The most important number on the scoreboard should be the final score, but unfortunately that is not always true. Too much attention is given to the number that comes before a team’s name. Preseason polls create a bias that affects later polls, and early season polls are not much better.

By design, the polls resist major movement, despite what conventional wisdom might say. Teams that begin the season ranked highly have to stumble dramatically just to fall out of the polls, while unranked teams have a long, slow climb ahead of them if they want national recognition.

For proof, look no farther than the Oklahoma State Cowboys. They started the season unranked, but they pushed the No. 1 ranked defending national champions all the way through the fourth quarter. They eventually lost to the Florida State Seminoles, but only by 6 points.

Two days before, South Carolina began the season ranked No. 9 as they hosted No. 21 Texas A&M, who dominated the Gamecocks to the tune of 52-28. The next AP poll had South Carolina ranked No. 21, while the Cowboys remained unranked. Both teams lost, but the Gamecocks lost by a much larger margin to an opponent that was ranked much lower.

Skip ahead two weeks to No. 24 South Carolina beating No. 6 Georgia 38-35. The latest AP poll has South Carolina ranked No. 14, while Georgia is ranked one spot ahead at No. 13, despite South Carolina 
winning the head-to-head matchup.

At this point in the season, no one in the country has a clue who the best four teams are. Texas A&M could end up being the next national champion, while Clemson finishes the season with only three wins to their name. The College Football Playoff committee has it right to start ranking teams in late October. College football fans can only hope that they are better than the AP poll at resisting preseason biases.