Harris Poll Head-scratcher

First of all, let’s give a round of applause to the Harris Interactive Poll voters, who made a valiant effort all season to out-moron the coaches. However, some have questioned the validity of the Harris Interactive poll, which has had a spotty run in its four years as being part of the BCS.

There was a bizarre exchange between Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman, and Harris Poll voter Pat Quinn, the former OSU sports information director, two weeks ago in the Oklahoma State press box. Tramel, who described the conversation on the Web site, asked Quinn how he would rank Oklahoma and Texas if the Sooners beat Oklahoma State.

Tramel: How would you vote Oklahoma and Texas if the Sooners won Saturday night?

Quinn: Oh, I don’t know. Doesn’t really matter.

Tramel: Really?

Quinn: I think Alabama and Penn State will probably play for the national championship.

Tramel: You do? (Brain explodes)

Quinn: They’re the only undefeated teams, aren’t they?

Tramel: Uh, actually, Penn State has a loss.

Quinn: Oh, well, those Big Ten teams have a lot of votes.

Unbelievable! We all found that all that talk about an unbeaten Penn State possibly being left out of the BCS national title game turned out to be premature when Penn State lost to Iowa on November 7. Iowa reserve kicker Daniel Murray kicked the game-winning field with one second remaining.

How could Pat Quinn miss the game as a poll voter?

By the way, reading the “others receiving votes” part of the Harris poll is a nonstop source of comedy for the entire season. Enjoy!

Source: The Oklahoman