Harris Poll Blows Too

[AUChizad]

Link to Harris Poll:
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/newsletters/bcsnews/BCS_Sept_27_2009.pdf

Evan Woodberry's commentary:

http://blog.al.com/auburnbeat/2009/09/first_installment_of_harris_po.html

First installment of Harris poll shows it's tough to stamp out pre-season biases
By Evan Woodbery
September 28, 2009, 9:10AM

The biggest knock on the poll system is that it is infected by pre-season biases. That is, a team that is expected to be good but then is average is given far more credit than a team that is expected to struggle but is good, simply by virtue of a pre-season ranking.


One solution has to been to scrap the pre-season poll altogether and not vote until several games have been played. Makes sense, right?

Problem is, the Harris poll does just that and still makes the same maddening and outrageous mistakes of the traditional polls. (This is even more frustrating because, unlike the AP rankings, the Harris poll actually counts in the BCS formula).

Case in point: Penn State is ranked ahead of Iowa in the first edition of the Harris poll. (Penn State is also higher in the coaches' poll, but at least that poll has the excuse of those "pre-season biases)."

There is absolutely no logical way that Penn State can be ahead of Iowa at this point in the season based on the evidence we have in front of us. Plain Dealer writer Doug Lesmerises, who has taken the revolutionary stance of basing his AP vote on the actual results on the field, blogged about the subject yesterday:

In front of 109,000 Penn State fans, on a regulation football field, with impartial officials paid to interpret and enforce the rules of the game, Iowa defeated Penn State on Saturday night, 21-10.

This game was on television. Many respected Web sites and newspapers carried the result.

...

But, if you haven't heard, Iowa won. Iowa is 4-0. Iowa has another win over Arizona, a 3-1 Pac-10 team. Iowa also defeated Iowa State, a 3-1 Big 12 team.

Penn State is 3-1. Penn State's other wins, all at home, came against 1-3 Akron, a MAC team; 2-2 Syracuse of the Big East; and 1-2 Temple, another MAC team.

Also, did I mention that Iowa beat Penn State?

As mind-boggling as the Harris rankings are, this shouldn't be a surprise. Jerry Palm of the excellent CollegeBCS.com has noted in the past that Harris voters generally follow the lead of the traditional polls, so much so that he uses the AP vote as a substitute for the Harris in his BCS calculations during the early weeks of the season.

So what's the solution? (And don't say a playoff, because a playoff would still need some method of evaluating and ranking the teams). I don't really have one. But this is a relevant reminder for all those who whine about "computers" deciding champions. Human voters have plenty of flaws of their own, and are far more susceptible to buzz, hype and bias than the machines.