Are Power 5 Football teams really better than Group of 5? An annual argument renewed!

Analysis 2020 - Group of 5/Independent teams vs. Power 5 teams

It's an argument that takes place every year. It was an issue all through the BCS years, and continues to be a problem during this new "Power 5" CFB playoff era.  We saw teams like Utah and TCU get screwed so many times that they elected to change conferences. We also saw a struggling Big East conference eventually lose most of their teams to the point that the conference was stripped of their "power" status and forced to merge with several lower-perceived teams to form the new AAC conference.

This year was very unique given that the COVID19 crisis caused many games to be cancelled. However, we still did manage to get 16 games. So let's take a closer look at what happened when Power 5 teams played the non-power 5 teams (comprised of Group of 5 conference teams and 'independent' teams).

There were 16 games played in total, not including bowls. Most occurred early in the season and all occurred with the Power 5 teams being the host and home team. Overall, the Group of 5/Indy teams went 6-10.

Here's the conference by conference records:

Sunbelt 3-1
Indy 2-1
AAC 1-2
MWC  0-1
C-USA   0-5
Total:    6-10

ACC   6-3
Big 12   3-3
Pac 12  1-0
Total:   10-6

Here are the individual game by game results:

2020-09-10 UAB lost at Miami FL 31-14
2020-09-12 Arkansas State won at Kansas State 35-31
2020-09-12 Lafayette Louisiana won at Iowa State 31-14
2020-09-12 Coastal Carolina won at Kansas 38-23
2020-09-12 Western Kentucky lost at Louisville 35-21
2020-09-12 UTEP lost at Texas 59-3
2020-09-19 Tulsa lost at Oklahoma State 16-7
2020-09-19 Central Florida won at Georgia Tech 49-21
2020-09-19 South Florida lost at Notre Dame 52-0
2020-09-26 Texas State lost at Boston College 24-21
2020-10-17 Liberty won at Syracuse 38-21
2020-10-31 Charlotte lost at Duke 53-19
2020-11-07 Liberty won at Virginia Tech 38-35
2020-11-21 Liberty lost at North Carolina State 15-14
2020-11-28 San Diego State lost at Colorado 20-10
2020-12-12 Louisiana Tech lost at TCU 52-10

Further break down, here’s an argument to demonstrate parity between the two levels at the top and bottom: Statistical comparison when good Group teams played bad Power teams and vise versa:

For matches involving Power 5 team that would go on to have end of season record above 500 but Group5/Indy team was 500 or below:  The group5/indy went 0-4. Hence, the good Power teams always beat the bad Group teams.

However, for matches involving Group of 5/Indy teams that would go on to have end of season record above 500 but Power 5 team was 500 or below: The group5/indy went 4-0. Hence, the good Group teams always beat the bad Power teams.

Hypothesis #1 Good teams beat bad teams, regardless of power status.

Further breakdown, here’s an argument to demonstrate there is more depth at the Power level over the Group level: Statistical comparison when good teams played other good teams and bad teams played other bad teams.

Note: When both teams had end of season record above 500, the group5/indy teams went 1-4.
Note: When both teams had end of season record 500 or below, the group5/indy teams went 1-2

Hypothesis #2 When the good play the good or the bad play the bad, the Power teams are usually better.

Ultimately, there really is not enough of a sample size to come to any strong conclusions.  Furthermore, it should be noted that three of the best Group/Indy teams, Coastal Carolina, Cincinnati and BYU, did not get a chance to play against any Power 5 teams, due to various reasons - mostly on account of COVID19 forcing games to be cancelled or Power 5 teams not willing to book games against these teams.

Flaws with the Playoffs and Bowl Games:

The playoffs and bowl season usually offers teams above 500 a chance to compete against each other. However, the CFB Playoff committee refused to respect the Group of 5's best teams.

Three group of 5/Indy teams were undefeated and 8 of them were 1 loss teams, but none of them were given a spot in the playoffs. Furthermore, of these 13 teams, only Cincinnati was given a chance to play a power 5 team in the Bowl seasons - that being Cincinnati vs Georgia.

Undefeated Coastal Carolina and San Jose State were both booked in bowl games against other Group of 5/Indy teams. Furthermore one loss teams: Buffalo, BYU, Liberty, Ball State, and Louisiana-Lafayette were booked bowl games against other Group of 5/Indy teams. Also, one loss teams Kent State, Ohio, and Miami Ohio, will not be playing bowl games.  Hence, it could be demonstrated that the powers that be are AFRAID to book top Group of 5/Indy teams against Power 5 teams in bowl games.

In addition to the Cincinnati vs Georgia showdown, there will only be two other bowl games that will feature Power 5 vs Group of 5/Indy teams: Tulsa will play Mississippi State and Army will play West Virginia.

If the 3 bowl games all go in the way of the Group/indy teams, then their overall record against the Power 5 teams could be 9-10, which ultimately, makes for a strong argument that they are just as good as them!!

