Preseason Insanity Part I

Everyone does it; we sneak to the sports section of the magazine rack at Wal-Mart this time of year to satisfy our football Jones. We’ll search through all the different titles, looking for the one that ranks our team best and buy it, abolishing the rest because apparently, the other writers are on crack. They never pan out, we all know it, yet we are drawn back each year. They entice us like sadistic sirens luring us into the jagged rocks of the college football underworld. One would think that the $9.00 we pay these preseason magazines would shed a tad more light into the upcoming season, but alas, they usually don’t. With that in mind, it’s time for TNL to tackle the preseason rankings.

The first thing to agree upon is what the preseason polls are trying to predict. For our discussion, let’s assume they are picking the final standings at the end of the year. Accepting that, the second thing to agree upon is one poll, but that would never work. Failing that, we might as well lock the polls in an airtight room, blast nonstop Michael Bolton music at 110 decibels, and give them nothing but the new Peels Pear and Lemon flavored malt beverage to drink and not let them out until they agree.






Trust me, it would be a tough choice between this and your own urine.











Fortunately, Fight On State has done just that. Basically they took a conglomerate of most of the popular preseason polls and weighed each vote just like you would in the regular season polls and tallied the results:
Consensus Poll
1. Ohio State (8 first-place votes) - 453 points
2. Texas (2) - 403 points
3. Notre Dame (4) - 402 points
4. West Virginia (1) - 400 points
5. Oklahoma (4) - 390 points
6. USC - 379 points
7. Auburn - 369 points
8. LSU - 349 points
9. Florida - 337 points
10. Florida State - 264 points
11. Louisville - 259 points
12. California - 242 points
13. Michigan - 236 points
14. Miami (Fla.) - 226 points
15. Georgia - 205 points
16. Iowa - 177 points
17. Virginia Tech - 169 points
18. Clemson - 141 points
19. Nebraska - 122 points
20. Penn State - 108 points

Standard stuff, most magazines would agree to some degree. There are a couple things that stand out. First of all, I'm a true believer in A) number of drafted players lost to the NFL and B) strong defense, as predecessors of a top ten finish. If you have 1st round NFL talent, you have something good. NFL scouts aren’t worthless hacks trying to make a buck exploiting teenagers (I’m looking in your direction Tom Lemming), these are the big boys; they are paid to recognize superior ability. Secondly, defense wins championships. USC, Texas, Ohio State, and Penn State all had robust D’s last year and finished quite well, thank you very much. With that in mind, a couple things stand out.

Ohio State is WAY overrated. THEosu lost 9 players to the NFL draft and a mind-boggling 5 in the first… that’s FIVE first round picks! That is a lot of talent to replace. Yes THEosu pundits will say they have great young talent with playing experience, which may be true, but I’m just not buying, it’s too much beef to replace. Looking at defense they lose 9 players altogether. I’ve read some reports that say the defense will be better this year then last and all I can say is, I’d like to get my hands on some of the stuff they’re smoking, it’s good shit. For those keeping score at home that’s 437.5 tackles, 36 sacks, and 6 interceptions… gone. That’s a lot of meat and cheese, MEAT ..... and cheese.






Is that a single? WE DON'T DO SINGLES!!






Florida State – where did they come from? Again, here is a team that underachieved last year and I guess that’s why they get so much respect, but a team that loses 8 players to the draft and 4 first round picks finishing in the top 10? I doubt it. Granted one of those first-rounders didn’t play for the Noles in 2005, but 3 are tough to replace. Defense- 6 of those players drafted were from the defensive side of the ball and they lost a total of 6 on offense. Too much pro talent to replace.

We can pick some nits about the rest, but overall, FSU and OSU just aren’t going to finish this high at the end of the year. The popular choice for “overrated of the year” is Notre Dame, but I’m not so sure. Notre Dame doesn’t have the superior D but at the very least they have a boat load of returning starters back on that side of the ball, and that makes me a believer.

Next up… part two: I’ll take a look at those teams I feel are underrated. Bet you can’t guess who one of them is.