Regular Season rematches

by BirdGT on Nov 6, 2009 1:00 PM EST Comment 5 comments

Block-C mentioned something in his response to the roundtable about GT and rematches in the ACCCG. Here's the quote:

Mark it down: if Georgia Tech does go to the ACCCG and face a team they’ve already played, they will lose.

I've heard the theory before of beating a team the second time is twice as hard or some other garbage like that. I don't believe it. The better team typically wins. Hence, the following information. There have been 53 conference championship games since the first 1992 SEC Championship. The ACC has had 4, the Big 12 has had 12, C-USA has had 4, the MAC has had 12, the WAC had 3 in the late 90's, and the SEC has had 16. In those 53 games, the conference champions had already met 21 times in the regular season. Of those 21 times, 13 teams won the regular season game and the conference championship or 61.9% of the time. That's not much to hang your hat on but, to me, that's more factual than simply stating "it's harder to beat someone twice in one season" ala Lou Holtz. So in closing, the conference champion is usually the best team in the conference and usually wins the rematch in the conference title game.

0 recs | Comment 5 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

I think there's something to familiarity ...

And having seen the opponent once before.

There also seems to be a lot more disparity between teams across divisions in other conferences, e.g. the Big 12 South programs always beats up on the Big 12 North in the regular season and the conference championship. Same for the SEC:

SEC Championship: East 11, West 6
Big 12 Championship: South 9, North 4
MAC Championship: East 8, West 4

C-USA Championship: East 2, West 2
ACC Championship: Atlantic 2, Coastal 2

I think the results are skewed slightly due to one division’s dominance over the other in the championship games where there have been more than 4 played. I.e. the SEC East, Big 12 South and MAC East’s dominance.

Jury is certainly still out on the ACC but I speak from experience when I say more qualitatively that I think the losing the rematch theory has some legs.

You should also look at bowl game rematches a la Wake Forest-Navy from last year. Even though we can debate the relative significance of a bowl win vs. a regular season win and what winning a bowl really means, you might find some results to the contrary of what you find on the Championship Game scene.

by Brian @ BCI on Nov 6, 2009 5:10 PM EST reply actions

FSU-Miami-UF

1907 – Navy def. Saint John’s twice
1945 – Wake tied S. Carolina, def S. Carolina in bowl game
1994 – FSU tied UF, defeated UF in bowl game
1997 – FSU def. UF, lost to UF in bowl game
2003 – Miami def. FSU, defeated FSU in bowl game
2008 – Navy def. Wake, lost to Wake in bowl game

This is an incredibly tough trivia question. If anyone can find more, help me out. So far rematches still going in favor of first game winner.

This new learning amazes me, Sir Bedevere. Explain again how sheep's bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes.

by BirdGT on Nov 6, 2009 9:28 PM EST up reply actions

I don't think it means anything

Climpson has certainly improved since Tech first played them, but so has Tech. If these two meet in the ACCCG, then Tech is either going to have to turn the ball over a lot or Climpson is going to have to break fifty.

I don’t think anyone can stop Tech’s offense but Tech. I’m not, however, saying they won’t stop themselves some time in the next four or five games.

by CraigT on Nov 6, 2009 6:45 PM EST reply actions

From my experience, the Championship game rematches are always rougher than the regular season contests. Boston College beating VPI in the regular season, then getting walloped in the championship game stands out in my mind for the ACC, while around the country much wilder things have happened. 2003 Auburn looking to impress pollsters to be voted into the BCS Championship instead of Oklahoma playing a Tennessee team they had beaten handily on the road earlier in the season? Tough slog, narrow escape for the Tigers. 2001, Texas playing Colorado in the Big 12 championship game, the same Colorado the shorthorns had absolutely obliterated earlier in the season, for a sure chance at Miami in the BCS title game. Texas got obliterated.

So sure, the stats don’t bear it out as much as one would expect, but the memories that do come to mind are quite vivid.

Love the blog, by the way gents. To hell with Georgia!

by HawkeyedFrog on Nov 7, 2009 5:32 AM EST reply actions

meh I say

Wait, didn’t Clemson see us last year? We won that one. So they had seen us previously and they still lost this year. I’m thinking a third time isn’t going to change the outcome.

It’s ok though, I understand the other teams just need something to try and motivate themselves before the inevitable happens.

"This is America, if we can’t self-righteously look down on others and blame them for our faults, the commies win."-----Cormican on Bleeding Green Nation w/r/t fans overreacting to the Eagles signing of Michael Vick

by Jesse28 on Nov 7, 2009 8:37 AM EST reply actions

From The Rumble Seat: An SB Nation Community

Network Bar

From The Rumble Seat -

But cash he'd not take millions, for the years she ran so well...