So, next week, we will get to watch Ohio State vs Clemson and Notre Dame vs Alabama, and the winners will play each other to determine a so-called National Champion.  But wouldn't it be much more fun to see an expanded playoff that include ALL and not just some of the best teams? What if we expanded to 8 and had this as quarterfinals??

Ohio State vs Cincinnati

Notre Dame vs Coastal Carolina

Alabama vs Liberty

Clemson vs BYU

I'd bet these would all be great games!  Would all four Power 5 teams win? Maybe.. but maybe not! But can we please at least start giving these teams a fair chance to compete and prove themselves?? Wouldn't this make college football better for all?? Hopefully, that day will come!

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Discrimination Against Justice Sector no better than Racism

June 20, 2020

Letter to the editor:

Discrimination Against Justice Sector no better than Racism

Dear readers,

Yes folks, racism is wrong..  But so is any expression of "generalized hatred" against any justice sector group or industry.

Folks suggesting that “all police officers are racist” are just as guilty of discrimination as any other type of discrimination.

Folks who post pictures on twitter suggesting that people set fire to police cars, are discriminatory.

Furthermore, gay or trans people who make blanket generalized comments that all police officers and all police organizations are homophobic and transphobic, are discriminatory.

For the record, I am a transwoman who has been open about my trans status since late 2007. I know what discrimination looks like because I have experienced it firsthand.  Ironically, the only two organizations who have been willing to offer me employment (and happy to have me) in the past 12 years are a Crown Attorney's Office and a Police Station. This despite a wide variety of education and work experiences in various other industries.

The Newfoundland justice system has very many great hard working decent people. This includes police officers, lawyers, judges, sheriff officers, law clerks, legal secretaries, civilian dispatchers, policy analysts, and a variety of other people who are essential to keeping our streets safe.  I am proud to call many of these people friends and consider some of them like family.

For all you people reading this who work in the Justice sector, whether you are black, white, male, female, trans, cis, gay, straight, or anything else, know that you are appreciated!

Jennifer McCreath
St John’s, NL
jennifer.mccreath@yahoo.com

(Jennifer McCreath is a trans-activist who has lived in St. John's, NL since 2007. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Administration Management from Athabasca U. She co-founded St. John's Pride Inc. in 2010. She has run for political office in Newfoundland 3 times. She has worked as a policy analyst in both Ontario and Newfoundland Governments. She has also worked for the NL Crown Attorneys' Office, and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.)

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My take on 2019 St. John's Pride

Well, I stayed away from the Pride Parade in St. John's for 6 years in a row now. it's unfortunate that I don't feel welcome or comfortable to attend with so many people in high places in pride who for whatever reason, hate me and try to discredit, and even white-wash, all the trail-blazing i did as a trans pioneer who not only brought the T together with the LGBs.

But history will show that my decision to incorporate Pride into a non-profit entity and open the doors for sponsors, proved to be a great move, and I take great joy and pleasure in seeing the continued growth of St. John's Pride Inc, as it has grown exactly as I had hoped it would, when I created it in 2010, ran a very successful 2011 Pride week with ground-breaking new sponsors, and declared my mission complete when i handed the reigns over to a very capable ops team in 2012 when i resigned.

Finally, I think the best news of all today, though, is that the parade event appeared to go smoothly and there were no interruptions by any of the hate groups that plagued pride events in Toronto and Hamilton last month. so overall, a great day for our city and province!

McCreath's reaction to Jenn Smith of BC

So, it was brought to my attention tonight that a trans-identified person by the name of Jenn Smith (who interestingly enough, appears to be a non-op feminine-presenting male, with a female name, but requests masculine pronouns), has been causing a stir out in BC as an apparent visible trans community member who is opposing the inclusion the teaching of trans-accepting values in school.

Anyway, after an hour or two of watching Jenn videos, I noticed three key themes, and ironically, they all seem to be quite oxy-moronic.

1) Jenn keeps referring to trans as a 'lifestyle choice'  well, if this is what you are talking about Jenn, then you've got this community all wrong and you have gotten this educational program all wrong. This is not about lifestyles, this is about accepting people who have a medical condition and treating them with love, respect, and equality, not to mention, ensure access to the medical treatment they need.

2) and Jenn, no, this is not a 'trans agenda' program designed to force or encourage people to transition who are not in need of transition medical services, it is simply a program designed to make people aware that there will be people in life that they will come across, who will indeed identify as someone who needs trans medical services. In fact, having watched many of your interviews, the only 'agenda' i can see Jenn, is yours - specifically, your agenda to discourage trans people from seeking the medical attention that they need, and this is a serious problem. Yes, there are some cases of trans-regret, but most studies I have seen over the past 13 years suggest that trans-regret is less than 1%. So the risk of trans-regret is not a valid reason to shut down trans medical services or trans educational programs.

3) Jenn seems to have a hard time understanding the difference between sex and gender... and perhaps this is where the terms "transgender" or "trans umbrella" have gotten the trans community into this messy set of arguments with the religious and the political right-winged.   

