PSU Point/Counterpoint: Are college football polls still relevant?
No, a true on-field playoff renders polls meaningless
Here's the Twitter answer to this week's question: OMG, no.
When they first began in the 1930s, the Associated Press (writers) and United Press International (coaches) polls served a purpose and helped build interest and got people talking and debating about college football.
As the sport went decades without a true playoff system, the polls were a way to sustain the status quo and crown a mythical national championship.
Repeat: Mythical.
Penn State, in particular, paid a price.
The Nittany Lions had four undefeated teams that fell short of being voted No. 1 in the final polls.
Granted, in the early years, as Joe Paterno was building the program on to a national platform, the Lions played a weaker schedule, but most Nittany Lion followers will go to their graves believing the 1968-69 defenses were good enough to beat anybody and that the 1994 offensive juggernaut would have defeated, if not pounded, Nebraska, which was handed the national title.
There were built-in biases based on geography and because the polls were voted upon by people with emotions.
Look no further than the 1966 matchup Spartan Stadium between the No. 1 Fighting Irish and No. 2 Michigan State, somehow billed as one of the games of the century.
The game finished in a 10-10 tie -- Ara Parseghian played for it, calling for runs on five of the Irish's last six plays in the last two minutes. He did it knowing a tie wouldn't cost him No. 1, and he was right.
The system was beyond flawed for many years and cried for a better alternative.
The Bowl Championship Series arrived in 1998, and it was a partial remedy, more often matching up the best teams for the national title, but there were still conference obligations that sometimes got in the way.
The College Football Playoff started in 2014, but it took 10 years to expand the field beyond four teams.
Though champions are now finally determined on the field, the polls still exist.
This week, Penn State has risen to No. 4. Like all polls, voters must decide between most deserving vs. best. Unbeatens are typically most deserving, although Pitt is also unbeaten and only ranked No. 22.
The polls don't always make sense. For example, Alabama beat Georgia. Both are 4-1 -- and yet the Tide are No. 7 -- two spots behind the Dawgs.
Both would be favored over Penn State.
The AP and the coaches polls don't matter anymore.
They have given way in relevance to the College Football Playoff poll, the first of which will be released on Nov. 5 -- election day, BTW.
We really don't need that poll, either.
Why not just announce the CFP pairings on Selection Day -- Dec. 8? The NCAA basketball tournament is wildly popular and releases its top four seeds at the selection show without any weekly run-up of bells and whistles.
Thankfully now, in football and basketball, when a team wins a national championship on the field, it's a full-on celebration with a grand trophy presentation amid a colorful panorama of streaming confetti.
But let's make sure the Associated Press makes it all official by announcing the national champion as No. 1 a few days later.
Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.