One unlikely star has emerged from the latest BCS disaster: Harris Poll voter George Wine, who ranked the Big 12 champion Oklahoma St. Cowboys No. 6, behind the Conference USA runner-up Houston Cougars. This is amusing, but ultimately harmless, because the Harris Poll is pretty much just like BlogPoll in that it doesn't actually alter any team's season.
Harris Poll Voter George Wine, BCS Saboteur?
Wait, no. That’s not accurate. The BCS has empowered the Harris to help determine which teams do and do not make the biggest game in college athletics.
But if you take a look at what Wine’s saying about the vote, you can’t help but wonder whether he did it for our own good.
Wine, an 80-year-old former Iowa Hawkeyes sports information director, tells TampaBay.com's Greg Auman "the BCS is just a mess," "college football is crying for a playoff system," and "voting is subjective and often arbitrary." So why not cast an indefensible vote that just makes the BCS look even worse than it already did? Outstanding!
His continued employment by Iowa is noteworthy, since it was OSU's loss to the Iowa St. Cyclones, the Hawkeyes' condescended-upon rival, that dropped the Pokes below Houston in his eyes. What kind of world would the Iowa fan live in if ISU could claim a victory over the national champion?
That sort of specific, local bias is at play for every voter who participates in any of these polls. It’s not just coaches who have very clear and very troublesome personal ties to the teams affected by their votes.
Iowa homer George Wine, your work in undermining the BCS has been noted and appreciated.
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