Preseason BlogPoll

WARNING: Explicit Football Content To Follow

This year, a Michigan college football blog took the time to set up a network of blogs across the internet – most of them college football-centered – in order to establish a true poll, since lord knows the BCS and Coaches’ Poll can’t get it right. I honestly feel this is going to easily be the most accurate poll available, if only because all the ballots are posted public and any oddball vote – Let’s say a Texas at number one over USC, Mack Brown? – will be ripped apart from some very passionate, very knowledgeable college football fans.

So after arguing with Dill and trying to decide how much we wanted the poll to be “Best teams right now” and how much we wanted it to be “Rankings at the end of the season”, we settled on this, a Top 25 that’ll be sure to significantly altered after the first two weekends of the season. Here goes:

1) Southern Cal
2) Tennessee
3) Virginia Tech
4) Ohio State
5) Michigan
6) LSU
7) Iowa
8) Florida
9) Texas
10) Miami (FL)
11) Texas A&M
12) Louisville
13) California
14) Oklahoma
15) Purdue
16) Georgia
17) Florida State
18) Auburn
19) Boise State
20) Bowling Green
21) Arizona State
22) Pittsburgh
23) Penn State
24) Boston College
25) Notre Dame


Teams I Probably Have Rated Too Highly Concerning Their Quarterback Situation: Ohio State (although I like the Zwick-Smith combo, others are not so sure), Virginia Tech (maybe), LSU, Penn State, Florida State, Oklahoma, Auburn, Cal

Teams I Probably Have Rated Too Highly Concerning Their Defense Situation: Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Florida, Michigan

Teams I Have Rated As High As I Do Mostly Because of Their Schedule: Purdue, Pittsburgh, Louisville (to some extent)

Teams That Are Going To Have To Earn Their Way Up The Rankings After Being Underachieving/”Chokers” The Last Few Years: Texas, Georgia, Florida State

Darkhorse Heisman Favorite Who Bumped His Team Up The Poll: Omar Jacobs and Bowling Green at number 20, if only because Jacobs is good for five touchdowns on NCAA 2006 at any time.

Teams That Would Have Made A Top 30: Alabama, Texas Tech, Oregon, Minnesota, Fresno State

Explanation for ND’s Rank: If you lean more towards this as a ranking of teams now as opposed to where they’ll finish, any confidence at all in the Irish offense would make them worthy of the illustrious 25 position. Charlie Weis now in charge, ten returning starters, D-Walk, MoSto, Rhema, Matt Shelton and a very experience O-line. Granted, if anything happens to Brady or Darius, we’re in big trouble, and that defense is probably not going to be pretty, but can the back seven really defend the pass much worse than last year, a season in which we won six games?

Be ready for this once a week, after Patrick, DK and I bunker down and churn out the most respectable Top 25 we can after every Saturday