1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. USC
5. Alabama
6. Ohio State
7. Virginia Tech
8. Penn State
9. LSU
10. Mississippi

Texas received four first-place votes, and Oklahoma and USC each had one first-place vote. We’re going to see match-ups between many of these top ten teams, but by then, we could see some of these schools fall from grace. Are there any surprised coming from down below? Is this Notre Dame’s year? What about Oklahoma State or Utah?

In my opinion, though, this top ten list is pretty spot-on. I would have voted for Florida as number one, even if I’m not a fan of the school, and it’s only natural to have Texas and Oklahoma as two and three, consider that they both have a Heisman winner or nominee coming back for another year. Only tie will tell, though.

Picture via Wikipedia.

Post from: EveryJoe

Coaches Poll Predicts Florida as #1

Image: sxc.hu

Before 2005, coaches could keep their votes confidential, but the BCS pushed for the rule change after 2004, when the Rose Bowl bid was questionable. The coaches voted to reveal their final regular-season votes, which have been printed in USA Today.

However, this has caused some awkward situations. Coaches have been criticized for voting against teams in their own conference or picking unpopular choices, and having to reveal their votes has made the entire process more political.

Now, coaches can once again keep their picks a secret. This wasn’t the only rules change, however. Some of the other changes include:

• Eliminating the “bonus voter,” which placed a non-human vote based on the ranking success of a conference’s schools based on the previous season.
• Continuing to allow voters to be selected randomly
• Continuing to allow coaches to vote for their own teams
• Adopting a “round to even” rule for conferences with an odd number of teams (for example, a conference with 11 teams would get 6 votes, not 5 1/2)

The Harris Interactive Poll, which is also a part of the BCS formula, will continue to publish voters’ choices. To read more about the AFCA changes, check out this post.

Post from: EveryJoe

Final Coach Ballots to be Confidential