Gary Pinkel’s ballot: 1. OU, 2. Texas, 18. Missouri, 22. Northwestern
USA Today has published the ballots for each of the 61 coaches in its final regular-season football poll. A few interesting tidbits from Missouri coach Gary Pinkel’s selections: He liked Oklahoma No. 1 over Texas (the Sooners’ 62-21 win must have felt worse than Texas’ 56-31 win over the Tigers.) He wasn’t too impressed with unbeatens Utah and Boise State (15th and 16th, respectively), and he likes his Tigers over their bowl opponent, Northwestern (18th to 22nd). Los Angeles Times college football guru Chris Dufresne has some fun with each coaches’ ballots as well as a few pointed remarks on some of Pinkel’s picks. USA Today also offers some good analysis of the ballots. Also, interesting to note that Illinois coach Ron Zook, whose team lost to Missouri in the opener and Northwestern in its last game, has Northwestern at No. 20 and Missouri at No. 25.
Pinkel’s final ballot:
1. Oklahoma
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. Alabama
5. Southern Cal
6. Texas Tech
7. Penn State
8. Ohio State
9. Georgia Tech
10. Oregon
11. Oklahoma State
12. Georgia
13. Michigan State
14. Cincinnati
15. Utah
16. Boise State
17. TCU
18. Missouri
19. BYU
20. Pitt
21. Boston College
22. Northwestern
23. Oregon State
24. Mississippi
25. Virginia Tech
Wow, Oregon at 10 and Boise State at 16, huh? Boise State went undefeated (to Oregon’s 3 losses, one of them TO Boise State AT Oregon). I wonder if Pinkel understands this concept. Another thing he probably doesn’t understand is that by putting Ohio State so far ahead of Boise State, he may have propelled OSU into the BCS. Why is this bad? Because that means the Big 10 brings home as much money as the Big 12. Recruiting resources will be evenly distributed between the conferences. This means Zook will have just as many funds to recruit as Mizzou now. So much for shifting our recruiting base into Illinois. Idiodic.
And exactly how is your knowledge of college football so superior to that of Gary Pinkel that you are justified in your misspelled verdict of “idio(t)ic?” Do you even possess a fundamental understanding of the term “rank” or how it is that teams are judged in a poll? Put a little bit of reason into your commentary before you haphazardly post it.
I am surprised he took OU over Texas. I just don’t know how anyone can rationalize OU over Texas when Texas beat them straight up and on a neutral field to boot. Not Fair………..I like Florida to beat OU by at least 10 in their matchup. Unbelievably Bradford was a little tentative there in the 1rst Qtr against MU before loosening up after MU kept screwing up opportunities. How will Bradford and OU respond when the Gators take the field and showcase their speed on both offense and defense? I believe OU will be in for a rude awakening when they play Florida.
Perspective,
Spelling noted on idiotic. I’m sure you like searching message boards and correct people, using your JD to make such a statement around the definition of the word “Rank”. As you may know, teams are ranked in the BCS standings by an average of the USA Today Poll, Harris Poll, and Computer Polls. So, teams are “judged” in the BCS by the rankings in other polls. BCS Standings happen to have some slight influence on the outcome of the College Football season. If you didn’t understand my post, I made a case that for Oregon to be ranked ahead of Utah and Boise State is not only inaccurate, based on strength of schedule, record, and on-field outcomes (such as Boise State handily beating Oregon at Oregon), but is also negatively impactful on the Big 12, which Pinkel should be an advocate for. With Ohio State getting into a BCS game, the Big 10 and Big 12 essentially receive the same bowl-season payout (OU gets the Big 12 slightly more based on Championship revenue). If you are still confused or have any other corrections you would like to make, do post again.