Jimmy Carter, Green-Energy VisionaryThe byelections to the Palakkad and Chelakkara Assembly constituencies in Kerala saw the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) retain Palakkad by a record margin of 18,840 votes and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) defend Chelakkara, its stronghold for 28 years, by a margin of 12,201 votes. While Congress’s Rahul Mamkootathil polled 58,389 votes, which was 42.27% of the 1.38 lakh votes polled in Palakkad, C. Krishnakumar of the BJP finished runner-up with 39,549 votes (28.63%). The Left Front’s Dr. P. Sarin came third with 37,293 (27%) votes. The constituency held by Congress’s Shafi Parambil since 2011 saw the BJP close the gap with him between 2016 and 2021. BJP’s E. Sreedharan gave Mr. Parambil a scare in 2021 when he polled 50,220 votes, reducing Mr. Parambil’s majority from 17,483 in 2016 to just 3,859 votes. The BJP had finished runner-up in those two elections, which gave it hope this time, but its vote share in the byelection declined sharply by 10,671 votes compared to 2021. While it came third, the Left, which fielded the State social media in-charge of the Congress who switched sides ahead of the byelection, was able to gather more votes than it did in 2021. The byelection to Palakkad was mired in controversies, mudslinging, and high-level defections. The Congress and the CPI(M) traded charges of having a truck with extremist religious groups and carrying out a communal campaign. The Left Front retained the Chelakkara Assembly constituency in Kerala, considered a red fort, for the seventh consecutive time. U.R. Pradeep of the CPI(M) won by a clear majority of 12,201 votes. While Ramya Haridas of the UDF managed to receive 52,626 votes and came second, the BJP candidate K. Balakrishnan came third with 33,609 votes. In 2021, when a Left wave swept the State, K. Radhakrishnan of the CPI(M) had posted a majority of 39,400 votes in the constituency. His election to the Lok Sabha from Alathur early this year necessitated the byelection. Published - November 24, 2024 04:10 am IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Kerala
RJ Godfrey and Tyrin Lawrence each scored 14 points to help lead Georgia to a 79-72 win over visiting South Carolina State on Sunday in Athens, Ga. Asa Newell and Dakota Leffew added 12 apiece for Georgia (12-1) which rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit. Silas Demary Jr. had 11 points followed by De'Shayne Montgomery's 10, as the Bulldogs won their seventh straight game, marking their best start to a season since 1930-31 (13-0). Reserve Jayden Johnson led South Carolina State (6-9) with 16 points, followed by Michael Teal's 13 and Wilson Dubinsky's 12. South Carolina State dropped its third game in four tries entering Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play on Jan. 4. Trailing 41-24 at halftime, Demary's triple and Montgomery's dunk began a 12-5 scoring run to open the second half, pulling Georgia within 10 at the 16:18 mark. After Teal's layup extended South Carolina State's lead to 50-39, Demary's basket stamped a 7-0 Georgia run, pulling the Bulldogs within four at the 11:17 mark of the second half. Dubinsky answered with a triple on the other end, but Leffew and Demary's layups began a 14-2 Georgia run -- which was capped with Lawrence's personal 8-0 spurt. Trailing 60-55, South Carolina State cut its deficit to one after Drayton Jones' four straight points. From there, Newell's three-point play jump started an 8-0 Georgia run, stamped with Montgomery's free throw with 3:42 left. After Davion Everett split a pair of free throws to pull South Carolina State within four with 1:44 left, Georgia made seven of its eight free-throw attempts to ice the victory. Georgia connected on just one field goal early in the game until Dylan James' layup trimmed its deficit to 7-5 at the 14:44 mark. After Johnson's basket put South Carolina State ahead 13-10, Leffew's 3-pointer followed by Montgomery's free throw gave Georgia its first lead with 10:27 left in the opening half. Godfrey's pair of free throws flipped the lead to Georgia with 5:30 remaining, before Dubinsky's triple gave South Carolina State a 24-22 advantage on the ensuing possession. Georgia was held scoreless until Somto Cyril's free throws snapped a 14-0 South Carolina State run with 50 seconds left. Johnson then capped the first half with consecutive 3-pointers, giving South Carolina State a 41-24 halftime lead. --Field Level MediaSimbisa records 12% customer count growth
