Thanks for the numbers. However I think it overvalues the importance of absolute NCAA rankings, which can often look much different based on SOS, style of a conference or even just a couple of bad or great games.
Thanks for the numbers. However I think it overvalues the importance of absolute NCAA rankings, which can often look much different based on SOS, style of a conference or even just a couple of bad or great games.
The notion that we've trended downward is a false one, which is really only supported by a single metric: polls.
According to Massey, NU finished:
19th in 2012.
26th in 2011.
26th in 2010.
16th in 2009.
19th in 2008.
I hardly see a "trendward down" in those numbers.
And I don't see mediocrity either.
Wouldn't that also go for your post with these numbers?
Wouldn't that also go for your post with these numbers?
All true. And all true for every team. Which is why oftentimes long-term trends are more telling than raw numbers alone.
Masseys is a little different than picking an NCAA ranking in isolation.
and, in that OTHER thread, I was responding to a post by HWM in which he used poll figures. Massey tends to take more into account.
Oh, ok. What all do they take into account?
HWM, you seem to be operating under the assumption that people think we have one of the top defenses in the country. No one is suggesting that. All anyone has said was that there was significant improvement from the beginning of the season to the end of the season. The defense struggled even when playing poor offenses early in the year. By the end of the season, they had tightened things up quite a bit.
The defense looked completely lost early in the season but managed to rank 4th in conference play, giving up only 318 ypg. We were tops in conference play in pass defense, second only to MSU in pass efficiency defense, second in sacks, 3rd in opponent first downs, 2nd in 3rd down conversions, 2nd in 4th down conversions, etc.
You're welcome, of course, to find all the ways you want to discredit the improvement the defense made in 2013. I'll choose to be pleased with that improvement instead, and I'm looking forward to the bowl game and beyond for this young defense.
No, actually I'm not operating under that assumption. My point was simply that while there was improvement as the season progressed, the quality of the offenses we faced after the early portion of the season rarely provided an opportunity to truly gauge the level of improvement. As I've said many times in recent weeks, I believe our defense did improve. But I feel that many believe it improved a lot -- and with that, I'm not so sure. Maybe, maybe not. But I don't think they were really tested like they were against UCLA and Wyoming -- which were, by far, the best two offenses we faced all season.
Feel free to use the google function, bornandbreed.
Oh, did I upset you? My apologies! I must have upset you since you used my old user name.
No, actually I'm not operating under that assumption -- and I certainly have never mentioned any notion of people believing we have one of the best defenses in the country.
My point was simply that while there was improvement as the season progressed, the quality of the offenses we faced after the early portion of the season rarely provided an opportunity to truly gauge the level of improvement. As I've said many times in recent weeks, I believe our defense did improve. But I feel that many believe it improved a lot -- and with that, I'm not so sure. Maybe, maybe not. But I don't think they were really tested like they were against UCLA and Wyoming -- which were, by far, the best two offenses we faced all season. After that, it was possibly the worst collection of offenses as a whole we've ever seen our defense face.