Final Reactions to New Polls

Coach Holtz and team are not that concerned with the polls and neither should we.

The AP and USA Today coaches polls came out yesterday and there were a few surprises on them (click here for both of the polls).

The coaches poll was the most shocking poll with ND and Georgia both dropping out of the rankings, but both USF and Baylor were left sitting on the outside looking in. While not the biggest deal, the coaches poll is still part of the BCS component, so not getting into that poll is a bit frustrating to start with. There is a lot of debate on how accurate the coaches poll is and if some coaches even take the time to look at game results before making their picks, but the poll stands and USF is not among the teams.

The bigger surprise was USF jumping to 22 in the AP poll (WVU moved up to 19th in the country). This is the earliest the Bulls have ever been ranked, so there is some room for excitement here, but listening to the coaches and players, they are not focused on the ranking and honestly could care less about it at this stage.

Holtz said he really doesn't look at the polls and is focused on Ball State. Even the players have stated they are not concerned about the polls, they are focused on the task at hand.

This is refreshing to see. While we sit here and debate and discuss the rankings, who got snubbed, why everyone is moving up or down, the players and coaches are hard at work preparing for Ball State. Holtz even mentioned that the win over ND is a finished book that has been "put on the shelf." He said he would love to look back at the win at the end of the season, but it was only one game, there are more to go. Hopefully the team remains hungry and goes out on Saturday night and does even better than last weekend.