January 6, 2009

Whittingham may not vote Utes #1

Despite his previous statements to that he would vote Utah #1 in the final coaches poll, Utes coach Kyle Whittingham may not be voting his team as #1 in the country.

As Whittingham will surely learn in the next few days, under the direction of the American Football Coaches Association, coaches should not vote for #1 in the final coaches poll. Under the agreement, the BCS Championship Game winner is awarded the #1 ranking and the coaches are to vote for #2 - #25 on their final ballot.

"Anytime a coach is 13-0, he certainly has strong feelings and should have," AFCA executive director Grant Teaff said Sunday. "But that's not what the system is and what we agreed to... This poll is not, since 1998, to select the national champion. The winner of the game is the winner of the (BCS) trophy. Which means the coaches do not vote for No. 1, they vote for No. 2 down."

Teaff said he would send a reminder about the policy to the 61 voters this week.

So... Whittingham can (technically) submit a vote for #1 and it will be counted; however, the Utes cannot be the #1 team in the USA Today Coaches Poll for 2008-2009.

If Whittingham chooses to go against the agreement, only his #2 - #25 votes will be factored in the final polling.

Since the AFCA made its decision in 1998 to name the BCS title game champion as #1, only once have coaches have ever broken ranks. In 2003, three coaches (including USC's Pete Carroll) voted for USC as the #1 team in the country, even though the Coaches Poll awarded the title to LSU as the BCS champion.

Comments:

Whittingham may not vote Utes #1
Despite his previous statements to that he would vote Utah #1 in the final coaches poll, Utes coach Kyle Whittingham may not be voting his team as #1 in the country. As Whittingham will surely learn in the next few days, under the direction of the American Football Coaches Association, coaches should not vote for #1 in the final coaches poll. Under the agreement, the BCS Championship Game winner is awarded the #1 ranking and the coaches are to vote for #2 - #25 on their final ballot.
"Anytime a coach is 13-0, he certainly has strong feelings and should have," AFCA executive director Grant Teaff said Sunday. "But that's not what the system is and what we agreed to... This poll is not, since 1998, to select the national champion. The winner of the game is the winner of the (BCS) trophy. Which means the coaches do not vote for No. 1, they vote for No. 2 down." Teaff said he would send a reminder about the policy to the 61 voters this week.
So... Whittingham can (technically) submit a vote for #1 and it will be counted; however, the Utes cannot be the #1 team in the USA Today Coaches Poll for 2008-2009. If Whittingham chooses to go against the agreement, only his #2 - #25 votes will be factored in the final polling. Since the AFCA made its decision in 1998 to name the BCS title game champion as #1, only once have coaches have ever broken ranks. In 2003, three coaches (including USC's Pete Carroll) voted for USC as the #1 team in the country, even though the Coaches Poll awarded the title to LSU as the BCS champion.