One voter left Michigan State off his AP Top 25 ballot this week.Did Spartans fans really need to look to find out whodunit? They knew the right answer.Detroit Free-Pre s columnist after the Spartans lost 49-37 to Ohio State on Saturday.Its Sharps right. Its his ballot, his opinionand he can do what he wants. Voting anomalies are part of the polling proce s, but it's usually reserved for the Coaches Poll.But isthis irresponsible journalism or deliberate designed to generate page views and Facebook outrage? That's how it looks on the surface."The easiest thing to do in this digital age we have now Ian Kennedy Jersey , is if you think you have something to say then dont play it safe," Sharp told Sporting News on Monday. "If Im just going to play it safe; if thats the case Im not doing my job."MORE: | | Theres a line between safe and outrageous. Michigan State is ranked No. 12 in the AP Poll. Sharps vote especially in the four-team playoff age is way off base. Moves like this are anindication the AP Poll is becoming increasingly le s valuable.We live in a world where "SEC bias" and "SEC agenda" are the new buzzwords. Writers can have biases; everybody does. I do. I grew up rooting for Michigan inCentral Ohio,brainwashed by bedtime stories of Woody vs. Bo and the traditions that continue today. If my eyes slant Big Ten a little bit, then so be it.But I'm the last person in the world who should be defending Michigan State or Ohio State. I know The SEC is the best conference in college football, and the Big Ten isnt what it used to be. Michigan isnt what it used to be, either. Sharp has covered the Big Ten for 31 years at the Free Pre s. He knows all that, Raul Mondesi Jersey but now hes exploiting it."I believe the Big Ten is terrible," Sharp said. "History supports that, and in my mind I can find 25 teams better than a two-lo s Big Ten team. I think I can."Those are perceptions. The reality is Michigan State is a good football team, and Saturdays lo s to an Urban Meyer-coached Ohio State team doesnt change that. On some level, Sharp believes that, too. He wrote the Spartans were the three days before Saturdays lo s. Now Sharp writes Justin Grimm Jersey :"Two-lo s Big Ten teams are the equivalent of a four-lo s SEC or Pac-12 team."Says who? That flirts with the line between opinion and agenda. Sharp told Sporting News, "I believe a three-lo s LSU or Oklahoma would beat the best team in the Big Ten."LSU? Maybe. But Oklahoma? What about a three-lo s Texas AM team that lost 59-0 to Alabama? Or a three-lo s Utah team that lost to Oregon 51-27 at home, which is five more points than the Spartans lost to the Ducks on the road on Sept. 6?Sharp has all of those teams ranked.Sharp is e sentially saying Michigan State is equal to a four-lo s Stanford team the Spartans beat in the Rose Bowl last season. Sharp had the Spartans ranked No. 6 in the final AP Poll last year after the Rose Bowl. Michigan State finished No. 3 behind Florida State and Auburn. It just doesn't add up.Cal and Washington also have four lo ses. I say the Spartans would get at least two if not all. Sharp says he wouldnt be surprised if Michigan State lost to all those teams.You can provide any other pieces of evidence, but its clear: Sharp on some of level is playing into the biases that can anger Big Ten fans and using it to his advantage.Its not that Sharp needs to be a rah-rah cheerleader for the Wolverines or Spartans (that will never happen), but at some point the negativity well runs dry. Hes not doing either program any favors by continually tearing them down, or by hammering that SEC button in Ann Arbor, or this case,East Lansing. They don't want to hear it close to home.Sharp writes:"It's laughable how people complain that ESPN bends over backwards for the SEC, yet the network weekly televises as Lucas Duda Jersey many as four Big Ten games on its various platforms."That's another statement geared togenerate a reaction with an overreaction simply to incite a me sage board riot among Spartans fans. The fans are allowed to be irresponsible. Sharp has to be better than that, and keeping Michigan State in the Top 25 isnt the safe move.Its the right move.Give credit to Sharp forsticking with those convictions, however misplaced. He says he enjoys the debate and the back-and-forth that comes with it and insists its not for shock value. Again, its his ballot and his opinion. That's fair."One thing I love about college football we can debate this, and there's nothing wrong about it," Sharp said. "One thing that is great is there is no definitive answer."In the end, it doesn't Danny Duffy Jersey matter what Sharp did.The College Football Playoff committee willput Michigan State in the vicinity where it belongs, and thats another reason the AP Poll Top 25 will continue to serve as a second-string ballot as we move deeper into the four-team playoff era. The more this sort of thing happens, the wider that gap will become.Whats that favorite saying among college football fans again? It's another perception-turned-reality.The polls are meaningle s.