wisconsin	121.53	-	6
20	Tennessee	120.15	-	-
21	Utah	102.85	-	25
22	Iowa	91.73	-	21
23	West Virginia	79.92	-	-
24	Notre Dame	68.33	-	-
25	Kansas State	65.01	-	-
26	Missouri	61.83	+1	15
27	BYU	61.63	-1	-
28	Texas A&M	51.88	+1	18
29	Colorado	49.81	-1	-
30	Louisville	47.16	-	-
31	Texas Tech	46.45	-	-
32	Washington	46.01	-	-
-
This	is	the	cut.
-
33	Boston College	45.58	-	-
34	Georgia Tech	45.46	-	-
35	Cincinnati	43.55	-	-
36	Stanford	40.47	+1	7
37	Ole Miss	39.99	+1	-
38	Michigan State	39.66	-2	11
39	Washington State	38.18	-	-
40	Arkansas	37.20	+2	13
41	Oregon State	37.16	-1	-
42	Clemson	36.68	-1	-
43	Oklahoma State	35.25	-	12
44	Cal	32.56	+1	-
45	Arizona	31.99	-1	23
46	Arizona State	30.76	-	-
47	UCLA	30.33	-	-
48	Syracuse	28.35	+1	-
49	Kansas	27.06	+1	-
50	South Carolina	26.02	+2	17

The Uberleague, Explained

What is this "Uberleague," you ask? Basically it is my attempt to remedy the mess that is college football. It is a proposed method by which we do away with the BCS and install a playoff system that is fair and conclusive.

In 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama came out in favor of an 8-team playoff system to remedy the broken college football system, which would have replaced the current 2-team playoff of one game. But for a man who has been the face of change, this is an especially small-ball populist approach to the main problem in college football; that is, the subjectiveness of the sportswriters determining which teams are the most worthy.

If we were to implement an 8-team playoff system, the annual stew would be about why the 9th and 10th place teams didn't get in. The NCAA basketball tournament has the same problem with subjectivity, but their solution was to expand the field to such a gargantuan size that the difficult decision on if a bubble team gets in or not is practically moot. Who cares if the Richmond Spiders or the Creighton Blue Jays didn't quite make it? They were probably going to lose in the first round anyways.

Most professional sports leagues don't require a human to determine which teams deserve a post-season. This is because there are only 20 or 30 possible teams to choose from. Everyone's schedule has relatively the same factor of difficulty, and so no team has to be handicapped by a sportswriter or poll voter. In college football, there are 100+ teams to choose from, and one team can only play at most 12 or 13 other teams. Comparing teams thus requires some subjective factors, because head-to-head matchups are rare between non-conference foes.

But not everything is subjective. Athletic conference winners are determined not by sportswriters or strength-of-schedule, but by teams actually playing each other. There are tiebreak rules and everything in case two teams have an equal record at the end of the season. Conferences can do this because there are only between 8 and 12 teams to choose from. But unfortunately not all conferences are created equal. If we just had conference winners play each other as a playoff system, the new argument would be something like "why does the Big East #1 get to have a chance at a championship while the clearly superior Big 12 #2 doesn't?"

___________________________________

What I am proposing is that we blow-up the conferences and create a 32-team Uberleague. The Uberleague will consist of 4 divisions of 8 regionally-similar teams.

Each team will play 12 games: 7 games within the division, one game each from the other 3 divisions, and 2 games from the pool of college teams outside the Uberleague. This way old-fashioned college rivalries can remain intact even when one team is in the Superleague and the other team is not.

After the end of the Uberleague season (the first week in December), a twelve-team playoff will commence. The playoff will be a seeded tournament, with the top four seeds given to each division's champion.

The seeding will be based on best overall record. Tiebreaks outside the division will be, in order, as follows: head-to-head matchups, if applicable, then league record, then divisional record, then record against common teams (minimum possible = 2), then quality of best win, then quality of second best win, etc., and then coin flip.

Division winners will be based on the divisional record. Tiebreaks within the division will be based on head-to-head record. In the event of a three-way tie, divisional winner will be determined based on tiebreak rules similar to interdivisional tiebreak rules.

When there are two teams with the same overall record within the same division, the team with the better divisional record cannot be seeded lower than the team with the worse divisional record.

The top four seeds earn a bye week and a home game similar to the NFL's playoff system.

The playoffs will occupy four straight weekends starting in the second weekend in December and ending the first weekend of January.

But here's the part that makes this Uberleague more interesting than every other professional league: relegation. The bottom team in each division should be kicked out of the Uberleague for the next year. The best four teams from the remaining 88 college teams outside the Uberleague would be promoted to the Uberleague the next year. Because every crappy team needs a healthy dose of fear to get them to perform to their fullest.

