Urban Meyer, a superstar head coach and a national figure in college football, spoke at Big Ten Media Days on Monday in Chicago. Big Ten Network did not provide live coverage of his session with the media. ESPN deserves plenty of criticism for how it elevates the SEC and undercuts the levels of exposure it gives to conferences such as the ACC and Big 12. However, when BTN can’t provide live coverage of Meyer, Mark Dantonio, and the coaches of its other big-name programs, the collection of factors that feed into conference bias becomes a lot more complicated. It’s not just about ESPN loving the SEC too much; it’s about BTN and Pac-12 Networks being markedly inadequate when covering their own conferences. Conference bias is, in other words, a two-way street and a multi-source problem. ESPN’s competitors have to do a better job.

TSS Top 25 Poll After Week 9

Posted by on Nov 2, 2015 14:03

At the conclusion of each week’s games, the staff at the Student Section will team with writers from other Bloguin sites to publish a Top 25 poll. Here’s the latest installment, with some notes and analysis about our panel’s choices.

Rank Team Points
1 Ohio State (7) 195
2 Clemson (1) 190
3 Michigan State 173
4 TCU 170
5 LSU 169
6 Baylor 161
7 Alabama 146
8 Notre Dame 131
9 Stanford 123
10 Iowa 121
11 Oklahoma State 116
12 Florida 114
13 Utah 111
14 Memphis 105
15 Florida State 83
16 Houston 81
17 Oklahoma 79
18 Michigan 70
19 Toledo 54
20 Mississippi 43
21 North Carolina 38
22 Temple 36
23 UCLA 20
24 Texas A&M 16
25 Wisconsin 13
Others receiving votes: Navy 10, Northwestern 7, Duke 6, Brigham Young 6, Appalachian State 5, USC 5, Penn State 2, Boise State 1
Voters:Bart Doan, Ryan Palencer, Kevin Causey, Allen Kenney, Phil Harrison, Joe Dexter, Andrew Coppens, Terry Johnson

Top 25: Notes and Observations

  • Managing Editor Matt Zemek votes in this poll, but will not cast a ballot until next week. Don’t worry: Terry Johnson will ask him about it on the Student Section Radio Show.
  • Ohio State remained in the top spot, capturing 7 of 8 first place votes. However, Clemson’s victory over North Carolina State impressed enough voters to cut the Buckeyes’ lead to just 5 points.
  • Even though neither team played Saturday, Michigan State and LSU traded places this week, with the Spartans moving to No. 3 and the Tigers dropping to No. 5.
  • Quality wins carry more weight with our voters than overall record, which is why one-loss Alabama and Stanford are ranked in front of undefeated Iowa and Oklahoma State. Of course, that could change after week 10.
  • Notre Dame moved into the top 10 this week after defeating Temple, 24-20.
  • Yet, the Owls’ solid showing didn’t help The American’s overall profile with our panel. Memphis and Houston both dropped on spot in this week’s rankings, despite posting big victories this weekend.

About Terry P. Johnson

Terry Johnson is the Associate Editor for The Student Section. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and the National Football Foundation.

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