Coaches' Poll out
|
1.
|
Alabama (55)
|
14-0
|
1,469
|
1
|
|
2.
|
Ohio State (4)
|
11-2
|
1,392
|
5
|
|
3.
|
13-1
|
1,245
|
3
|
|
|
4.
|
13-1
|
1,240
|
2
|
|
|
5.
|
14-0
|
1,215
|
4
|
|
|
6.
|
10-3
|
1,052
|
10
|
|
|
7.
|
12-1
|
1,051
|
6
|
|
|
8.
|
8-5
|
1,035
|
NR
|
|
|
9.
|
Nebraska |
10-4
|
1,001
|
14
|
|
10.
|
11-2
|
952
|
7
|
|
|
11.
|
Oregon |
10-3
|
940
|
11
|
|
12.
|
10-3
|
778
|
16
|
|
|
13.
|
9-4
|
728
|
19
|
|
|
14.
|
11-2
|
508
|
8
|
|
|
15.
|
10-3
|
492
|
15
|
|
|
16.
|
9-4
|
476
|
17
|
|
|
17.
|
Georgia Tech |
11-3
|
455
|
13
|
|
18.
|
North Carolina |
8-5
|
445
|
NR
|
|
19.
|
8-5
|
438
|
NR
|
|
|
20.
|
7-6
|
374
|
NR
|
|
|
21.
|
Georgia |
8-5
|
312
|
NR
|
|
22.
|
Oregon State |
8-5
|
263
|
NR
|
|
23.
|
8-5
|
260
|
NR
|
|
|
24t.
|
Utah |
10-3
|
169
|
18
|
|
24t.
|
West Virginia |
9-4
|
169
|
22
|
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/usatpoll.htm
MSU received 10 votes
ND received 38 votes
Looking at UF's schedule, I don't think it's that unrealistic that they could go 11-1 in the regular season even with a new QB.
Likely wins: Miami (OH), USF, @Tenn, Kentucky, Miss St., @Vandy, S. Carolina, Appy St
Toss-ups: LSU, Georgia, @FSU
Likely losses: @Alabama
I would be pretty surprised if UF loses more than one of those toss-up games, so I think they will go 10-2. Fortunately for UF, the SEC East is TERRIBLE this season.
Holy shit Appy St is on their schedule? PLEASE LOSE TO THEM FLORIDA! That will let us hear less about The Horror if they become known as a giant-slaying 1-AA team.
Appy State will NEVER beat another competent FBS team again. You only get one chance to sneak up on a team like they did against us. Plus, "The Horror" was the first game of the season, so ASU had their entire fall practice to gameplan for UM, they play UF late in the season and will not have that luxury.
Can we please stop calling them Appy State?
They call it "Happy Appy", which is a sarcastic reference to the intensity of the academic environment.
August 6th, 2010 at 10:27 AM ^
they would call them "Slap Appy."
August 6th, 2010 at 12:14 PM ^
I figured they'd go with Admiral Ackbar's "It's a trAppy."
August 6th, 2010 at 10:31 AM ^
Appalachian (is that even spelled correctly?) State more than once a month....and I just used it up typing this post.
Co-signed
They've kind of declined in the FCS world the past 2 or 3 years somehow. They were probably the second best team in NC, only behind Wake Forest the year of The Horror. They could've beat a bunch of FBS teams. Now they probably wouldn't be able to. OK, now I'm done talking about it.
August 6th, 2010 at 11:40 AM ^
Somehow = losing their two top playmakers. Just sayin'.
People should be "confident in his abilities." If it wasn't for the Tebow circus, Brantley would be one of the most ballyhooed Florida QB recruits in a long time. He is a "double legacy" recruit for Florida, where his dad was a QB and his uncle was a LB. He has been trained to be a QB since he was old enough to hold a football.
His final five were Texas (to whom he comitted before his family changed his mind), Alabama, Oklahoma, Louisville, and Florida. His HS stats are as good as his recruiting status was, and he succeeded in what to me is the most important stat of all: he lead his team to a State Championship. In other words, his performance in HS lead him to be recruited by some very good teams.
Brantley won't "replace" Tebow, because he is a different-style QB. He obviously won't become the de facto FB inside the five as Tebow did, but he could end up with some eye-popping passing stats, and he might at least get his team to the SEC Championship game. Florida won't look anything like they did with Tebow, but I think they will be a very entertaining team to watch on offense this year with Brantley at QB.
...flying under the radar this year.
August 6th, 2010 at 10:02 AM ^
All things being equal, I would prefer to be somethere atop the poll than flying under the radar.
I'm surprised how much love they're getting considering the amount of attrition they experienced in the offseason. Penn State seems a little overrated, too, considering the QB situation.
Yeah, I'll be shocked if Penn State is ranked 14th at the end of the season.
August 6th, 2010 at 10:36 AM ^
I'll be surprised if they're ranked at the end of the season; Royster won't be able to carry the entire team on his back for the whole season. They'll need the o-line to step up big time and I don't see it happening.
This is why I don't like preseason polls. If these teams win, even if it is against cupcakes, they most likely won't move down in the polls. Making it harder for overlooked teams to move up.
August 6th, 2010 at 10:35 AM ^
The first poll should be when conference play begins.
very true...glad to see another Blue fan in VA, there's quite a few out here
I guess you could call it that in this day in age... If this were 19th century England, half the Oregon team would be in Australia learning to survive with William Buckley.
...but Butch Woolfolk's son and I were wondering if you could at least change your avatar.
August 6th, 2010 at 11:42 AM ^
'Yes, Mr. President. Immediately.'
