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AP voter explains why he gave Ohio State No. 1 vote over Alabama
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Since the start of the college football season, Alabama has looked like the best team in the country. And after beating every team in its path by at least three touchdowns, the Crimson Tide’s status hasn’t really changed.
Alabama has been an almost unanimous No. 1 pick every week. Almost.
This week, though, one Associated Press voter gave his No. 1 ranking to a team other than the Tide. Keith Sargeant, who covers Rutgers football for NJ.com, pegged Ohio State as the top team with his latest ballot.
As you might imagine, there were some folks who were a little miffed by that choice. But Sargeant provided a logical explanation for his vote.
They’re both 7-0 and have won by similar margins. Ohio State has beaten two teams ranked in the Top 25 at the time; Bama has beaten one.
— Keith Sargeant (@KSargeantNJ) October 14, 2018
Sargeant points to Ohio State as having two wins over ranked opponents (at the time of the matchup) whereas Alabama has just one. With both teams being 7-0 currently, it seems that was used as the tiebreaker.
Alabama fans aren’t going to like the vote and others may not agree with it, but the choice makes sense. If you believe both teams are fairly equal, why not give the nudge to the team with more significant wins?
Maybe you agree with it, and maybe you don’t. Either way, there should be at least some credit given for thinking outside the box and applying some sort of metric to the voting.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB