The AP Poll in a little more detail

Just so you know - you can go to the AP's website and get information on how poll voters actually voted...while this is a quite tedious during the season - the final poll is always fun to look at.

I don't think the coaches disclose who they vote for in the USAToday poll immediately after the poll - info on the last poll of December as we headed into bowl season was made available a few days after the poll was actually released...

Especially when you end up ranked - which Tech has done for only the third time in Mike Leach's eight years at Tech.

So thanks to the big win we have something fun to talk about...

Here's the final poll before we get started:

1. LSU (60) 12-2 1,620

2. Georgia (3) 11-2 1,515

3. USC (1) 11-2 1,500

4. Missouri 12-2 1,347

5. Ohio State 11-2 1,346

6. West Virginia 11-2 1,342

7. Kansas (1) 12-1 1,303

8. Oklahoma 11-3 1,139

9. Virginia Tech 11-3 1,096

10. Texas 10-3 962

10. Boston College 11-3 962

12. Tennessee 10-4 904

13. Florida 9-4 685

14. Brigham Young 11-2 654

15. Auburn 9-4 648

16. Arizona State 10-3 587

17. Cincinnati 10-3 566

18. Michigan 9-4 508

19. Hawaii 12-1 460

20. Illinois 9-4 443

21. Clemson 9-4 353

22. Texas Tech 9-4 308

23. Oregon 9-4 253

24. Wisconsin 9-4 202

25. Oregon State 9-4 110

Others Receiving Votes Virginia 66, Penn State 61, Kentucky 57, Wake Forest 53, Boise State 25, Arkansas 13, Utah 9, Mississippi State 7, Appalachian State 5, South Florida 5, Tulsa 4, Connecticut 3, Air Force 2, Rutgers 2. Dropped From Rankings Virginia 21, South Florida 23, Boise State 24, Arkansas 25.

Some interesting results -

5 votes for Coach Moore's 13 and 2 Appalachian State team (losses to Wofford and Georgia Southern).

Interesting also is South Florida who was at one time second in the nation ends up polling level with App State and just ahead of Tulsa who will be on Tech's non-conference schedule next year.

Seven of our 2008 opponents were in bowl games. UMass, which competes in Division I-AA lost in the second round of the FCS playoffs.

I know - I'm a going on a tangent here - but here's next year's schedule:

2008 Schedule



(2007 record in parenthesis)


Aug 30 TULSA (10-4) Lubbock

Sept 6 at Nevada (6-7) Reno, Nevada

Sept 13 SMU (1-11) Lubbock

Sept 20 MASSACHUSETTS (10-3) (Parents W.) Lubbock

Sept 27 Bye

Oct 4 at Kansas State (5-7) Manhattan, Kan.

Oct 11 NEBRASKA (5-7) (Homecoming) Lubbock

Oct 18 at Texas A&M (7-6) College Station

Oct 25 at Kansas (12-1) Lawrence, Kan.

Nov 1 TEXAS (10-3) Lubbock

Nov 8 OKLAHOMA STATE (7-6) Lubbock

Nov 15 at Oklahoma (11-3) Norman, Okla.

Nov 22 BAYLOR (3-9) Lubbock

Anyhow...back to the poll...

Let's have look-see at some of the pollsters and their opinions of the national championship picture, the Big 12 and Texas Tech....


Chris Fowler - uhhh...no votes from Chris Fowler - so at least he's got his good hair and Jay Leno-like giant pumpkin head still working for him. He even voted Oklahoma as better than Mizzou (yes, I understand OU won the heads-up game) even after OU was embarrassed by WVU and Mizzou stomped Arkansas. In general he clearly doesn't like the Big 12 teams.

Kirk "The Love Bug" Herbstreit - was brutal to his alma mater and ranked them - correctly - 7th even while the Bucks finished overall polling at 5th. he ranked Tech above Virginia and kept a deserving UVA team in the top 25. I like Herbie more and more every year - I think he knows his stuff.

Craig James - well this ought to be interesting - will he have to withhold from voting for Tech next year when Adam is on the team in earnest? A high rank of 19 from Craig who was also rightfully brutal to Ohio State and got the Missouri Kansas conundrum more correct than others with Mizzou at 4 and KU at 5.

Stuart Mandel - Is a fan of the program apparently because he ranked us 14 - which is not only a high ranking but makes me wonder is Stewart wasn't high when he filled out his ballot. But I sure as heck appreciate it - and in case you missed it - Stewart has already released his top 10 for next year - and Texas Tech is....not in the top 10 - we are "a team to watch."

Molly Yanity - Seattle Post-Intelligencer - Molly didn't give us any votes - but what do you expect from a newspaper that makes up words and names their paper the "Intelligencer?" Do yourself a favor and don't do a Google Image Search for Molly - you'll only be disappointed - seriously.

Kirk Bohls - Austin American-Statesman - In what can only be characterized as a "shocker" - Kirk ranks his hometown Texas Longhorns #11 - and Texas Tech #12. What?! Wait. Tech's highest single polling came from Austin. Whaaaaa??? Have I ever told you there are seriously good drugs available near Town Lake - specifically near the Congress Bridge? Well there must be.

