I was thinking a little more about the AP Poll. Ray Fittipaldo had a story on Sunday concerning the first set of rankings. Disappointingly, he neither identified himself as a voter this year and did not disclose how he voted. Perhaps it appeared in print only. If any of the Pittsburgh-based readers who gets the P-G can check the Sunday paper to confirm or deny, I’d appreciate it.
For purposes of possible bias breakdown I listed the voters roughly by region. After each writer, I indicated the conference relation based on closest major school geographically (sorry MAC programs).
By region:
National Voters (4)
Chris Fowler, ESPN
Craig James, ABC
Stewart Mandel, SI.com
John Tautges, Westwood One RadioNortheast (6)
Ray Fittipaldo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Big East)
Aditi Kinkhabwala, The Record, Bergen County, N.J. (Big East)
Neill Ostrout, Connecticut Post, Bridgeport (Big East)
Mike Radano, Courier-Post, Cherry Hill, N.J. (Big East)
Dave Rahme, The Post-Standard, Syracuse, N.Y. (Big East)
Mike Vega, The Boston Globe (ACC)Southeast (9)
Jack Bogaczyk, Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail (Big East)
Barker Davis, The Washington Times (ACC)
Joe Giglio, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. (ACC)
Jeff Gravely, WRAL-TV, Raleigh, N.C. (ACC)
Susan Miller Degnan, Miami Herald (ACC)
Joe Person, The State, Columbia, S.C. (SEC)
David Teel, Daily Press, Newport News, Va. (ACC)
Ken Tysiac, Charlotte (N.C.) Observer (ACC)
Adan Van Brimmer, Savannah (Ga.) Morning News-Augusta (SEC)South (11)
Beau Bishop, WCTV-TV, Tallahassee, Fla. (ACC)
Mike DiRocco, Florida Times Union (SEC)
Rick Bozich, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky. (Big East)
Gregg Ellis, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo, Miss. (SEC)
Bob Holt, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock (SEC)
Jimmy Hyams, WNML AM-FM, Knoxville, Tenn. (SEC)
Dan McDonald, Lafayette (La.) Advertiser (SEC)
David Paschall, Chattanooga (Tenn.) Times Free Press (SEC)
Scott Rabalais, The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La. (SEC)
Doug Segrest, The Birmingham (Ala.) News (SEC)
Jay Tate, Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser (SEC)Midwest (16)
Steve Batterson, Quad City (Iowa) Times (Big 11)
Jim Carty, The Ann Arbor (Mich.) News (Big 11)
Herb Gould, Chicago Sun-Times (Big 11 & ND)
Doug Harris, Dayton (Ohio) Daily News (Big 11)
Kirk Herbstreit, WBNS-AM Columbus, Ohio & ESPN (Big 11)
Rich Kaipust, Omaha (Neb.) World-Record (Big 12)
George Lehner, WTVN-AM, Columbus, Ohio (Big 11)
Tom Mulhern, Wisconsin State Journal, Madison (Big 11)
John Niyo, Detroit News (Big 11)
Jeff Parson, Wichita (Kan.) Eagle (Big 12)
Michael Pointer, The Indianapolis Star (Big 11 & ND)
John Shipley, St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press (Big 11)
Mark Tupper, Decatur (Ill.) Herald & Review Bee (Big 11)
Graham Watson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Big 12)
Doug Wilson, Bloomington (Ind.) Herald-Times (Big 11)Southwest (8)
Kirk Bohls, Austin (Texas) American Statesman (Big 12)
Jimmy Burch, Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram (Big 12)
Joseph Duarte, Houston Chronicle (Big 12)
Joey Goodman, The Lawton (Okla.) Constitution (Big 12)
Tim Griffin, San Antonio Express-News (Big 12)
Iliana Limon, Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal (Mountain West/WAC)
John Moredich, Tucson (Ariz.) Citizen (PAC 10)
Jimmy Tramel, Tulsa (Okla.) World (Big 12)Rocky Mountain (4)
B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News, Denver (Big 12)
Bob Hammond, Laramie (Wyo.) Boomerang (Mountain West/WAC)
Shawn Harrison, Logan (Utah) Herald Tribune (Mountain West/WAC)
Joseph Hawk, Las Vegas Review-Journal (Mountain West/WAC)
Mike Prater, The Idaho Statesman, Boise (Mountain West/WAC)West (7)
Paul Arnett, Honolulu Star-Bulletin (Mountain West/WAC)
Todd Harmonson, The Orange County Register, Santa Ana, Calif. (PAC 10)
John Blanchette, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash. (PAC 10)
Aaron Fentress, The Oregonian, Portland (PAC 10)
Ray Ratto, San Francisco Chronicle (PAC 10)
Jon Wilner, San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News (PAC 10)
Scott Wolf, Los Angeles Daily News (PAC 10)
Roughly based on where the papers are located and the strongest team(s) closest:
ACC – 8
Big East – 7
Big 11 – 12
Big 12 – 10
PAC 10 – 7
SEC – 11
Mountain West/WAC – 6
Of further possible interest, check out this semi-confessional/defense from an AP voter.
That brings us to the purpose of this little confessional. I’ve been one of those stupid media-types. Not just once or twice, but more like 12-14 times serving on the “AP Poll Board” during the 1980s and ’90s.
The commitment is not an easy task. It starts now, in mid-August, and continues every week through early December, then again after the bowls for the final poll. Each voter puts together a top 25, every Saturday night or Sunday morning, and submits the ballot to AP.
If you’re thinking it must be fun, you’re wrong. It’s serious business, requiring constant awareness, preparation and analysis. Every voter knows the nation is watching. Nobody wants to be embarrassed.
Also, nobody wants to get booted. Which has happened.
One guy from Raleigh, N.C., already found himself on unofficial probation. He put Louisville as his No. 1 team. Not smart. Four went with Texas, but at least the Longhorns are No. 2. Tennessee figured to have some No. 1 votes from this part of the world, but no.
Back in New York, the AP folks look at those ballots as they are tabulated. If they see something that doesn’t pass the smell test, they make phone calls. If a Florida voter had ranked Tennessee ahead of Southern Cal, that would’ve been OK. But if that voter were to put Florida or Florida State as No. 1, alarms would go off.
The weekly ritual continued beyond voting. As soon as the poll came out, I checked it closely. You have to be brave sometimes and stand up for your feelings, but normally you don’t want to be more than three to five spots off for any team, even in the gray area toward the bottom. Also, you don’t want to see your teams wasted among “others receiving votes.”
That’s because being an AP voter isn’t simply a chore. It’s an honor, a challenging responsibility, and it always was a nice feeling when the invitation would come to take part again.
He almost makes it seem like they are picking the Pope.
