Week 2 in the SEC (NCAAF Week 5)

[Escambia94]

The Gators went conservative in the second half of their 38-24 win over South Carolina, which hurt their raw statistics while maintaining their efficiency ratios. Based on raw stats I would rank the SEC as follows:

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Ole Miss
   
4. Kentucky
5. LSU
6. Texas A&M
7. Tennessee
8. Arkansas
9. Georgia
10. South Carolina
11. Missouri
12. Mississippi State
    
13. Auburn
14. Vanderbilt

Theoretically Texas would have ranked #3 behind Florida, then Clemson.

In terms of cumulative statistics in week 1 and 2, I would rank the SEC as follows:

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Georgia
4. Ole Miss
   
5. LSU
6. Tennessee
7. Mississippi State
8. Kentucky
9. Texas A&M
10. South Carolina
11. Arkansas
12. Missouri
13. Auburn
14. Vanderbilt

In the theoretical rankings Clemson would be #1 and Notre Dame would be #3; however, this logic is somewhat faulty without any conversion factors among SEC, ACC, and Big 12. The comparison will not self-correct until December when all Power 5 conferences have at least 5 games for comparison.

My Power-3 rankings as of SEC week 2/ ACC week 4/ Big 12 week 4 are as follows:

1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Florida
4. Notre Dame
5. Oklahoma State
   
6. Georgia

 

[DRU2012]

The Gators went conservative in the second half of their 38-24 win over South Carolina, which hurt their raw statistics while maintaining their efficiency ratios. Based on raw stats I would rank the SEC as follows:

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Ole Miss
   
4. Kentucky
5. LSU
6. Texas A&M
7. Tennessee
8. Arkansas
9. Georgia
10. South Carolina
11. Missouri
12. Mississippi State
    
13. Auburn
14. Vanderbilt

Theoretically Texas would have ranked #3 behind Florida, then Clemson.

In terms of cumulative statistics in week 1 and 2, I would rank the SEC as follows:

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Georgia
4. Ole Miss
   
5. LSU
6. Tennessee
7. Mississippi State
8. Kentucky
9. Texas A&M
10. South Carolina
11. Arkansas
12. Missouri
13. Auburn
14. Vanderbilt

In the theoretical rankings Clemson would be #1 and Notre Dame would be #3; however, this logic is somewhat faulty without any conversion factors among SEC, ACC, and Big 12. The comparison will not self-correct until December when all Power 5 conferences have at least 5 games for comparison.

My Power-3 rankings as of SEC week 2/ ACC week 4/ Big 12 week 4 are as follows:

1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Florida
4. Notre Dame
5. Oklahoma State
   
6. Georgia

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Not that it means all that much “Big Picture”, but AP has us tied with Georgia at “#3” in the “combined rankings” post-Saturday (albeit those rankings appearing flawed from the start by the differences in competion and ultimately the NUMBER OF ACTUAL GAMES various conference members will play)—AND we are bumped into the “3-b” slot of that supposed “tie” with the Bulldogs, too.
But never mind: We damn well need to just keep on getting better—continue our solid passing efficiency, keep developing/IMPROVING our running game, and above all show steady, solid growth on defense—and trust that it will all keep bringing wins...’cause the moment that stops, we WILL lose to someone we are favored over, and the “happy hopeful times” will be gone once more for now.
As things are, then, we are dancing on the “jagged razor’s edge”, the deadly drop so close at hand. Don’t know about y’all, but I’M still not sure yet WHAT we’ve got here right now—but long as we can keep on eking out wins, we get more chances to keep on growing, improving, and thereby “be back NEXT week to try and keep it going”! That’s the most I can say with any “confidence” so far.

 

[Escambia94]

Not that it means all that much “Big Picture”, but AP has us tied with Georgia at “#3” in the “combined rankings” post-Saturday (albeit those rankings appearing flawed from the start by the differences in competion and ultimately the NUMBER OF ACTUAL GAMES various conference members will play)—AND we are bumped into the “3-b” slot of that supposed “tie” with the Bulldogs, too.
But never mind: We damn well need to just keep on getting better—continue our solid passing efficiency, keep developing/IMPROVING our running game, and above all show steady, solid growth on defense—and trust that it will all keep bringing wins...’cause the moment that stops, we WILL lose to someone we are favored over, and the “happy hopeful times” will be gone once more for now.
As things are, then, we are dancing on the “jagged razor’s edge”, the deadly drop so close at hand. Don’t know about y’all, but I’M still not sure yet WHAT we’ve got here right now—but long as we can keep on eking out wins, we get more chances to keep on growing, improving, and thereby “be back NEXT week to try and keep it going”! That’s the most I can say with any “confidence” so far.

My rankings have nothing to do with AP or Coach's Poll. Power rankings are solely based on games played. As stated in the SEC Week 1 power rankings, none of the predictor rankings are statistically valid until week 5. The AP and Coach's Polls are basically predictor rankings that need more data in order to mean anything. Power Rankings are statistically valid for the week, because they only consider what happened in the week. For two weeks in a row, Florida has looked better than Georgia. This does not mean anything about their performance next week, and in a year where each week's games can be postponed, cancelled, or otherwise altered by COVID, the only thing that matters until December is the power rankings. The AP and Coach's Polls will become meaningful when all five of the Power 5 conferences have a few games to compare.

 

[DRU2012]

My rankings have nothing to do with AP or Coach's Poll. Power rankings are solely based on games played. As stated in the SEC Week 1 power rankings, none of the predictor rankings are statistically valid until week 5. The AP and Coach's Polls are basically predictor rankings that need more data in order to mean anything. Power Rankings are statistically valid for the week, because they only consider what happened in the week. For two weeks in a row, Florida has looked better than Georgia. This does not mean anything about their performance next week, and in a year where each week's games can be postponed, cancelled, or otherwise altered by COVID, the only thing that matters until December is the power rankings. The AP and Coach's Polls will become meaningful when all five of the Power 5 conferences have a few games to compare.

OK. So in a sense, you are hereby just formalizing what ALL “early rankings” amount to in any event: By labeling them “power rankings” they are thus distinguished from a formal, “factual judgment”, and instead explicitly placing them in an isolated category encompassing “all we can say so far”:
I LIKE IT. I mean, it’s NOT as if we EVER really know a whole lot MORE at this point in ANY season—and as you say, “THIS time less than EVER!”.
As for prognostications, well, any additional warnings along the lines of “Caveat Emptor!” are only to the greater good, imho.