Hypocrisy: The AFCA and USA Today violate their own rules.

The other day, USC Trojans football head coach Lane Kiffin responded to a question about how he voted in the USA Today Coaches Poll, by saying, "I would not vote USC No. 1, I can tell you that."

I would suggest that he was being coy as a means of motivating the team while strategically giving opponents the false impression of USC's strength - a strategic subterfuge if you will - but not purposely trying to undermine the poll itself.  After all, he wasn't criticizing the poll, nor was he lying to people to influence voters, as we've seen from coaches trying to influence the final polls to get their teams into the BCS NC game.  Too bad USA Today and the AFCA took the message the wrong way, while going on to violate their own rules.

It seems to me, what we have here, is a bit of self-righteousness, that USA Today and AFCA's Grant Teaff could prosecute the veracity of Kiffin's comments in the media, without having to follow due process.

Per AFCA's Code of Ethics (links to pdf):

"The Committee on Ethics is empowered to investigate any and all alleged violations of the Code. When an alleged violation is brought to the attention of the Committee on Ethics from any source, the method of proceeding with investigative action and requesting an appearance before the Committee shall be determined by a subcommittee consisting of the chairman, one at large-committee member and the committee district representative." 

"There is to be no acceptance of prima-facie evidence of a violation in any case."

Grant Teaff, executive director of the AFCA, violated the AFCA's own rules by allowing what amounts to a prima-facie case of a violation of the AFCA's rules, and short-circuited the AFCA's own process by speaking directly to USA Today, allowing them to publicly identify Lane Kiffin's vote.  How about that!

And per USA Today:

"Each coach's vote normally is kept confidential until the final vote of the regular season under an agreement between USA TODAY Sports and the American Football Coaches Association. However, when a voter volunteers false or misleading information about his vote in public, then USA TODAY Sports, in its oversight role as administrator of the poll, will set the record straight to protect the poll's integrity."

In other words, USA Today is the sole arbiter of a coach's intent (and violation), without due process -- what we would normally call a display of self-righteousness.  In fact, they could have been diplomatic about it: rather than accuse Lane Kiffin of lying, they could have asked Lane Kiffin to clarify what he meant by his comments.

Ironic isn't it, that USA Today may have done permanent damage to USC's chances to play in a BCS NC game, for what amounts to a self-interested and self-righteous claim of harm to its poll's integrity.