Penn State #9 In AP Poll
by BSD on Aug 22, 2009 2:35 PM EDT
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The preseason AP Poll is out, and Penn State debuts at No. 9. Here is how the top ten shakes out.
|
AP Rank |
Team |
| 1 | Florida Gators |
| 2 | Texas Longhorns |
| 3 | Oklahoma Sooners |
| 4 | USC Trojans |
| 5 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
| 6 | Ohio State Buckeyes |
| 7 | Virginia Tech Hokies |
| 8 | Mississippi Rebels |
| T-9 | Oklahoma State |
| T-9 | Penn State |
If you ask me, it's pretty heavy in SEC and Big XII teams. I have no problem with Florida at the top, and I'm ok with Texas, Oklahoma, and Alabama in the top ten. But I think Alabama is a bit high for a team that just got wacked in their BCS game by Utah. And I have a hard time accepting Mississippi and Oklahoma State as preseason top ten teams. I've also pointed out in the past that I don't think Ohio State is going to be nearly as good as everyone thinks. They just have too many questions that need to be answered, which is also why I question Penn State's position in the top ten. But at least Penn State is returning six players that have been named All Conference in the past.
Really, all of these teams have questions which is why I think preseason polls are garbage. The good news for Penn State is that a lot of these teams have to play each other. Texas, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State all play in the Big XII South division. USC plays the Buckeyes. Alabama plays Virginia Tech and Mississippi. Florida doesn't play anyone in the preseason top ten, but they do play Georgia, LSU, and Florida State, and then they have to get through the SEC Championship game. So Penn State definitely has the inside track to going undefeated, but then we already knew that.
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I'm looking forward to this season.
Looking at these rankings, I think a lot of perceptions are going to be blown up. USC can very well drop 3 games this season, same as OSU. Texas and Oklahoma will probably go to BCS bowls each, but I think Oklahoma State is going to be exposed. Virginia Tech and Alabama will duke it out in a sloppy, ugly close game to begin the season, leading everyone to think they’re great teams. But then they’ll drop a few in conference play and fall out of the top 15 during the course of the season.
Luring recruits with my new "Posting HD" scheme since '08.
Couldn't agree more about Ok St
In the SI college football preview, it says the defense won’t be good, but doesn’t have to be. They just have to suck a little less than last year. Really??? I would hope for my defense to do more than “not suck” when playing against Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy, but hey, maybe that’s just me.
You can say that about pretty much all the Big 12 teams
In the Big 12, if you can hold the other team to under forty points, you’ve done your job
Seriously, why even use whether or not your defense sucks in the Nintendo12 as a concern
They ALL suck IMO. As evidenced beautifully last year in the MNC game (Sooners were putting up about 60pts/game which all the talking heads were drooling over, completely ignoring the fact that when the other team has a defense that couldn’t defend against a pee-wee league offense, you tend to put up those ridiculous kinds of numbers), and of course to a lesser extent our “friends” in scarlet and gray, thanks in part to the GREATEST OMG 3 TIME HEISMAN WINNER QB in the Big Ten, we held Texas to a season low in scoring (this could be wrong, but I would imagine 23/24 points or whatever it was was their lowest scoring win in their season). I can say to you without a doubt had we played that game, we would have beaten Texas. Yes, a great passing game and QB, however, they had never faced a Big 10 front 7, and ours was completely dominant last year.
by dawsonPSU10 on Aug 24, 2009 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Yep
24 was Texas’ low for the season.
Oklahoma State held them to 28, and Texas Tech held them to 33.
"I thought the kid we were using had the potential to be a good quarterback, and I blew that one." - Joseph V. Paterno
by leeharvey418 on Aug 24, 2009 2:43 PM EDT up reply actions
Alabama
Disclaimer first: Yes, as the name implies I’m in Tuscaloosa. But, no, I’m not an Alabama fan. In fact, at times I kind of loathe Saban and his minions.
Yet — they’ll be good. There are a lot of question marks on offense, and I think that may well cost them their opener, as Va. Tech should be a lot sharper than Clemson was last year. That defense is going to be naaaasty, though. Plus, though I don’t like Saban, there’s no sense in pretending he can’t coach.
I could easily see them losing that opener and then running the slate to the SEC title game, and possibly another BCS bowl. Keep in mind they play neither Florida nor Georgia in the regular season, and they get LSU at home.
Bama - Tech
Tech is overrated. They have a good run-stopping defense, but their offense is horrendous. I don’t think they’ve ranked in the top 99 in offense since the Vicks. They return a lot of guys, yes, but that’s a lot of guys from a horrible unit. I don’t think they’re going to all of a sudden have a top 10, Spread HD group. Tyrod throws twice as many interceptions as TDs, and if you think we’ve got a lack of depth behind Clark, you should look at their depth chart. Its looking like their backup QB going into the season is going to be a true freshman tight end. Tyrod is injury prone, and with their starting RB Darren Evans already out for the season, that terrible offense is hanging by a thread already.
Bama’s defense should ensure Tech won’t score much at all. If their offense can put together some semblance of competency, they should win.
Luring recruits with my new "Posting HD" scheme since '08.
'Bama
’Bama has to replace their QB, their RB and multiple members of the OL, including the #5 pick in the draft, Andre Smith. They will have a nasty defense…but so will VT.
So even if Tyrod isn’t the best QB in the world, he’s still more experienced than ’Bama’s QB. ’Bama will have Julio Jones and not a lot else, and I full well expect them to drop this game by 7-10 points.
"We heard all that talk all week about the SEC and their speed, but we knew personally that they weren't nearly as tough as us."
