Attention AP Poll Voters

I wonder if Tressell still voted for Ohio State, while insisting that he voted for Florida.

 

He could vote for the only unbeaten team left in the nation.

 

He could say he's voting for the only unbeaten team left in the nation, while still voting for his own team.

 

You know what, I read that wrong. If Tressel said he voted for the Gators, I'll believe him.

 

Aren't the coaches required to vote for the BCS title game winner?

 

I'm just having fun with Tressell's "I voted for Texas" from earlier this season. I don't have any idea who he voted for or where.

 

Yeah, they are. That's why LSU earned its BCS national title by beating the Sooners, even though going into the bowls, the coaches -- like the media -- ranked USC No. 1.

 

I know some of it is gamesmanship, but here's what Peterson said in Ralph Russo's AP story ...

Boise State coach Chris Petersen looked at the rankings Tuesday and loved what he saw.
There, tucked in among all the college football powerhouses — right behind LSU and Southern California and ahead of Wisconsin and Michigan — was Boise State.
Petersen’s Broncos (13-0) finished fifth in the final Associated Press Top 25, released early Tuesday morning after Florida’s 41-14 victory over Ohio State in the BCS national championship game.
“We weren’t surprised,” he said in a telephone interview. “I think it’s a pretty fair ranking.”
The Broncos, from the Western Athletic Conference, even got a first-place vote in the AP poll, the only one that didn’t go to No. 1 Florida. It came from Greg Archuleta of the Albuquerque Journal in New Mexico.
“They’re the only unbeaten in Division I-A and because there’s no playoff every week is an elimination for these teams, and Boise State was the only one that made it through,” he said.
Archuleta said he labored with his decision because Florida was so impressive, but felt Boise State would be good enough on a given day to beat the Gators.
“If they played 100 times Florida might win 95, but we’ll never know because there’s no playoff system,” Archuleta said.
Petersen has never lobbied for a shot at the national title. Before and after his team’s exhilarating 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl last week, the coach said he was just happy his team got the chance to play on a big stage. He said that Boise State’s schedule was not as difficult as Florida’s or Ohio State’s.
He didn’t waver from that Tuesday.
“I think there are certain conferences that from top to bottom are very strong,” he said. “Every game is a dogfight in the SEC, the Big Ten. I still think those conferences have the edge.”
Boise State finished sixth in the USA Today coaches’ poll, in which Petersen is a voter. He had his team fourth.
“There’s so much subjectivity it’s hard to figure out who goes where,” he said.

And props to Archuleta.

 

I loved the Fiesta Bowl as much as anyone. I love the underdog, too.

But if you admit you love the underdog and you have a vote in the poll, it would make sense that you would take steps to ensure that you don't LET YOUR BIAS GET IN THE WAY OF WHAT'S RIGHT.

BSU beat everyone thrown at it. The Broncos are also in a clearly inferior conference to the BCS conferences. That cannot even be argued. They did not get the snot beaten out of them week after week in the same sense that teams in the Big 12, Big Ten and (gag) SEC do.

I mean, really. Balance out the love for a feel-good story with some common sense.

 

Of course, the argument before last week was that the moment Boise State played someone like an Oklahoma in the BCS, they would get pounded. When that didn't happen, the argument had to become, "Well, they didn't get beat up each week in that conference like an SEC team, blah, blah, blah."

People will always find an argument against teams like Boise State. No way around it.

 

That's taking something for granted that isn't necessarily there, Oz. I thought Boise had every chance of playing Oklahoma tough. AND I thought beforehand that the fact BSU hadn't gotten so beaten up by its previous opponents would be a major factor in the Fiesta Bowl.

 

I also think Boise State has an advantage in those games. For the Fiesta Bowl, BSU had all kinds of motivation to win because 1. Everyone is rooting for the little guy and 2. Most people weren't expecting them to. Whereas Oklahoma was in a no-win situation. If they win, then everyone says, "Well of course you should win, you were playing freaking Boise State." But if the Sooners lose then it is, "You guys are Frauds and they now get made fun of for eternity."

The other thing I would like to point out is Boise State didn't exactly win convincingly. The Broncos played a damn fine game and they got the win, but just because of the exciting finish everyone is acting like they kicked the shit out of the Sooners. What USC and Florida did is much more impressive in my mind. The general thought around the nation seemed to be that Michigan was going to kill USC and prove it belonged in the national title game and it wasn't a matter of if Ohio State would win, but by how much.
So for the Trojans and Gators to destroy Ohio State and Michigan was very impressive.