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| Thursday, November 2 Something smells rank By John D. Hunter ESPN.com | |||||||||
The first BCS poll was released this week and with it comes the usual amount of controversy.
Who better to get an opinion from on the rankings and college football polling in general -- the players themselves.
"I don't think the polls have been a very fair system in the past. There seems to always be controversy as to how they determine who makes the big bowl games. It's certainly a difficult decision for anyone to make. But I'm not sure if a playoff is an answer, either. What's in place now is certainly growing but there is still room for improvement." Romaro Miller, quarterback Mississippi "Since the BCS has come into affect, they have pretty much had the matchups that they have wanted. They have had No. 1 versus No. 2 both years, but it could get very interesting if there are more than two undefeated teams or one team undefeated and two or more teams with one loss. Then it could get really interesting to see how it all works out. As far as the BCS system being fair, I feel like it. Right now it is working and like they say "if ain't broke, don't fix it." My Team "The rankings are something that I look at every week. If you are playing an opponent that is ranked, it is definitely going to catch your attention. I am quite sure that it works both ways in that if we are ranked, it will catch our opponent's attention." Dan Morgan, linebacker Miami "I don't think about polls too much. It gives everyone something to talk about, but it can be a distraction. Personally, I'd like to see a playoff system. I feel the only way to determine who is the best team is to play on the field. With rankings and the current system, there's too much opinion and not enough hard evidence involved. There's only one way to determine a champion and that's on the field."
"The polls are the polls. I can't say I pay a whole lot of attention to them. If your program schedules good teams, and you win those game, then you can put yourself in a position to be involved with the BCS at the end of the year. As players, there is not much we can do about the polls except to play hard and try to win games. A playoff would be fun. It would make the season longer, but I love to play football. If we had to extend the season, I would have no problem with that." Javier Beorlegui, kicker/punter Central Florida "I think the polling system is pretty fair. They look at a lot of things, your stats and your personnel, as well as your schedule. At the first of the year they look at who you have coming back, who you have lost and what you did the previous season. Generally the top rated teams are undefeated anyway and beyond that, judging your schedule played and other factors is the best way to go about determining the BCS championship game. My Team "It's always flattering and exciting to be on a highly-ranked team, but I can tell you from experience that rankings only lead to distraction. The great thing about this year's team is that we have managed to remain focused on performance, instead of rankings. That's why we were able to bounce back from an early loss." Chris Lepore, free safety Navy "I think the polling system is about as fair as it's going to get. Since we don't have a playoff system, I think the BCS poll is the best alternative. It weighs in a bunch of factors, and matches No. 1 vs. No. 2 at the end of the season for the national championship. So far the formula has worked, so I guess you can't really complain about it. In an ideal world, I would play either a four or eight team playoff, and everyone else can still play in their bowl games. My Team "I like to look at the polls and see where everyone is ranked. It is always interesting to look at the polls in the beginning of the year, and then at the end. There always seem to be one or two surprises, and one or two real disappointments." Travis Dorsch, kicker Purdue "College football polls are a tradition like no other in sports. Many individuals and computers have come along in the last few years claiming to be the solution to the yearly controversy, only to add fuel to the fire. The BCS has worked the last few years to determine a 1-2 matchup, but does this always match up the best two teams in the nation? Yes, some of the subjectiveness of the polls has been taken out of the national title picture, but so has some of college football's rich bowl tradition. My Team "Unless your team is in the national title picture, rankings don't mean much. More important than the polls, where your team stands in the conference race should give you an idea of where you'll be spending the holidays. It always should be a team's goal to be the best in its conference before they can set their sights on being the best in the nation." Dylen Smith, quarterback Kansas "I personally don't care for the BCS polling system in college football because I feel it leaves teams out that should be ranked. I don't think it's fair because teams who should be in the national championship game in my opinion, still don't go. I would love to see a playoff system in college football because in a playoff system, the teams with the best records should go to the playoffs and they can determine the championship. My Team "I don't pay any attention to the national polls because any team can win on any day and it doesn't matter what your team is ranked." Chris Palic, punter Arizona "I think we need to devise a way to treat all schools fairly. It seems like the East Coast schools get more attention than the West Coast ones. It would be nice to have a system that looks at everyone equally. It is the first step in determining a championship game. In a perfect world, a tournament featuring all of the conferences could be the best way to decide the national championship." My Team "I don't pay any attention to where we are ranked." Reggie Newhouse, wide receiver Baylor "I think they way they do it now is fair. The top two teams in the country get the opportunity to play against each other for the national championship. My Team "I don't pay attention to where my team is ranked." | ALSO SEE
Week 1: The first gameWeek 2: The stunning upset Week 3: Effective coaching Week 4: Road trip!! Week 5: Ouch! Week 6: Media frenzy Week 7: Women in sports | ||||||||
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