Strictly hypothetical..... Eight weeks into the season, five undefeated teams remain. For sake of argument, let's say that you are generally in agreement that these are the best five teams in the nation, and agree with the ranking:
(1) Team A (8-0)
(2) Team B (8-0)
(3) Team C (8-0)
(4) Team D (8-0)
(5) Team E (8-0)
Team E has a brutal late-season schedule, requiring them to play each of the top 4 teams in its final four games. Team E goes 0-4 in its final 4 games, but every game is a very close, hard-fought game. After watching each game closely, you are convinced that Team E is still the 5th best team in the nation -- they simply had the misfortune of playing the best four teams. Let's also assume that Team E had quality wins against some of the other teams ranked in the top 6 - 15. None of the other teams in the Top 10 has more than 2 losses.
Question: In this scenario, can you justify putting a 4-loss team in the Top 10?
(1) Team A (8-0)
(2) Team B (8-0)
(3) Team C (8-0)
(4) Team D (8-0)
(5) Team E (8-0)
Team E has a brutal late-season schedule, requiring them to play each of the top 4 teams in its final four games. Team E goes 0-4 in its final 4 games, but every game is a very close, hard-fought game. After watching each game closely, you are convinced that Team E is still the 5th best team in the nation -- they simply had the misfortune of playing the best four teams. Let's also assume that Team E had quality wins against some of the other teams ranked in the top 6 - 15. None of the other teams in the Top 10 has more than 2 losses.
Question: In this scenario, can you justify putting a 4-loss team in the Top 10?
