<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>Problematic poll</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER width="1" type="block" height="1"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Phil Taylor,
SI.com
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>College football needs another poll about as much as Matt Leinart needs help getting a date, but the new Harris Poll is here nonetheless, so we might as well get acquainted. Officially known as the Harris Interactive College Football Poll, it is yet another list of the top-25 teams, as voted on by one of the most eclectic panels you will ever see.
The results of the first Harris Poll were released earlier this week -- worth noting because the rankings make up one-third of the BCS formula that determines the two teams that will meet in the national championship game. The Harris Poll replaces the Associated Press media poll after the AP decided to end its involvement with the BCS because of conflict-of-interest issues. The other two elements of the BCS rankings are the USA Today Coaches' Poll and a computer ranking.
In other words, the Harris Poll is a big deal, and though its first top 25 was perfectly reasonable -- USC, Texas, Virginia Tech, Florida and LSU were its top five -- there were a few oddities farther down, like 0-4 Idaho receiving five points in the voting and 1-2 Arizona, whose only victory is over Northern Arizona, receiving 10. There was enough weirdness to be cause for concern, especially given college football's tendency to produce hotly disputed late-season rankings. (Remember Texas going to the Rose Bowl ahead of California last season? How about the Trojans getting squeezed out of the national championship game by Oklahoma and LSU the season before?) You get the feeling that before they're through, these Harris pollsters will have USC playing in the Poinsettia Bowl (yes, there really is such a thing.)
Nothing coming out of the poll should be surprising, in light of the strange assortment of voters on its panel. The poll should probably be sponsored by the AARP, considering the number of retirees among the voters. They include retired UCLA athletic director Peter Dalis, retired Fresno State coach Jim Sweeney, retired Michigan State coach George Perles and retired Syracuse athletic director Jake Crouthamel. There's nothing wrong with having a few wise, older heads on the panel, but you have to wonder if so much gray in the group is really necessary. "To tell the truth," former Texas coach John Mackovic told the Palm Springs Desert Sun, "I didn't know a couple of [the voters] were still alive."
But at least those voters have a long, established connection to college football. The same cannot be said for one of the bigger head-scratchers on the panel,
Carolina Panthers defensive lineman Brentson Buckner, who played at Clemson and happens to be the only current NFL player on the Harris panel. Why Buckner, you ask? The only apparent answer seems to be, Why not? Buckner began publishing his top 25 on his Web site before he had to submit an official ballot. A few weeks ago, he had Oregon State ranked 12th, even though the Beavers hadn't beaten anyone of note and weren't ranked in the AP poll. The next week Oregon State beat Boise State -- and Buckner dropped them from his rankings entirely.
The 11 major conferences and Notre Dame submitted 300 names of former coaches, players and administrators and current media members as candidates for the panel, and the Harris organization randomly selected 10 voters from each conference. That's how people like Buckner were chosen, as well as congressman Steve Largent, a former Tulsa and
Seattle Seahawks star receiver. It's also demonstrates how voters with less impressive credentials were selected, such as Jason Rash, the president of Georgia Masonry Supply, whose only connection to college football is that he's the son-in-law of Troy coach Larry Blakeney. Rash was dropped from the panel after his flimsy qualifications came to light, which indicates that some one involved with the poll is at least paying attention.
Each voter's ballot will eventually be made public, which should limit the number of off-the-wall decisions. But this is college football, where it seems every poll eventually defies common sense, and the Harris poll promises to be no different.
USC. Poinsettia Bowl. Just watch.
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