What Have You Done For Me Lately?

The most recent college football coaches poll was released today and it highlights the most vexing aspects of the polling system. Unlike in college basketball, each week's football polls are absolutely integral for determining the national champion. My first question: why is Florida State ranked five spots ahead of Miami? They have identical records and the Canes throttled the Seminoles in Tallahassee. Meanwhile, Miami's only loss was on the road to a team now ranked 5th- how does this translate into an 8 ranking while FSU is #3?

The answer, unfortunately, is that when coaches and writers are polled each Sunday, they put too much weight on what happened the day before instead of looking at the season as a whole. This practice is unfair because teams are at the mercy of the schedule-makers. Even teams that lose twice early (like #8 Michigan) are rewarded over teams that face a tough opponent late in the season (like #22 Oklahoma State). Pollsters need to stop punishing teams for losing by automatically dropping them a set number of spots in the polls.