( ) shares are on the slide on Tuesday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 travel stock is down 2% to 82.5 cents. This follows the release of the online travel agent's since its demerger from ( ). Webjet shares falls on half-year results day What happened during the half? For the six months ended 30 September, Webjet reported declines in bookings, TTV, and revenue compared to the prior corresponding period. Management advised that this reflects the challenging macro-economic conditions which are impacting domestic flight bookings. The ASX 200 travel stock's managing director, Katrina Barry, said: The Australasian economy remains slow, and the ongoing cost of living pressures continue to subdue demand for travel, particularly for domestic flights. Webjet OTA Bookings were further impacted during the period by REX airlines going into administration given their predominately leisure focus. But thanks to a focus on higher margin products, Webjet's earnings grew modestly over the same period last year. The company's EBITDA was up 1% to $19.4 million and its net profit after tax was up 2.2% to $9.2 million. Barry adds: The Webjet OTA team has thus once again done an excellent job targeting higher revenue margin opportunities, selling more ancillaries to our customers and increasing international flight bookings. As a result, Revenue per Booking is now higher than it was pre-pandemic. Combined with the ongoing focus on cost control we have been able to increase Webjet OTA's profitability. Outlook Unfortunately, ASX 200 travel stock concedes that trading conditions are expected to remain challenging in the short term. Though, management remains positive on Webjet's medium term outlook. Commenting on the company's outlook, managing director Katrina Barry said: Looking forward, the macro-economic environment continues to be challenging and given our brands are consumer facing, Webjet Group will not be immune. However, we remain optimistic on the broader medium-term outlook. As outlined in our demerger investor presentation, we have clear and robust strategic priorities to deliver growth and enhance our leadership positions in online travel marketplaces. Our planned initiatives are progressing well with several showing exciting potential and we are accelerating investment in technology platforms and other key growth drivers. With the demerger now behind us, Webjet Group is solely focused on growth, and we look forwarded to sharing more about our plans to take the Company to the next horizon at our Strategy Day in March 2025.
1 investment I’m eyeing for my Stocks and Shares ISA in 2025Synagogue Spotlight By Stephen Silver The 2024 presidential election was like no other in history, and CNN’s Dana Bash had a front-row seat for some of its most important moments. Bash, who is CNN’s chief political correspondent and host of both “Inside Politics With Dana Bash” and “State of the Union With Jake Tapper and Dana Bash,” appeared Nov. 14 as part of the Main Line Speaker Series at Main Line Reform Temple-Beth Elohim in Wynnewood. The event filled the synagogue’s sanctuary despite taking place opposite an Eagles Thursday night game. The Main Line Speaker Series launched in 2018, with past speakers including Howie Roseman, Terry Gross, Jon Meacham, former Sen. Al Franken, Michael Smerconish and Doris Kearns Goodwin. The series will next host Adam Grant, the author and organizational psychologist, on April 2. The sponsors of the talk were Tracy and Marc Ginsburg, Amy and Michael Koppelman, Rich and Rachel Lester and Marcy and Tom Wiener. Jeff Jubelirer, a corporate communications expert and Main Line congregant, moderated a Q&A with Bash, in which pre-submitted questions were asked. “When we secured this appearance back in January, we all knew that Dana would deliver an insightful and provocative post-election recap,” Michael Koppelman said while introducing Bash. They didn’t know, however, that Bash would be present for so many key moments of the campaign — nor did they know, he joked, that the Eagles would be playing that night. Bash’s talk was titled, “Post-Election Analysis With Dana Bash.” Bash is Jewish, grew up in northern New Jersey and is the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor. She shared in the speech that she was attending a Jewish summer camp visiting day with her son when she got word that Joe Biden was dropping out of the presidential race. “I’m proud of being Jewish, and of how our community has come together,” Bash said during the speech. “I can feel all the Yiddishkeit here.” She added that she appreciates that CNN has allowed her to report on antisemitism, including a 2022 special called, “Rising Hate: Antisemitism in America.” The correspondent also told stories about several of the key moments she was a part of during the 2024 campaign. She and her colleague Tapper — the Jewish Philadelphia-area native — were the moderators for the fateful June presidential debate between Donald Trump and Biden, where Biden’s sluggish performance led to his departure from the race just weeks later. Once Kamala Harris became the Democratic candidate, Bash in late August conducted the first interview with Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz. She also conducted a memorable interview with vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance, in mid-September, at the height of the “they’re eating the cats” controversy. Then, in late October, Bash took a reporting trip to the Philadelphia suburbs, not far from the synagogue, where she spoke on camera with both Democratic and Republican groups who were working to turn out the Jewish vote for their respective candidates. Pennsylvania has the