Blogpoll: Preseason Ballot (First Draft)

by RPT on Aug 12, 2008 9:30 AM CDT in National Football 2008 Comment 8 comments

I've been avoiding it as long as I can, because between trying to figure out who to rank, and more tryingly, how to rank the nation's Top 25, I've been searching for answers for the last few months. But with the initial Blogpoll ballots due next Monday, I decided to publish my first draft of my preseason rankings to make sure there are no glaring omissions. Should there be any changes, the final ballot will be posted next weekend.

The poll was created in accordance with the Blogpoll's stated intentions and guidelines:

The AP poll is full of voters who vote team X super high in the preseason because of its schedule; this is strongly discouraged by the BlogPoll. Preseason polls are supposed to be exclusively about how good a team is thought to be

As such, this preseason poll is NOT a prediction how the season will play out or who has the easiest road to the title. This ballot is strictly a one-man power poll.

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

Dropped Out: None

Others Receiving Consideration: Cal, Utah, Michigan, South Carolina, Pitt, Alabama, Rutgers

0 recs | Comment 8 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Holy Red X's Batman!!

"Write a wise saying and your name will live forever." - Anonymous

by The Beef on Aug 12, 2008 9:43 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Where do you see Red X's?

I see none…I feel left out…

http://www.rockmnation.com
Thrust nunchuk upward!

by Bill C. on Aug 12, 2008 9:45 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

MGoBlog is still working out the kinks

I think once the season starts, it’ll show red or green arrows for movement in the polls

http://www.RockMNation.com
Chance McDanielson for Heisman

by RPT on Aug 12, 2008 10:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

By the way

Make sure to check out Mizzourah’s Top 25

http://www.RockMNation.com
Chance McDanielson for Heisman

by RPT on Aug 12, 2008 10:20 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

In all...

...I’d say a pretty solid list there. Like I mentioned the other day, I can’t picture Allan Evridge starting for a Top 10 team, so I can’t put Wisconsin any higher than #11-12, but other than that…you’re extremely correct in not putting Michigan on the list. This current team has done nothing to earn it, other than wearing Michigan uniforms. You were also correct, I think, in not putting Pitt on there yet. I understand that they could be very much improved this year, but they should have to prove it first.

http://www.rockmnation.com
Thrust nunchuk upward!

by Bill C. on Aug 12, 2008 10:26 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

My mental notes as the list was being forged

- I was really searching for an excuse not to put USC at No. 1, but I really think that No. 1 is a complete wash between USC and Georgia. Both teams are ridiculously talented, so I went to the tiebreaker: coaching. Richt is an outstanding coach, but Carroll has the pedigree. The way I see it, though, is that those two are interchangeable at No. 1.

- When I was creating this, I found it divided into four tiers. Tier 1 is teams 1-7, Tier 2 is teams 8-15, Tier 3 is teams 16-22, and Tier 4 and teams 23-32. I think teams are easily rearrangeable within those tiers. And, on a similar note, I think the drop-off between Tiers 1 and 2 is massive.

- Semi-overlooked teams I’m high on: Tennessee (They’ll be a victim of the SEC East. I’m big on Jonathan Crompton), Wisconsin (Their style of play leads me to believe that Evridge only needs to be average for the Badgers to be good), Auburn (making the assumption the offensive transition is complete), Cincinnati (same idea as Wisconsin)

- Teams whose hype I’m not buying: Michigan (Threet is going to really struggle in RichRod’s offense early on), Alabama (extremely talented but WAY too young), Virginia Tech (benefactors of the worst BCS conference)

http://www.RockMNation.com
Chance McDanielson for Heisman

by RPT on Aug 12, 2008 10:38 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

ditto on most of that...

And if you want another tie-breaker (though it would ruin the whole “resume” style of polling), you could go with schedule. USC is more likely to end the year at #1 because their schedule is infinitely more manageable.

I do think Tennessee will be good, and while I think Wisconsin will be tough as always…until Evridge actually proves to be even decent, I have to dock them a couple spots. Auburn always seems underrated to me, and I’m not sure about Cincy yet.

http://www.rockmnation.com
Thrust nunchuk upward!

by Bill C. on Aug 12, 2008 11:02 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I know the 21-25 is hard...

I’m not sold on Cincy, who could be the fourth or fifth best Big Least team, or Oregon. I batted both around, and just couldn’t do it. Plus, if Oregon wears those sick uni’s, I’ll never put them in.

http://www.Mizzourah.net

by Big Head on Aug 12, 2008 5:06 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs