AP Poll continues to lose credibility as 10 voters put Notre Dame above Miami

Miami fell to No. 9 in the Week 9 AP Top 25 while Notre Dame checked in at No. 12. Even so, 10 AP voters ranked the Irish ahead of the Hurricanes on their ballots — despite Miami's head-to-head win over Notre Dame to open the season — a disconnect that raises questions about the consistency and validity with the AP Poll.

Now, before getting into this specific example of poor voting, it must be recognized that there are a ton of head-scratching decisions made by the AP voters each week. And not all decisions represent the AP Poll as a whole, since it's a consensus ballot.

Although an example this week — between USC and Michigan — ended up impacting the final Week 9 poll. USC ended up unranked and behind Michigan after their loss to ND. This came after the Trojans beat the Wolverines 31-13 less than two weeks ago.

Who are those 10 voters? They are John Johnson (WXII-TV, Winston-Salem, N.C.); Trevor Hass (Boston.com); Haley Sawyer (Southern California News Group, Los Angeles); Mike Hlas (Cedar Rapids Gazette); Jamal St. Cyr (WJXT-TV, Jacksonville); Michael Lev (Arizona Daily Star); Keith Farmer (WLEX-TV, Lexington, Ky.); Henry Greenstein (Lawrence Journal-World); Damien Sordelett (The Roanoke Times); and Kirk Bohls (Houston Chronicle, Austin). Each of those ballots had Notre Dame higher than Miami this week.

A couple ballots to note as examples of a flawed thought process: Hass moved Notre Dame four spots ahead of Miami (ND No. 8, UM No. 12) on his Week 9 submission, so it wasn't really close. This is only speculation, but he may have not even got to the point of comparing what these teams did on the field in their season opening matchup. That would potentially be how this ranking occurs. Sordelett placed the Irish one spot ahead (ND No. 9, UM No. 10), which also doesn't make any sense, considering that the tiebraker between teams next to eachother in the rankings — with the same record — would be head-to-head if it was available. Both choices run counter to the aggregate AP order (Miami No. 9; Notre Dame No. 12) and the season's on-field result (which can not be stressed enough at this point).

The outlier treatment of Miami also wasn't limited to the Notre Dame comparison. The Hurricanes had a ballot low of No. 17 from Haley Sawyer, a double-digit drop relative to the consensus. ND came in at No. 9 for her ballot. Sawyer has already come under scrutiny for her ballots earlier in the year, and you might as well add this one to the list.

To be clear, the AP poll is a snapshot of 66 individual ballots, not a playoff ranking (which is the best thing to remember here for Miami fans). But when a head-to-head winner that also sits higher in the composite poll is placed behind the head-to-head loser on 10 ballots in the same week, it undercuts claims of a consistent standard. It also puts Miami in a tricky spot because they will almost certainly be ranked under Notre Dame in the AP Poll if they lose again, despite both teams having the same record in that hypothetical scenario.

Simply put: Miami has a better W/L record, more impressive wins on their resume and there was no argument available on Sunday that Notre Dame should have been placed higher than the Hurricanes this week. That kind of decision from multiple voters is very disappointing from the AP Poll — even if there was no impact to the final Week 9 rankings. If neither team loses the rest of the way, let's hope that there is not even a debate between these two teams among the CFP selection committee room.