Harris Interactive Poll
Posted: September 29th, 2005, 10:31 am
Harris Interactive Poll is a total joke
by Peter Schrager/ Foxsports.com
Every time I watch one of those ridiculous "Top Hundred Hotties" or "Top Fifty Celebrity Couples" shows on E! or VH1, I am left baffled. Who votes on these lists? Is there some sort of secret society that puts Lindsay Lohan and Talan from "Laguna Beach" over Ryan Reynolds and Alanis Morisette on the top fifty pecking order? Do the producers just arbitrarily put them in random order? They never explain how these list shows are made, they just are.
It seems as if there's no science to it whatsoever.
Which brings us to another modern mystery — college football's Harris Interactive Poll. Upset that "Paula Abdul's smash Hit and Run" was voted thirteen slots higher than "Nicky Hilton marries Todd Meister" on E!'s "101 Even Bigger Celebrity Oops!" list? How do you think Wyoming fans feel today? In the first week of the Harris Interactive Poll, Wyoming — an upstart mid-major that beat SEC power Ole Miss on Saturday — got four less votes than 0-4 Idaho. Hmm…
Michigan State walked into Champagne Saturday and beat Illinois 61-14. Nevertheless, the Illini still received thirteen votes, 10 more than undefeated Toledo. Arizona's 1-2 and has only beaten Northern Arizona. The Wildcats still received ten top 25 votes.
What's it all mean? Well, it shows that the Harris Interactive Poll is a complete joke. To borrow from an out-dated beer commercial, it's a "Travishamockery". Whereas the top 25 seems fine (for now), the "Other Receiving Votes" category looks like a high school guidance counselor's bulletin board, a grab bag of random colleges set on top of one another. Picture a hat, 119 ripped up school names on folded pieces of paper, and some lazy old dude picking out team names. It's the only way to explain 0-4 Idaho getting not one — but five — top 25 votes.
The 2005 Harris Interactive College Football Poll is made up of former players, coaches, administrators and current and former media who submit votes for the top 25 college football teams each week. The panelists were randomly selected from among more than 300 nominations submitted by the Conference offices and Notre Dame. Though not all voters take this honor lightly, it appears that some must. There's no other reason to explain the Idaho situation. One voter slated them in at No. 21, while four others pegged them at No. 25. Again, this is a team with zero wins, and a September schedule that included losses to unranked Hawaii and UNLV. No serious human being with an ounce of concern for college football could possibly consider the Vandals a Top 25 team.
And yet, five voters did.
It's the equivalent of writing in Al Coholic or Seymour Butts in as class president back in high school. Of course, Coholic and Seymour likely would be better suited for the presidency than Idaho is for a top 25 ranking.
If these five voters weren't being silly jokesters, then they were simply out of touch with the current state of college football.
What makes these voters so qualified, anyway?
Take Carolina Panther Brentson Buckner, for example. The only active NFLer on the Harris poll, the former Clemson star publishes his ballot on his personal Internet site each week. Two weeks ago, the defensive lineman had Oregon State ranked 12th overall after a 41-14 blowout over Portland State. Fair enough. But a week after upsetting Boise State, Buckner didn't even include the Beavers in his Top 25. They dropped more than 13 spots after beating a quality team. No explanation was given.
Clearly, the new Harris Interactive isn't perfect.
That being said, I have a proposal for the NCAA.
Go to the fans.
And not the fans that casually follow college football, tallied up on some lame Internet site. Go to the die-hards. ESPN has a GAMEPLAN package for $119 on Direct TV that allows fans to watch upwards to 15 games per week. Casual fans would never buy this, but die-hards would.
Someone willing to pay 120 dollars to see college football must know a little something about college football. A little something more than the 13 idiots who thought 2-2 Illinois was a top 25 squad.
Each week, the NCAA should randomly select 114 homes that have the Direct TV package.
Spread this sample across all fifty states, and let the football fan of the house fill out his/her top 25. Sure, Hawaii and New Mexico may receive some votes here and there, but that's fine. Change the sample each week, so new college football fans are polled every seven days.
Trust me, fans wouldn't take this as a joke. They'd consider it an honor, a chance to make their impact in the world of college sports. They'd do their research, take it seriously, and try to put together the most accurate top 25 as possible. Rest assured, five strangers selected at random would not vote for an 0-4 team from the WAC conference on their list. They'd know better.
A big Kelly Ripa fan, I was upset to see she ranked eight spots below Kim Cattrall on E!'s "Hollywood's 25 Hottest Blondes" list. I stewed about for a little, and then realized there was absolutely nothing I could possibly do about it. As helpless as I felt, I had to move on.
‘Dem were da breaks.
Unfortunately, college football fans are forced to feel the same way about the Harris Interactive Poll.
As is the case with the denial of a playoff system, patsy non-conference schedules (Hello, Texas Tech), and regional TV coverage ignoring big games out of area, the college football fans lose out again.
That is, of course, unless you are a big Idaho Vandals die-hard. In that case, you might as well book a January flight to Los Angeles now. By the looks of it, you'll probably be spending New Years at the Rose Bowl watching your squad compete in the National Championship game.
