If Merited, Should OSU and Penn State Be In CFP Poll

[donovan]

As I understand it, Ohio State and Penn State will not be in many polls because of the restrictions placed by the NCAA as they being bowl ineligible. I believe that for the purpose of deciding the best teams in the country, valid arguments can be made on both sides. This poll is to see how the people on this site feel.

N. B. The author of this message has nothing to do with much of anything, certainly not the CFP message board poll. These decisions are made by others.

[bama_girl]

hey! i gotta hunnerd percent!!! do i win somethin?

[Vileborg]

I voted no to both and here is why.

I keep getting images of people viewing our poll and then discounting it because it lists teams that don't count in the national picture.

What I propose is that if on our individual ballots we feel that OSU or PSU deserve a top 25 ranking then we add a 26th or 27th pick respectively. We can still pull data but post a national top 25 without them so as to be creditable. Then in the footnote remark that OSU and PSU would have placed at this ranking due to user votes had they been eligible.

[Spence]

We have no rules against counting them. It is up to the voters whether they would choose to vote for them or not. Personally I wouldn't count them. I voted no. I feel if you break the rules part of the punishment is not being included.

[bama_girl]

key words "if merited"
i feel that football is football.
the kids at these schools had nothing to do with administrative problems and if ncaa didnt give them the death penalty then we shouldnt either.
that being said i hope joe pa rots and i hope satan is really like the one on south park and has taken a liking to him.

[Yeofoot]

I'm with Spence...some on the poll will not vote for them, if one person thinks Ohio State is #1, and votes that way, and the rest leave them off the ballot, they won't be ranked very high on the overall poll.

[armchairqb]

I didn't think about it that much until I saw this poll.

If I felt OSU or PSU deserved to be in the top 25, initially I didn't have an issue with it. But I believe it's a good precedent not to include them, just simply because statutes are in place to where they don't figure in the postseason.

[billybud]

I voted to include them...I tend to vote a "power poll" rather than how teams will end up.

If Ohio State ended up the regular season ranked #1 or #2...the next team would just move up in my poll...

[Derek]

I agree with Spence. Voted no to both.

[warrriorsfan808]

Break the rules pay the price, SMU did and they are just now getting to the point where they are competitive again.

[Vileborg]

Who is SMU?

[Eric]

I would be fine with including them. USC was ranked last year and not eligible for postseason play.

It's important that we all get on the same page though. If we're ambiguous about who is allowed to be in the poll, then some may leave OSU/PSU off for off-field reasons and others could rank them highly if they happened to be top 10 material. If that was split 50/50, you could have a 10-2 Ohio State team that would appear to be one of the best in the nation ranked #23 behind a decent non-AQ who snuck into the top 25. It would just look inconsistent. That's just one potential scenario. I say we either bar the two teams totally or have people vote according to how good they think they are (although I guess you can't stop people from leaving them off due to their own free will if they felt that strongly about it).

[donovan]

I am ok with what the group decides...arguments on both sides....

[Spence]

There are no rules on who is included, except they are FBS. It is just what your opinion happens to be. We did the same with Alabama a few years back. I don't think it will be an issue once the season starts, though, because I don't think either team would end up being ranked this year on their merit, even if they were included in both polls.

[Vileborg]

I also don't want to appear inconsistent. I say we add them if it deserves merit.

I know I stated a case for not adding them earlier but I agree that everyone should be free to put them in their poll and I want to be consistent with them to give us the highest credibility.



So for the sake of the kids, consistency, and freedom of speech I say let's all vote for them if they deserve the vote.