Comments on: Confirmation Bias with Grits

By: Don

Don — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 04:26:01 +0000

While it is currently the SEC that benefits from confirmation bias and it is intersesting that it is being applied to a whole conference that rarely plays a tough non-conference game, but this has always been a problem. It has surely helped the Irish some years, but 1993 is a good example of it at its worst. The writers proclaimed FSU the best team ever, so when they lost to ND, it was written off as a fluke. The Irish gave them a chance to do this by losing to BC, but it is just human nature to want to be proven correct, so when it came down to their pre-ordained greatest team ever against the team that beat them, they fell back on their desire to be right and ignored what happened on the field. This will always be a problem with polls. It would help to wait until half way through to vote, but the writers will still give their preseason picks and will be biased by them the rest of the year.

By: SubwayAlum_2012

SubwayAlum_2012 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 14:31:13 +0000

In reply to Jimbo.

YESSS FINALLY! How about the Sun Bowl in 2010? ND had the game won before kickoff, Miami (in SEC territory) looked like they wanted a warm cup of cocoa, and a blanket, while the irish were in short sleeves and sweating. Id take the Ducks in Eugene over Alabama, and the Irish over Alabama in South Bend. Yeah, the SEC has some good players, Id loveee to see them play north of the mason dixon line.
another thought nugget: DII football is the playoff system, with the first 3 rounds being played at the better teams field. And who are the best DII football teams? St. Auggies in FLA? Abiliene Christian in TX? No sir, i believe the best DII football are Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota Mankato, and the Michigan Schools (Wayne State last year, and GVSU in others) I watched a Carolinas based Carson Newman team get DESTROYED by GV in the snow in Grand Rapids MI. Carson Newman also had the number 2 offense in nation. They might have earned 200 yards that day.
Come out of the Southern fortress in december, SEC, then we’ll talk

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 17:39:17 +0000

In reply to Boardy. And they will probably jump ND, which would be WRONG.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 17:33:39 +0000

In reply to borromini. Hey Jerrod... We know, at least, that ND isn't afriad to play the big boys. I mean, ND at least doesn't play Florida-Atlantic, Troy, Jax State, etc. They woudl be laughed out of the rankings if that was their schedule. Man, think about what you're saying for a minute before berating the writer.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 17:31:09 +0000

In reply to Mike. BTW, Mike, thanks for the article and your analysis. You are spot on, sir.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 17:28:28 +0000

In reply to Mike.

One of my best friends and I were talking right after the ND/Oklahoma game. He kept saying how great ND looked and how stout their defense is. He asked me, “You haven’t really said much about how good Alabama looks. Why?” What would I say? I mean, after watching Alabama (okay, so I am Alabama alum so I keep up with Bama, too), all I can say is, yes, they look scarey, but they really haven’t been tested. You would have thought that I had commited a murder. “That’s all we keep hearing is Alabama has played nobody, Alabama hasn’t been tested… etc.” Then, I hear, “Alabama shouldn’t have to be tested because they are Alabama and they won the #1 spot in the polls because they beat LSU in the NCG.” After shock and disbelief had settled and gone away, I was perplexed by this comment. I asked him, “Well, who do you think they’ve played so far? Outside of Michigan, who else?” And his response was, “We just destroyed the #11 team in the nation.” OKay, that’s a fair statement because MSU was ranked #11 until they rolled into Tuscaloosa. However, does anyone think that MSU would be 7-0 and ranked #11 against ND’s schedule? That is what baffles me. Even the pundits and the talking heads all said that ND would finish 5-7 against that schedule. Now, look where they are – 8-0 and ranked #3 (BCS), #4 (AP), and #4 (USA). Personally, if Florida or Georgia were to play ND’s slate week-in and week-out, I think they would be ranked #20 or less and would have already had two losses each by now. I’m sorry, but I do not think that the SEC is as dominant as they claim. It is a great conference, but not a dominant one for sure. Say all you want about the B1G, Big 12 and PAC 12, at least they play stronger OOC schedules than the “national powers” of the SEC.

By: TacomaDomer00

TacomaDomer00 — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 03:28:46 +0000

In reply to Irish Hoosier.

