Poll crazy
February 26th, 2008, 12:54 pm · 1 Comment · posted by Dan Zeiger
You think college football’s rankings can get confusing at times? They do not hold a candle to baseball, in which four polls are generally recognized: Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, USA Today/ESPN (coaches) and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
This week, Arizona State — after outscoring Miami (Ohio), Vanderbilt and Oregon State by a combined 36-6 in the DeMarini Invitational — tops three of the four polls, with the No. 6 ranking by Baseball America the exception. That makes it easy to explain the consensus opinion on the Sun Devils, but some teams can be all over the map when comparing the four polls.
So what does that mean for ASU baseball pieces you read in the Tribune and on this blog? Including each of the four rankings can clutter copy, so the USA Today/ESPN poll will be the primary source. If you see a ranking without attribution, assume that it was determined by the coaches.
Brett Wallace gets back to first on a pickoff attempt against Vanderbilt on Saturday. The junior had two home runs and seven RBIs in the game. (Lisa Olson/Tribune)
Third baseman Brett Wallace on Tuesday was named the Pac-10’s player of the week after going 5-for-12 with three home runs and nine RBIs. Against Vanderbilt and Oregon State, Wallace batted leadoff, a role he filled 14 times last season, batting .509 (29-for-57) with seven home runs.
There is a good chance he will remain in the top spot when ASU faces 18th-ranked — and if you figured that is from the USA Today/ESPN poll, give yourself a cookie for reading comprehension — Michigan on Thursday at Packard Stadium.
Citing RPI concerns, the Wolverines nixed the idea of playing Northern Illinois on Wednesday instead of a second contest with ASU. As a result, the Sun Devils’ schedule remains the same: Michigan at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, then the Coca-Cola Classic: Hawaii at 4 p.m. Friday and Michigan at 4 p.m. Saturday (both at Surprise Stadium), and Portland at 1 p.m. Sunday at Packard.
NIU — which canceled a series at Texas Tech last weekend as part of a 10-day athletics moratorium after five students were slain on the DeKalb, Ill., campus on Feb. 14 — still will make up two games in Arizona. The Huskies will play a doubleheader in Surprise on Thursday, facing Portland at 1 p.m. and Hawaii at 4 p.m.
February 27th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Dan is on to something here by singling out one poll over the others as a preference. I’d like to see the Tribune do the same thing in football where, unlike baseball, the two major polls are not interchangeable in terms of authority. The AP poll is older, historically the more recognized (by a wide margin), and it allows its voters the option of actually voting for the number one team in the final poll.