Joseph Duarte - Houston Chronicle - must not have watched the BCS Championship - or the Sugar Bowl - or the Rose Bowl - he voted OSU #2. Super serious. His editor is nuts.

Ray Fittipaldo - Pittsburgh Post - ditto the above.

John Hunt - The Oregonian - I'm beginning to think the Great Northwest doesn't know about the Jewel of the South Plains - no votes for TTU.

Rich Kaipust - Omaha World-Herald - Kansas Jayhawks #2 - I gotta say - there's a case to be made there - they just drilled VaTech - a game I thought for sure the Hokies would run away with.

Scott Wolf - LA Daily News - Thinks that despite the fact LSU won the BCS Championship game - that matters little because Georgia is #1. In other Hollywood scripts - Tulsa is #25 while Tech is unranked in his poll. And to top that off - Virginia ends up #21 in his poll - only falling one spot after their Gator Bowl loss. Oh Yeah - and Utah is #24. Hollywood - it's a whole other world.

Israel Gutierrez - Miami Herald - Kansas Jayhawks - National Champs!

That's the basic highlights - there were about 4 other pollsters that didn't rank Tech - and every single one of them kept Virginia in the 20 - 23 area. I guess I just don't understand some of these guys and gals.

Are they making some sort of statement with their votes? They will not be oppressed and will vote they way they want?

Also - I swear I thought I saw 5 votes for App State and yet not a single poll I clicked on had App State ranked - I thought I clicked them all - but I guess I didn't.

For you Jerry Moore fans

Now that Jerry Moore is a bit of a cult hero - I posted last month the one video that is on YouTube that features a Tech team coached by Jerry...

http://ramblingraiders.blogspot.com/2007/08/watch-your-raiduhs-beat-aggiesagain.html

Oddly enough, that game versus the Aggies is the 1982 game - and Jerry Moore's time at Texas Tech would be up just a few years later...and the Texas A&M game probably figured into the end of "Moore Excitement" at Texas Tech.

The fall of 1985 was the end of "Moore Excitement.'' Tech lost a game to Texas A&M when Jerry Moore couldn't make up his mind whether to go for a tie or go for two - and so wound up going for two, futilely, from the 8-yard line. Over the next few weeks, James Hamrick from Rice and Brandy Brownlee from SMU kicked long field goals right at the end of close games, grinding Tech's season - and Moore's fate - into dust.

article by Don Williams

http://www.redraiders.com/

You want to know something else especially creepy about that Don Williams article?

It was written on September 1, 2006.

One year to the day before this:



Weird.

Perception or Reality?

Thanks to The Wizard of Odds for linking this story at their site...(emphasis is mine)

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Appalachian State students celebrate huge upset

Mike Cranston / Associated Press

BOONE, N.C. -- The monumental upset at No. 5 Michigan was only minutes old when, more than 400 miles away, Appalachian State senior David Rockensuess and a dozen or so other students did what delirious college football fans always do.

They headed for the school's football stadium, climbed the fence, and tore down the goalpost.

Then it really got fun.

Dragging the trophy down the main street in town, their numbers grew. By the time they reached the chancellor's house, a small army had joined in to help.

"There were hundreds of us," Rockensuess said. "There may have been a thousand there at the end."

The goalpost was still sitting in Chancellor Kenneth Peacock's yard when the team returned to campus in four buses late Saturday, where they greeted with thousands of cheering fans.

"I've been doing this a long time, but I've never seen anything like this," coach Jerry Moore said. "It's an awesome deal. We've got great fans."

Okay - where do I start?

The magnitude of the victory can determine the judgment of whether vandalism is revered or whether it is profane?

The short answer is 'yes.'

I'm not making excuses for the poor behavior of some of our Raider faithful...just thought it was awfully how insightful this was. I also acknowledge two important things - Tech is not a FCS team or school And, I still think tearing down the posts is just stupid. We shouldn't burn couches, either IMO...

An expression of joy ends up in trespassing and vandalism - the chancellor's house is visited by thousands of fans and a goal post. And the coach makes sure everyone knows this is awesome stuff. Mmmmkay.

Appalachian State is Hot Hot Hot

Coach Jerry Moore really is creating "Moore Excitement" today - even though his attempt at Moore Excitement was an abject failure while he was at Tech.

Jerry Moore on Wiki

We Tech fans just love it that he has turned around his coaching career at App State and are always pulling for him. That's the last two straight Div I-AA titles at App State in case you were wondering.

And if he makes the folks at The M Zone attempt to throw Lloyd Carr under a train, hey, that's their business.

If the team from the school that created that horrible video beats mighty Michigan at The Big House - well that's just embarrassing.

App State up 31-20 with a little over 8 mins remaining in the third - go Mountaineers - I hope you guys don't go Cold Cold Cold.

EDIT - Appalachian State has pulled off a monumental upset - holding on and winning the game - in fact - coming from BEHIND TO WIN.

The debate is raging on about whether this is the biggest upset of all time - and Mark May who is an industrial sized douchebag has called for Michigan to fall completely out of the top 25....

Whatever - congrats Jerry Moore...

AP - No Div I-AA team (and we all learned today that they are no longer called Div I-AA - they are now dubbed Champion Sub-Division) has EVER beaten an AP ranked team (much less a top 5 ranked team).

Wow.

Just wow.