South Coaches Poll

Over the next week, the Quidditch Post will release the results of our Coaches polls. Coaches or captains from every team were invited to vote or designate someone from their team to vote for the top teams in their region (one vote per team). The number of selections voters were asked to make depended on the number of teams in the region.

The South voters were asked to pick their top five teams from the fall season. Eight voters participated in the poll. Points were allocated in the following manner: Five points for a first place vote,four points for a second place vote, three points for a third place vote, etc. The votes have been tabulated and listed below in order of total votes. The number in parentheses indicates how many first place votes a team received.

S Coaches Poll Results

1. Florida’s Finest – (8) 40

2. Tie: University of Miami and University of Florida Quidditch – 26

4. RCQC – 17

5. University of South Florida Quidditch (USF) – 7

Also receiving votes: Tennessee Tech Quidditch – 4

Voters Explain Their Decisions

No South voter explained their decision.

Observations

Florida’s Finest was unanimously regarded as the class of the South. The Florida-based community team is undefeated (8-0) with all of its wins coming outside of snitch-range against regional foes. Voters were split on which team they felt was more highly regarded:  longtime regional power the University of Miami, or its constant foe for superiority, the University of Florida. Both teams were named on all eight ballots with Miami taking 4 second place votes, 3 third place, and 1 fifth place vote; Florida received 3 second place votes, 4 third place votes, and 1 fourth place vote. Rollins was widely considered the fourth best team, receiving 7 fourth place votes, while USF received 7 fifth place votes. Voters seemed to struggle with the more northern teams in the region. Two voters based in South Carolina chose to abstain due to lack of knowledge regarding the Florida teams, while many Florida voters admitted that they were unaware of their more northern rivals. Seven of the eight voters were based out of Florida. Only one voter (from northern Florida) ranked a non-Florida team; they ranked Tennessee Tech second. Six voters filled out very similar ballots (Florida’s Finest first, Miami and Florida second and third, RCQC fourth, and USF fifth).