largest Jewish population of any of the seven battleground states. Bash and Tapper got the coveted assignment to moderate the June 27 debate in Atlanta, which required a great deal of preparation, including mock debates much like what the candidates do. While the CNN team prepared for what they thought was every possible contingency, “What we didn’t prep for was what happened,” Bash said, of Biden’s candidacy-ending performance. While Trump arrived hours before the start of the debate, Bash shared that President Biden did not arrive in the debate venue until 8:40 p.m., about 20 minutes before the debate began. CNN’s makeup artists didn’t get to work on Biden, she said — disproving conspiracy theories that the network had somehow screwed up Biden’s makeup on purpose. On August 29, Bash — who had interviewed Harris and her Jewish husband, Doug Emhoff, several times over the years — conducted the first interview with Harris and Walz. Among the questions she asked in that interview was what Harris planned to do to achieve a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war. Of that October visit to the Philadelphia suburbs, Bash stated she “got out of the studio for one piece,” in which she spoke to representatives of both the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Jewish Democratic Council of America. On that trip, Bash also visited Hymie’s Deli, which was used to film Jewish-focused ads for both candidates. Bash said in the speech that “it’s too early to know how the Jewish vote went down” in the election, although she did state that Rockland County, New York, the most Jewish county in the country by percentage, had a 14-point swing towards Trump. As for the election itself, Bash mostly attributed the result to inflation and the global anti-incumbency fervor that has affected most Western democracies this year, while also referencing the unique coalition that Trump cultivated. After the speech, in a moment that went semi-viral on social media, an activist from the group Code Pink confronted Bash in the sanctuary, stating, “I’m really upset at what I perceive to be a conflation between anti-Zionism and antisemitism,” and accused Bash of “being a mouthpiece for the genocide in Gaza.” Bash responded that she was not there to debate, but that “being anti-Israel, anti-Israeli government, is not antisemitic,” and referenced protesters who have showed up at her home. “You came to a place of Jewish worship, stood on the Bima, near the holy Torah scroll, and pretended to be congregants,” Bash wrote on X, in response to the video. “You have no shame, no decency and no clue what you’re talking about.” In the Q&A period, Bash also struck a defiant tone against the idea that the incoming Trump administration could pressure journalists who are doing their jobs. “Intimidation is not gonna work,” she said. Stephen Silver is a Broomall-based freelance writer. TAGS 2024 election CNN Dana Bash Main Line Reform Temple-Beth Elohim Main Line Speaker Series Wynnewood
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers have traded guard D'Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets for forward Dorian Finney-Smith and guard Shake Milton. The Lakers also sent forward Maxwell Lewis and three second-round draft picks to Brooklyn on Sunday. Russell averaged a career-low 12.4 points for the Lakers this season in a diminished role under new coach JJ Redick, who had vowed to unlock the point guard's formidable offensive game. Instead, Russell was removed from the starting lineup in early November, and he struggled to make a consistent impact as a reserve, with his shooting percentages declining significantly from his previous two seasons back in Los Angeles. The 6-foot-7 Finney-Smith isn't a top scorer, but he is a steady 3-and-D wing who fills an obvious need for the Lakers. Los Angeles has had inconsistent wing play and has lacked an effective defender at the key position during the long-term injury absence of Jarred Vanderbilt , who hasn't played since Feb. 1. Finney-Smith averaged 10.4 points and 4.6 rebounds while hitting a career-best 43.5% of his 3-point attempts this season for the Nets, who acquired him from Dallas in the February 2023 in the trade of Kyrie Irving . Finney-Smith has been limited to five games this month by a sprained ankle and a bruised calf, but the 31-year-old played 27 minutes against San Antonio on Friday. “We want to thank D’Angelo for his second stint with us, where we celebrated some great moments and accomplishments on the court together," Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said in a statement. "We are thrilled to add the physicality, toughness and elite shooting that Dorian Finney-Smith will bring to our core. We also greatly value the playmaking of Shake Milton. We are excited for our fans to get both of these players out on the court.” Redick and Finney-Smith were teammates with the Mavericks during the 2020-21 season, and Redick has expressed admiration for Finney-Smith's hard-nosed game. Milton is joining his sixth NBA team in less than two years, including his third trade in 11 months. He