(09-08-2019 04:35 PM)msm96wolf Wrote: (09-08-2019 04:27 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote: Hawaii is getting shafted. Boise got some love for taking down an FSU team that need OT to beat ULM but no one seems to notice that the warriors took out two PAC 12 squads. I hope Washington becomes the next notch in their belts and then the voters will have to take notice.
Polls no longer have any meaning other than to give rankings before the CFP poll. Other than promoting games against ranked teams before the CFP poll, it is no longer the prestige it used to be. Much like bowl games have become.
They are truly just a tool for marketing televised games. That's why the usual faces will be in every season's opening polls and why the Big 10 and SEC get so many ranked. Those are the two most widely viewed conferences. So rank at least 6 each of those, toss in N.D., UT, and OU, and take 2 from the PAC and 2 from the ACC and one G5 to play David to Goliath and you have all the tools you need to hype whomever you wish to televise.
The reason the polls are more in line with reality at the end of the season is because the SEC and Big 10 have gradually weeded out their also rans, UT and OU have played. The best from the ACC (think FSU and Clemson historically) have played their SEC rivals and the victors advance. The PAC usually winnows down to one school to be considered and if N.D. wins great. If not they are out. Now you have 2 from the SEC and perhaps 2 from the Big 10, 1 from the Big 12, 1 from the PAC, one from the ACC, and 1 or 2 acceptable at large schools to be truly considered for the CFP.
That virtually guarantees that 3 of the 4 major regions of the U.S. will be represented and the top G5 drives the talking points that stirs up interest in their champion and the fans who love an underdog.
But in the end the media darlings will be there and Cinderella only makes it in if the P5 really only have 3 solid candidates between them.
That's why you have polls. They are absurd, but they are absurd in ways that draw interest.
For instance would anyone really care much about Auburn playing Oregon if they weren't hyped as 2 highly rated teams with PAC and SEC pride on the line meeting in a city of oh by the way, 11 million within it's reach? That's why that game wasn't at Eugene or Auburn. It was East meets West in the heart of the Southwest. All of it contrived for viewer participation.