[Redrum]

There are optimal situations where it works and many where it doesn't.  I think the less optimal situations are where crowd participants are actively watching, assimilating and then publishing/talking about the decisions of others who are, in turn, watching us and others.  Unfortunately, college fan sites, the "industry" built around them and, frankly, WE are exceedingly skewed to this type of crowd decision making.  We take star ratings, rankings,  public knowledge scholarship offers and boil them in a sea of opinion of people just like us. 

That's why -- if Shaw picks Keller Chryst over, say Ricky Town or Josh Rosen--  I switch off on a lot of this.  All the Oklahoma fans, Bama fans, Oregon fans, Stanford fans, Boise St. fans ... in the world are probably not near as experienced, or in possession of the important data, to be "smarter" no matter how many of them chime in.

[Redrum]

There are optimal situations where it works and many where it doesn't.  I think the less optimal situations are where crowd participants are actively watching, assimilating and then publishing/talking about the decisions of others who are, in turn, watching us and others.  Unfortunately, college fan sites, the "industry" built around them and, frankly, WE are exceedingly skewed to this type of crowd decision making.  We take star ratings, rankings,  public knowledge scholarship offers and boil them in a sea of opinion of people just like us. 

That's why -- if Shaw picks Keller Chryst over, say Ricky Town or Josh Rosen--  I switch off on a lot of this.  All the Oklahoma fans, Bama fans, Oregon fans, Stanford fans, Boise St. fans ... in the world are probably not near as experienced, or in possession of the important data, to be "smarter" no matter how many of them chime in.