-Tony Hunt
SEC >> ACC
Bama may have to replace a bunch of guys on offense, but I still give them the benefit of the doubt here and say they’re probably plugging a bunch of very talented guys into these slots. I mean, they are in the zOMG SEC and will have ludicrous speed. The talent gap should be enough for them to get up and over Tech, but I’m not sure if I’d be comfortable betting on Bama as 7 point favorites. It’ll be close and it’ll be low.
Luring recruits with my new "Posting HD" scheme since '08.
Ludicrous Speed?
They’ve gone plaid!
But seriously- You’re talking about the team that got mauled by Utah? …after the above-mentioned personnel losses?
I’m not a gambling man, but if ’Bama is seriously giving seven to VPI&SU, I may have to find a bookie very soon.
"I thought the kid we were using had the potential to be a good quarterback, and I blew that one." - Joseph V. Paterno
by leeharvey418 on Aug 24, 2009 11:04 AM EDT up reply actions
There are no Big East teams in the top 25. Wow- I mean, it’s not a good conference but I figured they’d get someone in.
Penn Staters belong at Penn State. The problem with a lot of kids is they just don’t know they are Penn Staters yet. -jesse. @ BSD
by TheK-GunNeedsReloaded on Aug 22, 2009 4:41 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
There's no one to hype.
That’s probably the biggest problem. No one has any clue who is going to win that league, so how do you rank one team without ranking four of them? Better to just leave them all off and not risk being called out…or so every good media pollster should act.
Order your copy of "We Are Penn State" The offseason is long. So is this magazine.
I saw that the exact same way
It’s like every team in that conference is equally plain. That and the fact that their respective bowl games weren’t all that exciting. Well… I did enjoy the hell out of the Sun Bowl, mind you
I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member
by TheMightyErik on Aug 22, 2009 8:42 PM EDT up reply actions
You should here the local talk - Mike's friend, Joe Bendel, in particular...
You’d think that Pitt has the best defense ever. Nobody seems to recognize that the defense is facing Bill friggin’ Stull every day in practice. And as good as that Jonathon Baldwin could be, he still has Bill friggin’ Stull throwing to him. And Bill friggin’ Stull doesn’t have McCoy around anymore.
It’s like every team in that conference is equally plain
Uh, that’s what they say about the Big Ten. And thinking about it further, we’re only 3 teams above the Big Least!
by Mr. Rosewater on Aug 22, 2009 9:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah... I could see people saying that
but I would not want to be on their side of a Big10 vs. BigEast challenge.
I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member
by TheMightyErik on Aug 22, 2009 9:48 PM EDT up reply actions
as long as
ohio state stays ranked ahead of us until we play them, I’m happy. I’d like to see us meet undefeated in November and have them a notch or two ahead of us in the polls.
"We hugged as grown men do. It was a great moment. Then, it was business as usual." -- LJ Sr.
Speaking of tOSU
SI has them ranked 10th in their poll, and PSU 14th. In the team previews, it says “…despite the loss of 11 starters from the 2008 team, Ohio State is the pick to win its fifth straight Big Ten title.” UGHHHHH. At least it does go on to mention they “tied” with PSU for two of them.
But Lou Holtz...
told me that Notre Dame will be playing Florida for the MNC. Why aren’t they ranked in the top ten? How did this slip by the AP? (sarcasm font)
We are not normal. We are legends.
Did he honestly give his prediction on them yet?
I was torn between him going for 11-1 or 12-0. I guess the official line would be 11.5-0.5.
I believe Lou predicted they'd be in the BCS
but didn’t he say that last year too?
With all my heart, I really don’t want to see them succeed any this year. It will make the B10 teams they play look better by beating a “ranked” opponent, and I really can’t stand looking at Charlie Weis’ fat ass anymore.
by dawsonPSU10 on Aug 24, 2009 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions
LuLu also said
that he didn’t feel that ND was the second or even third best team in the country. He only thinks that with their “easier schedule”, having USC at SB, and the experience they have, that he feels they have a good chance to be undefeated come year end. If so, that should put them in the championship game against Florida.
Course he was also smoking something right before he was taped! I think they’ll lose to Pitt, MSU and USC this year.
It was an interesting argument Holtz had...
I normally think Holtz is out of his gourd, but he had a semi-justifiable reasoning for picking ND. Something like “You don’t have to be the best team in the country to get to the title game, just the best team in the stadium each week you take the field.”
Here’s my problem with what he implies…if he’s going to pick a national title contender based only on whether a team should be favored to win each game it plays, wouldn’t he then choose the “best” team that will be favored to win all their games? Example: Penn State is (I think) favored to win everything on their schedule, AND is ranked higher than ND to start the year.
By choosing ND, is he also saying he thinks the OU/Texas winner loses somewhere else on the schedule? Why am I digging so far into Lou Holtz’s logic?
"You don’t have to be the best team in the country to get to the title game, just the best team in the stadium each week you take the field."
he actually said that last year too, when he was defending PSU to Mark May, who as usual was ranting on how we suck
"If you let the men in you've got to let the women in. I don't want a bunch of women walking around in my locker room when guys take showers". Joe Paterno
Now THAT would be a fun MNC game if somehow the BCS computers crash
and end up putting a ND team with a Zug-awful schedule, and we run the table. They would suck, we would eat Emu alive, and we’d get to make the domers cry, and we’d walk away with a MNC. Unfortunately that will never happen.
by dawsonPSU10 on Aug 24, 2009 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions
rankings
cant believe that penn state is rated that high. i hope they can live up to that ranking though
eff you we winning anyway
Well they will for about three weeks at least
unless someone decides to punish us already for our SOS in the polls. Then the tough teams begin starting with our Holy Crusade to vanquish evil in a revenge game.
by dawsonPSU10 on Aug 24, 2009 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions
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