Are Polls A Thing of the Past?

EDITORIAL

By TexCane -

Sept. 6, 2026 - Public polls continue stir a lot of emotion and controversy. Proponents say they are still very useful, a cross-section of America. Opponents say they biased, manipulated and an instrument used to shape planned narratives and public opinion.

In college athletics, public polls are used to rank athletic teams. "Who’s number one?"

In the interest of full transparency, I am personally NOT a proponent of PUBLIC polls. Research indicates open public polls are easily manipulated. The Associated Press is the most famous public polling instrument, notably for college football and basketball team rankings

Why are these instruments suspect?

A. There are no formal qualifications for voting. You must be a credentialed member of the press for a recognized media outlet AND you must be invited to vote by the host organization (AP) to vote. AP gets to select who votes every season. Many, if not all of the press have emotional ties to at least one or more institutions. And they are vulnerable to pressure from their employers and readers. There is no public record of how they voted.

B. The professional press represents an extremely small demographic sample of America and are generally located in the higher populated metro areas of the country.

C. Voters are asked to force rank all 134 NCAA Division I teams each week. How many voters watch every college game each week? Right, it’s impossible, thus the rationale for voting extends only to a short distance from the voter’s home or via television broadcasts or streaming coverage. It calls the question of the knowledge and accuracy Most college games happen within a 36-hour window each week. And the voter then has to rank and submit his ballot within a 12-hour window by 12:00 p.m ET. on Sunday. These are major flaws in the validity of the each voter’s submission.

D. The votes are counted and tabulated by the AP staff, not a licensed accounting firm. This opens the question of accuracy and credibility of the voting process. It also opens the door to manipulation of results.

I also have strong beliefs that championships should be earned on the field of play. Win your conference and advance to post-season playoffs. No secret selection committees. NO POLLS! Full transparency.

So, why should we continue to use polls to determine the best of the best? Because polls have become accepted methodology by the American public. Therefore, we continue to feed the false narratives of the power brokers

"Change occurs only when the pain to stay the same exceeds the pain to change.".

GO CANES!