NOTE: Typically, I'll post a preliminary Blogpoll ballot on Sunday night and leave you to notify me of my EPIC FAIL give me comments. This is a little early, as the preseason blogpolls are due on Mondays. Criticism is welcome in the comments section or at hawkeyestatebhgp@gmail.com.
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1 |
Ohio State |
0-0 |
You have no idea how much it pains me to do this, but with Sanchez injured at USC, Sturdevant gone at UGA, and not an ACL left in the state of Florida, OSU gets the top spot. |
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2 |
USC |
0-0 |
Aaron Corp will likely start the season at quarterback. That's probably not a positive development. And Joe McKnight doesn't know how to shut a door. And they all have jock itch. Until Sanchez is back at the controls (which could be before OSU comes to town), they're just a little suspect. The defense is typically freakish, though, and they get every good team at home. |
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3 |
Georgia |
0-0 |
The chic pick this season, but they just lost left tackle and certified badass Trinton Sturdevant for the season. Plus (and I know Brian will crucify me for bringing it up) the schedule is BRUTAL. |
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4 |
Oklahoma |
0-0 |
Sam Bradford is back and cocaine-free. More importantly, OU returns five senior offensive linemen, a bevy of VHT halfbacks, and the best front 7 in the BXII. The southern division is as tough as ever, but OU looks like the best team. Again. |
|
5 |
Missouri |
0-0 |
Chase Daniel, Jeremy Maclin, experience across the offensive line, 8 returning defensive starters, and possibly the best kicker in the country. Mizzou might be flying awfully close to the sun, but there's a lot to like about this team. |
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6 |
Florida |
0-0 |
Yeah, yeah, Tebow, Harvin, Meyer, yada yada yada. But Cornelius Ingram has a torn ACL. The offensive line doesn't blow me away. And that secondary...oh, that secondary. Dorian Munroe's season ended before it started, his likely backup is finished as well, and the corners and safeties were pretty bad to begin with. They'll probably score a bunch of points, but someone's throwing for 500 yards against this team. |
|
7 |
Auburn |
0-0 |
Every SEC fan keeps saying "Auburn is going to be GUUUUUUD." Considering that LSU doesn't have a quarterback, Alabama is still a year away, and the rest of the SEC West sucks, does anyone else see Tuberville sitting in a leather chair in a dimly lit room petting a cat, watching the Mexican Standoff out East, and whispering "Excellent"? |
|
8 |
Texas Tech |
0-0 |
OK, I like Mike Leach, and I typically overstate his effect, but I'm head over heels in love with this team. Ten of eleven starters are back on offense, including Harrell and Crabtree. The defense really doesn't matter, but it's far better than the usual tribe of matadors employed by Tech. This could be the year. Guns in the air, motherfuckers! |
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9 |
South Florida |
0-0 |
We're not ashamed to admit it. We love all of Hayden's old boys, none more so than psychopath-turned-coach Jim Leavitt. They return a boatload of starters, and they replace the outgoing seniors with mostly upperclassmen. This is how a program is built from the ground up. |
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10 |
Penn State |
0-0 |
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11 |
Clemson |
0-0 |
Everyone has them higher, but I hate Clemson. Year in and year out, they are a sad road team. They never cover a spread when it's important (i.e. when I need them to cover). The last two years, they have laid an egg against VT (both times favored, both times double-digit loser). I expect nothing less. |
|
12 |
LSU |
0-0 |
The receivers return, but can anyone get them the ball? The defensive line returns (less Dorsey, but with the exquisitely named Ricky Jean-Francois in his stead), but is there anyone in the secondary? The coach didn't go to Michigan, but will his all-or-nothing luck run out? Too many questions for the defending champs. |
|
13 |
Arizona State |
0-0 |
This is a total hunch pick, but when you have the best returning quarterback in the conference on a team that went 10-2, you're probably going to be OK. The schedule could sink them, in the end. That or the head coach driving a golf cart over a volcano. |
|
14 |
West Virginia |
0-0 |
Bowl win or not, I don't buy into Bill Stewart as a head coach just yet. They go to Colorado in September and play Auburn at home in the middle of October. That's to say nothing of the grumbling about Pat White moving to receiver. This just doesn't feel right. |
|
15 |
Tulsa |
0-0 |
They will be this year's Hawaii. They have a bunch of returning starters, they were good last year, and they play nobody (their toughest game is unquestionably @ Arkansas). They could very easily run the table and, on the basis of their win over the mighty SEC, sneak into the BCS, where they will be shitkicked by Florida. |
|
16 |
Wisconsin |
0-0 |
It's every Wisconsin team since the turn of the century: A bunch of big white bastards on the line, eleven guys who scare me on defense, and P.J. Hill at running ba...what, he's only a junior? Jesus Christ. |
|
17 |
Tennessee |
0-0 |
And the Steve Alford prize for inexplicable contract extensions goes to...PHIL FULMER! They probably leave LA with a win in week one, but they'll be 3-3 by mid-October after their annual bedwetting against Florida and losses at Auburn and UGA. In other words, it's just another year in Knoxville. |
|
18 |
Virginia Tech |
0-0 |
I'm tempted to put them higher, what with the fact that there's nobody else in their division of the ACC and they will beat Clemson again. But with only 10 returning starters and a redshirt freshman at running back, I can't get behind them. That being said, a defense with the likes of Orion Martin, Cordarrow Thompson Jr. (that's right; there's another Cordarrow Thompson out there), Purnell Sturdivant, and Macho Harris could make me change my mind in a hurry. |
|
19 |
Texas |
0-0 |
Uh, you guys know your starting running back is that guy from The Last King of Scotland, right? |
|
20 |
Utah |
0-0 |
Talk about good timing: Utah goes to Michigan in the only season in recent memory where you actually might want to go to Michigan. They have seniors, seniors, everywhere, and they have BYU and TCU at home. I don't think they go undefeated (one of those three knocks them down), but 9 wins is a mortal lock and a MWC championship is likely. |
|
21 |
Miami (FL) |
0-0 |
They have VHT's everywhere. They get UNC, FSU, and VT at home, and they don't play Clemson. They should be good by default. In other news, I'm turning into Phil Steele. |
|
22 |
Central Michigan |
0-0 |
I will sing this team's praises from the mountaintops this season, because someone should be talking about Dan LeFevour. CMU hasn't won a road game against a BCS team since the dawn of time, but with games at Purdue and Indiana, that could very well change this year. |
|
23 |
California |
0-0 |
Iowa fans, it could be worse. You could be #1 in the country for two hours eight weeks into the season, lose to Oregon State, and spiral to a 6-6 finish. Someone please give me a reason to take them out of the poll. |
|
24 |
BYU |
0-0 |
As they do every year, they will drop a game to the Pac-10 in September (probably vs. UCLA), then win a bunch. They go to TCU and Utah, though, and I don't think they win either game. |
|
25 |
Iowa |
0-0 |
If Spurrier can put Duke at #25 without damaging the integrity of the coaches' poll, I can do the same with Iowa, right? Right, Steve? Oh, shit. |
