CBS Sports - NCAA Power Rankings - Ohio #1
Dennis Dodd has put out CBS Sports Post Spring top 25 and he has Ohio on top. Interesting that he feels they will be prepared to beat an SEC opponent in the championship game because, "this is the Big Ten where there isn't a serious challenger to the Buckeyes."
Sadder then that is that there are no other B1G schools in the top 19 and only Northwestern and Nebraska in the top 25. No Michigan in the top 25? This will be good bulletin board fodder as this team gets motivated for a better season than 2012. This team was within a minute of beating a good SEC team. I think Dennis Dodd has misplaced the reality that Michigan is back, and the SEC and Ohio be )#(#$.
Dennis Dodd is a never nude.
Can you blame him?
Who doesn't look good in cut-off jeans?
Well, if you can't trust preseason rankings in May, what can you trust? I guess I'll have to take up cricket in the fall, because it doesn't look like anyone will beat OSU or the SEC.
Man!
(kicks rock)
ESPN, SI, CBS, Obama, My Grandma etc. Until we prove it on the field, that is the way it is going to be. No point in getting angry or frustraded. We need to put up or shut up.
I get the OSU love, I do. Regardless of some close games against questionable competition, they went undefeated, and that's tough to do in any conference. But as far as rankings, I wouldn't have them at #1. Top 5 yeah, top 3 maybe. I'd consider putting Stanford, Texas A&M, maybe Oregon, and without question Alabama ahead of OSU. Until someone beats Alabama, the have earned the right to be unquestioned #1 in the polls. Personally, I think Saban's team would wipe the floor with OSU, but that's another post for another time.
Northwestern should be ranked, but if Nebraska is ranked, Michigan damn well better be too. As long as Bo Pelini is coaching Nebraska, I will refuse to ever admit to Nebraska being a good team, much less a great one. Their defense is atrocious, and the team as a whole completely falls apart in the most critical of moments every single time. I would not be shocked to see Michigan hang 40+ on them next year.
I wouldn't consider, at this stage, Michigan being a top 10 team, maybe not even a top 15 team, but they should be ranked. This should only be more motivation for the team to go out and prove themselves. They've got a lot of talent, and if they can put it all together, they can beat just about anyone. Yes, even the vaunted Ohio State Buckeyes, who are supposedly going to run Nick Saban out of a job from all the mindless sputtering I hear from Columbus these days.
Borges had the offense come out way too conservative in the 2nd half!
I think there is a good chance Michigan will beat both OSU and NE at home this season. I don't know what their final season record will be but if the defense, the running game, and Robinson can find a good go to deep WR, I think we could go 11-1. A more realistic record will be 9-3 or 8-4. Unlike last season, if we finish 8-4 or worse I will be disappointing in the season but will still have confidence that Hoke will eventually turn this team into a perennial top 10 team!
Devin! I think Devin will have a great season!
I will honestly admit we are not the number one team in the country. Until someone knocks off Alabama, they deserve to be ranked number one. Too many question marks on a young defense, the kicking unit with Basil doing both punting and field goal kicking, offensive line depth and the right tackle position and Miller improvement. There is certainly talent at several positions but experiece will be a huge factor for OSU success or failures this year. OSU is probably a top 15 team but no where close to being top 5.
Any ranking that does not have Alabama #1 is a complete joke. The Tide were not a senior laden team that built up towards a national championship. This is a program that has won 3 of the last 4 national championships and has had the top 1 or 2 recruiting classes for like 5 straight years. How can any analyst say this is not the best team going into the year? Betting against Saban is not a good policy.
And the team above them is a solid not great Big Ten team that nearly lost to a bunch of mediocre teams last year? Uh, did this moron not watch the national title game and see what happened to a solid but luckily undefeated team against Alabama?
OSU, MICHIGAN, NE, NU and perhaps WI will be in contention to win their division. OSU and MIchigan have the most talent laiden teams.
more realistic pre-reason ranking for B1G teams:
16. OSU
19. U-M
24. NU
25. NE
...will both be top 10 football and basketball programs.
Should be fun. The rivalries back. This is how is should be. Great.
...moving on, what's for dinner tonight?
I'm not trying to be an ass, I just don't think we should even acknowledge this stuff anymore. It should be expected.
Something about the UTL game has me nervous, but our schedule sets up very well for us to be undefeated going into November. After the ND game, Sparty and Nebraska are the only teams that could match us talent-wise before The Game. I think we'd have at least a 30% chance of it happening if we're both undefeated after September.
Here is what Jerry Hinnen posted last month for purposes of comparison (LINK). Actually, Hinnen posted Phil Steele's prediction, which goes as follows:
Top Five, in order - Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon, Stanford, Texas A&M
Five Big Ten teams - Ohio State (2), Nebraska (17), Michigan (19), Northwestern (20) and Wisconsin (24).
Six SEC teams - Alabama (1), Texas A&M (5), Georgia (6), Florida (8), South Carolina (9) and LSU (12)
... this is fucking absurd