College Football Polls

College football polls tell us many things, and their results come from numerous sources; from Coach of the Year to general college football rankings.

As an example, here are three different college football polls for 2007. Comparisons between the three polling agencies are very interesting:

AP Final Harris Final USA Today Final
1. LSU
2. Georgia
3. USC
4. Missouri
5. Ohio State
6. West Virginia
7. Kansas
8. Oklahoma
9. Virginia Tech
10. Texas
(tie) Boston College
12. Tennessee
13. Florida
14. BYU
15. Auburn
16. Arizona State
17. Cincinnati
18. Michigan
19. Hawaii
20. Illinois
21. Clemson
22. Texas Tech
23. Oregon
24. Wisconsin
25. Oregon State		 1. Ohio State
2. LSU
3. Oklahoma
4. Georgia
5. USC
6. Virginia Tech
7. Missouri
8. Kansas
9. West Virginia
10. Hawaii
11. Florida
12. Arizona State
13. Illinois
14. Boston College
15. Wisconsin
16. Clemson
17. Texas
18. BYU
19. Tennessee
20. Cincinnati
21. Virginia
22. Boise State
23. Auburn
24. South Florida
25. Arkansas		 1. LSU (tickets)
2. USC (tickets)
3. Georgia (tickets)
4. Ohio State (tickets)
5. Missouri (tickets)
6. West Virginia (tickets)
7. Kansas (tickets)
8. Oklahoma (tickets)
9. Virginia Tech (tickets)
10. Texas (tickets)
11. Boston College
12. Tennessee
13. Arizona State
14. Auburn
15. BYU
16. Florida
17. Hawaii
18. Illinois
19. Michigan
20. Cincinnati
21. Wisconsin
22. Clemson
23. Texas Tech
24. Oregon
25. Penn State

College football polls reflect the opinions and expectations of some of the most knowledgeable minds in the field, and can be based on anything from tournaments and conferences won, to yardage, field goals and first downs. Historically, the AP College Football Poll, which began in 1934, was the official data gatherer of the college football poll. The AP system takes rankings coalesced from sportswriters all over America. The top 25 teams are ranked by each writer, and the results are combined. This creates the “official” AP national college football ranking. A first placing receives 25 votes, a second place receives 24 votes, down to a single point for a last place vote (#25).

The Harris Interactive College Football Poll replaced the AP poll in 2005, after the Associated Press opted out of the formula calculations employed to determine the participants in the BCS National Championship Game. The Harris Interactive Poll includes votes from former players, coaches and administrators, as well as the sports media.

College football polls are very interesting, but ultimately the game of college football is all about atmosphere and representing your school, not the opinions of a host of “experts”.