Friday, January 9, 2009

Close the polls

Here's my argument for doing away with the Preseason college football poll:

In the Coaches' Poll, 52 percent (13 of 25) of the teams that were ranked in the Top 25 Preseason Poll failed to make the list in the final poll.
The AP Poll fared slightly better at 44 percent (11 of 25).

A few examples:
Clemson - preseason #9/#9 - finished 7-6.
Auburn - preseason #10/#10 - finished 5-7.
Wisconsin - preseason #12/#13 - finished 7-6.
Kansas - preseason #13/#14 - finished 8-5.
Arizona State - preseason #16/#15 - finished 5-7.
Tennessee - preseason #18/#18 - finished 5-7.
Illinois - preseason #19/#20 - finished 5-7.
But the worst preseason selection has to go to:
Michigan - preseason #24 in the AP - finished 3-9.

In either case, I think waiting two or three weeks into the season would seem to give everyone more of a fair shake.

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