by cvdwightw » Mon Aug 18, 2003 2:11 am
We all (or at least most of us) know that the BCS does absolutely nothing for football except to make it more confusing for all of us. However, I think a BCS-type poll would be theoretically feasible here.
First of all, I like solon qb's idea of the two separate polls. Teams should not be penalized for inaccessibility to tournament formats (like California and PACE), and should be rewarded for doing well in several formats (like the Virginia/DC area, which competes in 3 to 5 separate formats). Also, have one about general sentiment, which will likely be biased heavily towards the areas that care more about quiz bowl (southeast, Virginia/DC, Michigan) but will serve as almost a strength of schedule factor. If there are only a few good teams in an area like California or New England, but several in other areas, it's not fair to have the one vote from the West or New England overshadow a Southern team that doesn't win too much because every tournament it's at has two or three of the top ten in the Academic Format Poll.
Second, there should be some kind of "strength of team" factor. Points Per Game is a better indicator than Margin of Victory, because a team that wins 305-155 (150 points) over a marginal team should be rewarded more than a team that wins 195-20 (175) over the same team. Since the point structures vary from format to format, it would be a good idea for each voting member to have some sort of "expected score" for each format.
Lastly, regional style determines a lot of the dominance. Some states play ASCN best, others NAQT, others PACE, others NAC. Each major QB area (state/region) should decide on how many major formats are in the area, and whether they are mutually exclusive (for instance, NAQT and NAC formats coexist in Southern California, but the only team that plays both is Edison). One main format = x10, two main formats = x6, three =x5 and four =x4 to multiply the points given by each sub-section of the Academic Format Poll. This also rewards the teams that perform well in many diverse formats.
All these factors would be averaged so we wouldn't get sleepers like my school in 2001 (unheard of to 15th due to T-5th at NAQT) or Charter School of Wilmington this year (no votes to 18th due to T-8th at NAQT).
I realize that this is all as convoluted as the BCS system, with no foreseeable possibility for implementation. However, the BCS was created because of the instability of the then-current system, and is creating a whole new set of ideas for choosing college football's #1. Perhaps this post will spring a better idea from someone else.
Dwight Wynne
socalquizbowl.org
UC Irvine 2008-2013; UCLA 2004-2007; Capistrano Valley High School 2000-2003
"It's a competition, but it's not a sport. On a scale, if football is a 10, then rowing would be a two. One would be Quiz Bowl." --Matt Birk on rowing, SI On Campus, 10/21/03
"If you were my teammate, I would have tossed your ass out the door so fast you'd be emitting Cerenkov radiation, but I'm not classy like Dwight." --Jerry