Q: What is this poll all about?

A: This poll is simply the "CollegeRivals.org Top 25 Fan Poll." This poll has been created to give fans a voice in determining the national champion of Division 1 College Football. At seasons end, the winning team will be presented with the first CollegeRivals.org National Championship Trophy.

This is a historic event in College Football as it is the first time that fans from across the country will have input (via a weekly Top 25 Poll) into crowning a National Champion.

Just as the AP Poll polls members of the media, the Coaches Poll polls D1 Coaches, and the FWAA Poll polls Football Writers, the CollegeRivals.org Top 25 Fan Poll will be polling educated and knowledgeable College Football Fans.

 

Q: Why do only certain representatives get to vote in this poll vs. just any fan?

A: The people that are voting are fans, in fact, you could say that they are professional fans.  They are actually more than that, they are part of the emerging form of media that is coming from the Internet in the form of Fan Websites, Newsletters, and other forms of College Football coverage outside of the mainstream media.  Most of the people running these "outlets" started out as dedicated fans of College Football who created a way to fill a need (media coverage, fan message boards, newsletter, etc.) for college football fans.  This "hobby" of maintaining a website or writing a newsletter has become a full-time job for most of them (and really time consuming for all of them).  It is because of their dedication to the game of college football, their in-depth understanding of different teams, and their endless knowledge of the entire sport that we felt these people were qualified enough to represent the College Football Fans of this country by voicing their educated opinion as to who the Top 25 College Football Teams are each week, and thus eventually crown a National Champion.

These websites and services are what allowed us to find these voters. Without the repuation of their work, they would have never been contacted. We spent the past year evaluating the different sites in order to help us determine who we would extend a voter invitation to.

(We view our voters as knowledgeable and as capable as any "voting" media or "voting" coach in the country.  Although the voting members of other polls probably describe themselves as "fans" of college football, CollegeRivals.org voters are fans first vs. someone employed by a current Division-1 institution or media outlet. Whereas Coaches and AP voters tend to lose their vote once they lose their media or coaching job, these educated fans were not given a vote due to the job they hold, but because of the knowledge they possess. This knowledge can not be taken away by an instituion, so as long as each voter continues to educate themself, they will continue to have a vote.)

 

Q: Are we looking for ways to add more voters with different backgrounds?

A: Yes (in time).  It is just that at first we knew that these current voters were best suited for the job.  Other voters will have to be sought out, found, and interviewed for the ability to vote.  We were careful to not pick people who already had a voice in another major college football poll so that we could get a new and distinct voice of the fan.

It is possible that an "active" user/member of CollegeRivals.org (through educated college football discussions on the message boards, and/or proof of college football knowledge via their weekly picks) could earn a vote in the top 25 poll.  It is important to note, that no player is guaranteed a vote based solely on how they perform in the College Football Pickem.

The CollegeRivals.org Top 25 Fan Poll will not be changing (adding or subtracting) voters during any given season.  The only time the voting structure will be changed is during the off-season.  Changing the amount of voters during the football season would cause any one individual vote to become diluted.**

**We cannot control any one voter who forgets to vote (or chooses not to) in any given week and thus strengthens the ballots of the remaining voters. 

 

Q: Why does CollegeRivals.org feel that Fans are capable of determining the National Champion in College Football?

A: If the people of the U.S. are capable of voting for their President, then they are capable of voting for the National Title of College Football.

Furthermore, it is not a question of "Our Fan Poll being correct, while other polls are incorrect," but more about getting another perspective from an entirely different voice. 

 

Q: What keeps this poll honest? (Or, how do we know that these "Fans" are not just voting for their favorite team?)

A: The same biases that are present in the media and coaches polls are "possibly" present in this poll as well.  However, we have choosen to fully disclose all votes by all voters in order to keep our poll honest, and without controversy.  Regardless of the fact that each ballot will be discolsed, every voter is still entitled to his/her own opinions as to which football teams are better (and where a team belongs in the Top 25).  If a voter is purely voting for his team to be higher than the rest (due to a personal agenda) it will show in their ballots.  But, keep in mind, this is an opinion poll (as are all polls) and no one voter has the power to vault a team from the back of the poll to the top.  (However, one voters vote may be the deciding factor as to whether a team will be number two or number three in any given poll, but that is the case with any coach in the U.S. that may vote his team higher, and another team lower, in order to advance his teams bowl position.)**

** I don't know if that has ever happened in the history of the Coaches, AP, or any other poll, and I am not insinuating that it has.  I am merely trying to be pro-active in answering questions about a voters motives before they come up.

Also, a major reason for not letting anyone and everyone vote in this poll is because we believe, that at this time, the schools with the higher population of current students and alumni will win out every time.  Afterall, if everyone could vote, what is to stop thousands of students from flocking to this site in order to vote their 7-5 football team into the number one spot, above two or three undefeated teams?  (A school with only 20,000 current students would not stand a chance over a school with 40,000 current students.)  Our method/system of a fan poll will make sure to have worthy representatives (fans) from across the country that may or may not (unofficially) represent a specific Division-1 program, and each voter will not have the power to "stuff" the ballot box with votes for their favorite school, but will have the power to voice their opinion about who should be number one through twenty five (while having their ballot, and reputation, on display for everyone to see how they voted). 

 

Q:  Can current voters lose their right to vote in this poll?

A:  Voters will have the ability/privilege to vote in this poll as long as they remain active participants in the weekly poll, vote with integrity and honesty, take on and carry the responsibilities associated with the power of their individual vote, and as long as the staff here at CollegeRivals.org continues to see the contributions each voter makes to the game of College Football as valuable/knowledgeable contribution. Remember, each voter was hand selected because of their reputation as a professional college football fan, and because of the well informed information that they all provide.

Any voter can lose his/her right to vote in the CollegeRivals.org Top 25 Fan Poll at any time and for any reason.

 

Q: Does CollegeRivals.org own this poll?

A: Yes, CollegeRivals.org does own the rights to (marks, etc.) to the "CollegeRivals.org Top 25 Fan Poll." However, it is our hope for this poll to become its own animal. We are doing our best to make sure that this poll takes on a life of its own. While CollegeRivals.org may own the rights to this poll, it is the voters and their ballots which create the poll. We hope that every voter can (at some point) feel like this poll is as much theirs as it is ours.

 

Q:With all the polls that currently exist, why do we need a "Fan Poll?"

A: College Football needs to hear the voice of the fan. Why? Because all other voices are being heard, except the fans. As long as we are determining the National Champion of Division-1 College Football with a poll system (which we at CollegeRivals.org don't have a problem with) we believe that it is important to take all educated voices into consideration.

 

Q: Why is media coverage for this poll important?

A: The more coverage (of any kind) that this poll receives, the louder the voice of the fan becomes. Right now, the voice of the AP and Coaches Poll (and BCS) is extremely "loud" and is therefore taken very seriously. This poll, along with several other polls, should receive the same attention if we want to have all opinions represented.

 

Q: Why should the fans even get a voice at all?

A: I am of the opinion that the Fan's Voice needs to be heard in the same manner as the Coaches and AP. After all, you could make an argument that the fan voters in this poll know as much about College Football as any Media or Coach Voter out there (maybe not the real X's and O's, but they really know what is going on week by week across the country).

There are basically 4 major groups that make up College Football (Fans, Media, Coaches, Players). Everyone fits into one of those categories in some way or another.

Not considering the players (as I would think that they probably spend too much time focusing on their own team, and their next opponent, to really be able to vote in a Top 25) the only other people out of those four groups that are getting a voice are the Media (AP) and Coaches. This is only 50% of the groups that make up College Football, and neither of these two groups are the largest of the four (the fans).

This "CollegeRivals.org Top 25 Fan Poll," just like the AP and Coaches Poll, will not poll every fan in the country, but instead will get an educated representative/sampling of fans from across the country to voice their opinion/ballot in order to decide the Top 25 (and eventual MNC).