All data in this article is borrowed from collegepolltracker.com
To many people, the AP Poll is the definitive answer to who the best teams in college sports are. They also see the small little number next to the teams with their ranking and don’t think anything of it other than knowing that some people decided that rank. The way the AP poll works is on a point scale, 1 point for a vote at 25, 2 for 24, 3 for 23, and so on. This is compiled together into total points and then the teams are ranked based on these points. Sounds simple, right?
But who are these people that are voting? That is often the part that is off everybody’s radar. There are 64 sportswriters across the country who are sending in their polls each week. 61 of these writers are associated with a local publication, and 3 of them are national voters (ESPN, SI, NPR). And luckily, the power of technology lets us look into how each individual voter ranked the teams and see who had the best/worst/craziest votes.
Most Accurate Poll of the Week: Dana O’Neil, ESPN.com
It happened, it finally happened! This is the first appearance in the segment for a national voter. Congrats to Dana on finally being the first. She almost nailed a perfect poll. The biggest difference on her ballot from the actual poll was SMU at #11 (actual: 14). Every other pick was within 2 spots of their actual ranking, including all of the actual top 10 in her top 10. Maybe ESPN isn’t so bad after all.
Least Accurate Poll of the Week: Chris Dachille, WBAL-TV (Baltimore)
The top part of Chris’ poll isn’t bad at all. The biggest difference on his ballot from the actual poll is the pick of West Virginia at #6 (actual: 10). Once you hit number 20 it starts to get wonky. He has Miami (FL) at #20 (actual: 25) after a 1-1 week with a win over Duke but loss to Virginia Tech. He has Duke at #22 (actual: 17) which is the lowest vote for the Blue Devils. He also has Dayton at #23, and Vermont at #25, which I kind of understand that he wants them to get a little more publicity for their seasons but I don’t think either should be ranked as of now. So while the top half of Chris’ ballot isn’t deserving of this award, his poll goes off the rails as soon as it hits 20, so I have to give it to him.
Student Union Award for Best Pick: Elton Alexander. The Plain Dealer (Princeton)
Let me start off saying this: I do not agree, I do not think that Princeton should be in the polls. I do, however, think that Princeton fully deserves to at least have a vote. They are 19-6 overall, so their record isn’t what you’d expect from a team receiving votes in a lower conference. But Princeton has won 15 in a row with their last loss being December 20th, and is undefeated in their conference. If they can pull off a win in a huge match up against Harvard on the 3rd, they would just have bottom-feeder Dartmouth standing in their way to an undefeated conference record for the season. That may not warrant a ranking, but it surely deserves at least a vote.
Student Union Award for Worst Pick: Hugh Kellenberger, Jackson Clarion Ledger (Arizona and UCLA)
At first glance, Hugh’s poll isn’t bad at all. The only “extreme” pick is having BYU ranked #25 (actual: NR) which is just an overreaction to the Gonzaga game. They are good, but not #25 good. But a closer look at his poll brings up arguably the worst decision I have ever seen by an AP voter. Last week, Hugh had Arizona at #5 and UCLA at #6. No complaints there. Those two teams played each other this week in Tucson with UCLA winning 77-72. So what does he do? He moves Arizona up 2 spots to #3 and moves UCLA down to #7. Yeah, I’m not kidding. He moved the home losing team up while moving the winning team down. There is literally no possible explanation for that move, so he wins the dumbest pick easily.
Dishonorable mention to Geoff Grammer who ranked Butler #22 after they won at Villanova and at Xavier this week.