ESPN out of coaches poll

TG1996 · Post by **TG1996** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 9:15 pm

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8135683/

Not only is the AP taking themselves out of the BCS formula all-together, ESPN now doesn't want its name staked to the coaches poll unless votes are made public.

Bleeding Orange · Post by **Bleeding Orange** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 9:25 pm

TG1996 wrote:http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8135683/

Not only is the AP taking themselves out of the BCS formula all-together, ESPN now doesn't want its name staked to the coaches poll unless votes are made public.

This, in my opinion, is awesome. The AP poll was probably the worst influence on the BCS, in my opinion, and if the Coaches Poll is forced to be public each week it will decrease the "big boy circle jerk" that I think has been going on for a long, long time (e.g., coaches vote for other teams in their conference or OOC that benefit their program in the longrun). In the past they never had any motivation to make legitimate votes, and given current trends in the media, if any coach makes consistantly slanted votes, they will be hung out to dry on a national level. It'll be a thing of beauty to see a guy like Tressel hanging by his balls for voting Michigan 10 spots higher than everyone else in week ten of the season...

Falcon30 · Post by **Falcon30** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 9:46 pm

Why do we even have a coaches poll? Seriously. They only know who they have played, and they have a HUGE reason to be biased in this whole system. It is crap, and we know some of them hand the voting duties off to an assistant!

throw it out.

Bleeding Orange · Post by **Bleeding Orange** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 10:11 pm

Falcon30 wrote:
throw it out.

You can't because if you did teams like BG and Boise would be at the top of the rankings, and we all know that the big boys would never stand for that.

UK Peregrine · Post by **UK Peregrine** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 11:44 pm

Falcon30 wrote:Why do we even have a coaches poll? Seriously. They only know who they have played, and they have a HUGE reason to be biased in this whole system. It is crap, and we know some of them hand the voting duties off to an assistant!

throw it out.

Why we're jumping on the Coaches poll, why not take a shot at all polls. All polls are in existence for no reason other than to serve as a construct that the media and fans use to discuss and debate about which teams are the best during the course of the season. They are contrived concoctions and nothing more. Think about it, why not let a NCAA committee select the teams for a tournament or for bowl games at the end of the season. They do not need a polls in mid-season to tell them where teams ought to be in terms of bowl opponents. One could reasonably surmise the top teams in the nation, and easily match them up in a tournament or if it must be, then in existing the BCS bowls. Heck this sounds very similar to hoops where I feel the polls are definitely in place to have something for the media to discuss during the regular season. Selection committees do not rely on the polls as their crutch to select the March Madness field. They have their own selection criteria. Why should football be any different? If the purpose of the polls is to create debate, then they serve their purpose. If the purpose is to select the best teams in the land, then they are a miserable attempt at leveling the playing feel and selecting the "best" teams. The polls in their present state are inherently biased, but hey that's what they were orginally intended as. They are biased ranking systems that generate buzz and conversation. So be it and have at it!

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 7:23 am

I like the polls.

They filled a real need for decades. There was nothing resembling a playoff in college football, there was no Internet. The polls helped fans understand the college football world in a way it could not otherwise be understood.

And, from our perspective, the polls have helped us. When we get a team in the polls, it forces the national media to start paying attention.

One of the biggest thrills for me in watching the Falcons over these past few years has been knowing their name has been listed in every newspaper in the country right along with the likes of Florida, Notre Dame etc.

And, anyway, I've never been one to think we really need any kind of national championship in college football. I'd be perfectly happy if the BCS just went away, and we could go back to the old way of doing things.

Let the Pac 10 and Big Ten champs square off in the Rose Bowl, regardless of where either are ranked -- and likewise with every other conference -- and let the pollsters figure it out on Jan. 2.

I don't see the need for a "national championship game," a "national championship trophy" or any of this other nonsense.

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 8:21 am

I think the coaches poll is mostly crap because those guys don't get to watch the other games. So, on that note, the weeknight games help in this aspect as well. Coaches cannot watch other games that are on the same day they play. If we are on TV on a Wednesday night, well, we have a chance to be seen by these voters. That gets us recognition and votes in the poll. But all in all, I still think a coaches poll in football is useless.

golfertk14 · Post by **golfertk14** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 8:26 am

The BCS in GENERAL is a mess and I think that was proven after last year's Championship Title Game. Of course USC should've been #1, but even before OU got hammered, Auburn should've been in their place-they were a flat-out better team than OU was and the Orange Bowl only proved that point.

Flipper · Post by **Flipper** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 10:05 am

The only thing the Orange Bowl "proved" was that USC had a better football team than Oklahoma.

Falcon30 · Post by **Falcon30** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 10:44 am

Schadenfreude wrote:I like the polls.

And, anyway, I've never been one to think we really need any kind of national championship in college football. I'd be perfectly happy if the BCS just went away, and we could go back to the old way of doing things.

I like the polls, too - but if an appearance in the title game rests on these polls, they should be taken very seriously by the coaches and writers involved.

I think bowls have been ruined by the damn tie-ins. We were lucky to get the liberty bowl last year...Boise State v. Louisville was a heck of a game, and that would not normally have been possible.

The fact that the 8th team from BCS conference X gets tied in to a bowl game is crap. Forbid more than 4 tie-ins per conference, and let these bowls try to create interesting matchups every year.

BGFan · Post by **BGFan** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 10:51 am

Sorry Schad, I disagree. A playoff system is the only way to determine the true national champion. A team with a losing record in Gibsonburg just proved at the state level that, come playoff time, all bets are off.

A team can improve dramatically in the course of a season, yet, because they started out slowly they have absolutely no way to showcase that in the post season except for maybe a minor bowl game or something, which, in the end, proves absolutely nothing.

A playoff would give them a chance to prove that the latter part of their seaon was no fluke by making a run for the NC trophy.

It could also put recruiting on a more level playing field when a recruit knows that each school has at least a chance to make it to the playoffs.

Goose · Post by **Goose** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 11:16 am

Flipper wrote:The only thing the Orange Bowl "proved" was that USC had a better football team than Oklahoma.

It also proved that Ashley Simpson is an extremely talented singer!

FalconKing · Post by **FalconKing** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 11:58 am

Goose wrote:
Flipper wrote:The only thing the Orange Bowl "proved" was that USC had a better football team than Oklahoma.
It also proved that Ashley Simpson is an extremely talented singer!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 12:52 pm

BGFan wrote:Sorry Schad, I disagree. A playoff system is the only way to determine the true national champion.

I really don't care about a national champion, true or otherwise. Never have.

A team with a losing record in Gibsonburg just proved at the state level that, come playoff time, all bets are off.

That's an argument against a playoff in my mind.

tekekini · Post by **tekekini** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 12:58 pm

A playoff system only works if you just take conference winners and thow them in a tournament. if it includes more than just conference winners then you have the same problems picking out the other participants for the playoffs as you do today. There would be biases, and teams would be left out that others think should have had an opportunity. there is going to be a problem with it no matter what. so i have just accepted it as it is.

if you base it on records, some teams will have it easier then others and get an unfair advantage that way.USC's schedule this year is a cake walk by the way and will lose a national title game because they are gonna get used to running over high school teams. i think the polls need to stay and make the votes public like they are trying to do so the coaches are more carefull and fair about their votes.

ESPN out of coaches poll

ESPN out of coaches poll

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