I don't think the '14 OSU picks are that homerish. There's an argument for them, it all depends on your mindset.
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For me, the "who was better?" thing is a full-season, average outcome thing. I'm probably in the minority on that. For most, I'd guess they probably figure it's a full-season, peak outcome thing. What has the team done at its best?
(I just deem it mostly likely a team will play at its average performance most of the time. If a team's average effort is close to their peak, good on them. But that seems rare.)
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The '14 OSU crowd is probably just an "end of season" thing - who would win in a NC game at the end of their season? And if that's your criteria, then that Buckeyes team makes sense.
I was fully still expecting for Bama to come back and win until that long run by Elliott late in the game. And that Oregon team was truly great, but couldn't compete with the Buckeyes.