Unfortunately, under the current system, the AP doesn't matter at all. Instead, a full third of the BCS rankings come from a poll voted on by either coaches (or their assistants/sports information contacts) who don't have time to follow teams other than their own or their conference, and don't release individual ballots until the final poll so there is no public accountability.
Then there's the Harris poll, another third of the BCS mix, that also doesn't release their ballots so we don't know which learned football mind gave Utah a no.1 vote earlier this season.