During every college basketball season, fans complain about the NCAA's NET rankings. There is room for reasonable debate about the NET's flaws. Still, the NCAA Tournament selection committee uses the Quad system that is integral to NET rankings. The committee also uses other data sources to select teams, but Quad 1 wins and Wins Above Bubble are key measurements in selecting and seeding NCAA Tournament teams.
CBS Sports' David Cobb recently published his ranking of college football's best resumes. Cobb borrowed the Quad system and Wins Above Bubble to rank resumes. He ranked the Alabama Crimson Tide as having college football's best resume. Five of the top nine resumes are SEC teams. In the full list of 15 teams, the SEC had six teams.
Kentucky ranked as the No. 2 resume. Texas was No. 4; Georgia, No. 5; Ole Miss, No. 9; and Tennessee, No. 11. LSU failed to make the 15-best resumes list. Texas, at 7-2, has three Quad 1 wins and is 1-2 against Quad 2 teams.
Only Tennessee fans should be shocked by Cobb's work. ESPN FPI, Jeff Sagarin's computer model, Massey Ratings, and Brian Fremeau's FEI Ratings all rank Alabama with college football's No. 1 Strength of Schedule (SOS). Among the top models, only Bill Connelly's SP+ ranks the Crimson Tide lower, with the No. 3 SOS.
Crimson Tide fans might want to pump the brakes on celebrating. As Cobb predicts, Alabama's SOS will fall over the next three weeks. Wins over Vanderbilt, Chattanooga, and Auburn will lower the Crimson Tide's SOS. That could affect Playoff seeding and the possibility of a first-round bye.
The argument over the proper ranking of Alabama and Tennessee isn't going away. They are ranked fairly now. Alabama and Tennessee are each1-2 against Quad 1 opponents, with Alabama being 4-0 against Quad 2 opponents, while the Vols are 2-0; plus, the Vols are around No. 25 in SOS.
If Tennessee wins out in the regular season, its SOS will go up. Alabama, winning out will have its SOS go down. The SOS changes might be enough to rank Tennessee ahead of Alabama on Selection Sunday.
For some perspective on teams outside the SEC, Utah and Indiana have zero Quad 1 wins.
Check out computer model predictions for Week 11 games.
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