-- Not a Blue Fan
August 6th, 2010 at 11:43 AM ^
Though they lost Masoli due to blatant and unwaivering douchebaggery, they still get most of their offense back if I recall, which torched the Pac-10. Chip Kelly has a history of putting up monster numbers regardless of his QB.
The real question is will Virginia Tech even finish in the top 25. They usually start out high and then drop right out or hit the bottom real quick. I don't get the Florida or the OKlahoma rankings. Both are good schools, but neither has a quarterback who has been tested week in and week out. Both lost some talent to the NFL as well.
Actually, Landry Jones was the starter for almost the entire season at Oklahoma last season and he put up pretty good numbers: 3200 yards, 26 TD's to 14 INT's.
August 6th, 2010 at 10:12 AM ^
this wicked stache.
August 6th, 2010 at 11:43 AM ^
It's so dirty.
August 7th, 2010 at 11:42 AM ^
He needs to keep it. If he were to cut it off I believe he'd lose all his stats...
August 6th, 2010 at 10:19 AM ^
Don't let facts get in your way.
2009 VT pre-season ranking: 7 final: 10, their fifth top-10 ranking in the last 15 years
In 2005-2008 they finished +/-2 spots of their preseason ranking each year. Since 1999, Virginia Tech has started nine seasons ranked between 7 and 17 and finished within that range seven times.
EDIT: I should point out that I cribbed (with minor changes) the last two lines above from bigrednetwork.com's excellent preview of VT last year. Even when posting to MGoBlog from the middle of a meeting at work, proper attribution is important. I nominate BRN for the blogroll, too.
I'm just mad because we didn't even get 1 stinkin vote. I counted 53 total teams on the list (top 25+teams with votes). That means they don't even think we're in the top 50 in CFB. Even CMU got a vote. Heck, Southern Methodist got a vote.
I would guess that the HC for CMU (Dan Enos) and SMU (June Jones) are on the panel of coaches who vote in the poll, hence the one vote for their team. Or that one of the coaches just "phones it in" when filling out his ballot and goes by last season.
it doesn't mean that none of the 59 "coaches" in the poll think Michigan is in the top 50. It means that none of them think Michigan is in the top 25 and that, between them, there are 53 different teams they feel are top 25 outfits.
this ain't gonna happen again for a long time...
God I hate preseason polls. The most worthless pieces of crap that mean less than NFL preseason football. Teams are basically slotted by name and what they did last year. hence Florida and Oklahoma getting love they don't deserve.
Let me preface this by saying that I agree preseason polls are crap.
But college preseason polls matter a LOT more than NFL preseason football. Preseason polls can actually shapes the BCS championship game a lot of times (Boise State being ranked in the top-5 at the beginning gives them an incredible shot at the title if they go undefeated whereas Utah unranked in 2008 basically gave them no shot even though they ended up beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl). NFL preseason football is the battle of 3rd + 4th stringers while the coaches dont reveal their real strategies.
If you're not ranked high enough pre-season (as in before you've done anything that isn't on paper) you wont make the BCS game. Your example of Boise State and Utah is spot on. and it's exactly why preseason polls are crap. Why is Alabama better than OSU? There is literally NO on-field reason. You know... football. That thing that we're ranking these teams on? They havent played it yet. I don't understand how there is a coaches poll to rank teams before any of the teams have played football. I say week 3 or week 4 should be the first rankings of the year
PS - MGo DC - I know you said that you agree these polls are crap, this isnt a rant at you, just at the system.
Hey no offense taken I got the general sentiment of your post without the PS.
From a Michigan perspective though, this poll is irrelevent. We have the luxury of a conference where if we win, we're guaranteed at least the Rose Bowl (imo the 2nd best bowl, though I'm positive there's debate to be had on that). Preseason polls only really affect teams from lesser conferences except for extremely unusual seasons like last year with so many undefeated teams.
If a Big Ten, Pac-10, or SEC team takes care of their business, the poll always works out. ACC used to be the same way and Big-12 was/is that way but probably wont be in 2011.
NC game. So as the Sports Guy would say "Settle Down".
August 6th, 2010 at 10:59 AM ^
MgoDC's comment pointed that out clearly. If UM went undefeated and so did two other teams, say Alabama and Oklahoma, UM would be the odd team out. That result would have a lot to do with the preseason rankings.
August 6th, 2010 at 11:54 AM ^
the BCS would crumble to bits of sand from our collective outrage.
August 6th, 2010 at 11:55 AM ^
At this point nobody in their sane minds would rank Michigan (if at all) above either of those two. So barring a playoff, in the UNLIKELY event of two other BIG-TIME programs (with good schedules mind you), being undefeated, then yeah, we wouldnt make it. That doesn't prove anything.
August 6th, 2010 at 12:54 PM ^
what it proves is that the preseason poll does in fact mean something.
effect on the weather in the Michigan- Ohio State game this year, thus playing a part in the result. Big whoop, so what?
The only thing this proves is that there are some Michigan fans out there who are delusional enough to think we DESERVE to be ranked right now and are actually getting screwed over by the polls..Sheesh!
Damn, that might be the most annoying avatar ever.
I agree, preseason polls are ridiculous. What are they based on? What a team did last year, their personnel losses and their perceived amount of improvement. It's is completely subjective to gage the latter. And last year's record doesn't always matter for much. For example, Michigan 2005 to Michigan 2006. That was an enjoyable transition. Although it may not be to the extent, I think we'll have another "sneak-up" year and hopefully surprise a lot of people.