When Dick Vitale first moved from coaching to broadcasting in the early 1980s, he would pick up a newspaper every morning to keep track of what was happening across the college basketball world.
Almost all scores will be listed there. Box scores may be displayed for important games and provide a little more information to Vitale. And the biggest games of the day have full stories, potentially providing a more comprehensive picture of what happened.
“People stayed up late at night to publish the content for the next morning,” Vitale recalls.
These days, nearly every Division I men’s college basketball game can be watched somewhere, whether it’s broadcast on TV or streamed on an app. Highlights spread across social media the moment they happen, and forums give fans a chance to not only rehash events, but discuss the finer points of their favorite teams.
All of this makes voting in the Associated Press men’s college basketball poll easy. And sometimes it’s even more difficult.
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The Top 25 celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. The first poll, taken in January 1939, placed St. Louis in first place, but it wasn’t long before Kentucky took the top spot for the first of 125 weeks in St. Louis over the years. It didn’t take.
And just as college basketball has evolved, so have the polls. Starting with 20 teams, his contract expanded to 10 teams in the 1960s, and to the now-familiar Top 25 in the 1989-1990 season. The board of voters has become more inclusive, with more women and minorities coming in to rank the best teams in the country every Monday.
But the biggest evolution may be in the way voters formulate their opinions.
“Early on, the eye test was more of a factor,” said Jerry Tipton, who covered the Wildcats for more than 40 years for the Lexington Herald-Leader and was a regular AP pollster. “I don’t want to say that because there are more games now. But as time went on, word of mouth grew. I got to know the people who cover the team and the other writers, and I learned who was better. There were conversations about things like ‘And now we’re seeing more games.
“It’s amazing to me,” added Tipton, who will retire as a full-time beat writer in 2022. “When I saw how many games were on TV, I tried to watch as many as I could, just to see what kind of games were going on.” “
For Associated Press voters like CBS’ Seth Davis, it’s pretty easy. Because he has the entire headquarters at his disposal.
“If you have a long day in the studio, you can probably watch 24 games,” he said. I have access to a large amount of research material and very talented researchers who listen to me and relay statistics and important information to me. In fact, I would argue that knowing what happened is more important than watching the game, but I try to do both. ”
Voters know that fans are paying attention, too. They will find out their votes on social media, email, and direct messages. There are websites dedicated to tracking which teams you vote for each week.
This is another thing voters didn’t have to worry about in the early days of the AP Top 25.
“I love the advances in technology,” said Vitale, a longtime color analyst for ESPN and one of 63 media outlets that still submit weekly ballots. “It’s great for the sport to be able to watch all the games on TV, from the small and medium-sized majors to the traditional top-10 matchups. I’m happy to be able to watch as many games as possible. It makes me better. Let me be an analyst.
“The Associated Press voters take this issue seriously and strive to ensure the most deserving teams are ranked,” he added.
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