We're #9...and #15...and #23

So I saw that the Preseason USA Today Coaches' Poll was released the other day. #1 is a mild surprise, but not entirely off the wall. The ACC placed just three teams in the poll, as you can see below:

1. Georgia
2. USC
3. Ohio State
4. Oklahoma
5. Florida
6. LSU
7. Missouri
8. West Virginia
9. Clemson
10. Texas
11. Auburn
12. Wisconsin
13. Kansas
14. Texas Tech
15. Virginia Tech
16. Arizona State
17. Brigham Young
18. Tennessee
19. Illinois
20. Oregon
21. South Florida
22. Penn State
23. Wake Forest
24. Michigan
25. Fresno State

Others Receiving Votes: Alabama 83, South Carolina 64, Utah 60, Rutgers 53, Florida State 53, Boston College 47, California 41, Pittsburgh 34, Boise State 25, Oregon State 23, Nebraska 17, Cincinnati 13, Virginia 12, Connecticut 9, Michigan State 9, Mississippi State 6, Notre Dame 5, TCU 5, Kentucky 5, Maryland 4, North Carolina 3, UCLA 3, Texas A&M 3, Georgia Tech 2, UCF 2, Louisville 2, Colorado 1, Tulsa 1, Oklahoma State 1, Arizona 1

Three ACC clubs in the poll, six in the "others receiving" category, and Miami isn't among them. Weird.

Clemson and Virginia Tech are ranked about where I expected, based on their showings in the plethora of preseason publications. Wake makes a welcome appearance in the poll, and it is gratifiying to see the Deacs getting that level of respect...it looks like people really are paying attention to the machine Jim Grobe has built. I'm surprised Virginia and Georgia Tech got any votes. Florida State, Boston College, Maryland, and North Carolina's number of votes look about right to me.

Nationally, Georgia at #1 is a reach. On the one hand it's nice to see someone other than USC at the top of a preseason poll, but the Trojans, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Florida and LSU all have valid cases for that top spot heading into 2008 and - unlike the Dawgs - those schools have proven they can finish at #1 with their current coaching staffs. UGA's getting a little too much love from beating the poi out of Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl and for beating Florida for just the third time since 1990.

As for conference comparisons among the BCS leagues, this is what we have:

-SEC (12 teams)- 5 ranked (42%), 4 also getting votes (33%)
-Big XII (12 teams)- 5 ranked (42%), 4 also getting votes (33%)
-Big Ten (11 teams)- 5 ranked (45%), 1 also getting votes (9%)
-ACC (12 teams)- 3 ranked (25%), 6 also getting votes (50%)
-Pac 10 (10 teams)- 3 ranked (30%), 4 also getting votes (40%)
-Big East (8 teams)- 2 ranked (25%), 5 also getting votes (63%)

For all the self-inflicted damage the ACC has wrought upon itself the last few years - along with the generally dismissive coverage the league gets in the blogosphere and national media - I'm a tad surprised to see 75% of the ACC either ranked or getting votes. The SEC and Big XII deservedly garner the most respect in the preseason poll. The Big East actually has the best percentage of ranked-or-getting-votes with 7 out of 8 clubs showing up, but the quick collapse of Louisville and Rich Rod's departure from Morgantown last season showed just how fragile the league's football rep really is and this season might just begin the Big East's fall out of the BCS orbit in terms of overall quality, stability, and depth.

Getting back to the ACC, I think Clemson is Georgia-lite...they're getting too much love for too little reason. Virginia Tech is garnering a few legacy votes...#15 is a reach considering the offseason personnel losses. Wake should probably be where the Hokies are in terms of ranking. Florida State and Boston College are in decent shape to vault into the poll with a few early wins. Maryland and/or North Carolina are primed to jump into the rankings with fast starts, and deservedly so. Virginia and Georgia Tech may not see another vote again after the season kicks off. And Miami....O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Final Blog Poll Ballot 2007

1 LSU
2 Southern Cal
3 Georgia
4 Missouri
5 West Virginia
6 Kansas
7 Ohio State
8 Oklahoma
9 Boston College
10 Virginia Tech
11 Texas
12 Arizona State
13 Illinois
14 Auburn
15 Michigan
16 Florida
17 Tennessee
18 Clemson
19 Wake Forest
20 Cincinnati
21 Texas Tech
22 Oregon State
23 Brigham Young
24 Hawaii
25 Oregon

Whatever. I have never been less enthused at the end of a college football season as I am now. The ACC turned out to be sucktastic, a two-loss team won the national title, every bowl of consequence was lame, and next year doesn't look much better. USC or Georgia or Oklahoma will beat the crap out of Ohio State in the title game, the ACC will look like a pile of ass again, and blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Yeah, my post-bowl funk continues.

