Five people voted UConn into the top 25 this week. I am surprised how few that is, but I shouldn't be.
One was Desmond Conner from the Courant, the others were Brett McMurphy of AOL Fanhouse (former Tampa Tribune writer), Tim Haney from Charleston Post Courier, Doug Doughty of the Roanoke Times and Tom Hart from CBS College Sports.
Cincinnati is No. 8, Pitt is No. 15 and WVU was No. 25 which is all good for the Big East. Peculiar to me though is Rutgers getting 37 votes.
So I went to Poll Staker and wanted to see how the votes came in.
The only one who voted for both UConn and Rutgers in the poll was Tom Hart. (UConn 25, Rutgers 19). The beat writers, or in Murphy's case former, Des Conner and McMurphy, voted UConn and left Rutgers out.
The rest of Rutgers' votes came from Baton Rougue, Las Vegas, Detroit, Jacksonville, Indiana and some others.
Now, how is this possible?
Rutgers played on Dec. 19, played the worst non-conference schedule of any major conference team and it's best win actually was a last second miracle against UConn.
The Huskies lost 5 games by 15 points, suffered the murder of a player, and had a 4-game winning streak including wins over Notre Dame, South Florida and an SEC team in South Carolina.
Now, 32 votes for Rutgers, and 5 for Connecticut?
Why?
IT'S THE MARKETING -- STUPID.
Rutgers played Dec. 19 -- three weeks ago -- against a CUSA team in Central Florida and dominated. No one was paying attention.
But, guess what popped into my email earlier this week? It was an email from Rutgers athletic department highlighting the 2009 season.
In it, they boasted of Rutgers making 5 straight bowl games and how many consecutive 8 win seasons it has had. Looking at the email and reading over the facts, it would be hard not to think Rutgers was one of the top programs in America. 5 straight bowl games? There are only a handful of teams that have done that. There wasn't a thing that was inaccurate about anything the email said. It was an excellent example of marketing and just shows the terrific ability of Rutgers to generate hype and interest.
What was left out of the email?
Three of Rutgers' wins were against Florida International, Howard and Texas Southern. 2 FCS schools and a school in its infancy playing football.
UConn's worst 3 non-conference games? Rhode Island (FCS gimmee), at Ohio University (bowl team) and AT BAYLOR.
Top non-conference games for Rutgers? at Maryland.
UConn?: North Carolina and AT Notre Dame.
Bowl game:
Destroy Central Florida, or impressively defeat an SEC team?
Now, Rutgers beat UConn. Of course they did, but head to head isn't the only consideration in the poll and everyone that actually covers the Big East would rank UConn ahead. UConn played its worst game of the season in trying circumstances against Rutgers. I don't throw it out, but when voting you have to look at the season in its totality.
For example, no one is complaining that USC (the real one) is in the Top 25 this week and Stanford isn't. Reflexively, USC ended the season in superior fashion, especially when you take the season in as a whole.
UConn conceivably could have went 10-2 or even 11-1 this year. But, in games they could have lost, it could have been 1-11 with Rhode Island the only assured gimmee on the schedule.UConn's schedule this season was extremely difficult for a program the caliber of the Huskies.
So I ask, who had the better year?
Here is a secret. I spent 2008 as an AP voter and I couldn't watch all the games, though voting is a tremendous honor. The hardest part about voting in the Top 25 is rounding out the last 5 spots. How do you differentiate? Well, when you are doing that you need information. Rutgers' email and the fact they beat UConn put them into the top 25. If anyone took time to go deeper into it, or had more knowledge of UConn's losses I think they would have put UConn No. 25.
This is hardly life or death, but it just goes to show you once again that the battle in the college football world doesn't end on the field.
The Huskies have a terrific team coming back, but just because they earn and deserve some mention doesn't mean they will get it.
Perhaps that's how it should be. But when you earn something, it doesn't hurt to claim it.
I know Randy Edsall doesn't care about polls and what others think of UConn. It's all driven by his Teddy Roosevelt philosophy of "talk softly and carry a big stick." Nothing is done with this team without his permission. Perhaps UConn likes being that under the radar team, but it's starting to become a sterotype like "possession receiver."
No wide receiver wants to be labeled a "possession receiver."
The Huskies are getting it done on the field. They should have more hype and publicity by sheer resume. Edsall has performed something no one though he could do at Connecticut.
I get the feeling he feels that UConn's play speaks for itself. It does, the question I have though, is anybody listening?
2 comments:
We'll find out if people are listening when the preseason polls come out in August.
As for UConn not getting poll love now comes down to two things: they have 5 losses and the story out of the bowl game was that South Carolina laid an egg. UConn got very little credit down south, from what I read online. The main theme was how badly SC played.
It's okay though....if UConn beats Michigan to start 2010, they'll get more than enough national respect. I bet Rich Rod is worried.
J...Nice read. I made the mistake myself of having the R ahead of us because of the last minute loss. I had the Dogs pounding the R and it did not happen. I find it hard to see a team below a team they beat on the field.
I am happy with where they finished and how well they handled all the adversity this year. I prefer the program growing one step at a time. Had we won a few of the close ones and gone to a BCS bowl I believe with the personal at hand we may have come out looking like Cincy did. That would have hurt progress more than losing those close games. A couple of years ago those games would have been blowouts. Next year I say we win them.
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