Good and Bad Voters of "Week 4" (posted 9/25/10)

We have a radio guy for both categories this week.  Do Arbitron ratings come out soon?  The Good Voter of Week 4 is Matt McCoy of WTVN-AM in Columbus, Ohio.  He has a combination of a clean ballot, and he is also one of five voters to rank Nebraska highest at No. 3.

As predicted, Craig James did not take Bad Voter of the Week even though he was the most extreme voter.  However, even though five of his seven extreme picks were highest in the nation, he still received more Bad votes than Good.  The Bad Voter of Week 4 is Rob Long of Fox radio in Baltimore.  It could be because he was the only voter to rank Notre Dame (over the Michigan State team who just beat the Irish).  But likely also because he voted Nebraska lowest, and as we can tell from the Good Voter of the Week, Nebraska fans were likely voting in force this week.

PEOPLE'S PICK:  Good Voter of "Week 4":

PEOPLE'S PICK: Bad Voter of "Week 4":

Pollspeak Report for 'Week 4' (posted 9/25/10)

Pollspeak goes head-to-head with the voters.  Read the full story on CBSSPORTS.COM by following the link.

Note: Clicking a team link in this blog will show you how everyone voted for that team. Clicking a voter name link will show you their ballot.

Texas is fast becoming a computer darling. The Longhorns are No. 1 in both the Sagarin and Massey BCS ratings. Meanwhile the AP has Texas lowest of all the rankings at No. 7. It may be a coincidence, but the Computer Science Department at The University of Texas currently boasts a 5% enrollment increase. We’ll be watching that UTCS isn’t promising the computers more technical support in return for higher rankings. (The jokes may get better as the season goes on, but no promises, and frankly, it’s unlikely.)

The coaches have Arizona lowest (No. 16) of any BCS component or the AP. If only we could see the coaches’ ballots and how many of them rank Iowa over Arizona still. Otherwise, the USA Today Poll is pretty standard fare this week.

In the AP, Craig James is the most extreme voter this week, which is rare for a national voter. However, I doubt the fans will tag him with Bad Voter of the Week since five of his seven extreme picks were for ranks that are highest in the nation. Nebraska at No. 3, Michigan at No. 14, Oregon State at No. 15, Penn State at No. 17, and Texas A&M at No. 25. On the negative side he was one of two voters to rank Boise State (No. 7) and LSU (unranked) lowest.

We’ve finally reached a point of the season where we can start talking about head-to-head issues. As a refresher, the AP Voting Guidelines state: “Pay attention to head-to-head results.” Now, they don’t say to slavishly adhere to head-to-head results, but voters should certainly show good reason to go against the outcome on the field. So at Pollspeak, we regularly point out people who don’t seem to be paying attention. For example:

10 voters still have Iowa ranked higher than Arizona after yesterday’s late night upset. The two most extreme cases are Desmond Conner and Lisa Byington who have the Hawkeyes nine places over the Wildcats. Being from Connecticut and Michigan, maybe they didn’t stay up to see the end result. In fact, Byington still ranks Iowa highest at No. 10.

Rob long who works for Fox radio in Baltimore, has Notre Dame ranked but not Michigan State. He gave the Irish their only vote in the nation even though they have two losses, one of which was to the Spartans on Saturday.

Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald was the only voter not to rank Auburn, but strangely, he did rank Clemson. So he was also the only voter to rank the Tigers over the Tigers….that is, Clemson Tigers over the Auburn Tigers.

John Shinn of The Norman Transcript was the only voter to rank California even though they were just blasted by undefeated Nevada. However, he also didn’t rank the Wolf Pack team that did the blasting. That’s a shame because with just four more points, Nevada could have had its first ranking since they climbed as high as No. 10 in 1948!

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