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Idaho Vandals, winless in 2005, quite a surprise in new national poll
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No, that wasn’t a misprint.
The winless Idaho Vandals football team really did receive one vote worth five points in the first Harris Interactive College Football poll.
The poll – which will help determine who plays for the national championship-was released Sunday. The 114-member panel included support for three teams with losing records – Idaho (0-4), Arizona (1-2) and Bowling Green (1-2).
Essentially, the poll has the Vandals ranked 44th in the nation, out of 119 Division I-A teams.
“That kind of thing certainly doesn’t increase the opportunity to have much credibility,” said Ron Stephenson, a Harris poll voter who lives in Boise. “That just doesn’t make sense.”
The Harris poll was created when The Associated Press asked that its poll not be used in the Bowl Championship Series, the complicated formula that combines polls and computer rankings to determine college football’s top teams.
The BCS created the Harris poll to fill the void of the AP’s departure.
People who vote in the Harris poll are former coaches, players, administrators and media. The poll will not release individual votes until the final poll on Dec. 4.
Boise college football fan Mike Klinkhammer said he was surprised to see Idaho and Bowling Green ranked in the poll, and questioned who was doing the voting.
“I can go with the credibility factor because these people have been around, but only if they use their heads, but they aren’t using their heads. It’s an embarrassment.” Klinkhammer said.
Stephenson, the former commissioner of the Big Sky Conference, is retired. He said the poll, which is fighting for credibility because it is new and already has had a handful of panelists drop out, didn’t need this kind of start.
“No question-it does not help the credibility at all,” he said. “It would indicate, if it was done on purpose, that someone obviously doesn’t care what kind of job they’re doing in the poll. That would be disappointing.”
Harris Interactive, based in Rochester, N.Y., said it’s unlikely that a voter error resulted in the Vandals or any other losing team garnering support in the poll.
“It’s clear from our standpoint, it looks like this person just expressed an opinion, which is a part of opinion polls,” said Jim Quilty, the vice president of research in Rochester.
Harris poll voters have three ways to cast their votes