Given the rise of the "SEC bias" sentiment based on the AP Poll's (terrible) rankings, I thought it would be a good exercise to see just how accurate this narrative was. I approached the poll like an academic study, including a methodology section (I am a JD not a PHD but figured it'd be an interesting experiment). For the study, I removed the ballots of every AP Poll voter who could be considered to have an SEC affiliation to see what the poll would look like without "SEC bias" having an impact. The only team from the SEC that moved down was Missouri, who went from ranked 25 to 27. Other SEC teams actually moved up in the rankings. I attached the study results and methodology as a word doc if anyone wants to share it. Feel free to use it however you'd like, but in the days of misinformation, I felt like facts could be beneficial.
Analytical look at SEC Bias in the AP Poll.docx