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Harris Poll voters announced

Former Marshall coach drops out of Harris poll
Associated Press

Recently retired Marshall coach Bob Pruett has dropped out of the Harris Interactive College Football Poll because of his affiliation with ESPN, and will be replaced by former SMU player Bobby Leach.

Pruett, who retired early this year, was placed on the 114-member voter panel for the Harris poll last week as part of a group selected to replace six panelists who withdrew.

Most of those who withdrew, including former Notre Dame and South Carolina coach Lou Holtz, did so because they work for ESPN in some capacity and the network does not allow its employees to take part in polls used by the Bowl Championship Series to determine which teams play for a national title.

The Harris poll replaced The Associated Press Top 25 media poll as one of three components in the BCS standings. The USA Today coaches' poll and a compilation of six computer rankings make up the other two-thirds of a team's BCS grade.

The AP poll had been used by the BCS since its inception in 1998, but after last season the AP asked BCS officials to stop using its rankings in their formula.

ESPN cut its affiliation to the coaches poll after last season.
The Harris poll panel was selected randomly by Harris Interactive Inc., a marketing firm hired by the BCS, out of a group of more than 300 nominations supplied by the Division I-A conferences and Notre Dame.

The voters were chosen to give equal representation to all 11 conferences.
The first Harris poll will be released Sept. 25. Harris poll voters will not be required to make their ballots public until the final poll Dec. 5.
 
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BCS agrees to four-year extension with Harris to conduct polls
Aug. 24, 2006
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports
NEW YORK -- The Bowl Championship Series agreed to a four-year contract extension with Harris Interactive, the company that coordinated the polls used last year to replace the Associated Press Top 25 in the BCS standings.
The agreement announced Thursday runs through the 2010 BCS bowls.
The Harris Interactive College Football Poll debuted last season after the Associated Press asked the BCS to no longer include its media poll in the formula used to determine which teams play for the national championship.
The Harris poll is voted on by a panel of former college football players, coaches and administrators, plus some media members.
The rest of the components of the BCS formula will be the USA Today coaches' poll and six computer standings -- Jeff Sagarin, Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey and Dr. Peter Wolfe.
"The BCS was pleased with how the Harris Interactive College Football Poll was structured and delivered last season," BCS coordinator and Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive said. "Harris Interactive's approach to the coordination of the poll and desire for integrity in the process warranted this extension."
http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/9618356
 
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I find it somewhat surprising that not one, but two, voters have University of Hawaii ties. Bob Wagner, who is a Wittenberg grad and started his coaching career in Ohio, is a former UH head coach. Hugh Yoshida is the former Hawaii A.D. who eventually fired Wagner. For some reason, I don't think they'll be sitting down together to share polls. :wink2:
 
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