Here it is folks! This is my preseason Top 25 for the “College Football Bowl Subdivision”
#25 Alabama
#24 Penn State
#23 Fresno State
#22 Wake Forest
#21 Virginia Tech
#20 South Florida
#19 Tennessee
#18 BYU
#17 Texas Tech
#16 Arizona State
#15 Kansas
#14 Illinois
#13 Oregon
#12 Auburn
#11 Wisconsin
#10 Texas
#9 Clemson
#8 West Virginia
#7 LSU
#6 Florida
#5 Missouri
#4 Oklahoma
#3 USC
#2 Ohio State
#1 Georgia
Bottom line is that I think Georgia is the front runner heading into the college football season. There match-up in Tempe, Arizona against Arizona State early in the season. I don’t think Georgia is a solid #1 though. Ohio State and USC follow closely and the match-up in Los Angeles will be big for both. I think it holds greater significance for the Buckeyes though after getting blown out in the last two national championship games. They need a big win against a non-conference foe.
As for the rest of the poll, it’s pretty jumbled. There are a lot of teams who can make a run. In this day in age almost anyone can make a run for a national championship, much like Kansas did a year ago. I like Florida as the 2nd best team in the SEC over LSU because of the question marks the Tigers have at the quarterback position. Don’t get me wrong, I think LSU will be fine and better off without Perriloux, but Florida gets the nod because of Tebow.
I’ve seen some preview magazines, most notably the Sporting News, that place Virginia Tech as a highly ranked team. I’m not buying it. They’re pretty solid at quarterback with Sean Glennon. They do have a big question mark at I-Back with Brandon Ore being kicked off the team in March. Also, I think there non-conference games East Carolina and Nebraska will be tough for the Hokies.
As you notice in the poll, there are three Big XII and SEC teams in the top ten. I think that’s appropriate considering these will be the best two conferences in college football this season.
What does everyone else think? Do you think Georgia is the number one team in the nation going into the season, or does Ohio State or USC deserve that honor? What about the rest of the poll. Are there any other teams that should be garnering attention in my poll that I didn’t mention? I’d love to hear you thoughts.
6 Comments
July 23, 2008 at 5:30 am
I agree that Georgia is a pre-season number one, but it will be tough to stay there all season. However, if they win the SEC, I think they will play for the national title. Florida will be their biggest in conference challenge, but I don’t yet buy into the idea that Florida has improved greatly over last season. No matter what, unless the champion has more than one loss or two losses without an impressive out of conference win, I think the SEC champion will definitely play for the national title. If USC wins against Ohio St., and they don’t lose more than one that they shouldn’t lose, I think they will be in that game. If not, I look for the winner of the Big 12. I think Ohio St. will have to be very impressive this season to make it back a third time.
July 25, 2008 at 3:07 am
You’re totally off base. If you can’t see that Bo Pelini is going to rally the troops for a national championship, then you’re more ignorant than I thought. The Huskers will dominate. Joe Ganz has to be considered the front runner for Heisman. Good grief, there’s a conspiracy going on to hold the Huskers down…Oh wait, I’m not a Husker fan. GO HAWKEYES!
July 25, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Preseason rankings determine the best teams, not final projections. As far as that is concerned, Georgia enters the year at the top. Yet given their monstrous schedule, running the table poses an extremely formidable task, even with their stellar amount of talent on both sides of the ball. USC and OSU consistently garner national attention and face weak schedules compared to the SEC. It will be difficult for the Georgia to remain in the thick of the national title hunt if any two other top 5 teams stay undefeated. Georgia may be the best team in the country, but have a harder shot at the national title nevertheless.
July 26, 2008 at 2:25 pm
First off , something tells me that the Hawkeyes are in even more trouble than Nebraska this year. The lost to Western Michigan at the end of the season and the current off the field issues in Iowa City may cause Ferentz his job come season’s end. I do agree with you 92bama when it comes to Georgia’s schedule. I think on paper and talent-wise they are the number one team in the country. Can they stay there? That will be the tough part with their schedule. I think they can be an LSU from a year ago in that they may make the title game with one or two losses.
July 27, 2008 at 1:10 am
Dogs all the way. You can’t downplay Coach Mark Richt’s 25 wins to four losses road record. Dogs win at home and win on the road—wire to wire No. 1.
August 21, 2008 at 8:13 pm
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