BCS comes up with new poll, Harris Interactive

The AP preseason poll will be released Aug. 20, with the first regular-season poll Sept. 6. The AP national champion will be crowned after the Rose Bowl on Jan. 4.

In addition to the new poll, the BCS will continue to use the USA Today coaches' poll and a compilation of six computer rankings -- each counting for one-third of a team's grade. The coaches will continue with a preseason ballot.

Recently, ESPN pulled out of participating in the coaches poll.

The coaches agreed to have their final ballots made public for the first time this season. The new Harris poll will take the same approach, releasing only the final ballots.

"We thought it was important for there to be consistency with the two human polls," Weiberg said. "To make the ballots public on a weekly basis during the season, we feel the focus would be on who voted for whom and detract from the games being playing.

"There isn't a gag order on voters to release ballots, but we will make sure all season-ending ballots are released," he said.

Last season, the BCS standings emphasized the polls more than ever before and AP voters' ballots, which have never been secret, were scrutinized as three unbeaten teams competed for the top two spots.

When Texas made up late ground on California in the BCS standings last season and grabbed a spot in the Rose Bowl, Cal and Pac-10 officials called for the coaches' votes to be made public.

Harris Interactive Inc., a marketing company hired by the BCS last month to coordinate the new poll, is in the process of compiling a panel from 300 possible participants. Voters' names will be made public and all 11 Division I-A conferences and independent teams will be represented in the panel.

Each conference nominated 27 people to be placed into a pool of possible poll voters, and each conference will have 10 of its nominees in the panel.

"We've made very good progress in terms of people responding affirmatively to wanting to be part of the poll," he said.