Blind test · Week 8
No names. Just résumés.
Two teams, same stats sheet, names hidden. Pick the better team. Then we show you who they are, how the crowd voted, and where the AP and 1QA rank them. If the name changes your mind, that's brand bias.
Matchup 1
Team A
- Record
- 6-1
- Results rating
- Top 10
- Schedule strength
- #26 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +23.7
- Points for / against
- 36.6 / 12.9
- Best win
- Beat a Tier B team by 36 (home)
- Worst loss
- Lost to a Tier A team by 4 (home)
Team B
- Record
- 6-1
- Results rating
- Top 10
- Schedule strength
- #30 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +27.7
- Points for / against
- 41.1 / 13.4
- Best win
- Beat a Tier B team by 39 (road)
- Worst loss
- Lost to a Tier B team by 4 (road)
Matchup 2
Team A
- Record
- 5-2
- Results rating
- Top 10
- Schedule strength
- #2 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +17.9
- Points for / against
- 39.3 / 21.4
- Best win
- Beat a Tier B team by 33 (road)
- Worst loss
- Lost to a Tier B team by 16 (road)
Team B
- Record
- 6-0
- Results rating
- Top 10
- Schedule strength
- #77 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +20.2
- Points for / against
- 37.8 / 17.7
- Best win
- Beat a Tier B team by 11 (road)
- Worst loss
- Unbeaten
Matchup 3
Team A
- Record
- 6-0
- Results rating
- Top 10
- Schedule strength
- #81 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +34.5
- Points for / against
- 48.5 / 14
- Best win
- Beat a Tier B team by 28 (road)
- Worst loss
- Unbeaten
Team B
- Record
- 6-0
- Results rating
- Top 10
- Schedule strength
- #32 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +19.3
- Points for / against
- 35.5 / 16.2
- Best win
- Beat a Tier B team by 14 (home)
- Worst loss
- Unbeaten
Matchup 4
Team A
- Record
- 6-0
- Results rating
- 11–25
- Schedule strength
- #25 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +18.3
- Points for / against
- 33.5 / 15.2
- Best win
- Beat a Tier S team by 4 (home)
- Worst loss
- Unbeaten
Team B
- Record
- 4-2
- Results rating
- Top 10
- Schedule strength
- #1 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +12.3
- Points for / against
- 30.2 / 17.8
- Best win
- Beat a Tier A team by 1 (home)
- Worst loss
- Lost to a Tier B team by 3 (neutral)
Matchup 5
Team A
- Record
- 6-1
- Results rating
- 11–25
- Schedule strength
- #17 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +18.3
- Points for / against
- 39.3 / 21
- Best win
- Beat a Tier B team by 19 (road)
- Worst loss
- Lost to a Tier A team by 2 (road)
Team B
- Record
- 6-1
- Results rating
- 11–25
- Schedule strength
- #34 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +18.7
- Points for / against
- 33.4 / 14.7
- Best win
- Beat a Tier A team by 16 (home)
- Worst loss
- Lost to a Tier A team by 3 (home)
Matchup 6
Team A
- Record
- 5-2
- Results rating
- 11–25
- Schedule strength
- #44 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +20.1
- Points for / against
- 35.6 / 15.4
- Best win
- Beat a Tier B team by 28 (home)
- Worst loss
- Lost to a Tier B team by 3 (road)
Team B
- Record
- 5-1
- Results rating
- 11–25
- Schedule strength
- #9 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +13.7
- Points for / against
- 37.5 / 23.8
- Best win
- Beat a Tier A team by 8 (home)
- Worst loss
- Lost to a Tier B team by 24 (road)
Matchup 7
Team A
- Record
- 6-1
- Results rating
- 11–25
- Schedule strength
- #27 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +11.3
- Points for / against
- 36.4 / 25.1
- Best win
- Beat a Tier B team by 39 (home)
- Worst loss
- Lost to a Tier B team by 14 (home)
Team B
- Record
- 7-0
- Results rating
- 11–25
- Schedule strength
- #113 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +26.9
- Points for / against
- 42.9 / 16
- Best win
- Beat a Tier B team by 27 (home)
- Worst loss
- Unbeaten
Matchup 8
Team A
- Record
- 5-1
- Results rating
- 11–25
- Schedule strength
- #61 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +12.7
