Top 25 rankings

[OldPhart]

It is fun to have your team ranked.  However, I know polls don't mean a whole lot in D3.   That being said, I wonder if anyone besides myself was irritated by Carthage's use of their 38th place "ranking" and other sub-25th "rankings" in their press releases.  Maybe I am feeling overly peevish due to an insufficient quantity of raisens in my raisen bran - but I am grateful that Carthage received no votes this week.

What are others thoughts on sub 25th "rankings"?  I don't mind seeing press releases that indicate that the team received votes in a poll or the number of votes that the team received - I just find the idea of attaching a ranking to them odd unless the outfit doing the ranking actually assigns a position for it.

[Pat Coleman]

OldPhart, to be honest, I didn't really care for it and I heard from three or four SIDs over the course of the past couple weeks who didn't like it either.

I had one ask me if he could use "#43" in his releases because they were tied for 43rd (along with every other team who didn't get a vote).

[redswarm81]

Maybe I am feeling overly peevish due to an insufficient quantity of raisins in my raisin bran.

What are others thoughts on sub 25th "rankings"?  I don't mind seeing press releases that indicate that the team received votes in a poll or the number of votes that the team received - I just find the idea of attaching a ranking to them odd unless the outfit doing the ranking actually assigns a position for it.

Raisin Bran is very important to us old pharts, it's good that you're keeping your priorities in order.

As an old phart engineer (I'm pretty good with numbers), I don't see the illogic in teams that receive the 38th highest vote total concluding that they rank 38th in that poll.  The only nitpicky polling argument would be along the lines of "the voters only vote for 25 teams, not 38."

What if a team said something like "several voters in the d3football.com national poll ranked Wassamatta U #25 or higher?"  It would be true, but I think it'd be more misleading than the press releases that you suspect of having an impact on your . . . um, . . . mood.

I had one [SID] ask me if he could use "#43" in his releases because they were tied for 43rd (along with every other team who didn't get a vote).

It's nice to see that some SIDs still have a sense of humor.  Jim Greenidge, former sportswriter for the Boston Globe, was SID at RPI, and he was hysterical.

[OldPhart]

Pat - I figure that you as the publisher own the rights to the rankings in the d3football poll.  I think it would be reasonable for you to require that those who wish to utilize d3football poll rankings in their publications to respect your republication requirements - whatever those might be.

I do get a kick out of the idea of the numerous matchups between #43 ranked teams.    I trust that even if you give permission that nobody would have sufficient chutzpah to actually go through with it.   

[Mr. Ypsi]

I confess that I cannot understand the problem here.  38th might be stretching it a bit (I assume that would be 3 or 4 points!), but if a team had the 28th highest number of votes, why is it outrageous if they claim to be #28?

While it is the top 25 poll, and each voter only votes for 25 teams, it is still possible to rank at least several more teams before it starts to become pretty eccentric and arbitrary.

Perhaps (maybe even probably!) the Carthage SID deserved to be laughed at, but what did he do WRONG?

[redswarm81]

Pat - I figure that you as the publisher own the rights to the rankings in the d3football poll.  I think it would be reasonable for you to require that those who wish to utilize d3football poll rankings in their publications to respect your republication requirements - whatever those might be.

I do get a kick out of the idea of the numerous matchups between #43 ranked teams.    I trust that even if you give permission that nobody would have sufficient chutzpah to actually go through with it.   

I agree with everything OldPhart (and Dr. Ypsi) just said.

(Historical--and mostly irrelevant--note:  Immediately after Casey Stengel testified before the Senate Anti-Trust and Monopoly Subcommittee on July 8, 1958 ("I'm in the baseball business, it's been run cleaner than any baseball business that was ever put out in the hundred years at the present time."), Mickey Mantle was called to testify.  Mantle's first words were "I agree with everything Mr. Stengel just said.")

[Pat Coleman]

I confess that I cannot understand the problem here.  38th might be stretching it a bit (I assume that would be 3 or 4 points!), but if a team had the 28th highest number of votes, why is it outrageous if they claim to be #28?

While it is the top 25 poll, and each voter only votes for 25 teams, it is still possible to rank at least several more teams before it starts to become pretty eccentric and arbitrary.

Perhaps (maybe even probably!) the Carthage SID deserved to be laughed at, but what did he do WRONG?

It's called the D3football.com Top 25, not the D3football.com Top 42. How can you rank #38 in the Top 25?

We don't recognize anyone beyond 25 as being ranked.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Pat,

I understand your argument (I think), and perhaps no one below #25 should use the word 'ranked'.

But the team that got the 26th highest number of votes is certainly the #26 rated(?), assessed(?), ranked(?!) team in your poll!  And so on for #27, #28, etc.  Now, for those 'ranked' (rated, listed?) #38, it may well be silly, but why is it WRONG?  They had the 38th highest number of votes in your poll.

If you wish to stand by the point of the opening paragraph, OK, but otherwise I honestly don't understand why this is an issue for anyone.

[usee]

maybe the #26 rated school could claim to be the #1 runner-up (should any of the top 25 be unable to complete their duties...) and #27 could be #2 runner up, etc.

its all about the marketing

[wildcatter23]

Maybe they should just say they received the 43rd (or whatever) most votes in the voting for the 25 top teams in d3football.  Not that it would really mean much, but it would be more accurate, IMHO.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Wow!  Your voters are ROUGH!

Capital beats then-#25 JCU by almost 2 TDs, and moves not a whit.

ONU beats Wilmington by NINE TDs, and FALLS 3 spots!

Actually, the poll looks highly defensible, just those two jumped out at me.

[Pat Coleman]

They did gain 28 votes, more than a slot per voter, but yeah, the cumulative effect was negligible.

One thing I hate about our poll is sometimes voters have late reactions and teams slide the second week after a loss. But in this case, it put Cap ahead of ONU, which makes sense, since Cap won at ONU.

[K-Mack]

I find polls to be nothing more than public relations stunts ... There is no need for these silly guessing games.

And yet there is a demand for it, moreso by the fans than players ... as evidenced by a 16-page thread on them, etc.

[Llamaguy]

Cudos to Pat Coleman & his crew for making deadlines and mostly sticking to them!

It is now 5:50 pm Eastern time Tuesday. I have yet to see an updated AFCA Top 25 Poll.

Now add that with the regional rankings being a day late Oct, 20th and half reported on Oct. 26th & half Oct. 27th the following week. 

Pat,
I'd make sure they have the brackets ready to roll on Sunday. Based on their track record this year you may be at the ESPNzone a little later than expected.

[Pat Coleman]

AFCA released it. It's just not a high priority for me to post it. It's behind Around the Region, Team of the Week, not to mention feeding my kids and putting them to bed.