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POLLSPEAKPollspeak is a watchdog organization dedicated to keeping college sports polls (and computer-rankings) honest, or at least questioning those that seem to be flawed, uneducated or have an unreasonable bias. Why? Because polls affect teams' TV exposure, finances, recruiting and national championship hopes. Voters and pollsters should be held accountable.
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Frequently Asked QuestionsTry our FAQ search!
Where can I find the polls?All of the polls are found with a software tool called Pollstalker. You can get to it from any page by clicking the "Pollstalker" button on the top or left menus. Or you can click here: POLLSTALKER. On the left hand side of Pollstalker is a menu that lets you select a sport, a specific poll and a specific week. Note that some sports have more than one poll. The "Week" defaults to the most recent week available. Choose the options you want and click the "Run Report" button. Back to TopHow do I analyze the polls?Once you've selected a poll to analyze in Pollstalker. Click the "Run Report" button. The default report is the "Full Report." This shows you a list of all the teams ranked #1, who the most extreme voters are, and information about every team receiving a vote. Just about everything you see in a report is a link. You can click on team names to go to a report specific for that team. You can move your mouse over a number and you will be given a pop-up showing the corresponding voters. Click on a voter name to see a report specific to that voter. All columns are sortable by clicking on them. You can also run reports from the menu on the left by filling out the proper fields. For example, you can compare the rankings of two teams by putting a team in the "Team #1" and "Team #2" fields. Back to TopWhere are the individual ballots found?To see the ballots of specific voters you must first choose a poll that has public ballots. Typically, the AP Poll has public ballots. So in Pollstalker choose the correct poll from the "Poll" menu -- i.e. "AP Poll CFB '08". Then click the "Run Report" button. Click any voter name you see to bring up that voter's ballot. You can run your mouse over most numbers you see on the report and a pop up will appear with more voters. Again, you can click those names. Alternatively, you can run a Voter Analysis report manually by using the menu on the left side of Pollstalker. Click the circle button next to "Voter Analysis" then choose the voter you want from the drop down menu. Again, the AP Poll almost always has public ballots. For football, the Coaches' Poll and Harris Interactive Poll ballots are only made public on the final week of the regular season. So you will have to wait until then to see their ballots. Of course, if you would like to see those ballots all year long, be sure to sign the PETITION. Back to TopHow do I nominate someone as a Bad or Good Voter?Using Pollstalker, run a voter analysis report by choosing a voter from the menu on the left, or simply click on any voter name in another report. This will bring up the voter's ballot. At the top of the ballot are two buttons, "Good" and "Bad," which allow you to vote this voter as either a good or bad voter. However, you may only nominate one good voter each week and one bad voter each week. So choose wisely. Back to TopWhere are the buttons to vote?As described above, use Pollstalker to bring up the voter's ballot. At the top of the ballot are two buttons, "Good" and "Bad," which allow you to vote this voter as either a good or bad voter. However if the voting buttons aren't there it is because: 1) You have already voted this week. (You may only vote for one good voter and one bad voter each week.) 2) Voting is already closed for the current week. 3) Voting is not allowed for the current poll. Back to TopWhy does Pollstalker say the current week is X instead of Y?For football and basketball seasons Pollstalker typically uses the AP week numbering system. The AP calls its pre-season poll "week 1". So "week 2" is actually the first week of the season. If this changes at some point, we'll let you know. Back to Top
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