If you want to be taken seriously in this college football predicting business, then you have to come out with a preseason Top 25 list that willl look so completely inaccurate by season's end that future generations will look back upon it and wonder if a baby put it together at random. But hey, it gives us something to talk ab9out during the offseason. So I say, keep up the good work, prognosticators.
May seems like as good a time as any to take account of the preseason polls that have been released. Here then is a composite ranking of the preseason Top 25 lists released so far.
| Rank | School | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma | 174 |
| 2 | Alabama | 165 |
| 3 | LSU | 159 |
| 4 | Oregon | 157 |
| 5 | Stanford | 142 |
| 6 | Florida State | 133 |
| 7 | Boise State | 126 |
| 8 | Ohio State | 119 |
| 9 | Texas A&M | 117 |
| 10 | Oklahoma State | 114 |
Nos. 11 - 25 , along with some analysis, after the jump
| Rank | School | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Arkansas | 94 |
| 12 | Nebraska | 87 |
| 13 | Wisconsin | 86 |
| 14 | Michigan State | 85 |
| 15 | South Carolina | 80 |
| 16 | TCU | 78 |
| 17 | Virginia Tech | 56 |
| 18 | Notre Dame | 55 |
| 19 | Auburn | 53 |
| 20 | Mississippi State | 32 |
| 21 | Missouri | 30 |
| 22 | West Virginia | 26 |
| 23 | Georgia | 24 |
| 24 | Florida | 21 |
| 25 | Arizona State | 20 |
Also receiving votes: Texas, Utah, USC, UCF, Penn State, Houston, Tulsa
Boise State's biggest fan: ESPN's College Football Live, which ranked the Broncos at No. 5
Boise State's biggest doubter: Dennis Dodd, CBS Sports, who ranked the Broncos at No. 14
Other learning opportunities
- No one has any idea what to do with Georgia. Some people have the Bulldogs in the Top Twenty, others don't even have them listed anywhere. At this rate, you can expect the Bulldogs to be in the mid-20s in the AP Poll and in Division I-AA in the Harris Poll.
- Ohio State could well be out of the Top Ten by August, depending on how the rest of their summer goes.
- Of course, Phil Steele knew all of this already.
- The biggest slights so far in the polling is the omission of Auburn from the polls of Mark Schlabach and our own SB Nation. Anonymous donations should fix that.
- Boise State's highest ranked opponent figures to be TCU, which should come in as a mid-teen when the official rankings are released. Tulsa may also receive votes.
Your turn
What do you make of the composite Top 25 rankings? Happy with Boise State's spot? What is your prediction for the official preseason polls this summer? Share your thoughts in the comments.