In years past, January 1st was the most glorious day of the year for college football. The games began at 9:00 a.m. and ended 12 hours later. When the last whistle was blown the season ended and the pollsters decided the national champion, simultaneously marking the opening of the Poll Debating Season.
For many the poll debating season is more fun than the actual season, particularly in cases when the pollsters are not in agreement about the rankings or the hometown team is ranked ahead of their arch rival in one of the polls. Poll debating can be played in almost any setting – weddings, funerals, and company events. For some it is as contentious as discussions about religion or politics. The best thing about poll debating is that its season lasts longer than the football season, it continues until Labor weekend, or the start of the next football season.
The BCS was contrived as a way to resolve the controversy, put an end to poll debating, and make more money. Instead, the folks at the BCS threw gasoline on the fire and the sport of poll debating grew even stronger. (Can you say Alabama 42 and Notre Dame 14?)
As well, the growth of poll debating has been aided by the addition of rankings and polls. Today the major conferences have the AP Poll, USA Today Coaches Poll, ESPNU Fan Poll, Fox Sports NCAA Power Rankings, Keith Massey’s Computer Rankings, Jeff Sagarin Computer Rankings and the Legends Poll. And in the spirit of equal opportunity, there is a Bottom 10 poll (Pac 12 fans will be pleased to know that Colorado and Washington were ranked #2 and #5 respectively at season end.)
With a little luck, next season there will be a new poll added. It will be named after Missouri wide receiver T.J. Moe and will be sponsored by Playboy magazine, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Charmin.
At the 2012 SEC Media Days, writers asked Moe about what it was like to make the change from the Big 12 to the SEC. Moe candidly responded, “They say girls are prettier here, air’s fresher, and toilet paper is thicker.”
Time will tell whether the Moe/Playboy/EPA/Charmin Poll, with its unique set of criteria for gauging the strength of football prowess, will be any less accurate than the aforementioned polls. The worst that can happen is that poll debaters will have a new range of topics to banter about.