It will be off center either way you do it given conference weakness vs conference strengths. There’s no way to balance any ranking system when those Being compared against each other don’t actually play each other. You can look at individual conferences and determine rank within the conference because they actually play each other. Comparing a team from The ACC to a team to The Big 10 ultimately is a comparative between artificial standards derived from the individual who is judging. Since we don’t really know comparative truths we give our own values in the judgements. This team has a better defense, this team plays better WRs etc… The only true way to make a true ranking system is to have all teams play each other, which obviously can’t happen, anything else is a substitute for simply guessing.
As long as there are arbitrary standards (and it can’t be otherwise) then the power players will focus on their strengths in polling. If Tech could alter the universe the polls would favor the teams with higher grad rates in engineering. If I could rank the best looking men I would say those with Brown hair and Blue eyes are better going in, because it instantly qualifies me. The nature of competition is to compete, if bagmen are allowed because the big boys want them then there is truth in the thought that it’s Techs choice to play that game or not but then that won’t be the final answer either, it will turn to who cheats the betier.
as for Tech I like the aspect of the honest guys trying to beat the dishonest but I have no illusions, I know that somewhere in the world of college competition, Tech is exploiting its advantages also, they might be in Technology rather than QB passer ratings but somewhere Tech is pulling in more money than other Technology based schools, most likely because they’ve figured out how to exploit their position in that aspect. We tend to look at schools from a football perspective or sports competition perspective but Tech is exploiting something somewhere and it’s working or Tech would be a total football school.