SI lists 10 biggest Upsets of BCS era

[hifigator]

sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1160536/10/10/index.htm


It's an interesting list although I would certainly put them in a different order.

I think 1-2 has to be Stanford over USC and Ap. St. over Michigan. I thought it was a bit odd that UCLA over USC in 2006 wasn't on the list. I think they were something like a 20 or 25 point underdog, weren't they?

Lastly, I don't think Texas over USC should be on the list.

[Boz]

I would put App. State #1. The only reason I think it isn't is that, even though they were highly ranked at the time, as the season went on, it became pretty obvious to most observers that Michigan didn't really have all that great a team.

Boise State's win over Oklahoma was groundbreaking in many, many ways. I think it's good that this is at the top.

I could care less about the rest of the order. All pretty good choices.

[jgalt]

Sept 25, 2009 12:32:20 GMT -5 Boz said:

I would put App. State #1. The only reason I think it isn't is that, even though they were highly ranked at the time, as the season went on, it became pretty obvious to most observers that Michigan didn't really have all that great a team.

Boise State's win over Oklahoma was groundbreaking in many, many ways. I think it's good that this is at the top.

I could care less about the rest of the order. All pretty good choices.

Yeah, i think they are clearly 1-2. what puts the Boise St. game higher is that it was a bowl game and OU has had all year to learn how to play as a team (as did Boise St. I suppose). Its a bowl game, you dont get beat by two gimmick plays in last few minutes of a bowl game.

Sept 25, 2009 12:25:00 GMT -5 hifigator said:

Lastly, I don't think Texas over USC should be on the list.

yeah, i think they just wanted a reason to right about Vince Youngs amazing game. There are many more up sets to put there. Even UW over USC last week is bigger in my opinion because UW had been sooooo god awful for the past two seasons. But i dont think that is even top 10.

[hifigator]

jgalt wrote:

yeah, i think they just wanted a reason to right about Vince Youngs amazing game. There are many more up sets to put there. Even UW over USC last week is bigger in my opinion because UW had been sooooo god awful for the past two seasons. But i dont think that is even top 10.

Actually, I think that was what inspired the article. They did mention it in the general lead in, so that's my guess. Although I guess it's possible the article/ranking was "in the works" already and they didn't want to "stop the presses" to add the game in. (If so, then they need faster writers/typers etc ...)

Secondly, I guess I will recant a bit on the Boise St. game. As Boz pointed out, it was sort of a landmark game of the David vs. Goliath mold. In that much, I guess it's worthy of making the list. But maybe it's my expectation of Oklahoma in bowl games that lessens the impact of that game. Also, I just don't value Bowl games the same as regular season games. Aside from the Championship game, bowl games are just not that important. It took a while for the fan in me to recognize that. In fact I initially defended the importance of bowl games. But once a good friend of mine pointed out that aside from the Championship Bowl Game, any other Bowl game is the LEAST important game of the year for the respective teams, I had to pause. Then he said that the only game less important to the Gators than a Capitol One, Peach or even Sugar Bowl, is the Orange and Blue Spring game. Once I wasn't able to refute that point, I realized that he was right.

Getting back to the topic, I still don't think there is any reason to put Texas over USC on this type of list ... other than the fact that it was such a great game that any opportunity to talk and think about it is a good thing.

[Coast2CoastHoya]

Sept 25, 2009 12:25:00 GMT -5 hifigator said:

sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1160536/10/10/index.htm


It's an interesting list although I would certainly put them in a different order.

I think 1-2 has to be Stanford over USC and Ap. St. over Michigan. I thought it was a bit odd that UCLA over USC in 2006 wasn't on the list. I think they were something like a 20 or 25 point underdog, weren't they?

Lastly, I don't think Texas over USC should be on the list.

I agree with this whole post, except USC-UCLA 2006: rivalry games are never upsets.

[hifigator]

C2C, I can see your point. I think the key is what determines it to be "an upset." The pragmatist would say the Vegas point spread. The casual observer might suggest the "general feeling" based on what all the pundits are saying. I guess that the "best" categorizing of "upset" would be some amalgamation of the two, and if truth be told, both reasonings are probably highly correlated. But I understand your point and as we've all heard numerous announcers say: "when these two teams meet, you can throw records and rankings out the window." Simply from the point spread view, I think UCLA would have to be on the list. But maybe all that tells us is that skewed point spreads in rivalry games signal a flaw in the spread-making system. Personally, I wasn't going anywhere near that 28 point spread in last week's Florida-Tennessee game. Case and point and case in point.

[Coast2CoastHoya]

I see your point too, hifi, and agree that point spreads -- especially in college football -- are not very "scientific."