is averaging 7.4 points and 2.4 assists this season as a Nets reserve. Russell is being traded by the Lakers to the Nets for the second time in his career. He also made the move in 2017 after spending his first two NBA seasons with Los Angeles, which drafted him in 2015. Russell earned the only All-Star selection of his career during his two seasons in Brooklyn. Russell has been traded five times in the past 7 1/2 years. The 10-year pro excelled for the Lakers during their run to the 2023 Western Conference finals after returning to the team in February of that season, although he got benched during that final playoff series against Denver. Russell remained a fairly consistent scorer last year while setting a new franchise record for 3-pointers made in a season, but his career-long problems with offensive inconsistency and defensive ability kept him out of Redick's plans this year. With Russell's departure, Gabe Vincent is the only true point guard left in the Lakers' rotation, although LeBron James often fills the role of initiating their offense. The Lakers (18-13) have won five of six heading into their visit from Cleveland on New Year's Eve. The trade continues a roster restructuring by the Nets, who traded former Lakers point guard Dennis Schröder to Golden State two weeks ago. Schröder was Brooklyn's third-leading scorer, while Finney-Smith was its fourth-leading scorer. The Nets have been one of the NBA's lowest-scoring teams this season, so Russell should have plenty of chances to make an offensive impact. Brooklyn has lost three of four heading into its road game against Orlando on Sunday. Russell's $18.7 million contract expires this summer, while Finney-Smith has a $15.4 million player option for the 2025-26 season. Lewis was the Lakers' second-round pick in 2023, but he played in just 41 games over the past two seasons while shuttling to the G League. AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBANoneThe Hotline mailbag publishes weekly. ... Some questions have been edited for clarity and brevity. As a hardcore Husky, I don’t have an issue with your more critical stance on Washington this season. I can take the purple shades off from time to time. With that, what’s your take on the overall trajectory of the football program? — @cargoman0363 The Hotline has been critical of Washington this season, and we are reminded of our position by fans on a daily basis. (That’s a good thing. We value the feedback and should be held accountable by readers.) Some context on that issue before we assess the “overall trajectory of the program” as requested: — Our bar for the Huskies on an annual basis is high. Washington isn’t one of the sport’s true blue bloods. It’s not on the same tier as Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, Notre Dame and USC, for instance. But it’s clearly deserving of a spot in the top 15, for instance. How many programs have appeared in multiple College Football Playoffs since the event made its debut in 2014? Eight. (Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame and Washington.) How many teams participated in the New Year’s Six bowl games at least four times over the decade? Twelve. (The eight listed above plus Penn State, Oregon, Florida State and Mississippi.) That is select company, indeed. Those programs should be held to a high standard. In our view, the floor for UW is six wins — even under difficult circumstances, like a coaching change — and that’s where things stand currently. — The Hotline’s 40,000-foot view of the state-of-affairs on Montlake begins at the top. We believe the Huskies have been held back by a campus administration that simply doesn’t value athletic success — and football success in particular — to the degree it should. Put another way: President Ana Mari Cauce has never gone all-in on football. Why that is, we cannot say. If she fears that a next-level commitment to football could somehow undermine the university’s reputation, well, there is no evidence to support that position. Does an all-in approach to football hurt Michigan’s academic reputation? Last we checked, the Wolverines were No. 21 in the U.S. News and World Report rankings that are so important to university presidents. (Texas and Florida are tied for 30th. Ohio State is 41st.) Washington (No. 46) is a terrific school. That won’t change if the Huskies pay their head coach $10 million annually. In fact, football success can enhance a school’s academic reputation by increasing the national profile, which attracts more applicants, drives down the acceptance rate and can, if desired, increase the number of full-tuition (out-of-state) students. — One final point: Fans often view our weekly picks against the spread as signs of criticism or validation, depending on the pick. That’s reading far too much into the situation. If the Hotline picks against the Huskies, it doesn’t mean we are anti-UW and pro-opponent. (The reverse is true, as well.) We aren’t anti-anyone or pro-anyone. The fact that Washington fans think we hate the Huskies and love the Ducks and Oregon fans think we hate the Ducks and love the Huskies