But it doesn’t take into account the regular season, which only serves as a winnowing of the field to make it to the playoffs. Any given week does not matter for a team unless the playoffs are on the line. I for one would not want an Auburn-Georgia or Georgia-Ga Tech matchup that didn’t matter because we had already made the playoffs.

I also somewhat disagree with your third point. I believe “getting hot” is exactly what it is. Hot for a month, maybe, but hot nonetheless. Compare that to the start of the Giants season, and you’ll see two completely different teams. But those two losses to start don’t enter the equation.

Basically, it’s a preference of systems. I prefer one where every game is do or die, not one where the outcome is a #4 instead of #1 positioning in the playoffs. Biases cancel each other out enough for me in the end…but not all people.