I don't really believe in the transitive property

[EvanstonCat]

But, Minnesota did play the #2 team in the nation a lot closer and held them to less points, and scored on them.

Stanford is rolling everyone else they play, including two teams that are/have been ranked - Southern Cal and Arizona.

Duke beat a ranked (though overrated) Georgia Tech team and has yet to lose except to us.

Damn, that Stanford win is looking more and more impressive every week.

 

[rmndcat]

But, Minnesota did play the #2 team in the nation a lot closer and held them to less points, and scored on them.

Stanford is rolling everyone else they play, including two teams that are/have been ranked - Southern Cal and Arizona.

Duke beat a ranked (though overrated) Georgia Tech team and has yet to lose except to us.

Damn, that Stanford win is looking more and more impressive every week.

Yup. Duke and Stanford are (or should be) our biggest rivals in the recruiting market, but for the rest of this season, we should be their biggest fans.

 

[villox]

The transitive property is stupid because it assumes everything is equal. So many factors go into an individual matchup (that week's preparation, the game plan, injury situation, improvement and learning from mistakes, personnel, weather, Jet Lag, whether Fitz was wearing shorts, etc).

That's especially true of early season games. Which is why I think it's funny that both Minnesota and Michigan are beating their chests for having "played it close" with teams that have gone on to be good even though they lost. There's no transitive property of winning much less closely losing!

 

[NJCat83588]

But, Minnesota did play the #2 team in the nation a lot closer and held them to less points, and scored on them.

Stanford is rolling everyone else they play, including two teams that are/have been ranked - Southern Cal and Arizona.

Duke beat a ranked (though overrated) Georgia Tech team and has yet to lose except to us.

Damn, that Stanford win is looking more and more impressive every week.

MInny was a) at home, and b) healthy when they played TCU. They were all banged up last weekend. Which is why you are correct to not believe in the transitive property.

 

[villox]

That said, I'm annoyed that Stanford observers, instead of being proud of their 'close loss' to us, are calling it "even more inexplicable". That might be true if we weren't still winning...

 

[DonatelloCat]

That said, I'm annoyed that Stanford observers, instead of being proud of their 'close loss' to us, are calling it "even more inexplicable". That might be true if we weren't still winning...

Yes, this! Any time they talk about Stanford on TV, it's still about how they looked really bad week 1 but figured it out. Maybe they just got beat by a good team?

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

I do believe ,somewhat,in the transitive property. One needs to take into consideration other factors like home field,and injuries. Still, Mcihigan plays Northwestern and MSU in the next two weeks. If they lose to Northwestern and beat MSU, a distinct possibility, Northwestern can be ranked as high as two or three in the nation

 

[gocatsgo2003]

But, Minnesota did play the #2 team in the nation a lot closer and held them to less points, and scored on them.

Stanford is rolling everyone else they play, including two teams that are/have been ranked - Southern Cal and Arizona.

Duke beat a ranked (though overrated) Georgia Tech team and has yet to lose except to us.

Damn, that Stanford win is looking more and more impressive every week.

To the extent that the transitive property can be applied (which is a VERY limited extent), I think we can use it for Stanford and Duke. I have a hard time using it for Minnesota because the Gopher team that faced TCU was VERY different than the team that faced NU -- they've suffered a lot of injuries up and down their roster since that point.

 

[klemman]

I believe the transitive property is only as significant as the associative property when applying to sports fans.

That is, the transitive property is relevant when it is associated positively with my team. The transitive property is irrelevant when it is associated negatively with my team.

This isn't a knock on NU as you guys are playing very good football, just a comment on fans in general- myself included.

 

[Alaskawildkat]

I believe the transitive property is only as significant as the associative property when applying to sports fans.

That is, the transitive property is relevant when it is associated positively with my team. The transitive property is irrelevant when it is associated negatively with my team.

This isn't a knock on NU as you guys are playing very good football, just a comment on fans in general- myself included.

Hey, we are your second favorite team though, right? Should be a good game at Soldier Field the way things are currently headed.

 

[klemman]

2nd favorite team maybe. 2nd favorite fan base probably.

However, if I go with the old Buckeye adage "my second favorite team is whom ever is playing Michigan..."

Then I suppose this week NU is my second fave.

Go Cats!!!

 

[Hungry Jack]

Let's face it: our lives are governed by randomness, but our brains are wired to find patterns and attribute logical explanations to what we think we observe. It's actually a big part of our survival as a species. But as college football fans, it might make our heads explode.

 

[phatcat]

Yes, this! Any time they talk about Stanford on TV, it's still about how they looked really bad week 1 but figured it out. Maybe they just got beat by a good team?

