- Coaches' Poll
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The USA Today Coaches' Poll is the current name for a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football and Division I college basketball teams.
The football rankings are compiled by the USA Today Board of Coaches which is made up of 59 head coaches at Division I FBS institutions.[1] All coaches are members of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). The basketball rankings are compiled by the USA Today Board of Coaches which is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions.[2] All are members of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
The football Coaches' Poll is an element of the BCS rankings, a voting system used to determine who will play in the BCS National Championship Game and be crowned the NCAA Division I FBS national champion.
Contents
History
The Coaches' Poll began selecting the top 20 teams on a weekly basis during the 1950-1951 college football and basketball seasons. It was initially published by United Press (after 1958, United Press International). For the 1990-1991 football and basketball seasons, the poll expanded to a top 25, and it has retained this format since.
College football
Through the 1973 college football season, the final coaches poll was released in early December, after the regular season, but before the bowl games. Beginning with the 1974 season, the poll of coaches conducted its final poll after the bowl games. In 1991, USA Today and CNN took over publishing the coaches' football poll. In 1997, ESPN took the place of CNN as co-sponsor. Finally, following the 2005 season, as a result of controversial voting practices related to the BCS, ESPN dropped its co-sponsorship of the football poll, leaving USA Today as the sole sponsor.[3]
Although the coaches' football poll is often generally in accord with the AP Poll there have been years where the polls disagree. Eleven times the Coaches Poll has crowned a different national champion than the AP Poll – in 1954, 1957, 1965, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1991, 1997, and 2003 – causing consternation among some college football fans. Until 1974 the final Coaches Poll was taken before the bowl games occurred. This was changed after the 1973 season, when Alabama was crowned as the Coaches Poll national champion in December, yet lost the Sugar Bowl to Notre Dame on New Year's Eve. The same situation occurred in 1970, when #5 Notre Dame beat #1 Texas 24-11 in the 1971 Cotton Bowl and Nebraska won the AP national title.
The change to the post-bowl final poll was well-timed as the top-ranked team would lose its bowl game four more times in 1970s: in 1975, 1977, 1978, and 1979.
Also, since 1974, teams on probation are not recognized in the poll of coaches while the AP permits their inclusion.
The winner of the BCS National Championship Game is required to be voted number one, yet the AP Poll does not have this requirement. The winner of the Coaches' Poll is awarded the Waterford Crystal National Championship Coaches' Trophy in an on-field post-game presentation.
The coaches poll has come under criticism for being inaccurate, with some of the charges being that coaches are biased towards their own teams and conferences, that coaches don't actually complete their own ballots, and that coaches are unfamiliar with even the basics, such as whether a team is undefeated or not, about teams they are voting on.[4][5]
Year-by-year final coaches' poll football champions
Source (accessed 2005-11-15)
Season School Head Coach Bowl Note AP selector 1950 Oklahoma Bud Wilkinson lost 13-7 in 1951 Sugar Bowl 1951 Tennessee Robert Neyland lost 28-13 in 1952 Sugar Bowl 1952 Michigan State Biggie Munn no bowl allowed by Big Ten 1953 Maryland Jim Tatum lost 7-0 in 1954 Orange Bowl 1954 UCLA Red Sanders no bowl; consecutive Rose Bowls forbidden Ohio State named AP champion 1955 Oklahoma Bud Wilkinson 1956 Oklahoma Bud Wilkinson no bowl; consecutive bowls forbidden 1957 Ohio State Woody Hayes Auburn named AP champion 1958 LSU Paul Dietzel 1959 Syracuse Ben Schwartzwalder 1960 Minnesota Murray Warmath lost 17-7 in 1961 Rose Bowl 1961 Alabama Bear Bryant 1962 USC John McKay 1963 Texas Darrell Royal 1964 Alabama Bear Bryant lost 21-17 in 1965 Orange Bowl 1965 Michigan State Duffy Daugherty lost 14-12 in 1966 Rose Bowl Alabama named AP champion 1966 Notre Dame Ara Parseghian no bowl participation from 1925-68 - voluntary 1967 USC John McKay 1968 Ohio State Woody Hayes 1969 Texas Darrell Royal 1970 Texas Darrell Royal lost 24-11 in 1971 Cotton Bowl Nebraska named AP champion 1971 Nebraska Bob Devaney 1972 USC John McKay 1973 Alabama Bear Bryant lost 24-23 in Sugar Bowl (Dec. 1973) Notre Dame named AP champion 1974 USC John McKay Oklahoma named AP champion 1975 Oklahoma Barry Switzer 1976 Pittsburgh Johnny Majors 1977 Notre Dame Dan Devine 1978 USC John Robinson Alabama named AP champion 1979 Alabama Bear Bryant 1980 Georgia Vince Dooley 1981 Clemson Danny Ford 1982 Penn State Joe Paterno 1983 Miami Howard Schnellenberger 1984 Brigham Young LaVell Edwards 1985 Oklahoma Barry Switzer 1986 Penn State Joe Paterno 1987 Miami Jimmy Johnson 1988 Notre Dame Lou Holtz 1989 Miami Dennis Erickson 1990 Georgia Tech Bobby Ross Colorado named AP champion 1991 Washington Don James Miami (FL) named AP champion 1992 Alabama Gene Stallings 1993 Florida State Bobby Bowden 1994 Nebraska Tom Osborne 1995 Nebraska Tom Osborne 1996 Florida Steve Spurrier 1997 Nebraska Tom Osborne Michigan named AP champion 1998 Tennessee Phil Fulmer 1999 Florida State Bobby Bowden 2000 Oklahoma Bob Stoops 2001 Miami Larry Coker 2002 Ohio State Jim Tressel 2003 LSU Nick Saban USC named AP champion 2004† USC Pete Carroll would later vacate Orange Bowl victory 2005 Texas Mack Brown 2006 Florida Urban Meyer 2007 LSU Les Miles 2008 Florida Urban Meyer 2009 Alabama Nick Saban 2010 Auburn Gene Chizik ^1 †USC would later be stripped of their 2004 Coaches' Poll championship due to NCAA sanctions.
