Yeah I have always laughed at early polls. I mean cmon, they never end up being the same. Usually only like 15 teams or so are correct, I mean you always have the C-USA or MAC leader in the top 25 just to fill someone there with 2 losses or whatever. Even if Wake could beat them, but I do think that ND is overrated(its the media's team just like the yanks) so they will always have media backing them. Except on occasions they will trash them, but amazingly find some player doing well alone to talk about so more positives come up. We all know that, WVU I think should have a legit shot at the BCS title game this year. Starting at #7 will help them with their weak schedule. Even though I think they are the real deal, as we saw them tear UGA a new one last year. I was surpised to see UM behind FSU, everything Ive read from sports writers have UM as a better team overall, but we will find out Labor Day weekend. Iowa and Arkansas are my sleepers of the year. I always pick Iowa though, so I am sure they will let me down again. And I love what Nutt is putting together in Little Rock(too bad McFadden had to go get hurt fighting outside a bar). But yeah, we will wait until mid-conference game time to see who is really legit or not.Rogue Drone said:My General thought is that the BCS system is superior to the old Coach's and AP polling system that produced lesser bowl matchups from set conference slotting and split champions in some years, but it's still stupid to do preseason polls at all when, in this poll's case, the coaches don't know and don't care to know who's where nationally at this time of year as they are totally focused on their team and their conference only.
The coach's poll is not as good as fans generally believe at any time , in theory coaches know the game, in practice, they don't pay serious attention to what non conference relevant opponenets are doing. They can read team's better than fans, but they don't have the time or perceived need to. They knowingly vote on teams they play and vote based on historical professional rep otherwise.
All polls methodologies are suspect ,to a greater or lesser degree, the advantage of the present system is that the input variance is smoothed out by using more for a fairer assesment than the old two alone.
More specifically, Notre Dame at #3 is overrated,Weiss,Quinn and Samardzija aren't going to overcome an average team otherwise with poor depth, Oklahoma's two screwups just shot them in the foot and the rest of team will have to really hustle to make up for it to stay in the race, most look about right as a general placing into the upper, middle and lower tier of the top 25 with it's a guess on exact positioning, and Clemson, Tennesee and Nebraska are three teams at the bottom here that I would say are good possibilities to move up.
At best you could call these preseasons SWAG's (Semi scientific Wild ass Guesses);at worst, stupid outdated fan hypesheets that rob deserving teams later in the year of getting their just recognizition.
Polls before October :rasp:
Yeah, Id give OSU the nod, they at least have experience at QB. Although I dont think that either will be in the championship game. Bama is gone, watch out for South Carolina in the SEC too, Rice is amazing and who knows with the Ball Coach. Auburn just took a beating at LB, losing the two(sears and ??? the other guy just slipped my mind). LSU is shaky qb controversy and I am not a fan of switching them around. I dunno I see flaws with all teh SEC teams, but then agian u can have that arguement for every team in the nation.CEDeoudes59 said:it's like they couldn't decide between between texas and ohio st. or miami and fsu. Louisville should be slightly higher. Alabama shouldn't be Top 25. Oregon is solid, no team plays defense in the PAC-10. Mark my words: Georgia wont finish top 25. Auburn, Florida, LSU and Tennessee are your SEC powerhouses.
What happened in the most recent game??? Thats what I thought.jmh80 said:Invalid Link Removed
Good times against the Noles. If that don't get ya ready for Labor Day - you ain't got a pulse...
Excuse me while I find a Nolie to go hit.
First thing I saw this morning on espn.com. WOW that was a good laugh. Man that kids life has just gone straight down the toilet after his nat'l championship(even thought miami deserves it). Wasnt today supposed to be his court date too, or sometime soon??jmh80 said:And Clarret got arrested for 4 loaded firearms. :rofl:
AFOX said:Look out for Nebraska this year. Just like Pen St, ND and Alabama, the Huskers are about to return from the ashes. The Blackshirt defense will be in the top 10 in all catagories and if " Iron Man " Zac Taylor gets some protection he will put up huge numbers. We really need to improve our rushing numbers, to have balance on offense. About the only thing we lost from last year was our punter. I'm predicting them to beat USC in LA the third game of the season. The main goal for the Huskers is to " Restore the Order " in the Big 12 North and play in the Big 12 championship.
lilkev42 said:Everyone has to read the article on Clarett on espn.com its pretty damn interesting. About how he calls Tressel, the espn columinist, LeBron, pretty crazy, but doesnt make me feel any different towards the guy.
