FITD Readers' Poll

I've calculated the results of the FITD Readers' Poll and here is the pre-season ranking of lightweight varsity eights as determined by you (first place votes in parentheses):

1. Princeton (47) 1,110 points
   
2. Wisconsin (34) 1,092
   
3. Radcliffe (20) 988
   
4. Georgetown (12) 843
   
5. UCF 606
   
6. MIT (3) 596
   
7. Bucknell (12) 582
   
8. Stanford (3) 414
   
9. California (1) 193
   
10. Ohio State 189

I need to explain my methodology, but it was pretty simple - each first place vote a team received was worth ten points, each second place vote was worth nine points, and so on to one point for each tenth place vote. The points were then added up. In the end, I decided to accept ballots that voted for at least the first five places. The next time I do this I'll either just have a five place ballot or I'll throw out all incomplete votes. Of the 134 valid ballots received, only 5 voted for less than ten places. I didn't keep count of the ballots discarded (those voting for less than five places or repeating a team in more than one place), but I would estimate the number to be around 30. A quick look over the ballots showed that there were no duplicates among the valid submissions, a sign that multiple voting was hopefully kept to a minimum.

I thought this poll went extremely well, and by that I mean that I think people voted honestly, rather than simply voted for their own team. A look at the first place votes suggests that UCF should win the honesty award, although all of the discarded ballots may have had the Golden Knights first! I think the requirement to vote for all ten places helped force you to really think about your votes, and cut down on the easy "vote for myself" shenanigans. I know it's hard to make educated guesses for all places, and particularly with teams you don't know or don't race. Nonetheless, I think when I do this again half-way through the season, I'll probably keep the requirement to vote for ten places.

This poll shows just how close Princeton and Wisconsin are considered to be, with another serious battle occurring among MIT, UCF, and Bucknell for 5th, 6th, and 7th. I'll make my own case for the top ten in a week or so, but it's awfully hard to argue with this one. Don't forget the Head of the Charles poll. That was a simple one vote, "Who will win" poll, that was subject to all sorts of multiple voting abuse. Despite all of that, it almost nailed the actual results right on. In any case, it looks like you think Princeton is the team to beat. In three short weeks Bucknell gets to test that hypothesis.