And who knows, maybe you'll see Kim Cattrall while you're out there.
by Peter Schrager/ Foxsports.com
Every time I watch one of those ridiculous "Top Hundred Hotties" or "Top Fifty Celebrity Couples" shows on E! or VH1, I am left baffled. Who votes on these lists? Is there some sort of secret society that puts Lindsay Lohan and Talan from "Laguna Beach" over Ryan Reynolds and Alanis Morisette on the top fifty pecking order? Do the producers just arbitrarily put them in random order? They never explain how these list shows are made, they just are.
It seems as if there's no science to it whatsoever.
Which brings us to another modern mystery — college football's Harris Interactive Poll. Upset that "Paula Abdul's smash Hit and Run" was voted thirteen slots higher than "Nicky Hilton marries Todd Meister" on E!'s "101 Even Bigger Celebrity Oops!" list? How do you think Wyoming fans feel today? In the first week of the Harris Interactive Poll, Wyoming — an upstart mid-major that beat SEC power Ole Miss on Saturday — got four less votes than 0-4 Idaho. Hmm…
Michigan State walked into Champagne Saturday and beat Illinois 61-14. Nevertheless, the Illini still received thirteen votes, 10 more than undefeated Toledo. Arizona's 1-2 and has only beaten Northern Arizona. The Wildcats still received ten top 25 votes.
What's it all mean? Well, it shows that the Harris Interactive Poll is a complete joke. To borrow from an out-dated beer commercial, it's a "Travishamockery". Whereas the top 25 seems fine (for now), the "Other Receiving Votes" category looks like a high school guidance counselor's bulletin board, a grab bag of random colleges set on top of one another. Picture a hat, 119 ripped up school names on folded pieces of paper, and some lazy old dude picking out team names. It's the only way to explain 0-4 Idaho getting not one — but five — top 25 votes.
The 2005 Harris Interactive College Football Poll is made up of former players, coaches, administrators and current and former media who submit votes for the top 25 college football teams each week. The panelists were randomly selected from among more than 300 nominations submitted by the Conference offices and Notre Dame. Though not all voters take this honor lightly, it appears that some must. There's no other reason to explain the Idaho situation. One voter slated them in at No. 21, while four others pegged them at No. 25. Again, this is a team with zero wins, and a September schedule that included losses to unranked Hawaii and UNLV. No serious human being with an ounce of concern for college football could possibly consider the Vandals a Top 25 team.
And yet, five voters did.
It's the equivalent of writing in Al Coholic or Seymour Butts in as class president back in high school. Of course, Coholic and Seymour likely would be better suited for the presidency than Idaho is for a top 25 ranking.
If these five voters weren't being silly jokesters, then they were simply out of touch with the current state of college football.
What makes these voters so qualified, anyway?
Take Carolina Panther Brentson Buckner, for example. The only active NFLer on the Harris poll, the former Clemson star publishes his ballot on his personal Internet site each week. Two weeks ago, the defensive lineman had Oregon State ranked 12th overall after a 41-14 blowout over Portland State. Fair enough. But a week after upsetting Boise State, Buckner didn't even include the Beavers in his Top 25. They dropped more than 13 spots after beating a quality team. No explanation was given.
Clearly, the new Harris Interactive isn't perfect.
That being said, I have a proposal for the NCAA.
Go to the fans.
And not the fans that casually follow college football, tallied up on some lame Internet site. Go to the die-hards. ESPN has a GAMEPLAN package for $119 on Direct TV that allows fans to watch upwards to 15 games per week. Casual fans would never buy this, but die-hards would.
Someone willing to pay 120 dollars to see college football must know a little something about college football. A little something more than the 13 idiots who thought 2-2 Illinois was a top 25 squad.
Each week, the NCAA should randomly select 114 homes that have the Direct TV package.
Spread this sample across all fifty states, and let the football fan of the house fill out his/her top 25. Sure, Hawaii and New Mexico may receive some votes here and there, but that's fine. Change the sample each week, so new college football fans are polled every seven days.
Trust me, fans wouldn't take this as a joke. They'd consider it an honor, a chance to make their impact in the world of college sports. They'd do their research, take it seriously, and try to put together the most accurate top 25 as possible. Rest assured, five strangers selected at random would not vote for an 0-4 team from the WAC conference on their list. They'd know better.
A big Kelly Ripa fan, I was upset to see she ranked eight spots below Kim Cattrall on E!'s "Hollywood's 25 Hottest Blondes" list. I stewed about for a little, and then realized there was absolutely nothing I could possibly do about it. As helpless as I felt, I had to move on.
‘Dem were da breaks.
Unfortunately, college football fans are forced to feel the same way about the Harris Interactive Poll.
As is the case with the denial of a playoff system, patsy non-conference schedules (Hello, Texas Tech), and regional TV coverage ignoring big games out of area, the college football fans lose out again.
That is, of course, unless you are a big Idaho Vandals die-hard. In that case, you might as well book a January flight to Los Angeles now. By the looks of it, you'll probably be spending New Years at the Rose Bowl watching your squad compete in the National Championship game.
And who knows, maybe you'll see Kim Cattrall while you're out there.