About That Ranking

I'll just go ahead and conclude that you wanted to be one of the few who didn't vote USC #1 so you can get some kind of attention.

Look at me! Look at me!

I would just expect the voter to vote for who looks the best at this time. To keep Georgia at #1 because they were the preseason pick doesn't make sense. Right now, USC looks to be the best team followed by Oklahoma and Florida.
1 USC
2 Oklahoma
3 Florida
4 Georgia
4 Missouri
SW just wants to look like he's not a homer and ends up going the opposite way.
USC will need to win all of their games since their competition is weak this year. I don't expect an undefeated SEC team. I expect USC to play an undefeated Oklahoma or a one loss SEC team.

It sends a message that you truly believe a 14-7 win over a lousy South Carolina team in front of 80,000 fans is better than a 35-3 win over a good Ohio St. team in front of 94,000 fans.

Ohio St. would crush every team that Georgia and Florida has played so far. (No one believes Ohio was a standard for them. Like you saying the 41-38 score with Stanford was not either.)

None of your explanations makes sense to anyone.

Except the mention of polls not having any signifigance this early. So with that maybe the smart thing for you to do is abstain from voting.

The "problem" with Scott Wolf is not that he voted USC number three. The "problem" is, and if you read him enough you understand, Wolf does not understand the game of football. This certainly does not nor should not eliminate Wolf from being a "beat reporter" for the team, but for him to actually vote for "good teams over lesser good teams" is just flat out wrong.

I would simply suggest the DN let Wolf continue to report on injuries, coaching changes, off-the-field incidents, cheerleaders etc. I just would not allow him to vote in polls. He is obviously lost when it comes to actual "football," be it strength of teams, strategy of the game, etc.

Your article has so many logic holes it's baffling why they continue to allow you to vote...

1. "I can see why there is a consensus but does there have to be? USC good. Everyone else bad. Is that the mind-set?" :

You can see why there's a consensus but you vote USC #3 because there doesn't have to be? That's not a reason that's counter-think. And no, USC good - everyone else bad, is not the mindset. Good and bad is not the purpose of the poll. The bad teams don't get ranked. This is about the team at the top being better based on their body of work than the team below...#3 = good, #2 = better, #1 = best.

2. "None of us really knows who would win if Georgia, Florida and USC played each other in a national championship tournament. Or for that matter, Oklahoma.
What stuns me is that more voters do not even consider these teams."

Really Scott? That's not the purpose of the poll. You're not supposed to try to predict who would beat who in a tournament (and even if you did Georgia @ #1? Really?) - you're supposed to rank the teams for their play so far. Voters don't even consider these teams? If they're weren't even considered they wouldn't be ranked #2 through #4, Scott. Being 30000 miles is not an excuse - that's true. But being down 7-6 halfway through the 3rd and eeking out a 14-7 win on an endzone fumble and winning 3-2 is. Watch the games Scott. Auburn and Georgia are struggling.

Try pollspeak.com, where Scott was one of the 3 worst AP voters in the nation last year. Read the 2007 report.

I just wanted to touch on one thing you mentioned in your article that really annoys me. Just because a team is down 1 player, albeit there star running back, does not change the outcome of the game. Would Chris Wells have made any tackles? Would he have been able to sack Sanchez? Would he have been able to cover the recievers or stop Joe McKnight? In college and in the NFL 1 player does not make a team. Same case can be made with the New England Patriots, they lose there stat quarterback, but how many tackles does Tom Brady make a game usually? It blows my mind when the media "experts" immediately assume that a team is finished when 1 guy goes down.

You guys would be all pissed off if Georgia played crummy all season, won its last game 60-3, and vaulted to #1 because they were hot that week.

"I didn't punish the Trojans for that, however. I merely believe rising in the polls is a process and not a mob mentality."

Scott, here's the problem... In the AP poll, you're one of the last who believes that apparently. If the AP poll is going to mean anything after they sued to have it removed from the BCS formula, more voters need to believe that again. Otherwise, what is to prevent a team that wins the Las Vegas Bowl with unprecedented style points from vaulting to #1 in the AP poll?

