Poll - Where Would You Rank Houston?

In an attempt to avoid semantics confusion caused by sloppy use of terms or just different interpretations of meaning, we use numbers only here.



Pick your range and then post a comment explaining your exact number.



My theory is that there will be much more consensus here than on the semantics thread.



Think it through. Look at a BCS full ranking so you can see the implications of who you are saying would be better or worse. I chose Top 40 which means I should be able to think of 30 or more better teams and 85 or more worse teams.



More precisely, I think they are right at number 40 plus or minus a few. If I have to pick one number - that number is 40.



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Too bad we didn't do this poll right before and right after we played Houston. I think that would be a lot more telling now that they've lost 3 more games and have yet to beat an opponent in the top 60 and comparing those two polls.



The RPI today says Houston is 1 spot ahead of us right now... anyone believe that? And Fresno State is ahead of Texas A+M.... anyone believe that?

http://www.realtimerpi.com/college_football/ncaaf_power_rankings.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;





A "where does your gut tell you they are" poll with fans that want to believe that Houston was a great win (we all do... beating great teams is what we want our team to do), is probably no more scientific than looking at their schedule and seeing who they've beaten and who they haven't beaten.

Even RPI and rankings can be misleading.

Miami had been ranked for 3/4 of the season but just looked average all season, even

http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/2390/miami-(fl" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)-hurricanes



Duke is #25 and 10-2 and I would bet on BYU on a neutral field tomorrow.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/150/duke-blue-devils" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Yet they both played Pitt better than Notre Dame did... and of course they both played Virginia better than BYU did. Yet in spite of all of that, I would pick BYU over Duke and Pitt (and of course Virginia) right now on a neutral field and I'd say a Miami game is 50/50, even though Duke is ranked well ahead of Miami. We match up much better with Duke and Pitt. So who's better than whom? And who decides? Everyone gets to and ultimately the only way you can be proven wrong is how they play and how their opponents play.



Houston has yet to beat a single quality opponent, has only beaten 1 team with anything assembling a winning record, and has not beaten a single top 60 opponent.



As far as Houston, I would also say there's a big difference between 40-and 49... yet they're the same answer on the poll and I think they're right around 45-46.

craigoscarson wrote:
Too bad we didn't do this poll right before and right after we played Houston. I think that would be a lot more telling now that they've lost 3 more games and have yet to beat an opponent in the top 60 and comparing those two polls.



A "where does your gut tell you they are" poll with fans that want to believe that Houston was a great win (we all do... beating great teams is what we want our team to do), is probably no more scientific than looking at their schedule and seeing who they've beaten and who they haven't beaten.



I would also say there's a big difference between 40-and 49... yet they're the same answer and I think they're right around 45-46.

That is why I asked posters to put their specific number and explain as you did. The ranges are wide. Once this poll narrows it down, a subsequent poll with finer gradations starting at about 35 and ending at about 55 probably contains the range. But I did not want to be presumptuous and lop off either end.



You did not get many takers on your bet, because your bet was numerical - ie 3 or more additional losses. You did get a lot of quibbling over words like average, good, etc. Those words seem to mean different things to different people.



I picked a different range here than you picked. But my specific number is 40. Not greatly different than your 46. Now if people want to argue for weeks about 40 vs 46, I will concede right now that 36-46 sounds reasonable.



Their bowl result will narrow the range for me. IDK who they will get. If they get a Top 30 opponent - they should mail it in now. If they get one ranked, 60 to 126, mark it a W now. In between, should be an entertaining contest.



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Craig



I agree that a few people would have ranked Houston higher than they would today. Some would have ranked them lower. You were surprised by their very next game. Some may have expected these last 3 losses to be blowout losses.



Now we have more data.



After the bowl game we get a bit more data.



The poll allows re-voting. Should have done it then.



Bump this after the bowl game. Some votes may change.



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