Stats Corner: Bias of the AP Poll

Bias can be defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “prejudice in favor of or against one thing or group compared to with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.” Today on Stats Corner we are going to look at the bias in the AP football poll when comparing the losses of a ranked team to an unranked team between the Power 5, with 17 such losses, and Group of 5 teams, with 7 such losses. We are going to start in week 5 for two reasons 1) a Group of 5 ranked team did not lose to an unranked team until week 5 due to 2) the absurdity of having a preseason poll which is completely useless in determining which teams are the best in the country this year. This topic will be covered in a future Stats Corner at the end of the season.

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