College football, one of the overwhelmingly popular sports in America today, runs on a few century-long customs, from the students who congregate in their respective student sections each week to the dynasties that rise and fall.

Both are independent variables in the world of college football. Our one dependent variable? The AP Poll. 

The Associated Press poll is the result of a group of sportswriters and broadcasters who gather each week to decide the top 25 best teams in college athletics. The three main focal points are strength of schedule, quality of wins, and the eye test. 

That final factor, the eye test, is the most subjective and therefore the most prone to controversy. A perfect example comes from just a year ago. 

Heading into the four-team playoff last year, Florida State, the ACC champion, was undefeated with a 13-0 record. In the ten-year history of the four-team college football playoff, never had an undefeated Power 5 Conference champion been left out of the playoff. That was about to change.

Come decision day for the committee, there were two other undefeated conference champions, Michigan and Washington, selected first and second seed, respectively. Florida State, expecting their name to be called next, was in for a rude awakening. The committee shocked the football world, ranking 12-1 Texas and Alabama over Florida State.

Why? They didn’t pass the eye test. 

FSU star quarterback Jordan Travis had previously broken his leg, sidelining him for the rest of his collegiate career. Florida State used both of their backups to beat rival Florida in the last week of the season and to outlast top 15 ranked Louisville in the ACC Championship. 13-0 should mean playoffs, right?

Instead, Alabama made it in during Nick Saban’s final season of coaching. No Jordan Travis, no Seminoles in the playoffs. 

The AP Poll usually does a good job of deciding which teams should be ranked on a week-to-week basis. Nevertheless, with an element of subjectivity, it’s impossible to get everything right. 

But some mistakes are too large to overlook. At the beginning of this year, the committee had the aforementioned FSU Seminoles ranked in the preseason top 10. Since then, the Seminoles have not only embarrassed themselves with an 0-3 start, but have critics questioning the validity of the AP Poll. And the Seminoles aren’t alone in this category. 

In the 20 years prior to 2024, 18 of them had seen a top 10 preseason team finish the season unranked. It’s a lengthy list that certainly adds doubt to the jurisdiction that the pool has over the sport. But what if I told you it wasn’t the committee’s fault.

The sportswriters and broadcasters who orchestrate the AP Poll have a nearly impossible job. Sports, in general, are hard enough to predict, but college football is particularly erratic. For example, Northern Illinois recently beat Notre Dame at Notre Dame. The AP Poll had Northern Illinois ranked the next week, but then the team went on to lose to Buffalo. This week, Northern Illinois is unranked.

So, no the AP Poll does not need to be fixed. It’s imperfect, but sports fans need to remember the impossible task the writers are presented with week after week.