_________________________

So which teams should be in the Uberleague? I believe that it shouldn't just be the 32 best teams from this year. To make the Uberleague palatable, it needs to include not only the best teams, but also perennial contenders who are going through some down times (like Michigan). The Uberleague is designed to contain the teams with certain gravitas; if a team went to, say, the Rose Bowl a couple of times in the '90s but has failed to make a splash since then (Northwestern), that team would not get into the inaugural Uberleague. However, if a team was a powerhouse from a bygone era (Navy; Clemson, maybe; Arkansas) without any more recent success, they would not make it into the inaugural Uberleague. Memories are short.

So I came up with a very simple formula based on the final AP rating of each college team for the past twenty years that expands geometrically as seed approaches 1 and year approaches the current year, with a few tweaks to soften the mathematical effects. This rewards both consistency and excellence.

The 32 teams chosen by this formula are updated every week during the college football season. The formula was designed so that there would not be a lot of variability in the composition of the Uberleague from week to week, but teams at the margins could see their rankings move enough to put them either in or out of the Uberleague.

Uberleague Rank: November 7, 2010

Uberleague Rk		Uberleague pts	Rank last week	2010 AP Rating
1	Florida	318.34	1	24
2	Ohio State	282.88	2	8
3	USC	244.16	3	-
4	Texas	234.44	4	-
5	LSU	216.53	7	5
6	Alabama	202.75	5	11
7	Oregon	195.69	6	1
8	Oklahoma	183.21	9	19
9	Florida State	182.53	8	-
10	Nebraska	174.91	10	9
11	Miami	174.77	11	-
12	Auburn	173.19	13	2
13	Virginia Tech	151.39	15	16
14	Georgia	149.71	14	-
15	Boise State	147.33	12	4
16	TCU	140.50	18	3
17	Penn State	136.60	16	-
18	Michigan	132.34	17	-
19	Wisconsin	121.53	21	6
20	Tennessee	120.15	20	-
21	Utah	109.39	19	15
22	Iowa	98.69	22	13
23	West Virginia	79.92	23	-
24	Notre Dame	68.33	24	-
25	Kansas State	65.01	25	-
26	BYU	61.63	27	-
27	Missouri	57.82	26	20
28	Colorado	49.81	28	-
29	Texas A&M	48.88	39	23
30	Louisville	47.16	29	-
31	Texas Tech	46.45	30	-
32	Washington	46.01	31	-
-
This	is	the	cut
-
33	Boston College	45.58	32	-
34	Georgia Tech	45.46	33	-
35	Cincinnati	43.55	34	-
36	Michigan State	41.58	41	10
37	Stanford	40.47	44	7
38	Ole Miss	39.99	36	-
39	Washington State	38.18	37	-
40	Oregon State	37.16	38	-
41	Clemson	36.68	40	-
42	Arkansas	35.95	42	14
43	Oklahoma State	35.25	48	12
44	Arizona	34.99	35	18
45	Cal	32.56	43	-
46	Arizona State	30.76	45	-
47	UCLA	30.33	46	-
48	Mississippi State	28.91	51	17
49	Syracuse	28.35	47	-
50	Kansas	27.06	50	-

Uberleague Rank: October 31, 2010

Uberleague Rk		Uberleague pts	Rank last week	2010 AP Rating
1	Florida	306.80	1	-
2	Ohio State	282.88	2	8
3	USC	244.16	3	-
4	Texas	234.44	4	-
5	Alabama	222.54	5	5
6	Oregon	195.69	7	1
7	LSU	195.10	8	12
8	Florida State	194.06	6	2
9	Oklahoma	192.01	9	11
10	Nebraska	174.91	12	9
11	Miami	174.77	10	-
12	Boise State	172.33	11	2
13	Auburn	158.19	13	3
14	Georgia	149.71	14	-
15	Virginia Tech	148.36	15	2
16	Penn State	136.60	16	-
17	Michigan	132.34	17	-
18	TCU	130.50	18	4
19	Utah	129.24	19	6
20	Tennessee	120.15	20	-
21	Wisconsin	117.37	21	7
22	Iowa	96.33	22	15
23	West Virginia	79.92	23
24	Notre Dame	68.33	25
25	Kansas State	65.01	26	-
26	Missouri	62.93	24	14
27	BYU	61.63	27	-
28	Colorado	49.81	29	-
29	Louisville	47.16	30	-
30	Texas Tech	46.45	31	-
31	Washington	46.01	32	-
32	Boston College	45.58	33
-
This	is	the	cut.
-
33	Georgia Tech	45.46	34	-
34	Cincinnati	43.55	35	-
35	Arizona	39.99	38	13
36	Ole Miss	39.99	36	-
37	Washington State	38.18	37	-
38	Oregon State	37.16	39	-
39	Texas A&M	36.88	40	-
40	Clemson	36.68	41	-
41	Michigan State	33.25	28	16
42	Arkansas	32.99	43	17
43	Cal	32.56	42	-
44	Stanford	32.13	48	10
45	Arizona State	30.76	44	-
46	UCLA	30.33	45	-
47	Syracuse	28.35	46	-
48	Oklahoma State	28.11	47	19
49	NC State	27.18	58	23
50	Kansas	27.06	49	-