Depends which part of the South you’re from. Back home in Kentucky, it’s actually “Youall”. The possessive is “Yourall’s”. The difference between Y’all and All Y’all is the same as the difference between You (plural) and All of You. It’s a matter of clarity or emphasis.

By: ND0405

ND0405 — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 02:29:23 +0000

Please note I did the best I could to come up with these numbers from sports-reference.com. These are bowl records over the last 6 years of perceived SEC bias. Whether or not their early non-conference schedule is soft or not, the bowl results speak for themselves, as much as you might want to hate it. I have not done any statistical analysis for strength of opponent, only to remove the non-BCS schools from the analysis as noted.

ACC 19-31 (14-27 VS BCS Schools)
BIG12 25-22 (25-20 VS BCS Schools)
BIG EAST 23-10 (14-9 VS BCS Schools)
BIG10 17-30 (15-28 VS BCS Schools)
PAC12 19-16 (16-10 VS BCS Schools)
SEC 37-18 (32-16 VS BCS Schools) (removing ALA-LSU title game from 2012)

By: Cjw

Cjw — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 01:48:13 +0000

While I agree there is SEC bias especially at ESecPN I do also believe they have been the or a top conference in the last decade. Certainly the most consistent with the most consistent number of good teams. I have been an ND fan my entire life being a SB local, raised catholic, Irish/Polish I didn’t even have a choice….lol. Still it has been a very long time since we have been good, legitamatly good, or worthy of BCS or NC talk. By all accounts we are that good this year. I think it will all work out and if we go 12-0 I think some way we will make it to the big game. If not hey don’t feel bad in that big nosed Paterno had multiple undefeated season that he didn’t win the NC. If we finish the season with 1 or 2 losses then with 7 returners on D and potentially having wood and Eifert back with a seasoned Golsen we will open in the top 5 next year and get our shot. As much as I have been against a full playoff because I believe it would diminish big regular season showdowns, I think the 4 team format sounds reasonable. With that and the conference championships we will likely produce a worthy and believable champ every year. There will rarely be more than 4 undefeated teams and any 1 loss teams in the equation will be a major conference champ. I do agree the scheduling of total cream puffs sucks, especially when it is usually the first few games to start the season and then the stretch run to end the season….but hey ND schedule lines up comparably this year in that we started with a weaker than normal Navy team and have our 3 weakest opponents before closing with a rival on the road. Just sit back and enjoy this ND. This year is already special and it is only the beginning. Top notch recruits are still rolling in, Kelly has now found his comfort zone here, the ACC will be our bitch in Football, we will keep SC, Navy, ans some big 10 regional games…..the future looks bright and I think before he is done Golsen and our resurgent D will get us a NC! Honestly when since the Holtz glory years have things looked so promising?

By: P. J. Mick

P. J. Mick — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 21:04:50 +0000

If you want to talk bowl game performance, let’s not forget where these bowls games are played. I wonder how the SEC teams would do coming north in January to play a bowl game? I think they would fall back towards the mean somewhat. The playing field, both in scholarships(recycled) and location is not level. The SEC culture encourages and rewards cheating. Bear Bryant said it himself that he suggested his boosters pay the going rate for players. The south’s other mantra…”if you ain’t winnin’ you ain’t cheatin’ and if you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’. Probably should have substituted y’all for you to be more accurate. That tells you what the Irish and even the Big Ten are up against. The Big Ten might not be graduating many more players than the SEC, but at least they’re not running them off their team and taking their scholarship away. And to the point regarding the legitimacy (or dare I say Relevance) of the SEC as a conference, they’re not much different as a whole than the Big 12 or Pac 12….they have 2 superior teams, and handful of competitive teams, and the rest suck as much as any other conference bottom feeders. So sick of hearing ‘the IRISH are relevant again….’ When was the last time Georgia or Texas A&M relevant? Was South Carolina ever relevant? How about Arkansas….me thinks 1977. Tennessee…please. Florida’s time came and is now gone again. The only time Auburn is any good is after they get caught and are put on probation. Go Irish, run the damn table and pray we get a date with Bama so we can go 6-1 lifetime against them while Manti shoves cod cakes down their biscuit holes.