CEDeoudes59 said:Aight bros, lets get some predictions on these fairly big/big early season games... don't feel obligated to answer all the games
Week 1:
California (CAL) at Tennessee [CED59: Tennessee by 13] I'll be at this one - I think UT's D is able to hold Lynch in check and win a low scoring game. Otherwise, Cal runs wild.
Notre Dame at Georgia Tech [CED59: ND by 4, this one is close] Jmh80's upset special. GT plays one, maybe 2 games, good effort per year. This is it for them. They win
USC at Arkansas [CED59: USC by 20, not even close] Agreed. With the awesome RB - #24 forgot his name - out, Ark doesn't have ANYONE.
Florida State at Miami [CED59: Miami by 8, home advantage] I need more time to asses injuries. Miami has already had some - have not kept up with FSU.
Week 2:
Virginia Tech at North Carolina [CED59: UNC by 4, upset special] Chokies win.
Penn State at Notre Dame [CED59: Notre Dame by 2, great game] Agreed.
Minnesota at California (CAL) [CED59: Gophers by 7, CAL sucks - GodDamn hippies] No clue who Minny has after the big time RB went to the NFL. Have to go with Cal.
Georgia at South Carolina [CED59: South Carolina by 4, upset] Yup. UGa will stink this year.
Ohio State at Texas [CED59: Texas by 2, I admit it's an upset] I don't like OSU* - but I think they win a close one.
Week 3:
LSU at Auburn [CED59: Auburn by 10, tigers rough up tigers] I think AU wins - but not by that much. They should have won last year - except they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with the kicker. Awesome offense by AU! LSU is screwing themselves by rotating QB's - not sure how long that 'll last though...
Michigan at Notre Dame [CED59: Blue by 6, Irish stumble in the 4th quarter] I think ND wins at home.
Miami at Loiusville [CED59: Miami by 7, Loiusville is a trendy pick] Are they?? I've just seen that a good # of Miami fans think we lose this game. L'ville seems confident. It all depends if we lose to FSU or not. I'm thinking if we lose to FSU - we will be summarily picked to lose, dropped in the rankings, ala VaTech in 2006. They come out fired up on the road and beat L'ville because their D isn't so good - it seems. All contingent on stopping big Micheal Bush. He's a big back and we've had trouble - but that is the key. If we beat FSU, very good chance these guys don't come to play. I'm not high on us beating both FSU and L'ville.
Oklahoma at Oregon [CED59: Sooners by 12, Ducks are sloppy] I'm unsure as I don't know how much losing Bomar deflated the team.
Clemson at Florida State [CED59: Noles by 16, they absolutely kill Clemson after losing to Miami] Clemson has had FSU's # lately it seems. They have a very good RB - but a new QB. I'll give FSU the nod at home - irregardless of the Miami game.
Nebraska at USC [CED59: USC by 14, 5TDs from JD Booty] Agreed.
Florida at Tennessee [CED59: Gators by 2, both teams are sloppy, Gators sneak out] UT has evened things in this series since 2000 it seems. UF no longer owns UT. I think the Vols come out fired up. Even if they beat Cal - they will be home 'dogs. I think they respond.
I would definitly follow and join along in that. Although many people would prob laugh at me and I would get one right if Im lucky. Since I like to root for the crappy teams, like arkansas over usc or baylor over oklahoma(almost happened last year).BingeAndPurge said:Looks like it's almost time for me to erect my stupid upsets thread from the ashes. They play a game with it on Bucknuts where a guy posts the spreads of every game for the week and people have a deadline to make one upset pick. If your pick wins, you get the points from the spread and total it out throughout the season. We could do it here if you folks wanted.
I had a lot of fun in this section last year and cannot wait for the season to get underway.
Your right I forgot that USC was the first game. Too bad, I would have loved to see them agaisnt USC full strength first game then. Made for more possibility of an upset.jmh80 said:Arkansas chances went down the toilet when Darren McFadden (the stud soph. RB) decided to go kicking someone at a bar there in Ark. He's out for USC (last time I saw).
Bucks need to lookout for Iowa and Penn St. Although I think they will crap on Lloyd Carr - again.
If Defense is going to win the Big10 - the loss of AJ Hawk is nearly as big as Vince Young (not quite, but close) Hawk was such a great player and a leader. Not to mention the other 2 LB (Schegel, Carpenter) were damn good too. Wittner was really good too - he was just drafted too early, but he was an awesome player. If the Bucks somehow get to the National Championship - they will have earned it for sure. They will need a bit of luck in staying healthy.. the big 10 is wide open in my eyes.