While I missed delivery on yesterday’s 11 p.m. promise of the poll results, I have made good on last week’s promise of updating the value system for the HBCU Sports Blog Black College Football Poll. We still have the same categories (Margin of Victory, Road Wins, In-Conference Wins, Out-of-Conference Wins, Out-of-Division Wins, Overall Record), but we no longer have points being deducted for the losses.
In addition, each category is weighted differently, and added up to yield a final point total that encompasses the entire season of work. And to solve the pesky head-to-head problem, a team earns a full percentage point for every team in the current top ten they’ve defeated over the course of the season.
Margin of Victory - Avg. Score Per Game – Avg. Points Given Up x .10
Road Wins - Number of Wins x .05
In-Conference Wins – Number of Wins x .05
Out-of-Conference Wins – Number of Wins x .02
Out-of-Division Wins – Number of Wins x .01 (Lower Division) .03 (Equal-Level Opponent) .05 (Higher Division)
Overall Record – Total Number of Wins x .75
Top Ten Bonus - Wins x 1
As you can see, the biggest factors in this poll are still how much you win and in essence, how good your offense and defense are over the course of the season. The out-of-division wins are added as a bonus, with the rest of the categories equaling up to 100 percent.
Doesn’t hurt if you can knock off top ten opposition, either.
As usual, you can check my rankings out against those of the Sheridan Broadcast Network and the Heritage Sports Radio Network.
Division I
1. Prairie View A&M – (5-1, 4-0) – The Panthers have defeated three teams in the top ten, and are steamrolling to the SWAC championship.
2. South Carolina State – (6-1, 4-0) – The Bulldogs continued their winning ways by dismantling Hampton on the road.
3. Grambling State (4-3, 2-1) – The Tigers defeated the SWAC schools from Alabama in consecutive weeks to rise in the polls.
4. Florida A&M (5-2, 3-1) – A homecoming win over Norfolk State has the Rattlers holding steady in the top five.
5. Southern (4-3, 1-2) – Struggling Southern rounds out the top five after dropping a home game against the league-leading PVAMU Panthers.
6. Alabama A&M (4-3, 1-2) – Have dropped two straight division games.
7. University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff (4-2, 2-1) – Two conference wins out of their last three tries positions the Golden Lions in the top ten.
8. Morgan State (5-2, 3-1) - The Bears’ winning streak came to an end with a loss at Delaware State’s homecoming.
9. Alabama State (4-3, 1-3) -The Hornets are reeling, but got a much-needed win over Alcorn State to stay alive in the standings.
10. North Carolina A&T (4-3, 2-2) – Aggies rise with a homecoming-busting road win over the Howard Bison.
Division II
1. Tuskegee – (6-2, 6-1) – Shoots to number one in the poll with a huge conference victory over Albany State.
2. Shaw (7-2, 4-2) - The Bears continue to impress with a second-straight 50 point outburst coming against Livingstone.
3. Albany State (7-1, 6-1) – Defeated, but not out of the conference championship picture.
4. Fayetteville State (6-3, 5-1) – The Broncos have guaranteed themselves a spot in the CIAA championship game with a victory over St. Augustine’s.
5. Bowie State (6-3, 5-1) – Five-game winning streak ends with a crushing loss to Virginia Union.
6. Virginia Union (6-3, 5-1) – Panthers pick up much-needed win over BSU to keep championship hopes alive.
7. Morehouse (6-2, 5-2) – Maroon Tigers have won two straight to keep pace in the SIAC.
8. Elizabeth City State (6-3, 4-2) – ECSU had the fortune of Lincoln and St. Paul’s in back-to-back weeks.
9. Benedict (6-3, 4-3) – Three in a row for BC.
10. Fort Valley State (5-4, 4-3) – The Wildcats take a tough loss on the road at Benedict.
djcuervo 4:11 pm on October 31, 2009 Permalink
This polls is joke. How PV is rank higher than SCSU. The bulldog playedn a tough game against an SEC Team. SC which the score was 38-14. PV would have been destroy. SCSU is rank #10 in the nation. THE NATION!!! COME ON MAN!!!
JC 5:01 pm on October 31, 2009 Permalink
I would direct your attention to the guidelines of the poll to find the logic behind the ranking, but in addition to that, consider the following.
PVAMU has beaten two of the top teams in the SWAC, who are also ranked in the top ten. SC State has beaten one. It matters not how they lost to South Carolina, but how effectively they are beating other squads in the regular season.
Other than your opinion, and the opinion of pollsters, what definitively makes the Bulldogs better than the Panthers? According to the stats and output, not too much.
EA85 10:57 am on November 6, 2009 Permalink
DJ i knw this is a late post i jst found this site but ignore JC remarks bcuz if u look at any other polls they have it right…SCSU on top of PV… JC you saying they beat 2 teams in the top ten as is southern n Grambling…ok well next time check ur stats…we beat grambling and FAMU that are rank 3 and 4 in this poll that doesnt evn matter to us SCSU fans lol…we top 10 in FCS polls ..matter fact 1 team we beat FAMU is ranked in that poll too..not grambling or southern…Gooo Doggss
JC 11:23 am on November 6, 2009 Permalink
It’s a shame you found the one week out of 10 where the Dogs weren’t ranked #1. I’d advise you to go back through the weeks, check the changes in the scoring metrics, and most of all, check out the most recent poll before shooting a brother down.
EA85 10:12 am on November 11, 2009 Permalink
i saw the new polls but i was jst sayin that evn in wk 9 the doggs souldnt have bn rank 2 whn they beat the num 3 and 4 team in the polls