Our weekly college football feature is back, where we take a look at each of the Associated Press ballots. Our mission is to hold these "experts" accountable, in hopes of improving the AP Poll in some small way. We'll be calling out all those writers who show far too much homerism to the team they cover. We'll point out those we don't think watched a single game, and those ballots that simply don't make any sense. And, occasionally we might even give someone a pat on the back when credit is due.The week 4 AP Top 25 poll is out and overall, I must admit, there isn't too much to complain about. It's clear that after three weeks of football that we all have a much better idea of who are the top teams, and who belong in that second tier from 7th to 15th. But these are still AP pollsters, so there's still ballots to pick on.
And before we begin, let me remind that I know this all doesn't really matter that much...
Worst Ballot Aditi Kinkhabwala (The Berger Record, NJ)
Minnesota at 22nd. Hopefully this is a misprint for Aditi's sake, because there's not one good reason to rank the Gophers in a Top 50 poll. Minnesota trailed for a good portion of their game last week at home to Montana State and just barely beat Northern Illinois in week one. This is also the same Gophers team that went 1-11 last season.
Must be a misprint.
Buckeye Hater John Hunt (The Oregonian, OR)
I don't necessarily dispute Hunt's ranking of Ohio State 25th, just figured you'd like to know who dropped the Buckeyes the most in the AP poll. Personally, I wouldn't overreact that much. They didn't look great on Saturday night, or even good, but that's a damn good USC team which is unquestionably the No. 1 in the country and won't lose this season.
Apparently USC isn't unquestionably No. 1 Ray Fittipaldo (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
Ray Ray was the lone pollster who kept Georgia at No. 1 after a tough 14-7 win on the road at South Carolina. I would have assumed Fittipaldo then thinks so highly of the Gamecocks that he also had them ranked in the top 25, but they're nowhere to be seen. Ray does have Ohio State at 13, so logic would figure that the Trojans have themselves a pretty solid win. Oh well.
Because we can never leave him out Jon Wilner (San Jose Mercury News, CA)
Wilner rewards big wins on national television more than anyone, but doesn't see close wins against mediocre competition as a considering factor. Jon still has East Carolina at No. 4 after barely getting by Tulane (0-2), ahead of Georgia, Florida and Oklahoma.
Wilner also has something serious against LSU and Texas, ranked 16th and 22nd, respectively. I realize neither have played any behemoths, but this seems a bit harsh.
Congratulations on falling asleep while filling out your ballot Craig James (ESPN/ABC)
Craig James is a busy man, no doubt, and there's a good chance he fell asleep on Sunday filling out his ballot after a long Saturday. But that's no excuse for putting Arizona into the top 25 AFTER LOSING TO NEW MEXICO.
What's up with Iowa? Robbie Andreu (Gainesville Sun, FL) and Adam Van Brimmer (Savannah Morning News, GA)
Thanks to these types of pollsters, I'll always have content for this post. I'm fairly certain these two didn't watch a lick of Iowa's scrappy 17-5 win over an Iowa State team that has a long way to go. Iowa was actually outgained in the contest by 79 yards. But apparently that was impressive enough for these two to rank the Hawkeyes at 21st and 20th, respectively.
That, or maybe it was that opening week win over FCS Maine that they just couldn't keep out of their minds. This just in: Iowa isn't that good.
Still with the Utah thing? Ray Ratto (San Francisco Chronicle, CA) and Randy Rosetta (Baton Rouge Advocate, LA)
Pollsters rocketed the Utah Runnin' Utes into the top 25 after that week one 26-24 win against the Wolverines. Understood that Utah is a decent team, but on Saturday Michigan was exposed as an even worse team than we originally believed. So why all the love still for Utah? Randy Rosetta has the Utes at 9th, just ahead of BYU, or even South Florida who at least has a win against a ranked team to show for it.
Picking On The Pollsters Effect Maurice Patton (The Tennessean, TN)
After earning worst ballot honors last week for failing to acknowledge East Carolina's rout of West Virginia, Patton corrected himself and has the Pirates up to 17th and the Mountaineers down to 21st. Your welcome.
Saving the world, one pollster at a time...
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