BlogPoll Draft Ballot - Preseason

by BSD on Aug 17, 2008 8:34 PM EDT in Blogpoll

So I've listened to everyone's input and put together as solid a preseason poll as you're going to get. Which means it's still a crappy preseason poll.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida	25
2	Oklahoma	24
3	Ohio State	23
4	Georgia	22
5	Southern Cal	21
6	Missouri	20
7	West Virginia	19
8	LSU	18
9	Clemson	17
10	Texas	16
11	Auburn	15
12	Kansas	14
13	Texas Tech	13
14	Virginia Tech	12
15	Wisconsin	11
16	Tennessee	10
17	South Florida	9
18	Penn State	8
19	Arizona State	7
20	Illinois	6
21	Oregon	5
22	Brigham Young	4
23	Michigan State	3
24	Wake Forest	2
25	Alabama	1

Dropped Out: N/A

The Contenders

Florida - I put Florida first based on the fact they return a ton of talent including a Heisman Trophy quarterback. But I wouldn't be surprised if they struggle and drop as they seem to be going through ACL's like underwear.

Oklahoma - The Sooners return a ton of talent on offense including QB Sam Bradford who had a sensational freshman year throwing for over 3000 yards and 36 TD. Their schedule is favorable and as long as they don't play in the Fiesta Bowl they should be pretty good.

Ohio State - You already know the Buckeyes return just about everyone, but until they prove they can beat a spread offense team I'm going to have a tough time ranking them in the top two. But if they beat USC I may not have a choice.

Georgia - Everyone is gung ho on the Bulldogs this year, but I'm just not seeing it. Their late season wins over Florida, Auburn, and Kentucky made everyone forget their early season losses against South Carolina and Tennessee. They return a lot of talent, but their 41-10 win over Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl didn't impress me one bit.

USC - The Trojans have to rebuild just about the entire offense, but if there is any coach capable of doing it it's Pete Caroll. If Mark Sanchez doesn't return they could be in trouble.

Almost But Not Quite

I'm a huge fan of Chase Daniel. If Anthony Morelli had one tenth of the moxie that kid does we would have gone to the Rose Bowl last year. So I'm big on Missouri. I'm not crazy about LSU, but they are the defending champs. West Virginia looked impressive in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma, and Pat White is my personal preseason pick for the Heisman.

Clemson has a ton of talent returning, but you know they'll start the season with an impressive win and end up just blowing it against Maryland or something.

Good But Not Great

Frankly, for anyone outside the top ten you could jumble around and dump on the table in any order and I would probably go along with it. Like I've said before, I abhor preseason polls. But they are a necessary evil. By week five I'll have enough information to back up my selections.

So there is the ballot. Tear it apart and tell me what you think. I have until 10 AM on Monday to change it around.

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Comments

Good Poll

And good blog as well.

I’d quibble with OU being too high. I think they are more of a bottom half of the top 10 team this year. I also think Bama and Tennessee are too high. Bama should be out and UT#2 should be knocking on the door of the top 20. KU is in the same boat as Tennessee.

As for the teams that I think are too low—USF should be around 12-13. I also expect UNC to finish in the top 25 at least and more likely top 20.

Kudos on the Michigan State, BYU, and Wisconsin picks—I think they’re all a little off of the consensus and totally agree.

by TomReagan on Aug 17, 2008 10:19 PM EDT reply actions

One thought

Utah will be in the top 25 after they beat Michigan in week 1.

by Cairo on Aug 17, 2008 11:04 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah...

I really hope we just manage to show up and keep it close…. 9/untold amounts of sarcasm). Naturally however, watch Michigan get no credit should they happen to pull of a “shocker” and actually beat Utah.

As far as your poll is concerned, I can’t argue with much seeing as how it’s a preseason poll and we have so little to go on. Things I probably would disagree with if I were creating a poll:

- Florida at #1… until they show they have a defense capable of defending the pass they don’t deserve to be anywhere near the top spot. I really think the Buckeyes field the best complete football team in the land heading into this season.

- WVA at #7… lost nearly the entire staff and Slaton, most seem to think they won’t miss a beat but I’m calling for the Bobby Williams (Light) syndrome here.

- Illinois at #20… I’ve seen Illinois play one solid football game, and I think Williams will struggle without Mendenhall.

Go Blue!

by ThoseWhoStay on Aug 18, 2008 9:21 AM EDT up reply actions

OU

I think they should be #2. In fact, I have them #1. They return Bradford and Murray plus their OL is 5 seniors! They also have a very favorable schedule.

JoePa in '09

by JGuiher on Aug 18, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

LSU is too high

LSU doesn’t have a QB. They are returning a ton of talent, but with that QB ? I’d rank them between 10-15. There is no way a top 10 team can have issues at QB.

I was going to recommend either dropping or moving PSU down after all the DT issues, but I can’t come up with any reason any of the teams below PSU should be above them or who should be on the list instead.

Georgia should also be #1. Last year they had a Sophomore QB with a Freshman RB behind an O-line that was all Freshman and Sophomores. As the o-line got some experience they started crushing teams, such as Florida. And Florida should fall since they have had all the injuries.

by DrDetroit on Aug 18, 2008 7:28 AM EDT reply actions

good poll

It is nice to see a unique poll. I think it is notable that USC is consistently ranked out of the top 3, it just goes to show why college football is so great. You get your periods of greatness that seem like they should last forever, then 2 years later you are being passed by. It is just interesting, and I look forward to our turn at the top.

I don't know, Mello Yello is pretty awful. What's the worst that could happen?

by psu on Aug 18, 2008 8:47 AM EDT reply actions

Well done

I love seeing a preseason poll without Michigan and ND- just because they both don’t merit getting in yet. I like where you put Georgia, I think injuries and the general SEC-ness will eat them up, but they’re still dangerous.

Coastal Carolina is in the ’Other Receiving Votes", right?

John Madden told me 90% of the game was half-mental...

by TheK-GunNeedsReloaded on Aug 18, 2008 12:58 PM EDT reply actions