Getting ready to watch Oregon vs. Oklahoma, and it prompts some interesting questions about rankings. Everyone's got a gripe about the BCS, yeah, but I'm not going to to get into that. What I want to know is how Oregon can be in the top 10 of every poll and the BCS rankings, and Oklahoma can be unranked, and yet OU is favored on the betting line by three points.
That's a pretty significant disagreement in terms of team quality between the oddsmakers and the other ranking systems. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that the bookies have money on the line and the top-25 polls are more about marketing and bragging rights. Interesting.
Go Ducks!
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Conclusion: Vegas is smart. They called it correct: Oklahoma by 3. Also, my pithy comparison of overall rankings and individual game odds is a bit apples-n-oranges. As this game showed, player health can impact an individual game quite a bit. A healthy Kellen Clemens would have made a big difference for Oregon.
