Week 5 Poll - StateFans Nation StateFans Nation

Itâ€™s a good thing the Harris Poll waits until late September to log its first edition. Since the BCS dropped the AP (or vice versa) in 2005, the Harris Poll has taken its place. With its â€œindependentâ€? voters and late start to keep it from being tainted by preseason polls, the Harris Poll should offer a refreshing view of the rankings.

Does it deliver? Overall, the Harris Poll has exactly one team thatâ€™s not ranked exactly the same or within one spot as at least one of the two major polls. Cal is 18th in the Harris Poll and 20th in the â€œbiasedâ€? polls. Despite attempts to generate a more accurate and unbiased poll, the Harris Poll falls flat on its face. Does anyone really think that these voters started with a blank sheet of paper, some game tapes, and stats sheets and came up with a poll that is virtually identical to the other two polls? Its painfully obvious that these voters started with the other polls when creating their ballots.

Though they have no say in the BCS, perhaps even more disappointing is the Master Coaches Poll. According to John Cooper, â€œâ€¦We (the Master Coaches) have spent our whole lives coaching football and because we see all they games every week, we know which teams are superior.” I have to ask John, did you see the Tennessee/Cal game? Perhaps Tennessee lost a close one at home to the Gators, but Cal was absolutely out-manned, out-played, and believe it or not out-coached by Tennessee.

Below is this week’s State Fans Nation poll side by side with the other polls.

	SFN	AP Top 25	USA Today	Harris Interactive	Master Coaches
1	Ohio State	Ohio State (59)	Ohio State (59)	Ohio State (107)	Ohio State (17)
2	Auburn	Auburn (2)	USC (2)	USC (4)	USC
3	Southern Cal	USC (2)	Auburn (2)	Auburn (2)	Auburn
4	Florida	West Virginia (2)	West Virginia	West Virginia	West Virginia
5	LSU	Florida	Florida	Michigan	Michigan
6	Michigan	Michigan	Michigan	Florida	Florida
7	Texas	Texas	Texas	Louisville	Texas
8	Louisville	Louisville	Louisville	Texas	Louisville
9	West Virginia	LSU	Georgia	Georgia	LSU
10	Tennessee	Georgia	LSU	LSU	Georgia
11	Virginia Tech	Virginia Tech	Virginia Tech	Virginia Tech	Virginia Tech
12	Georgia	Notre Dame	Oregon	Notre Dame	Oregon
13	Iowa	Iowa	Iowa	Oregon	Iowa
14	Oregon	Oregon	Notre Dame	Iowa	Notre Dame
15	Notre Dame	Tennessee	TCU	Tennessee	Oklahoma
16	Florida State	Oklahoma	Oklahoma	Oklahoma	TCU
17	Clemson	TCU	Florida State	TCU	California
18	Oklahoma	Clemson	Tennessee	California	Tennessee
19	Nebraska	Florida State	Clemson	Clemson	Clemson
20	Georgia Tech	California	California	Florida State	Florida State
21	California	Nebraska	Nebraska	Nebraska	Nebraska
22	TCU	Boise State	Boise State	Boise State	Georgia Tech
23	Miami (FL)	Rutgers	Rutgers	Rutgers	Boise State
24	Rutgers	Georgia Tech	Texas Tech	Missouri	Michigan State
25	Wake Forest	Missouri	Boston College	Boston College	Rutgers

Dropped Out of SFN Poll
BC; Arizona State; UCLA

11 Responses to Week 5 Poll

packpigskinfan23 09/27/2006 at 5:53 PM #

you mean that BC is still ranked on the offical polls?!?! glad to see they finally dropped off yours. I’ve been lobbying for that since Day 1!!!

and sorry, but Wake Forest may be 3-0 right now… but it wont be long before they are 5-3…
NCSUDude17 09/27/2006 at 7:16 PM #

Wake hasn’t really played anybody, Duke? Syracuse? Ole Miss? c’mon. Not to mention they got outplayed by and should have lost to Duke.
Wulfpack 09/27/2006 at 7:41 PM #

Well the Deacs have beaten everybody they’ve had on the schedule thus far. That’s really all those goes in gold and black can do. That’s also much more than most can boast about. Give credit when credit is due.
packpigskinfan23 09/27/2006 at 7:49 PM #

they deserve credit, but a ranking?!?! come on. they beat Duke by ONE POINT.
Wulfpack 09/27/2006 at 7:58 PM #

And Miami has two losses in three games played, one coming at the hands of Louisville by 24 points. I do believe the purpose of the SFN poll is to reward teams for where they are today, not necessarily where they will end up or what kind of tradition they do or do not have.
BJD95 09/28/2006 at 7:20 AM #

Simply put, NOBODY deserved the last slot or two. So, why not throw the talent-maximizing Deacons a bone?
Dan 09/28/2006 at 8:55 AM #

To those saying Wake has played nobody, please list the games VT has played. Wake has beaten 3 BCS conference teams. VT has beaten two. The only difference is we “know” VT is good based on other years. To hell with other years and preseason polls. That is why the polls are always wrong.

People need to learn to compartmentalize their seasons and live in year-tight compartments. :o)

Though I do think SFN went a little far with the “U”. But I dont fault them. I’ve been known to drink some kool-aid as well.
cfpack03 09/28/2006 at 9:10 AM #

I was with you until I saw Wake at #25. If you say nobody deserves it, you might as well throw in So. Miss
BJD95 09/28/2006 at 10:43 AM #

I don’t see any real justification for differentiating between Ritgers and Wake. So why are people only complaining about Wake? And who do you think deserves the spot MORE?
drhammondo 09/28/2006 at 12:21 PM #

I’m not surprised that the USA Today poll would favor the older Bowden over his son. But for whoever actually does the SFN poll (I assume a collection of you guys), did you actually WATCH any of the Fl. St. v. Clemson game? The difference in those two teams is a big one, Clemson is far better than the ‘Noles. If it weren’t for a couple of screw-ups by Clemson’s special teams, it would have been even more of a romp!
packpigskinfan23 09/28/2006 at 9:08 PM #

hey SFN… maybe BYU should be your #25 now!!