Blog Poll Ballot, Post-Week 13: This Is No Longer A Power Poll

Rank	Team	Change
1	Missouri	2
2	West Virginia	2
3	Ohio State	3
4	Georgia	1
5	Oklahoma	5
6	LSU	5
7	Kansas	5
8	Virginia Tech	--
9	Southern Cal	2
10	Florida	5
11	Boston College	2
12	Arizona State	5
13	Clemson	3
14	Illinois	4
15	Hawaii	5
16	Tennessee	1
17	Cincinnati	5
18	South Florida	1
19	Virginia	5
20	Texas	8
21	Auburn	5
22	Oregon	13
23	Wake Forest	3
24	Wisconsin	1
25	Brigham Young	1

Dropped Out: Boise State (#21), Connecticut (#23)

Ballot Meditations
>>> I didn't look at last week's ballot, just started with a clean slate this week and ranked teams based on their overall resume this year. I've switched from power poll ranking to resume ranking. Why? Because, today, I think USC would beat everyone...and in a "power poll" that means they should be ranked #1 . But they don't deserve the top spot based on the whole season. So there you have it.

>>> Mizzou gets the nod at #1 (very strange to be typing "Mizzou" and "#1") over West Virginia due to schedule strength and overall domination of their opponents (closest win besides the Kansas victory was by 13 points).

>>> Oregon plummets. Losing Dixon is akin to UF losing Tebow. That's how valuable those guys are, and that's how shaky those teams actually are as well. Dixon is the difference between Oregon going 11-1 and 7-5. If I were ranking power poll-style, Oregon would be out of the poll altogether.

>>> Nonetheless, UF moves into the top 10. Their offense is unstoppable with Tebow and Harvin hitting on all cylinders. But, the Gators are walking a tightrope.

>>> Conference call...ACC (5 teams ranked), Big East (3), Big 10 (3), Big XII (4), Mountain West (1), Pac 10 (3), SEC (5), WAC (1)

Feedback is welcome.

Blog Poll Ballot, Post-Week 12: The End Is Near

Rank	Team	Change
1	LSU	--
2	Kansas	--
3	Missouri	2
4	West Virginia	3
5	Georgia	4
6	Ohio State	--
7	Arizona State	1
8	Virginia Tech	2
9	Oregon	6
10	Oklahoma	6
11	Southern Cal	1
12	Texas	1
13	Boston College	3
14	Virginia	--
15	Florida	--
16	Clemson	5
17	Tennessee	4
18	Illinois	4
19	South Florida	7
20	Hawaii	3
21	Boise State	3
22	Cincinnati	2
23	Connecticut	2
24	Brigham Young	2
25	Wisconsin	1

Dropped Out: Kentucky (#19), Penn State (#23)

Ballot Meditations
--West Virginia is the big winner in the Oregon-Oklahoma freefall sweepstakes. You'll note that three other Big East teams are ranked on my ballot while Ohio State has just two other Big Ten brothers in the poll, one of whom they lost to (Illinois), and then the Badgers at #25 and that's just because I couldn't think of anyone else to put there.
--Georgia also leaps the Buckeyes. The Dawgs would win if they played OSU today. Earlier in the year? No.
--Conference count...ACC (4 teams ranked), Big East (4), Big 10 (3), Big 12 (4), Pac 10 (3),
SEC (4), Mountain West (1), WAC (2).
--Most likely to depart from next week's ballot: Connecticut (as West Virginia), Hawaii or Boise State (they play this Friday).

Blog Poll Ballot, Post-Week 11: Insanity Returns

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU	1
2	Kansas	2
3	Oregon	--
4	Oklahoma	1
5	Missouri	1
6	Ohio State	5
7	West Virginia	--
8	Arizona State	--
9	Georgia	4
10	Virginia Tech	1
11	Clemson	3
12	Southern Cal	--
13	Texas	2
14	Virginia	6
15	Florida	4
16	Boston College	7
17	Hawaii	--
18	Boise State	3
19	Kentucky	6
20	Cincinnati	6
21	Tennessee	5
22	Illinois	4
23	Penn State	3
24	Wisconsin	2
25	Connecticut	15

Dropped Out: Michigan (#16), Auburn (#18), Wake Forest (#22), Florida State (#23), Alabama (#24)

No meditations on the poll this week, but feedback is most welcome.