Who’s #1? (Merged)

[Phil]

How many times has a #3-5 team beaten the #1 team in the last 10 years?

On February 1, 2021, fourth-ranked NC State beat number one ranked Louisville, but NC State was not moved to the top position in fact they didn't even move up a single spot. South Carolina was moved to the top position. Does this qualify as an example?

 

[ConnManFan]

This is probably not fair or going to be well received, but the only thing that matters this season is qualifying for the NCAA Tournament and then winning six games in that tournament. Everything else is just a distraction or white noise.

 

[Zanzman]

Well, that's not true for me. I also follow UConn football, men's basketball, and hockey.

How about baseball always a competitive team

 

[ucmiami2]

Well, South Carolina came up just short of our 111 game win streak. And our 90. And our 60...
I think UConn, UCLA, ND make up the top 3 in that order, but would not be surprised if we are not #1

Actually, South Carolina just squeaked past Baylor's 42 game win streak, didn't reach Tennessee's 46 game streak, and clearly missed matching Uconn's fourth best streak of 47 wins.

 

[ucmiami2]

I think people are just looking at this in different ways and that’s ok. It’s not that UConn is being “punished” if UCLA and/or ND pass them.

I can imagine a voter may try to sort out the teams at the top by looking at each team’s (short) resume so far and ranking accordingly. UCLA, ND, and Uconn are obviously all undefeated, but who has the best win? By that logic it’s:

1.UCLA
2. ND
3. UConn

However due to poll inertia, and the fact that UConn was previously 2, I think UConn will split first place votes with UCLA.

I think the reality is that most if not all the voters in both polls spend a lot less time filling out their submissions, than it would take you to read just one pages of this currently six page thread. Generally, they look at their last list, look at who lost during the last week, and move them up or down based on that. Maybe, they also look at the last weeks poll to see if they missed anyone, and to find someone to replace any of the teams between 20-25 that had a 'bad' loss.

 

[Vowelguy]

I think the reality is that most if not all the voters in both polls spend a lot less time filling out their submissions, than it would take you to read just one pages of this currently six page thread. Generally, they look at their last list, look at who lost during the last week, and move them up or down based on that. Maybe, they also look at the last weeks poll to see if they missed anyone, and to find someone to replace any of the teams between 20-25 that had a 'bad' loss.

I doubt voters get paid. And in an environment where newspapers are losing subscribers, a reporter doesnt have the luxury to spend a lot of time on a poll that doesnt mean anything and takes away from the things that generate their salary (writing interesting articles).