By school
School Number Seasons Alabama 6 1961, 1964, 1973, 1979, 1992, 2009 Oklahoma 6 1950, 1955, 1956, 1975, 1985, 2000 USC 5 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978, (2004) Miami (FL) 4 1983, 1987, 1989, 2001 Nebraska 4 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997 Texas 4 1963, 1969, 1970, 2005 Florida 3 1996, 2006, 2008 LSU 3 1958, 2003, 2007 Notre Dame 3 1966, 1977, 1988 Ohio State 3 1957, 1968, 2002 Florida State 2 1993, 1999 Penn State 2 1982, 1986 Michigan State 2 1952, 1965 Tennessee 2 1951, 1998 Auburn 1 2010 BYU 1 1984 Clemson 1 1981 Georgia 1 1980 Georgia Tech 1 1990 Maryland 1 1953 Minnesota 1 1960 Pittsburgh 1 1976 Syracuse 1 1959 UCLA 1 1954 Washington 1 1991 College basketball
Beginning in 1993, USA Today and CNN took over publishing the coaches' basketball poll for UPI. Beginning in the 1993-1994 basketball season, the Coaches' Poll began publishing its final poll after the NCAA basketball tournament. From 1995 to 2001, the poll was co-sponsored by USA Today and the NABC. Finally, in 2002, ESPN joined as a co-sponsor of the Coaches' Poll along with USA Today and the National Association of Basketball Coaches where select NABC members serve as the voting block for the poll. ESPN retains its involvement with the basketball poll despite no longer being involved with the football poll.
College baseball
USA Today and ESPN also publish a top 25 college baseball poll for NCAA Division I baseball, known as the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 coaches' baseball poll.[6]
See also
- AP Poll
- Bowl Championship Series
- Grantland Rice Award
- Mythical National Championship
- NCAA Division I-A national football championship
- Dickinson System
- Harris Interactive College Football Poll
- NAIA Coaches' Poll
References
- ^ "USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/usatpoll.htm. Retrieved 2006-07-27.
- ^ "USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 Poll". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/usatpoll.htm. Retrieved 2006-07-27.
- ^ Carey, Jack (2005-06-07). "ESPN Severs Ties to Poll". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2005-06-07-poll_x.htm. Retrieved 2006-07-27.
- ^ Epps, Darren (9 December 2008). "As always, coaches' poll shows biases". Chattanooga Times Free Press. http://www.tfponline.com/news/2008/dec/09/epps-always-coaches-poll-shows-biases/. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
- ^ Volin, Ben (9 December 2008). "Coaches Make a Mockery of Their Poll". Palm Beach Post. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/ufblog/entries/2008/12/09/coaches_mack_a_mockery_of_thei.html. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
- ^ "USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 coaches' baseball poll". USA Today. 2011-03-28. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/baseball/usatpoll.htm.
External links
NCAA college football rankings NCAA 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939 • 1940 • 1941 • 1942 • 1943 • 1944 • 1945 • 1946 • 1947 • 1948 • 1949 • 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955NCAA University Division 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972NCAA Division I 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977NCAA Division I-A / FBS NCAA Division I/FCS 2011Polls AP Poll • Coaches' Poll • Harris Interactive College Football PollCategories:- Bowl Championship Series
- College football rankings
- College men's basketball rankings in the United States
- College football awards
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