indicates we are probably in the right space with our coverage. Now, two quick thoughts on the Huskies specific to the 2024 season. First, Indiana is making most Big Ten teams, including Washington, look bad. The Hoosiers are undefeated with a first-year coach, Curt Cignetti, and a starting lineup stocked with players from the Group of Five. Cignetti led James Madison to 11 wins last season and brought a slew of players with him to Bloomington, including Indiana’s leading receiver and top tackler. His quarterback, Kurtis Rourke, played for Ohio in 2023. And yet the Hoosiers, picked 17th in the Big Ten preseason poll published by Cleveland.com , are not only 10-0 but beat Washington by two touchdowns with their backup quarterback. Sure, Jedd Fisch and his staff arrived relatively late in the offseason cycle (January), and yes, the Huskies lost most of their lineup to the transfer portal and the NFL. But Indiana is proof that roster turnover and coaching changes aren’t immovable blocks of granite preventing teams from competing for the Big Ten title. (And for the record: Yes, Indiana is making USC and Michigan look much worse than Washington.) Second, Washington’s schedule isn’t what we expected. Indiana is exponentially better than anyone could have imagined. But had you told the Hotline prior to the season that the Wolverines and Trojans would be 5-5 at this point, and that Iowa would be 6-4, we would have fully expected the Huskies to win at least seven games. With respect to our broader outlook for the program, the central issue is best framed as a question: Do we expect the Huskies to compete regularly for the Big Ten title alongside Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Oregon? (There’s no sign that USC belongs on that tier, but the Trojans are certainly capable of reaching it.) In all candor, we aren’t convinced. We aren’t convinced that Fisch and his staff are up to the challenge. (They could be. It’s simply too early to know either way.) We aren’t convinced the school and its constituents will deliver the necessary NIL support to fund talent acquisitions. We aren’t convinced the next president — Cauce is stepping down in June — will provide the needed institutional commitment. And we aren’t convinced the athletic department’s financial challenges, which include both the current debt load and the partial revenue distributions from the conference for the rest of the decade, are surmountable in a manner that will allow UW to plow the requisite resources into football. So yes, we are slightly more skeptical than optimistic. And if the Hotline is proven wrong, then 1) it certainly wouldn’t be the first time, and 2) good for the Huskies. Much has been made of the flaws in the Big Ten’s TV deal, specifically the exclusive windows that box out the four West Coast schools from the Fox ‘Big Noon’ broadcast. Could we see the deal renegotiated, or is this the circumstance until 2030? — Will The Hotline would argue that none of the 14 continuing members have the right to complain since they voted to accept the media deal and add the West Coast quartet. The same goes for Washington, Oregon, USC and UCLA: Nobody involved in the two-phase decision to join the Big Ten has the grounds to utter a peep of frustration about the media deal. That said, I am not sure anything can be done about getting more exposure for the West Coast schools because they aren’t going to play home games at 9 a.m., and Fox isn’t moving its premier window out of the 12 p.m. Eastern slot. Can the conference work with Fox, CBS and NBC to tweak certain aspects of the media deal? Sure. That happens all the time. The networks and the conferences are partners, which means they must work to find common ground on certain issues. But the media companies make decisions based on what’s best for their business. Sometimes, that conflicts with what’s best for the schools and the fans. If Fox wants Ohio State at ‘Big Noon’ on a regular basis because the Buckeyes are a ratings machine, for example, there isn’t much Ohio State can do. Such is the price for selling your soul. Will the SEC ever be “penalized” for playing an extra cupcake each season? The eight-game conference schedule practically guarantees one less loss for half the teams. Sure, the CFP selection committee says strength-of-schedule makes a big difference, but I’m not buying that the extra losses wouldn’t make a difference, too. — RT Well, the committee has done a poor job of walking the walk on strength-of-schedule considering where it has placed teams like No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Penn State and No. 5 Indiana relative to No. 10 Georgia, which has two losses but the toughest schedule in the country. But to your specific point: The SEC paid no price for the eight-game conference schedule during the four-team CFP era, which allows for a cupcake opponent in November, so why would it pay a price now? We suspect the schools will add a ninth game if ESPN makes it worthwhile by increasing the value of the media rights package. (The conference certainly won’t agree to add eight losses to its season