Monday, December 03, 2007

Coaches Poll Craziness

Great breakdown from the DC Sports Bog of some zany balloting in the Coaches Poll.

I run a ridiculous local college basketball poll that means nothing, counts for nothing and features random voters I've never met with names like Thigh Master and dcreds, and I would absolutely kick any of them out for voting like this. And yet college football uses this to determine its national champion. That makes sense.

[snip]

Every single coach whose team was in the top 25 voted his team higher than it finished in the poll, except Mack Brown and Jim Tressel, who voted his No. 1 team No. 1. Wake Forest received four votes and finished 35th, though Jim Grobe left it off his ballot, and Michigan State received three votes and finished 37th, though Mark Dantonio left it off it his ballot.

College football coaching moralists of 2007: Mack Brown, Jim Grobe and Mark Dantonio.

The most stark moral offenders are: Lloyd Carr (10 spots difference), Mike Bellotti (8), Chris Petersen (6), Mike Riley (5), Randy Edsall (5), Tommy Bowden (5), Mike Leach (4), Ron Zook (4) and Phillip Fulmer (4). Frank Beamer (3) didn't quite make this cut, but he was the only coach to vote Virginia Tech No. 2, meaning he tried to put his own team in the title game and no one else did. A little on the dicey side.