Nebraska #24 in AP

[Kernal]

polls this early in the season are meaningless.....next

Polls are meaningless the entire season now.

how are they less meaningful now than before?
You really think 10-20 years ago they made more sense than now? You think back then they meant more to anything than they do now.

I'd say polls are affected more now by sportscasters who work for networks who have invested millions in exclusive conference television deals, and would naturally expect their employees to actively promote their product. Also the best way for an "independent" sports reporter to get themselves on TV guest spots is to actively support the opinions of the network. The obvious gorilla in the room right now would be ESPN and it's near incestuous love affair with the SEC.

There's nothing independent about the major media networks. The money is in advertising, not objective journalsim. Objective journalism in general is dying a quick death because it can't even sustain itself, let alone produce the grotesque profits that shareholders demand.

A lot of this conference supremacy stuff comes down to television contracts. Nobody used to really care about conferences. It was all about teams. So when did we start caring about conferences? Coincidentally, it was when television contracts began exploding and networks began cutting exclusive deals with, you guessed it, conferences. Pretty much everything you read or hear about conferences is networks building up their brands.

 

[strigori]

polls this early in the season are meaningless.....next

Polls are meaningless the entire season now.

Being ranked is still critical. Are they determining factors in who plays for the championship? No. But the effect they do have is a program's media exposure. GameDay, Sport Center, whatever the hell FS1 runs, and most written recaps of the weekend revolve around the local team, and the top 25. The Top 25 get extra crawl on every ticker as well. Being ranked keeps a program in peoples' minds.

 

[Mierin]

To everyone saying they don't matter and no one will look at them in 10-20 years, see every other college sport that has a playoff and still has rankings.

 

[jsneb83]

http://collegefootball.ap.org/poll

#relevant

Since when is #24 relevant?

#sarcasm

 

[RedDenver]

polls this early in the season are meaningless.....next

Polls are meaningless the entire season now.

Except for the fact that the committee will use them as discussion points as to where teams should be.

Exactly. Not sure why people think they won't at least be used as a guideline.

Except that the committee has said it won't look at polls - including their own from previous weeks. Whether that's true or not remains to be seen, but there's no reason they would care what the AP or ESPN or whoever ranks the teams.

For people saying other sports care about polls - name me a poll in another sport people follow that isn't part of the decision to get into the playoffs. RPI in baseball and basketball are directly referenced when deciding which teams get in.

 

[QMany]

For people saying other sports care about polls - name me a poll in another sport people follow that isn't part of the decision to get into the playoffs. RPI in baseball and basketball are directly referenced when deciding which teams get in.

Is RPI a "poll?"

 

[RedDenver]

For people saying other sports care about polls - name me a poll in another sport people follow that isn't part of the decision to get into the playoffs. RPI in baseball and basketball are directly referenced when deciding which teams get in.

Is RPI a "poll?"

Good question. It's a type of ranking, but not sure if opinion is figured in there.

 

[Notre Dame Joe]

The committee won't look at the polls but they will strongly consider strength of schedule.

 

[SouthAfricanHusker]

polls this early in the season are meaningless.....next

Polls are meaningless the entire season now.

how are they less meaningful now than before?You really think 10-20 years ago they made more sense than now? You think back then they meant more to anything than they do now.

They meant more to Nebraska fans. I don't remember anyone in say, 1999 scoff, "pfft, I wish we weren't ranked, we'd sneak up on more people"

No but I so remember those in 99 saying if only the voters would let us play FSU we can take anyone and will win the MNC. The polls definitely meant more back then. Several times deciding which team with similar resume got rings and trophies over others.

 

[NUpolo8]

polls this early in the season are meaningless.....next

Polls are meaningless the entire season now.

how are they less meaningful now than before?You really think 10-20 years ago they made more sense than now? You think back then they meant more to anything than they do now.

They meant more to Nebraska fans. I don't remember anyone in say, 1999 scoff, "pfft, I wish we weren't ranked, we'd sneak up on more people"

No but I so remember those in 99 saying if only the voters would let us play FSU we can take anyone and will win the MNC. The polls definitely meant more back then. Several times deciding which team with similar resume got rings and trophies over others.

You're proving my point here more than you're proving yours I think.

 

[walksalone]

polls this early in the season are meaningless.....next

Polls are meaningless the entire season now.

Poll rankings are used now to determine who's going to get on TV and where Gameday is going to show up. I don't think rankings mean as much as they did 20 or 30 years ago...

 

[RedDenver]

polls this early in the season are meaningless.....next

Polls are meaningless the entire season now.

Poll rankings are used now to determine who's going to get on TV and where Gameday is going to show up. I don't think rankings mean as much as they did 20 or 30 years ago...

Maybe. I bet TV rating projections mean way more for who gets on TV.