"blah blah blah" says the guy who once voted West Virginia number one even though he didn't think it was the best team, with the rationale being that West Virginia had a weak schedule and was most likely to remain undefeated. Also the guy who thinks South Florida is a non-BCS conference team. The AP ballot should only be possessed by voters who have rational and consistent voting principles and who understand college football. Scott, you are not showing yourself to be such a person.

I'm Scott Wolf. Look at me - I cover USC football so I must know something about what I'm writing about. Don't tell anybody the truth though - I'm having too much fun making a fool out of myself. If I voted USC as #1 in the country, would you all be reading this blog right now? Absolutely not! This way, I call attention to myself. Next week, I will try to get more grade-school giggly videos that I record by myself at USC football practice! Giggle-giggle-giggle! I just love getting under people's skins ... that way, when they make fun of me, and I feel threatened, then I can run and hide and cry wolf ... Scott Wolf! Are you listening world?

Thank you, Scott. Very few people are ever able to justify what a dickhead they are. You at least tried.

cv1, nice job on the link you gave. Here's the direct link to the story: http://pollspeak.com/reports/Pollspeak%20Report%20to%20the%20Associated%20Press%20-%20Football%202007.pdf You have to ask what is worse, Wolfeee's voting record or his mug shot (hey isn't that picture up in the local post office). Fight On!

Good call beachhousemike.

Scott ranked WVU #1 all season last year with the rationale that their easy schedule gave them the best shot at the NC game. This season however he has Georgia #1 and they have the most difficult schedule in the country. Which is it Scott? How can you realistically defend your nonsense when you clearly aren't playing by your own rules...

Your article would be interesting if it weren't a complete load of horse-s**t.

SW...your BS article further exemplifies why you should abandon your Top 25 poll! Your wishy washy history and then this lame nonsense column is absurdity to the max. You don't belong in the ranks of legitimate pollsters. Recommend you surrender your reigns to the likes of Tyler, El Cap, Kpt,TroAZ ..just to name a scant few.

I don't necessarily agree with Scott's reasons. Of course, I think USC is No. 1, especially with the OSU victory. But, I am biased. However, the polls have become ridiculous.

Before the BCS, I recall that there would be no or little movement in the polls among teams that won their game. The No. 1 would stay No. 1, and so on. That made sense because the poll is ultimately designed to predict who will be No. 1 at the end of the year (after all, no one cares who is No. 1 in week two). Thus, a writer would list a team as No. 1 in the preseason. That team would stay there until they lost. Ugly wins were still wins. That trend has changed in the last 10 years or so.

This year, many writers and coaches picked Georgia No. 1 in the pre-season. The vast majority have switched to USC, even though Georgia is 2-0. However, so long as Georgia continues to win, I can't really fault a writer or coach if they keep Georgia No. 1. If they run the table in the SEC, they would be deserving of a No. 1 vote.

This early in the season, you have to vote on style points, Scott. I believe you are supposed to vote for the teams as they stand THIS WEEK, not attempt to predict how they will finish at year's end. Actually, are you given any direction on how to vote, like the SGSC is told how to vote to manipulate the process to create an end-product that meets the pre-defined formula for the SGs?

I had no idea SW was such a troll. Or so old. And he's got a face like he just stole Christmas. Yikes.

AP Poll Guidelines (according to Pollspeak.com):

·Base your vote on performance, not reputation or preseason speculation.

·Avoid regional bias, for or against. Your local team does not deserve any special handling when it comes to your ballot.

·Pay attention to head-to-head results and

·Don’t hesitate to make significant changes in your ballot from week to week. There’s no rule against jumping the 16th-ranked team over the eighth-ranked team, if No. 16 is coming off a big victory and No. 8 just lost 52-6 to a so-so team.

·Teams on NCAA probation ARE eligible for the AP poll.

Some ethics guidelines:

·Voters should have no professional or booster connection to the schools they cover. This could pose a conflict of interest.

·Voters cannot write for team media guides or even independent fan magazines associated with certain schools. This has the potential of compromising a reporter’s objectivity.

·Adhere to APME and APSE standards of conduct: We do not accept free tickets, deals, discounts or gifts, etc.

·Please be advised: "Homerism" will be challenged and could lead to dismissal from the poll board.