For years John Feinstein has cast AP ballots that can, at best, be described as interesting, and at worst, be described as mocking those who give him the right to vote. A Duke grad, he'll drop the Blue Devils severely if his underdrawers get in a bunch about something Duke related. He'll cast contrarian votes at the top to get attention. And he'll generaly rank mid-majors much more highly than the typical voters because he not-so-secretly has a hard on for mid-majors.
I understand that there are as many opinions about who the best 25 teams in the nation are as there are college basketball fans, but what I don't understand is why he does things like he did this week. Look at the "other teams receiving votes" in the AP poll, and you'll see a single vote for Towson. Yep, that was Feinstein.
Towson began the year ranked 166th by Ken Pomeroy and 137th by Dan Hanner. So far this year they've beaten Navy, who is one of the worst Division I teams there is.
Feinstein does this type of thing regularly, especially early in the season. He does this to call attention to some small team (and to himself). Which I don't get.
Calling attention to the under-reported teams is great, don't get me wrong. But why do it by giving them a vote that even the voter doesn't really believe has been earned? Feinstein didn't vote Towson in his preseason top 25, and certainly their win over Navy wasn't enough to justify their inclusion over any number of other teams (including Memphis, who the other 64 AP voters included unanimously). So his vote for them is essentially like giving a little leaguer a trophy for trying really hard.
If he really wanted to give Towson some attention, then why not write about them? Why not devote some of his NPR time to them? Why not do something that matters?
