AP Poll tid-bits and trivia, 1936-2018

[medinabuckeye1]

I was looking at this and it made me realize just how difficult it is to climb the ladder.  Looking at all-time appearances:

• West Virginia was ranked in all 16 polls this year and moved up to appearing in 26.6% of the polls, up from 25.6%, an increase of 1.0%.  
• Ohio State was also ranked in all 16 polls this year and moved up to appearing in 78.4% of the polls, up from 78.1%, an increase of just 0.3%.  

Similarly, West Virginia's 16 appearances this year moved them up to #25 on the list from #30.  Meanwhile, within the top-10 appearing in every poll just basically keeps you even with the other top-10 teams because seven of the 10 appeared in all 16 polls this year.  

In total appearances:

• Ohio State started and ended the year ahead of #2 Michigan by 53 appearances and simply went from leading 886-833 to leading 902-849.  
• Ohio State started and ended the year ahead of #3 Oklahoma by 72 appearances and simply went from leading 886-814 to leading 902-830.  
• Ohio State started and ended the year ahead of #4 Notre Dame by 103 appearances and simply went from leading 886-783 to leading 902-799.  
• Ohio State started and ended the year ahead of #5 Alabama by 111 appearances and simply went from leading 886-775 to leading 902-791.  
• Ohio State did gain on #6 USC.  They started the year leading USC by 122 (886-764) and ended the year leading by 135 (902-767).  
• Ohio State did gain on #7 Nebraska.  They started the year leading UNL by 158 (886-728) and ended the year leading by 174 (902-728).  
• Ohio State barely gained on #8 Texas.  They started the year leading UT by 179 (886-707) and ended the year leading by 182 (902-720).  
• Ohio State started and ended the year ahead of #9 Penn State by 272 appearances and simply went from leading 886-614 to leading 902-630.  
• Ohio State started and ended the year ahead of #10 LSU by 285 appearances and simply went from leading 886-601 to leading 902-617.  

[Hawkinole]

This gets me back to a thread I started probably just before Harbaugh became coach, on whether Michigan could be the new Minnesota.

Well, probably not. But, maybe Michigan is the new Iowa, Wisconsin, or Nebraska. Well, Wisconsin might be a bit high, and Iowa a bit low. After Lloyd Carr, Michigan seems to have gone downhill. I expected more from Boy Wonder. Maybe next (this) year.

[OrangeAfroMan]

One of my FSU law school professors in the early 1980s would tell a riddle during rivalry week.
"What do the University of Florida, and Ohio State University football have in common?"
And so, like you, it surprises me Florida is ranked #1 more times than UM, the all-time leader in wins in D-1.
And the answer to the riddle, in the early 1980s was, that neither team had ever won the SEC conference championship.

Yeah, Florida had always dropped that one game (often to UGA) to prevent any championships, then they actually won one in '84, only for it to be retroactively vacated in May the following year.  Even Spurrier's '90 team's best record was ineligible, so the first official, permanent SEC title didn't happen for Florida until 1991.  
Vanderbilt remains the only longtime SEC member to never win the conference.  
Most jokes about Florida football are that college football didn't start in 1990, as many Florida fans like to cite, "since 1990" - the arrival of Spurrier and our winning ways.  And it's true, since that year, the Gators are 3rd in win % in major college football and tied for 2nd in national championships, I believe, with 3.  (Alabama has a bunch, then Florida, FSU, and Nebraska have 3, then all the other usual suspects have 2)
But if you go back to that 1984 team, Florida is still 6th nationally in win%.  Hell you can go back to Florida's last winless season - 1979, and since then, the Gators are still 6th.  
Anyways, the point is, Florida has played a helluva game of catchup, and its improvement has coincided with Wisconsin's.  Just as OU and Texas' swoons were in the early-mid 90s, they've come roaring back.  Wisconsin had a whole lot of nothing pre-1993, but have been a top-15 program since then.  Now you have Miami and Nebraska trying to remain relevant, through multiple coaches.  That's my real litmus test, whether it's a program being truly strong or truly struggling - does the success or struggle extend through multiple coaches.  Florida's successful run included 3 HC, with 2 of them being elite.  Our recent struggles have been through 2 coaches, and we maybe/probably have a good one now and are exiting the struggle.
Miami has struggled through 3 HCs lately, same with UNL.  
And you have to be a program of a certain level to consider HCs with a .650 win% "struggling" - whether you call them helmets or big-boy programs or whatever - Temple and Iowa State would give their first born sons for a 3-year stretch of .650-ball.  At these programs, you have to be .800 or above for the fans to stay enamored with you.  .650 "sucks".

