The Man of Cheese gives us a look at the seedy underbelly of coaches polls and their effect on the season as well as why you should not play a tough out of conference schedule.
So I took a look at the way the coaches voted in the final USA Today Coaches Poll. If you don’t know, this poll is a major factor in the BCS rankings. A few things that jump out at me from looking at this…
- Almost everyone has Ohio State ranked #1 (including every Big 10 coach). I guess strength of schedule has nothing to do with how coaches vote? Or maybe they were all impressed with OSU’s non-conference games?
09/01 YSU W 38-6
09/08 Akron W 20-2
09/15 at Washington W 33-14
10/13 Kent St W 48-3 - Hal Mumme (Head Coach at New Mexico State) ranked fellow WAC conference team Hawaii as the #1 team in the country. Illinois got its highest rankings from fellow Big 10 coaches.
- Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops ranked his OU team #1, and turned around and ranked LSU #6? I wonder what he was trying to do there… I bet he would have left LSU out of the top 25 all together if it wouldn’t look so obvious or if the final poll wasn’t published.
So what messages does this send?
First and foremost… don’t be a hero and load up your schedule with difficult opponents. Schedule cream puffs and let everyone else get tripped up facing tough challenges.
Second… Look out for your own at all costs. Take care of the teams you have an affiliation with, and maybe they will look out for you later.
And Third, and most important… Take care of yourself first, and don’t worry about anyone else.
Maybe I’m crazy, but this just makes me sick. You judge for yourself.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/graphics/coaches_fb_poll_2007/flash.htm
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