olmecSSB

Yeah, that is sound logic for a computer poll. Really just week one jank that will even itself out. Although, Iowas State being #1 wouldn't be bad...

I was just about to ask for an explanation about Iowa State getting a first place vote, then I saw Maryland got a first place vote (their only points), and now I need an explanation even more.

Well, at least my poll won't be the most unusual. Here is my poll, just to show that I am not afraid to share either. Feel free to poke it. It is all human.

1. Ohio State
2. LSU
3. Penn State
4. Oregon
5. Miami
6. South Carolina
7. Georgia
8. Iowa State
9. Arizona State
10. SMU
11. Clemson
12. Illinois
13. Texas
14. Notre Dame
15. Indiana
16. Texas Tech
17. Florida State
18. Michigan
19. Tennessee
20. Florida
21. BYU
22. TCU
23. Alabama
24. USF
25. Nebraska

And the next 5

26. Kansas State

27. UNLV

28. Georgia Tech

29. Utah

30. Oklahoma

I just now saw this, and I submitted my picks. I picked what I honestly would have picked on Friday. Please don't let me win. I submitted just because entrants were still open, and I wanted to have more entrants. I am being honest, but you shouldn't trust me.

Ten sounds like a lot. As I think about it more, I think 6 or 7 sounds like a good amount. One game from SEC, Big 10, BigXII, and Acc. One G5/6 game guarantee. Then a wild card or two.

Wild card would provide the flexibility we would want with how big these conferences are. There may be a time where we want 2 SEC games in a week. I wouldn't want it be just the second best SEC game, but I would hope we could get marquee FCS games in there. Or a sicko game if two 0-7 teams meet. These could even be for the games with the smallest spread (a true toss up). We could even use it for independent games so we get Uconn in there. Or we scould say GameDay/Big Noon's location is one of the wild card slots

I did a quick look, and these are what I think week 1 would look like, if we did this strategy. P4 LSU @ Clemson Georgia Tech @ Colorado Texas @ Ohio State Syracuse @ Tennessee

Potential G5/6 UTEP @ Utah State (close spread)

Potential Wild Card Idaho @ Washington State (The Battle of the Palouse rivalry game) Sacrament State @ South Dakota State (Preseason FCS #14 @ #3)

I ignored all week 0 games. For conference affiliation, I just went with the home team. There are other notable games, but I tried to have a balance (Sorry Notre Dame @ Miami). If you did want ten, you can add these 3.

Appalachian State @Charlotte (close spread) Georgia Southern @ Fresno State (close spread) Notre Dame @ Miami

Anyway, I hope that visually gives you some idea of what it would look like. I am fine with any number between 5-10. I am favoring 7, just because I think that gives a good variety without being too much (and if you get all 7, you can call it a touchdown or something).

How would you pick the games? I bring this question up, because my initial thought, if I were in charge, would be to just pick the highest ranked games, or the prime time ones. That is fine, but it would lead to repeats of teams, and heavily focus on the SEC and Big10.

I think that if we are doing picks, we should put guardrails in to ensure things are more spread. Maybe that is limit one per conference per week, or let a team in a pick'em only once a season (outside of post season games). I'm not sure, but lets discuss it. I want to have to study MAC games to win this.

Also, if we only do 3 games a week, that only gives 8 permutations. That is fine, but if you do a championship every week kind of thing, it puts a lot of emphasis on getting the tie breaker right. I think a cumulative score would be more fun week to week, but the weakness there is people that miss the first few weeks probably have no shot.

So it is a question of what is the goal. If it is just general engagement, the week to week champion is the best (but I would argue we should have more games so you are not relying on the tie breaker as much). Or if you want an overarching story, I think the cumulative points is better. I would favor the second option.

Anyway, those are my thoughts after thinking about it for 3 minutes.