POLLSPEAK'S PICK: Bad Voter of Week 6 -- Joe Rexrode   (posted 10/1/08)

Once again Pollspeak is going with a relatively obscure voter as far as the fans are concerned.  Joe Rexrode received only 1 Good vote and 2 Bad votes.  However, he still managed to find his way onto the Pollspeak radar.  Before his nomination was made official, we checked his AP Poll Blog.  In what amounts to the most ironic statement in Pollspeak history, he writes:  "Hopefully I can earn "Bad Voter of the Week" some day."  Congratulations!  That day is today.  Of course, the reasoning is not what he was expecting.

Once again our Bad Voter has a relatively clean ballot in Pollstalker.  However, we have some points to make this week and Rexrode is a good example.  First, like last week's Bad Voter, Rexrode votes two losers over winners from their head-to-head matchups:

• Kansas #14 over USF #15.  Yes, it was a close game at USF and this is a close ranking.  It MAY even be justifiable if USF had a loss on the season, but USF is undefeated and already beat Kansas. 

• Fresno State #17 over Wisconsin #19.  Rexrode is not alone in this choice (five others joined him), but that doesn't help.  Wisconsin beat Fresno State at Fresno, and both teams have the same record.  Pollspeak recommends that all voters review the AP Guidelines regarding head-to-head results ("Pay attention"). 

Pollspeak has one more point to make, however.  Rexrode ranked USC (#6) and Ohio State (#8) highest in the country.  He isn't alone in those choices, although he alone ranked both so highly.  Our point is certainly open to debate, but both of those teams likely shouldn't be in the top eight this week.  I'm not saying that they aren't great teams.  I'm not saying they won't be ranked in the top eight come season's end.  What I am saying is they don't deserve it in week six.  There are other teams that are either undefeated and/or have played reasonable schedules (i.e. Penn State, Connecticut, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, etc.).  Again, I would direct readers to the AP Guidelines "Base your vote on performance, not reputation or preseason speculation."

USC lost to (1-2) Oregon State (who was trounced by Penn State), and as Adam Van Brimmer (who voted Ohio State lowest at #23) told Pollspeak -- he dropped the Buckeyes drastically because, "they had beaten a I-AA team, struggled against a bad MAC team and (were) blown out by the Trojans."  Brimmer feels he is one of the "scant few" who actually follows the AP guidelines, which also include "Don’t hesitate to make significant changes in your ballot from week to week. "

So we urge Rexrode and all voters to keep these guidelines in mind.  Your goal isn't to predict the future or cling to the past.  It is to report on the present state of college football -- this week.  You may have a gut feeling that a certain team will be in the championship game.  That's okay, but rank them today based on how they have played so far.  You have at least 10 more weeks to make adjustments as the games unfold.  Of course, if Rexrode is as prophetic with his ballot as he is with his Bad Voter of the Week call, he'll be fine.

PEOPLE'S PICK: Bad Voter of Week 6 -- Jason Franchuk   (posted 10/1/08)

Good Voter of Week 6 -- Eric Page   (posted 10/1/08)

Eric Page of the Quad City Times backed into Good Voter of the Week.  Once again his good votes were fueled by happy Penn State fans.  He ranked the Nittany Lions highest at #3.

However, it was Kirk Herbstreit who actually received the most Good votes (264). The votes likely came from fans of Illinois (#18) and North Carolina (#22) whom he rated highest.  However, he was also the only voter to leave Vanderbilt off of his ballot, and the resulting 226 Bad votes knocked him out of the running.

Back to Eric Page, Pollspeak has no issue with Penn State being ranked #3.  They have played very well so far and are as good a candidate for the top five as any team in the nation right now.  However, his placing once-beaten Michigan State at #17 over unbeaten teams like Utah, Connecticut, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Oklahoma State seems a bit odd.  But not odd enough to force Pollspeak to find another pick.

Note to Joe Rexrode -- so you can still rank Michigan State extremely high and be a good voter.

Pollspeak's First Blog on SI.com (posted 9/29/08)

Pollspeak's first poll-related blog for SI.com was just published.  If you're interested in the polls, be sure to check it out.  If enough people view it, hopefully there will be more blogs to come.  Check it out HERE.

First Harris Interactive Poll Released  (posted 9/28/08)

You can find the results for the first 2008 Harris Interactive College Football Poll in Pollstalker HERE.  Also of interest, here is a list of HICFP voter changes made from 2007 to 2008 and here is a shorter version listing only the 20 changes made.