@mcwterps1 :
I'm not sure what you think is "fake news".
As I explained, it DID take us some time to get used to yours system. It just did and the same would be true of any new voter particularly one who showed up with a new team. I don't know how you consider this fake?
There were times in past years when you ranked UMD considerably higher than the other voters. As the guy who compiles the votes I know this.
You were questioned about extreme outlier votes just like
@Hawkinole was this week.
Where is the fake news?
Regarding Maryland, you said "I can see talent where it's quite obvious from people here, they don't."
Do you mean to suggest that we should have Maryland ranked higher than they are now? Maryland currently has:
- Two votes for #4
- One vote for #5
- Two votes for #6
- 11 votes for #7
- One vote for #8
- Two votes for #9
FWIW: I am one of the eleven votes for #7. The Terps started out #10 and moved up two spots after beating Texas in week one then another spot after beating Bowling Green on the road in week two. What is holding them back?
IMHO, what is holding them back is that in this like most things in life, the higher you climb the more difficult the climb becomes. Back in the preseason the Terps were ranked #10 and they were closer to #11 (Indiana) and #12 (Minnesota) than they were to #9 (Nebraska). When you are being compared to IU and MN a win over a (then) ranked Texas team is quite impressive. Similarly, the Terps 45-14 road win over BGSU was quite impressive when comparing the Terps to Northwestern and Purdue in week two.
Things get more difficult as you continue to climb because if #1 (Ohio State) or #2 (Wisconsin) were to barely beat a barely ranked team in a quasi-home game (like UMD's win over TX) or trailed a MAC team deep in the third quarter (like UMD did at BG) people wouldn't be impressed. Instead, they would be saying "what the heck is wrong with (Ohio State/Wisconsin) that they were not more dominant against (Texas/Bowling Green)".
I do not believe that any of us have caps or floors based on "helmet" as you suggested with your comment that we "see Maryland and vote accordingly". When I was in school Nebraska was pretty much the biggest helmet of them all and right now we have them closely bunched in with Minnesota and Northwestern for 9th/10th/11th. If we voted based on name alone, we'd have them in a struggle with Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan for 1st/2nd/3rd/4th.
That said, I know that early in the season my votes are impacted by my preseason feelings about each team. I feel that I have to do that because two games simply isn't enough to determine how good or bad a team is. In part this is because nobody knows how good or bad each teams' opponents were. Texas might end up being 12-1 and champions of the Big12 or they might end up 1-11 and a complete doormat. My view of Maryland's 5 point quasi-home win over Texas would be very different in those different possible scenarios.