- Points for / against
- 35 / 22.3
- Best win
- Beat a Tier B team by 25 (road)
- Worst loss
- Lost to a Tier B team by 7 (road)
Team B
- Record
- 5-2
- Results rating
- 11–25
- Schedule strength
- #10 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +11.3
- Points for / against
- 39.6 / 28.3
- Best win
- Beat a Tier A team by 3 (road)
- Worst loss
- Lost to a Tier B team by 28 (road)
Matchup 9
Team A
- Record
- 3-4
- Results rating
- 26–50
- Schedule strength
- #33 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +9.9
- Points for / against
- 28.7 / 18.9
- Best win
- Beat a Tier C team by 45 (home)
- Worst loss
- Lost to a Tier B team by 21 (road)
Team B
- Record
- 3-3
- Results rating
- 26–50
- Schedule strength
- #21 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +12.2
- Points for / against
- 37.7 / 25.5
- Best win
- Beat a Tier B team by 19 (road)
- Worst loss
- Lost to a Tier B team by 7 (home)
Matchup 10
Team A
- Record
- 3-3
- Results rating
- 26–50
- Schedule strength
- #5 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +3.2
- Points for / against
- 21.3 / 18.2
- Best win
- Beat a Tier A team by 3 (neutral)
- Worst loss
- Lost to a Tier B team by 8 (home)
Team B
- Record
- 3-3
- Results rating
- 26–50
- Schedule strength
- #36 of FBS
- Avg margin
- +11.8
- Points for / against
- 24 / 12.2
- Best win
- Beat a Tier B team by 11 (road)
- Worst loss
- Lost to a Tier B team by 8 (road)
What the blind test shows
Is the SEC overrated?
The blind test measures how much a program's name moves a vote. You rank teams with the names on. Here you pick with the names off. When the two answers split, the name did the work.
Each blind pick feeds the brand-bias line on your tier board and the league table below. The second table doesn't need blind picks: it checks the AP poll against results.
Blind voters picked the SEC team 75% of the time. Named, they favored it 68%.
AP poll vs results
For each AP-ranked team: its spot on the 1QA results rating (scores only, no voters) minus its AP rank. +5 means the AP has the team 5 spots higher than results support.
Partly. The AP ranks 2 more SEC teams than results support, but it doesn't rank them too high.
The AP ranks 9 SEC teams. Results alone put 7 in the Top 25.
Its ranked teams sit +1.3 spots from their results rank on average, against +3.1 for all AP teams. Median +2.
| League | AP T25 | Results T25 | AP vs results |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEC | 9 | 7 | +1.3 |
| Big Ten | 6 | 7 | +4.8 |
| Big 12 | 5 | 5 | +2.6 |
| ACC | 3 | 2 | +9.7 |
| Pac-12 | 1 | 2 | -2 |
| Independent | 1 | 1 | -3 |
| Sun Belt | 0 | 1 | — |
AP T25: teams the AP ranks. Results T25: teams in the top 25 on scores alone. AP vs results: average spots, ranked teams only. The whole AP Top 25 sits +3.1 spots above results this week, so compare a league to that, not to zero. Leagues with fewer than 3 ranked teams are grey. Week 7: each results rating rests on a handful of games, so one game can move a team ten spots.
SEC teams, one by one
Brand bias by league
Over every blind pick that put a league's team against another league's: how often voters picked it blind, and how often their named ranking favors it. Name premium is named minus blind. Plus means the name is doing work.
| League | Picks | Blind | Named | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Ten | 43 | 51% | 33% | -18 pts |
| SEC | 40 | 75% | 68% | -7 pts |
| Big 12 | 33 | 30% | 18% | -12 pts |
| ACC | 10 | 10% | 100% | +90 pts |
| Pac-12 | 9 | Need 1 more | ||
| Independent | 4 | Need 6 more | ||
| Sun Belt | 1 | Need 9 more | ||
Named uses your own Field ballot when you placed both teams, else the Field Board consensus. Same-league pairs don't count for either side. Members only: guests have no ballot.
Everyone (incl. guests): blind voters picked the SEC team 80% of 60 picks.
How pairs are picked: a big brand next to a smaller one with a similar body of work, within six spots on the true Top 25. Your own brand bias shows on your tier board.