Yeah, their 3rd(?) year starting QB had to figure it out but our 1st year starter was ok? If anyone should have the case of saying "yeah but we have gotten better since week 1", it's NU.

Perhaps we will see them again in the postseason...

 

[Jonny2TheP]

The transitive property is stupid because it assumes everything is equal. So many factors go into an individual matchup (that week's preparation, the game plan, injury situation, improvement and learning from mistakes, personnel, weather, Jet Lag, whether Fitz was wearing shorts, etc).

That's especially true of early season games. Which is why I think it's funny that both Minnesota and Michigan are beating their chests for having "played it close" with teams that have gone on to be good even though they lost. There's no transitive property of winning much less closely losing!

Bingo. I actually hate the transitive property stuff even though it's really worked in our favor this year as far as getting national attention. There is no doubt that you should be judged on who you play and how you do against them, but trying to say, "Well, we whipped Minnesota, and they played TCU tough, so we're better than TCU" is dumb on so many levels. Not only in the sense that a team could be so much different because of injuries from one week to the next, but teams also improve/regress throughout the season, certain teams match up better against some than others, coaching schemes, scouting...I mean, the list goes on and on. And to me, the biggest thing is that you don't always play your best game. Sometimes, you make mistakes that you didn't make against another team.

Seriously, the transitive thing in sports drives me bonkers.

 

[Cat In The Cradle]

I do believe ,somewhat,in the transitive property. One needs to take into consideration other factors like home field,and injuries. Still, Mcihigan plays Northwestern and MSU in the next two weeks. If they lose to Northwestern and beat MSU, a distinct possibility, Northwestern can be ranked as high as two or three in the nation

A few weeks back, you said we'd be ranked within the Top 10 with wins against Ball State and Minnesota. With the exception of a few "legacy" programs, namely FSU and grossly inflated SEC teams that upset other grossly inflated SEC teams, you were correct. We are witnessing some sports pundits starting to murmur about the paucity of NU's ranking, one prime example being Dave Wannstadt who, during a nationally televised game on FOX, intimated that NU deserves the number one ranking as much as any team given who they have played/defeated this year.

 

[Cat In The Cradle]

Yeah, their 3rd(?) year starting QB had to figure it out but our 1st year starter was ok? If anyone should have the case of saying "yeah but we have gotten better since week 1", it's NU.

Perhaps we will see them again in the postseason...

And Stanford fans take this narrow angle against their own interests. I don't get it. For "style points," a loss against a competitive opponent is better than a loss against a weak one. Notre Dame fans are smarter: every opponent they seem to play is a contender for the national championship.

 

[blockm2]

Which is why I think it's funny that both Minnesota and Michigan are beating their chests for having "played it close" with teams that have gone on to be good even though they lost.

I'm not so sure Michigan fans are "beating their chests" for a close loss @ Utah. More just pointing out that it wasn't such a bad loss. Utah wasn't ranked when Michigan played them. People snickered and said maybe next year for Harbaugh. Turns out Utah is pretty damn and maybe losing to them by 7 on the road wasn't quite as bad as it looked. Since then Michigan has done pretty well. I think most of the chest beating is reserved for the defense, of which the starters have given up 7 points combined in the last 4 games. Offense still a work in progress. Michigan definitely not a great all around team right now, just trying to get by and make a run at a conference title that wasn't thought possible 4 weeks ago.

 

[Mr. Stupor]

But, Minnesota did play the #2 team in the nation a lot closer and held them to less points, and scored on them.

Stanford is rolling everyone else they play, including two teams that are/have been ranked - Southern Cal and Arizona.

Duke beat a ranked (though overrated) Georgia Tech team and has yet to lose except to us.

Damn, that Stanford win is looking more and more impressive every week.

Look, ECat, I know you're conservative and all, but if this whole Bruce Jenner proved anything, it's that trannies are people too and you just can't run around saying you don't believe in them anymore...

 

[JoeWildcat]

Transitivity or not, by my count NU appears to be the only team in the country to have beaten two teams currently ranked in the top 27 nationally. None of the victories were flukes or "lucky". We really do look that good.

 

[EvanstonCat]

Look, ECat, I know you're conservative and all, but if this whole Bruce Jenner proved anything, it's that trannies are people too and you just can't run around saying you don't believe in them anymore...

Ugh... That was a really poor joke.

 

[KramerCat91]

My favorite transitive property was NU beat BC and BC beat ND, who was ranked #1 at that time in 1993, so NU should be ranked number 1. However, by that time NU had already lost to ND and probably a few others.

Part of the problem with the transitive property is that it is applied to aberrational results like BC beating ND.