Just what college football needs -- another useless and meaningless poll. Hooray?
Regardless, that’s exactly what’s on the horizon, with the Football Writers Association of America and the National Football Foundation confirming through CBSSports.com‘s Dennis Dodd Tuesday that they have partnered to create the Grantland Rice “Super 16" college football poll. This new poll, like the Associated Press and now coaches’ poll, will have absolutely no bearing on the newly-minted College Football Playoff, whose four participants will be decided by a committee consisting of 13 members.
Per Dodd, a total of 36 individuals will serve as voters. The breakdown of the panel will be 26 FWAA members and 10 NFF voters consisting of “college football hall of fame players, coaches and administrators,” Dodd wrote.
“It’s a group without an agenda,” FWAA executive director Steve Richardson said of the voters, the names of which will be unveiled at some point this summer.
It’s also a group with no purpose or power to shape the playoff landscape, so your guess is as good as mine as to why this poll was created. The poll also missed out on the opportunity to at least wait until a handful of games have been played to set its rankings; instead, a new set of rankings will be released every Sunday of the regular season.
The poll named in honor of the legendary sportswriter will, though, be completely transparent as the voters will release their respective ballots every week.
“Objectivity represents a core value for both our organizations, and we hope that by combining the credibility of both our organizations that we’ll provide a fun reference point for fans to follow during the college football season,” said Richardson.