There aren’t many college football fans or media members who would rank the North Carolina Tar Heels ahead of the unbeaten North Carolina State Wolfpack, especially after the Tar Heels lost to the unranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish over the weekend. That’s exactly what Arkansas Razorbacks beat writer Thomas Murphy did on this week’s AP Poll, but it looks like it was a mistake.
After some noticed the odd ranking in the AP Poll, Thomas shared on Twitter that it was a mistake – he meant to rank NC State at No. 17 and the Oregon Ducks at No. 18, leaving North Carolina unranked.
CFB fans, I ask your forgiveness. I compiled my AP poll super early Sunday a.m. and erred. I put UNC at 17, instead of NC State. Put the Wolfpack at 18 and inadvertently left out Oregon, my intended 18. Thanks @ralphDrussoAP for working to re-issue poll, get record straight.
— Thomas Murphy (@TomMurphyADG) September 26, 2022
“CFB fans, I ask your forgiveness. I compiled my AP poll super early Sunday a.m. and erred. I put UNC at 17, instead of NC State. Put the Wolfpack at 18 and inadvertently left out Oregon, my intended 18. Thanks @ralphDrussoAP for working to re-issue poll, get record straight,” Murphy said on Twitter.
While Murphy’s individual poll didn’t have much impact on the aggregate AP Poll, it was good to recognize the mistake, explain it, and get it fixed. And the college football world had plenty of praise for Murphy for taking responsibility and eventually getting the poll corrected.
— Manu Joseph (@ManuComskys) September 26, 2022
Nice accountability here. As a former voter (not sure if anyone remembers that 😀), I'm surprised honest errors like this don't happen more often. https://t.co/IIEiIOgPYC
— Paul Gattis (@paul_gattis) September 26, 2022
Well, there you go. An explanation for the UNC's inexplicable ranking. https://t.co/vPSUa6InJm
— Brian Murphy (@murphsturph) September 26, 2022
We cleaned up the misfire and the only differences were point totals for NC State and Oregon changed a little.
Appreciate Tom reaching out.https://t.co/QCVrAx9RCd https://t.co/6ZWZz1yDWc
— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) September 26, 2022
I think it’s pretty cool that you addressed it like this.
— Mike Brye (@mikebrye) September 26, 2022
It’s probably safe to say he’ll be a little more careful with his poll next week.