I have always liked the term transsexual, as it implies that we are talking about people who desire and/or require medical interventions to their body to change SEX... not just a case of someone doing some sort of gender-bending for various personal non-medical reasons, (ie: cross-dressing, drag performing, or transvestism).

If the various trans community members don't want to have to deal with infighting in their local communities, perhaps it is time to clearly state the difference between transsexuals and the rest of the trans community.. Because it is the transsexuals who take all the discrimination and abuse, but it is the gender-benders who are the core of this onslaught of anti-trans attacks.

Should children in school learn about the fact that trans people exist? Yes, absolutely. Should they be taught to respect them and treat them with dignity and equality? yes..  and Jenn, so far, your arguments against SOGI do not address SOGIs core mandate in the first place.

Finally, Jenn Smith seems to constantly talk about alternate motives of this 'trans movement'.  but Jenn, it seems you are the one with the hidden agenda here, as you seem to be getting financial results from booking all of these 'talk sessions' you have been doing.

So Jenn, say what you feel you must, but take note that the rest of the world can see through your propaganda and bullshit.

April 19 2019 Blog Update!

Yes folks, Jennifer McCreath is still alive and well. In fact, I am going to start using this blog as my main web site from now on, as I have not been able to put the time and effort into keeping JenniferMcCreath.com active. 


Meanwhile, I am seriously considering a run in the upcoming Newfoundland and Labrador provincial election. I am currently undertaking feeler studies to gauge the levels of potential public support.  Would love to hear from you if you have an opinion either way!  jennifer.mccreath@yahoo.com or twitter @Jenn_McCreath

NL Trans Issues Still Low Priority for Gays?

It's no secret that the media has exploited the gay community and sensationalized the gay community all thru the 60s 70s 80s 90s. It wasn't until the early 2000s that it became politically incorrect to sensationalize gay issues. At the same time, members of the NL trans community have continued to suffer exploitation and sensationalization in the media, even today in 2018.

As this gay/trans/queer/umbrella community refocuses on asking for apologize for 1990s issues, what about the trans people who are still suffering today? Who is looking out for their best interests? Who is going to continue the fight to eliminate the unnecessary and discriminatory CAMH monopoly for access to NL trans health funding? Who is going to fight the chronic underemployment and unemployment that trans people in NL still face today? Are gay or "LGBTQ umbrella" Organizations, such as St. John's Pride, or Pflag NL, the right groups to lead this charge? Or do we need a trans-specific group to step up to the plate and make this work a top priority? #nlpoli

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Thane Dunn & the Cadillac Kings rock the Rock!

Thane Dunn of Moncton, New Brunswick is best-known as an Elvis Presley tribute artist. He brought his "Rock and Gospel" show to St. John's, Newfoundland last night for the first of a two night stand at Holy Heart Theatre.  Thane was accompanied by his backing band the Cadillac Kings, as well as with Bill Baize, a tenor singer who toured and performed with Elvis Presley from 1971-1976.

Thane has a genuine love and respect for Elvis and his talents. He made it clear that he is not some 'knock off' or 'impersonator' but wants to be accepted as a legit serious musician who plays Elvis cover tunes.  He was recognized in 2009 as the International World Champion at the world's biggest Elvis conversion, and his show certainly did not disappoint. Thane had a near-sold-out crowd captivated during his two hour set with his Elvis wardrobe, his stage presence, his sense of humour, and a strikingly similar voice.

Thane was also proud to announce his support for the local SPCA where he raffled off a guitar and a robe as a fundraiser. Thane was also joined on stage by two local Newfoundland musicians, including a bass player who graciously filled in at the last-minute because Thane's regular bass player was ill and injured. A young lady named Kim also shared the stage as a backing vocalist.

At one point late in the show, Thane brought a young man on stage who couldn't have been any older than 4 or 5 years old, who was dressed up in Elvis garb, complete with jump suit, sun glasses, side burns, and microphone.

Thane did a VIP meet-n-greet before the show with those who paid an extra small fee, (me with Thane depicted on the stage set before the show).

Setlist:

- Also Sprach Zarathustra (Fanfare) - Intro
See See Rider
I've Got a Woman
I've Got a Thing About You Baby
Jailhouse Rock
Heartbreak Hotel
Hound Dog
His Latest Flame
Little Sister - Get Back (Beatles cover) - Medley
A Fool Such as I
Peace in the Valley (duet with Bill Baize)
- See See Rider Instrumental Outtro -

- Intermission -

Polk Salad Annie
Help Me
Bridge Over Troubled Water
When It's My Time (Bill Baize on vocals)
How Great Thou Art
Suspicious Minds (with audience sing-a-long)
- Band Intros -
- Drum Solo -
American Trilogy
Johnny B Goode
Can't Help Falling in Love (1959 version)
Can't Help Falling in Love (1977 version)
- See See Rider Instrumental Outtro -
- Announcement - Elvis has left the building -

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