Sometimes I forget that the AP poll is simply a composite of opinions of sports writers and broadcasters across the country. At those moments I see the ranking and total votes as a real assessment of the various competing teams' value. However, when I think of what might influences members of the press corps, I focus on how factors such as regional bias, subjective criteria, or even capricious opinions might shape the rankings. Then, at least in my mind, the rankings become pretty arbitrary. Clearly, the pollsters aren’t sitting in a board meeting discussion the merits of each team and games played, then discussing and dissecting each team's merits and results until a consensus is reached. Quite the contrary, the results that are compiled on Monday morning represent a bunch of opinions arrived at without a hint of accountability.
I see our musings on the Cardboard as just as valid (good and bad) as any of the voter polls.
This week's poll is a special challenge. SC is clearly a special team loaded with talent. They’ve beaten several top ten teams, which no other team has. Yet they got beaten by an unranked team this week, which usually results in a swift drop in the polls. Stanford, having lost to SC and to two other lower-ranked teams while beating three top ten teams, probably doesn’t have the "creds" for the current #1 ranking. Then consider Louisville, who lost to Arizona and doesn’t have a good enough record against top teams to ascend in the polls, although they probably are a sentimental favorite among the national press establishment. Arizona’s Adia Barnes probably has the biggest complaint for getting no respect for all she has done with her team in the past two years, yet she probably relishes the press treatment as a good team motivator.
Given all that and the fact that so many interruptions due to Covid are tainting the stats, it is probably best to ignore the current ranking week and entertain ourselves by doing an analysis of the writers and broadcasters who vote each week. Who are they and what might skew their votes?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AP_Poll
I see our musings on the Cardboard as just as valid (good and bad) as any of the voter polls.
This week's poll is a special challenge. SC is clearly a special team loaded with talent. They’ve beaten several top ten teams, which no other team has. Yet they got beaten by an unranked team this week, which usually results in a swift drop in the polls. Stanford, having lost to SC and to two other lower-ranked teams while beating three top ten teams, probably doesn’t have the "creds" for the current #1 ranking. Then consider Louisville, who lost to Arizona and doesn’t have a good enough record against top teams to ascend in the polls, although they probably are a sentimental favorite among the national press establishment. Arizona’s Adia Barnes probably has the biggest complaint for getting no respect for all she has done with her team in the past two years, yet she probably relishes the press treatment as a good team motivator.
Given all that and the fact that so many interruptions due to Covid are tainting the stats, it is probably best to ignore the current ranking week and entertain ourselves by doing an analysis of the writers and broadcasters who vote each week. Who are they and what might skew their votes?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AP_Poll