(01-13-2018 01:34 PM)ohio1317 Wrote: Tradition. Everyone wants a top 25 poll and to be able to put the numbers next to teams as something to give viewers who might not be following closely a quick feeling for about how good a team might be. If the committee didn't, they would just keeping using AP numbers which would not feel right with the committee deciding things.
Funny you mention the AP but not the Coach's poll.
There's an argument in political economy that says it's *good* for religion when a democracy has separation of church and state. E.g., church attendance is a lot higher in the USA, which has separation, than in England, which has an official "Church of England".
The point? Something similar seems to have happened with the Coach's poll. The Coach's poll was officially part of the BCS, and whoever won the BCS title game got the Coach's trophy. In contrast, the AP has always remained independent.
Today, in the CFP era, the independent AP still has credibility. When we want a ranking that is outside of the CFP, we cite the AP poll. Last week, when some wanted a "split championship", they called on the AP poll to vote for UCF instead of the CFP winner.
In contrast, the Coach's poll seems to lack all credibility. Nobody mentions it as a legitimate poll, even though it has not been a part of the official process since the BCS ended. For the past four years, it has not been a component of the CFP and is every bit as independent of the CFP machinations as is the AP poll.
But by marrying itself to the BCS, the Coach's poll seems to have permanently tainted itself.