Are you curious to see a sampling of the coaches' ballots in the final Top 25 USAToday Coaches Poll?  How well did the coaches do in ranking one of the BCS bowl bound teams?

Well, here goes.  As Hawai'i finished as the only undefeated team in Division 1A (in regulation & overtime), I was curious to see how the coaches who participate in the poll ranked them.  First of all, 60 coaches participated in the balloting, representing both BCS and non-BCS affiliated conferences.  How did the results tabulate?

Like a pretty good bell curve distribution.

Ranking          # of Votes                   Ranking          # of Votes 

1                      1                                  12                    3

2                      0                                  13                    4

3                      1                                  14                    2

4                      1                                  15                    0

5                      4                                  16                    0

6                      2                                  17                    1

7                      5                                  18                    0

8                      9                                  19                    0

9                      3                                  20                    0

10                    16                                21                    0

11                    7                                  22                    0

The highest rank was the #1 attributed to Hal Mumme.  He is the coach of the New Mexico State Aggies team that lost to Hawai'i, 13-50 in October.  Mumme runs a rather unorthodox, pass-oriented offensive attack at NMSU, so it was no surprise that he'd reward June Jones' team with a #1 ranking.  His Aggies utilize short passes to multiple receivers and backs out of the backfield.  Mumme must be smarter than a 5th grader, as no one that young could come up with such a crazy offensive scheme!

Some other interesting observations:  Former Miami coach Howard Schnellenberger (now at FAU) voted Hawai'i #3; Tommy Tuberville (Auburn) #4 (does he know something Alabama doesn't?); Joe Glenn (Wyoming), Pat Hill (Fresno State), and George O'Leary (UCF) voted the Warriors #5.  O'Leary doesn't even have a college degree!  Wow, these guys are pretty smart!

Michigan's Lloyd Carr and Boise State's Chris Peterson put them at #6.  I wonder if Carr is wishing he scheduled Hawai'i instead of App State?  

Amongst other coaches Hawai'i faced this year, D. Tomey (San Jose State) had them 7th and Tyrone Willingham (Washington) put them in 10th place.  

A majority of the other coaches put the Warriors in 10th place, including Mike Bellotti (Oregon), Mario Cristobal (FIU), Phil Fullmer (Tennessee), Mark Richt (Georgia), Mike Riley (Oregon State), Steve Spurrier (South Carolina), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), and Ron Zook (Illinois).  Thanks for the vote of confidence gentlemen.  Look forward to seeing you in New Orleans Mark Richt!  

We're talking about some coaches who are way smarter than a fifth grader!  Most of them have coached in at least one BCS bowl game over the past few years! 

On the other hand, there always has to be someone who has used up their lifeline.  These coaches must have fallen asleep before Hawai'i dispatched UW last Saturday, curiously putting Hawai'i south of the #10 boarder. 

Getting away from the mean, we see that Bobby (Florida State) & Tommy Bowden (Clemson) voted Hawai'i in at #12.  Was there a conspiracy here?  Collusion?  Did they let Terry Bowden fill out their ballots for them?  Who knows, but at least their ranking is close enough to the average to be within the statistical margin of error range. 

On the other hand, Frank Beamer (Virgina Tech), Mack Brown (Texas), Tom O'Brien (NC State), and Joe Tiller (Purdue) all had Hawai'i positioned at #13.  Is Tiller still fuming over the Boilermaker's loss to the Warriors in 2006?  Is Brown still afraid to play Hawai'i?  What were these guys thinking?  Bowl positioning perhaps?

Next up, Dan Hawkins (Colorado) late of Boise State.  Why #14 Dan?  What were you thinking?  You're only 3 seasons removed from the WAC and you don't remember the Warriors?  A team you beat 5 years straight!  Didn't you read Sun Tsu's The Art of War?  Surely you were smarter than a fifth grader? 

Another offensive genius now takes the field, Mike Leach of Texas Tech.  Leach is widely regarded as one of the most innovative offensive minds in all of college football.  With a mind like that, he had to have put June Jones' run and shoot Warriors in the top 10.  But no, all poor Mike Leach could do was rank them #17.  Number #17?  Are you jealous Mike?  Were you hoping to match up with them in the Tidy Bowl?  You're definitely not smarter than a 5th grader when it comes to ranking your peers' efforts. 

Finally, the real loser at this game is former Texas A&M head coach Dennis Franchione.  Coach Fran submitted a ballot with Hawai'i ranked #22!  Number 22?  Are you on crack?  Can you believe it?  Did Coach Fran sell his ballot in his secret newsletter to the highest paying booster?  Who knows!  Maybe he had a kid complete it, filling it out in crayon!  What was he thinking (that he was going to lose his job or exit gracefully)?  Does he even know anything about college football?  I'm sorry coach, but you are the biggest loser (in more ways then one). 

Dennis Franchione is not smarter than a 5th grader!