Sorry but going a little crazy listening to the discussion on KSR about the poll situation. Matt is incrediulous that we should be ranked ahead of A&M based on the last game and making the case that if we beat them we should be ahead of them. And the discussion keeps going in circles about how its not fair and how the pre-season polls are just somebodys guess . . . NO DIDDING!!!!! What does he think POLLS are?????? Of course they are just OPINIONs. The whole thing is a conglomeration of folks OPINIONS.
Everybody gets caught in the trap of treating the polls like some scoring system where if this happpens then that should move this team up this many notches and if that happens then this team should drop this many notches, otherwise ITS NOT FAIR!!!! There is not fair or not fair to it, its an OPINION POLL!!!
And its not just based on a win or loss or even sometimes two or three wins or losses. Its a combination of the performance on the field plus what the voter thinks of the potential and strength of the teams beyond what actually happened on the field that given day. For example yes we beat A&M soundly at their place last week and it was nothing but an impressive performance. But we didnt have that same performacne the week before against a team ranked lower than A&M. So you have to give credit to the most recent performance but you also have to ask was this just a a good day for us and bad day for them or are we really that much better than A&M. If we played them 10 times would the result come out this way 7 times? 8 times? 4 times?
What Matt is falling into the trap of is thinking nothig matters but the result of the moment which is the definition of microwave thinking.
The poll voters IMO should be trying to evaluate a new power ranking each week and taking into account not just actual performance but which teams are overperforming for the talent and ability and which have yet to hit their stride yet too.
If you just base it off outcomes of a game then shouldnt Western Michigan be ranked the same as Michigan?
Just makes me crazy to hear discussions about the fairness of polls, they are OPINION polls and thats that voters OPINION. You can disagree with them but theres no fair or unfair about it and its not based on the most recent outcome. Its not a score board that moves teams up or down a certain amount each week based on scores, its a subjective weekly re-evaluation of each voters power rankings based on their opinion of that teams strength.
Everybody gets caught in the trap of treating the polls like some scoring system where if this happpens then that should move this team up this many notches and if that happens then this team should drop this many notches, otherwise ITS NOT FAIR!!!! There is not fair or not fair to it, its an OPINION POLL!!!
And its not just based on a win or loss or even sometimes two or three wins or losses. Its a combination of the performance on the field plus what the voter thinks of the potential and strength of the teams beyond what actually happened on the field that given day. For example yes we beat A&M soundly at their place last week and it was nothing but an impressive performance. But we didnt have that same performacne the week before against a team ranked lower than A&M. So you have to give credit to the most recent performance but you also have to ask was this just a a good day for us and bad day for them or are we really that much better than A&M. If we played them 10 times would the result come out this way 7 times? 8 times? 4 times?
What Matt is falling into the trap of is thinking nothig matters but the result of the moment which is the definition of microwave thinking.
The poll voters IMO should be trying to evaluate a new power ranking each week and taking into account not just actual performance but which teams are overperforming for the talent and ability and which have yet to hit their stride yet too.
If you just base it off outcomes of a game then shouldnt Western Michigan be ranked the same as Michigan?
Just makes me crazy to hear discussions about the fairness of polls, they are OPINION polls and thats that voters OPINION. You can disagree with them but theres no fair or unfair about it and its not based on the most recent outcome. Its not a score board that moves teams up or down a certain amount each week based on scores, its a subjective weekly re-evaluation of each voters power rankings based on their opinion of that teams strength.
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