This Friday, conventional wisdom will lead the general public to believe the Jamaicans are heavy favorites going into the men's 4x100m relay final. Oddsmakers have Jamaica at 1:3 and the U.S. at 4:1, which means the odds are 12 times longer for the Americans.

There's a reason why: since 2007, the Jamaicans have won seven global titles. Usain Bolt ran on six of those; he missed the 2014 World Relays, but Jamaica won anyway. In that same time frame, Team USA won just two men's 4x100m relay titles at the 2007 World Championships and 2015 World Relays.

But this year, Jamaica isn't the dominant power that their titles and mythology perpetuate. In the relay, at least, they're mostly just a beneficiary of American incompetence. Take a look at the last nine championship 4x100m relays:

Year	Meet	Team USA's Exchanges	RESULT
2015	World Championships (Beijing)	FAIL (Gay -> Rodgers)	LOST
2015	World Relays (Bahamas)	GOOD	WON
2014	World Relays (Bahamas)	FAIL (Kimmons -> Salaam)	DIDN'T MEET
2013	World Championships (Moscow)	FAIL (Salaam -> Gatlin)	LOST
2012	Olympics (London)	GOOD	LOST
2011	World Championships (Daegu)	FAIL (Patton -> Dix)	LOST
2009	World Championships (Berlin)	FAIL (Crawford -> Patton)	DIDN'T MEET
2008	Olympics (Beijing)	FAIL (Patton -> Gay)	DIDN'T MEET
2007	World Championships (Osaka)	GOOD	WON

That's seven wins for the Jamaicans and only two for the Americans. But in the three instances where both teams had clean exchanges, Jamaica only won once--in 2012, when Bolt's cronies, Michael Frater, Nesta Carter, and Yohan Blake, were at their long-since-past peaks. That race took a world record to win.

The other two times--the 2007 World Championships and 2015 World Relays--the Americans had clean passes when facing off against Bolt, and they won.

When USA has clean exchanges, their talent matches up with Jamaica's. After all, they've won two of those three meetings. It's not Bolt that beats the Americans; it's the Americans that beat themselves.

Obviously, the USA wouldn't be undefeated with clean passes. Jamaica still would have won some of those races, but I don't think they would have swept all seven.

Saying Jamaica is the fastest relay team in the world is like saying Yohan Blake was faster than Usain Bolt at the 2011 World Championships... when Bolt false-started. The Americans can win on Friday night if they get the stick around smoothly.

​Correction: an editing error originally had Warren Weir on the 2012 Jamaican 4x100m.

Workout Wednesday: Team USA Relay Camp