First College Poll, and Practice Starting
Yesterday the USA Today Coaches poll was released, the first poll for this season. I will get into my reaction to it shortly, but I also wanted to mention this week is the start of fall practice. We now have 27 days until the first game kicks off and almost every team has kicked off their practice, or will in the next couple days. Each college football squad gets 29 practices to prepare for the season. Many schools space them out, with some two-a-days, and days off scattered in there. By the final week leading up to the season, every team will enter its weekly routine and sometimes run a scrimmage the week before. Anyway, if you’re a big college football fan then its time you start getting very excited for the season.
Now on to the coaches poll. My initial reaction is that I am not surprised by the poll at all. The top four teams are ranked as they should and all are National Championship contenders. Florida State at five is way too high. I like the Noles this year, but I just don’t see them as a top ten team yet (next year though…absolutely).
The SEC West division really dominated the poll, with five teams in the top 20. Alabama and LSU are the favorites but I think Arkansas is a team to watch out for. Mississippi State is good, but they have a tough schedule. Auburn has absolutely no reason to be ranked 19th this season because they lose more than any team I’ve seen in a very long time. The Tigers are going to take a few steps back this season with only six starters returning. I’d be surprised if they sniffed the poll any time after October.
The new Big Ten with Nebraska actually sports no one higher than Wisconsin at #10. The Badgers along with the Cornhuskers (#11) and Ohio State should all be solid clubs but are probably not strong enough to compete for a National Title this year. The Big 12 is now very top heavy with the Sooners, Aggies and Cowboys all in the top ten. The rest of the conference might not be able to keep up with these teams, although it wouldn’t surprise me to see Texas rebound and have a good year.
The Big East sports no one in the top 25, but West Virginia, USF and Pitt all received some votes.
Here is my analysis of some teams who will be going up in the poll, and those going down as the year progresses.
Going Up:
Virginia Tech
Georgia
NC State
Texas
Michigan
Going Down:
Florida State
Auburn
Boise State
LSU
Oklahoma State
Here is the poll:
|
Aug. 4, 2011 – preseason poll
|
|||||
|
Rank
|
Team (first-place votes) |
2010 record
|
Points
|
Final 2010 ranking
|
|
|
1.
|
Oklahoma (42)
|
12-2
|
1,454
|
6
|
|
|
2.
|
Alabama (13)
|
10-3
|
1,414
|
11
|
|
|
3.
|
Oregon (2)
|
12-1
|
1,309
|
3
|
|
|
4.
|
LSU (2)
|
11-2
|
1,296
|
8t
|
|
|
5.
|
10-4
|
1,116
|
16
|
||
|
6.
|
12-1
|
1,101
|
4
|
||
|
7.
|
12-1
|
1,065
|
7
|
||
|
8.
|
11-2
|
933
|
10
|
||
|
9.
|
Texas A&M |
9-4
|
885
|
21
|
|
|
10.
|
11-2
|
829
|
8t
|
||
|
11.
|
Nebraska |
10-4
|
814
|
19
|
|
|
12.
|
9-5
|
779
|
22
|
||
|
13.
|
11-3
|
767
|
15
|
||
|
14.
|
10-3
|
750
|
12
|
||
|
15.
|
13-0
|
687
|
2
|
||
|
16.
|
12-1
|
631
|
5
|
||
|
17.
|
Michigan State |
11-2
|
536
|
14
|
|
|
18.
|
Notre Dame |
8-5
|
440
|
NR
|
|
|
19.
|
14-0
|
329
|
1
|
||
|
20.
|
9-4
|
301
|
17
|
||
|
21.
|
Missouri |
10-3
|
266
|
18
|
|
|
22.
|
Georgia |
6-7
|
260
|
NR
|
|
|
23.
|
8-5
|
240
|
NR
|
||
|
24.
|
Texas |
5-7
|
162
|
NR
|
|
|
25.
|
Penn State |
7-6
|
161
|
NR
|
|
| Others receiving votes | |||||
| Arizona State (6-6) 158; West Virginia (9-4) 149; Utah (10-3) 50; Miami (Fla.) (7-6) 49; Iowa (8-5) 41; Northwestern (7-6) 30; Arizona (7-6) 28; Central Florida (11-3) 22; Michigan (7-6) 19; Air Force (9-4) 15; North Carolina (8-5) 14; Houston (5-7) 13; South Florida (8-5) 9; Hawaii (10-4) 8; Clemson (6-7) 7; Tennessee (6-7) 7; Southern Miss (8-5) 6; Brigham Young (7-6) 5; North Carolina State (9-4) 4; Northern Illinois (11-3) 4; Oregon State (5-7) 4; Pittsburgh (8-5) 3; Washington (7-6) 3; Georgia Tech (6-7) 1; Nevada (13-1) 1. | |||||
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