I heard this on the radio earlier today and thought it was kind of interesting.
Not that a lot of people pay special attention to the weekly USA Today Coaches Poll, but it is just ridiculous. I don't even know why they do it, or why it has any merit whatsoever. I mean, does it matter that Bill Callahan thinks Georgia is the 7th best team in the country, or that Mike Leach thinks Virginia Tech is the 7th best team in the nation? Or how about Bill Doba saying that LSU should be #4 or Tommy Bowden puts Kansas at #6? Does any of what they say matter?
I would say no.
But it is what it is. Much like the current BCS system we have, there isn't anything we can do about it. But the BCS isn't really what I want to talk about. I want to talk about Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti real quick.
Take a look at Bellotti's top ten ranked teams:
1. Ohio State
2. LSU
3. Virginia Tech
4. Georgia
5. Missouri
6. Kansas
7. USC
8. Oklahoma
9. West Virginia
10. Hawaii
Now at first glance, no biggie right? But if you know Bellotti's opinion of some of his coaching "colleagues", I think it makes Bellotti's poll, along with every other coaches personal poll for that matter, utterly useless. And pretty comical too. Apparently, Mike Bellotti uses his poll to take out personal grudges he holds against some of his fellow coaches. Yes folks, Bellotti hates both Bob Stoops (coach of Oklahoma) and Pete Carroll (coach at USC).
Take a look at USC and Oklahoma. Take a look at where Bellotti ranked them. I would say that these two teams are the two best in the entire country. At least at this moment in time. Both teams are hitting their stride. It's not very far fetched to make a claim like this. But look at where Bellotti put USC and Oklahoma. Can we say personal vendetta?
Let's put it this way. He has Missouri ranked at #5, right? Missouri has lost a total of two games on the year. And oddly enough, Missouri has lost both games to one team. Who is that team, you ask? Oklahoma. Get this -- Missouri is 0-2 against Oklahoma this season, and Bellotti voted for Missouri to be ranked 5th and Oklahoma to be ranked 8th. That does not make any sense at all. What a jerk.
Same thing with USC. Bellotti practically hates Pete Carroll. Not sure why. Maybe because Carroll and the Trojans have owned the Ducks in recent memory (the Ducks actually beat USC this season though). So looking at how much Bellotti loves Carroll, where does he rank USC? Yeah, 7th.
Folks USC is playing some of the best football in the nation. Same goes for Oklahoma. Sadly, for Mike Bellotti, Kansas and Missouri are not. You would think that these college coaches would use some common sense when filling out their polls. Oh and, by the way, some of them do.
Bellotti isn't one of those guys.
