Most Extreme AP Voters

[mowegl 4]

He's my least favorite kind of voter. RANKINGS are NOT the same as PREDICTIONS! If you think Team A would beat Team B... that's the damn order you rank them in the pre-season. I don't care if UGA has a tougher schedule. I don't care if you think OSU plays one difficult game. I don't care if Clemson has a cake walk in the ACC. If you think UGA is better than OSU or Clemson is no better than the tenth team in the nation... that's the way you rank them. You write prediciton columns. You vote based on how good teams actually are. Your impression of the teams should change as the teams prove or disprove (by winning and losing) what you think of them, but it should not EVER be based on what you PREDICT down the line in the schedule.

Exactly. That's the thing that kills me about rankings - they aren't rankings! They are just predictions like you said. People just put the teams with the easiest roads at the top every year because they don't have the balls to actually say who they think is the best team. They just want to make themselves look smart by having the top 2 right at the end of the year (ie 2004 Oklahoma USC). And back then it was somewhat self-fulfilling since the AP had an impact on the BCS. I can't remember if it still does.

Any average moron can tell you the teams with the easiest road - OSU, USC, Oklahoma. That's not the point off RANKINGS though. Ranking is supposed to rank each teams ability. When you beat the #1 team you should have beaten what people thought was the best not the team with the easiest shot at making it to number 1 at the end of the season - that's what vegas odds are for.

Does the AP still have an impact on the BCS or is it just the coaches poll?

[mcgufcm 4,107]

weagle251, I'm not at all saying that rankings are not subjective. I'm saying they are not predictions. I don't care what a voter thinks will happen in week 11. That's irrelevant because we'll find that out when week 11 gets here. I only care whether he thinks Auburn is a better team than Clemson (just to pick two teams that don't play each other). That's a subjective analysis because those teams never play one another.

The voter should use all the information that he has using objective facts (primarily the record built up over the course of the season but also including SOS and stuff like that), but in the end, he needs to have good judgment and make a subjective decision.

The way this guy (and so many others) erroneously ranked teams is by trying to plot out what he thinks will happen on the schedule. WHO CARES WHAT YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN? We'll get that answer soon enough. I care what you think would happen right now if 1 played 2. If you think 2 is a better team, they should be ranked higher. IT DOESN'T MATTER if team 2 has a harder schedule (thus having more chances to lose). That part will play out, and we'll objectively know whether they were better than teams on their schedule or not.

Rankings are inherently subjective, but they are not equivalent to predictions. Nor should they be. His "I think Auburn will lose a few games so I started them low" reasoning is garbage. AND it's the reason voters were reluctant to move OU or USC in 2004. They had successfully predicted undefeated seasons so the voters wanted to keep it that way based on their predictions. That's a terrible, terrible reason to rank teams. You look at records and standings and stats and schedules after the games are played; then you rank teams with that stuff in mind and break up the teams that are close by subjective valuation.

[weagle251 1]

So you meant to say, "You vote based on how good you think teams actually are." Got it. I can agree with that. While I agree with you that the week to week approach is more correct and the method you've laid out is solid, it seems the AP is only interested in the conclusions, not how the pollsters came to them. Don't they really get around this by taking the average of 65 submissions to create the final poll, though? Plus, since it's the AP and therefore has no bearing on BCS placement, why do we care?

[AURainman 6]

UGA was voted #1. People think they are the best team in the country.

SEC media days picked Florida to win the East.

SEC media days make PREDICTIONS. The polls RANK teams. There is a difference. That's why the two examples above can co-exist without being a contradiction.

[dyehardaufan 0]

last time I checked AP poll doesnt matter in college football. It is not a factor in the BCS rankings(the harris poll replaced it). Let the bias idiot vote however he wants, his poll he is voting in means nothing so thats the funniest thing about this whole thing.

[bellefay1 1]

last time I checked AP poll doesnt matter in college football. It is not a factor in the BCS rankings(the harris poll replaced it). Let the bias idiot vote however he wants, his poll he is voting in means nothing so thats the funniest thing about this whole thing.

The AP Poll doesn't matter?

[dyehardaufan 0]

last time I checked AP poll doesnt matter in college football. It is not a factor in the BCS rankings(the harris poll replaced it). Let the bias idiot vote however he wants, his poll he is voting in means nothing so thats the funniest thing about this whole thing.

The AP Poll doesn't matter?

nope, its not a factor in the BCS rankings, the Harris Poll replaced it a few years ago.

[bellefay1 1]

last time I checked AP poll doesnt matter in college football. It is not a factor in the BCS rankings(the harris poll replaced it). Let the bias idiot vote however he wants, his poll he is voting in means nothing so thats the funniest thing about this whole thing.

The AP Poll doesn't matter?

nope, its not a factor in the BCS rankings, the Harris Poll replaced it a few years ago.

To be honest, they had good reason to leave the BCS. The Harris poll was just a lame substitute.

I'm not a fan of the polls picking the champion weeks before a game is played but to say the AP is irrelevant is just not true.

[AU Cav 0]

last time I checked AP poll doesnt matter in college football. It is not a factor in the BCS rankings(the harris poll replaced it). Let the bias idiot vote however he wants, his poll he is voting in means nothing so thats the funniest thing about this whole thing.

The AP Poll doesn't matter?

nope, its not a factor in the BCS rankings, the Harris Poll replaced it a few years ago.

While technically the Harris poll did replace the AP, it was because the AP asked the BCS not to consider their ranking in the formula anymore.

And the AP still votes a champion at the end of the year which I'm sure many people still consider a valid champion.

[wakeriderof87 31]

last time I checked AP poll doesnt matter in college football. It is not a factor in the BCS rankings(the harris poll replaced it). Let the bias idiot vote however he wants, his poll he is voting in means nothing so thats the funniest thing about this whole thing.

The AP Poll doesn't matter?

nope, its not a factor in the BCS rankings, the Harris Poll replaced it a few years ago.

While technically the Harris poll did replace the AP, it was because the AP asked the BCS not to consider their ranking in the formula anymore.

And the AP still votes a champion at the end of the year which I'm sure many people still consider a valid champion.

Only the fans of the team that won the AP championship and not the BCS.