The 2012 USA Today Preseason Coaches’ Poll was released on Thursday, August 2nd.  While most sites will cover who is No. 1 and the order of teams, the most glaring fact for Pollspeak is that the SEC just expanded their way to an advantage.

The SEC grew to 14 teams, which also grew their number of votes to 7, more than any other conference.  Here is how the votes break down this year:

Number of Coaches with Votes

Does this give the SEC a potential advantage?  Certainly.  Having an extra vote can only help (assuming that coaches don’t vote against their best interests).  Since ballots for the Coaches’ Poll are secret, we’ll never know exactly how much.  As always, if you want to join Pollspeak in lobbying for public ballots, please sign the Free the Ballots Petition.

Meanwhile the SEC opens the season with 5 teams in the top 10.  Here is how the top 25 breaks down:

Number of Teams in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll Preseason Top 25

Is it an unfair advantage for the SEC?  Arguable, but probably not.  The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is at least adhering to a standard.  Each conference is getting half as many votes as it has members.  The conferences with odd numbers: the MAC (13) and Sun Belt (9) are both rounding down.  The only exception is the WAC with 7 teams, but only 2 votes.  However, we can cut the coaches a little slack since the WAC just added two FCS teams in July – Texas State and UTSA.  (Although these deals were in place for some time.)  This standard was completely out of whack when Pollspeak first started reporting on it in 2007, and has improved ever since.  We can only hope we have played a part in that progress.

By comparison, the other human poll in the BCS (Harris Interactive) gives every conference 10 votes regardless of size.  So in that sense, it does offer more equality than the Coaches’ Poll and doesn’t foster a land-grab mentality.

This is a very good development for the SEC in the last two years of the BCS.  By moving to 14 teams, they have also given themselves an edge in voting to close out the BCS era.  Of course, things will change a bit next year.  The ACC will also have 14 teams; will they also get 7 votes?  Of course, who knows what other crazy expansion changes might happen in the offseason.

The BCS is being overhauled in 2014 and will include a four-team playoff and likely use a selection committee.  That means the Coaches’ Poll likely won’t be used in determining the de-facto national champion after 2013.  So the SEC gains an advantage for the final two years in the Coaches’ Poll when it matters most.  The poll will still exist after the BCS.  It will be reported on, tracked for historical reasons, etc.  (Just like the AP has been during the BCS era), but it probably won’t be scrutinized like it has during the BCS era.   Unfortunately for football fans, that  means we’ll be back to split national champions:  Coaches, AP and the <insert new BCS name> champion.

On that note, the Harris Interactive Poll may disappear completely in 2014.  It was originally contracted by the BCS specifically for use in the BCS.  Its future is currently up in the air and BCS Executive Director, Bill Hancock, could only say “so much is unknown at this time.”

For those that really like to keep tabs on the coaches, here is our annual list of voting coaches changes:  2011 to 2012.

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