[medinabuckeye1]

OAM's post got me wondering about the history of these leader-boards and whatnot.  I looked at 1990-2018, here is the top-5 (out of 481 polls):

• 435 Ohio State, 90.4%
• 404 Florida, 84%
• 392 Florida State, 81.5%
• 376 Michigan, 78.2%
• 363 Oklahoma, 75.5%

I also wondered when Ohio State took over #1 in total appearances so I found it:
Short version:

• 9/8/09-present:  Ohio State
• 8/22/09-9/8/09:  Ohio State and Michigan
• 9/23/01-8/22/09:  Michigan
• 9/24/00-9/9/01:  Michigan and Notre Dame
• 11/2/1942-9/24/00:  Notre Dame
• 10/26/1942-11/2/1942:  Notre Dame and Duke
• ? - 10/26/42:  Duke*

As of the end of the 1941 season there had been 47 AP Polls.  Duke had been ranked in 43 of them, Notre Dame in 41, Fordham in 39, Minnesota in 38, Northwestern and Santa Clara in 33, Alabama in 32, Tennessee in 31, aTm and Michigan in 30 each.  Looking back prior to that it is difficult to figure out the leader.  You have to look at each individual week because the leaders were all so close together.  

Long version:

• Ohio State was ranked #8 in the September 8, 2009 poll.  It was the 755th time that Ohio State was ranked.  Michigan was unranked in that poll (they had a few votes).  Michigan was the previous #1 in total appearances with 754.  The final poll of 2008 marked Ohio State's 753rd time being ranked.  Michigan was unranked in that poll but had been ranked 754 times so they led Ohio State until the pre-season 2009 poll in which Ohio State pulled into a tie with the Wolverines.  
• Michigan took over #1 in total appearances from Notre Dame.  From 1936-1999 the Irish had the most appearances with 637 and the Wolverines were nipping at their heels with 634.  Then, during 2000 Michigan was ranked in all 17 polls while Notre Dame was ranked in all but three.  The Irish were unranked in the pre-season poll and the quasi-pre-season poll released on August 27.  Then they jumped into the rankings only to fall out of the September 24, 2000 poll.  Thus, Michigan tied Notre Dame by being ranked in the 9/24/00 poll while the Irish were unranked.  However, Michigan did not pass the Irish that year because the Irish jumped back into the rankings the next week and were ranked in every poll the rest of that year.  Consequently, Michigan and Notre Dame were tied for #1 in poll appearances for the rest of 2000 and with the release of the final 2000 poll each of them had been been ranked 651 times (FWIW, tOSU was third with 634 appearances).  Both teams were ranked and remained tied in total appearances through the first four polls of 2001.  Notre Dame dropped out with the release of the 9/23/01 poll and was unranked for the rest of the year while Michigan remained ranked for the rest of the year.  Thus, Michigan took sole possession of #1 in appearances on 9/23/01 and held it until they lost it to Ohio State on 9/8/09.  
• Notre Dame caught Duke with 43 appearances as of the release of the 10/26/42 poll then took over sole possession of #1 in AP Poll appearances the next week on 11/2/1942.  Notre Dame then held the #1 spot in total appearances for almost 60 years before losing it to Michigan.  

[Hawkinole]

.  
And you have to be a program of a certain level to consider HCs with a .650 win% "struggling" - whether you call them helmets or big-boy programs or whatever - Temple and Iowa State would give their first born sons for a 3-year stretch of .650-ball. 

Which brings me full circle. I now use the same riddle here in Iowa, but insert Iowa State, and Big 8 and Big 12. Iowa State has never won the Big 8 or Big 12 conference championship.