Benjamin Disraeli was noted by Mark Twain as saying that, "There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics." Through six games this season, Football Outsiders has ranked TOSU at #28 in its latest S&P+ Rankings thus far in 2015. SB Nation even posits that the Bucks will lose two games in November (@ Illinois and @ TSUN).
I was ignorant in school and didn't do well in sums, so I'm asking the 11W math wizards to please give me some feedback about this statistical model. How long has the S&P+ Rankings been in use? How accurate is the model in predicting the end-of-season outcomes by extrapolating the first half of a team's schedule? And is this model more for the betting line in Las Vegas, or can ordinary fans glean any wheat from the numerical chaff?
Personally, I think the bean counters forget the intangibles that can't be reckoned on a spread sheet, and can only be scored in the heart.
