By the end of September, it will have become habit. Fingers will default to adding “meaningless” in front of each typing of “AP Poll.” Doing so will be an overreaction to fans taking offense to Notre Dame inevitably not being ranked high enough, at least not as far as they are concerned.
The fingers should more-accurately tap out “consequenceless.” In the age of the College Football Playoff selection committee, both the AP and the Coaches polls have no effect on the season. There is no reasonable way to claim otherwise in any regard. The committee does not rely on those listings to create a framework for its poll, the only one with impact.