total for free!) Exactly when that point comes is anyone’s guess. The other consideration is a potential scheduling agreement between the SEC and Big Ten, which the conferences have discussed but is merely in the formative stages. That, too, would materialize for the right price from the networks. Sam Acho pointed out on ESPN that Missouri’s unchanged ranking is used to artificially inflate SEC resumes. Why doesn’t the CFP do a blind ranking based off data? There is obvious favoritism. All the conferences should be judged off their data. — @mlondo856 Missouri has no wins over ranked teams, but all three of its losses are to teams in the CFP’s Top 25: Alabama, Texas A&M and South Carolina. The Tigers are a borderline case, but there are others (e.g., Illinois). Essentially, you are advocating for the elimination of the selection committee, which takes subjective factors (the so-called “eye test”) into consideration, and for leaving the process to a computer. The Big Ten and SEC have discussed exactly that. Both conferences worry the committee will place too much emphasis on win-loss records and victory margin at the expense of schedule strength. In other words: They are concerned one-loss teams from the ACC or Big 12 will receive at-large berths instead of multi-loss teams from the Big Ten and SEC. That’s one of several reasons this season’s selection process is so critical to the event’s future. If the Big Ten and SEC don’t get what they want on Dec. 8, they will change the format in a manner that gives them more inherent advantages than already exist. You mentioned that Boise State’s success could make the new Pac-12 more attractive for possible expansion candidates, perhaps including some schools that appear unavailable. Can you expand on those schools that appear unavailable, as well as any other options? — @CelestialMosh Boise State on the football side and Gonzaga and San Diego State in men’s basketball provide the rebuilt Pac-12 with tentpole programs that other schools would want to associate with for competitive and financial reasons. Our default view is to ignore any public commitments made by schools to their conferences because we don’t know the details of the private (i.e., legal) commitments. There could very well be escape clauses allowing the schools to leave for the right price or if their own media deal isn’t secured by a certain time. Realignment is all about schools saying one thing and doing another. Our suggestion: Ignore everything you have heard, read and seen about schools being unavailable until the Pac-12 signs a media rights deal and begins a full-throttle push to fill out its membership. I assume the Pac-12 wants multiple partners for its media deal. If the conference eventually only has eight football members and nine for basketball, is that enough inventory to split between two partners? Do they have to add more schools to maximize the media contract? — @NateJones2009 Commissioner Teresa Gould has been clear in her aims to partner with multiple media companies and place Pac-12 content on multiple platforms (linear and streaming). In our view, the question isn’t whether the conference signs with two partners. It’s whether three companies are involved. The number of partners could depend on whether ESPN is part of the agreement, because it emphasizes both linear and streaming (ESPN+) whereas Fox, The CW and Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT and TBS) are not heavily into streaming. Bottom line: The conference has established its foundational members. What happens next depends on the market. If the media rights negotiations indicate more is merrier because of inventory needs, then sure, the Pac-12 could add two or three more schools. Or it could make one more move: The eighth football-playing member. It’s all a balancing act. The Pac-12 and its consultant, Octagon, must craft a deal that provides maximum dollars with the minimum number of schools, thereby ensuring that each member gets the largest revenue share possible. Only one school without a football program could increase the value of the overall package, and thanks to Gould’s work behind the scenes, the Pac-12 landed Gonzaga in September. Also, keep in mind that the Pac-12 wants to remain nimble enough to serve as a fallback option for any former schools that might want to return in five or 10 years. Why do you vote so far out of alignment with the rest of the Associated Press Top 25 voters? — @alcor805 I have been using the same basic formula for years with regard to my AP Top 25 ballot, with an emphasis on schedule strength, accumulating quality wins and avoiding bad losses. I will drop teams that win and elevate teams that lose, depending on the circumstances. And I never use the loss total as the framework for ordering the 25 teams. Also, I have no idea whether my ballot aligns with the group or is wildly different. I don’t see the other ballots when casting my votes on Saturday night. The AP’s portal only allows access to our individual pages. And even if granted that access, I would make no attempt to fall in alignment. Groupthink is bad.