by WCT, The Ship of Fools
The first sign that football season is rapidly approaching has arrived.
No, its not the opening of summer football camps across the nation.
No, its not first time football lines appear on your favorite betting websites and newspapers.
Its not even the first time an NFL player gets busted for a late night DUI or a college player gets into a brawl on campus.
You know what it is? Its the first ludicrous preseason poll that is printed in a paper or posted to the internets. And Mark Schlabach got the preseason poll bonanza started with this beauty on ESPN.com.
You know, its not even that I have that much of a problem with his rankings in general. For the most part, they are as accurate as any rankings can be, considering the season is 2 months away and we are judging 119 groups of college kids, many of whom are playing together for the first time, and we are basing those judgements upon their performances in inter-squad scrimmages and grainy high school film. The thing that gets me is his reasoning. You'll see what I mean. Lets look at his rankings shall we?
1. Georgia Bulldogs
Fine. But lets take a look at the first sentence of his reasoning for putting the Dawgs #1
Bulldogs coach Mark Richt has some lingering personnel issues as preseason camp approaches.
Um, ok. Is that- is that a positive? Are they #1 because they have personnel issues? Let's read on:
Starting fullback Brennan Southerland, one of the country's best lead blockers, will miss the first five games with a foot injury. Possible starting defensive end Jeremy Lomax and offensive lineman Clint Boling have pending legal problems; Lomax was arrested on concealed weapons charges and Boling was charged with DUI.
So they have one of the nation's best FBs... but he will miss almost half the season. Oh, and did I mention that they have 2 linemen with legal issues? You're really giving us the hard sell on UGA Mark!
(Incidentally, in my humble opinion these issues, plus the toughest schedule in the nation, will be a lot to overcome for the Bulldogs to end up in the BCS Title game.)
Lets press on:
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
Ok.
3. Oklahoma Sooners
4. USC Trojans
5. Florida Gators
Seems reasonable so far.
6. Clemson Tigers
Aaaaaand there it is. Here is where he starts in with the crazy.
Every year people overrate Clemson. Every year people think "this is going to be the year they put it together and make a title run!" I know, I used to do it too. Last year, I told myself I wasn't going to make that same mistake. Do not be seduced by the inevitable big win they have early in the season. They will leave you disappointed in the end!
Oh and what logic did Mark use to catapult this perpetual underachiever into the top 10?
Clemson will try to win its first ACC title under Bowden without starting middle linebacker Cortney Vincent, who was dismissed from the team in May. Vincent started 12 of 13 games and had 68 tackles and seven tackles for loss. The Tigers will now be without their top four linebackers from last season.
I don't know about you, but I'm sold!
7. West Virginia Mountaineers
Wrong. But whatever
8. Texas Tech Red Raiders
But why Mark? Why is this gimmicky team with no defense jump into the top 10?
The battle for the starting tailback job got a little thinner when Red Raiders coach Mike Leach suspended junior Kobey Lewis from the team for an unspecified violation of team rules.
I'm not sold yet. Give me another reason.
Safety Steven Harris, a special-teams standout, also was suspended for the 2008 season.
Oh Ok.
9. Missouri Tigers
Three Big 12 teams (none of them named "Texas") in the top 10? Very provocative.
10. Auburn Tigers - New offensive coordinator Tony Franklin still hasn't settled on a starting quarterback...
So they should definitely be in the top 10.
11. Texas Longhorns
12. LSU Tigers
Sure why the hell not.
13. BYU Cougars
Every year, crazy pre-season rankings makers are obligated to take at least one non-BCS conference team, and completely overrate them. BYU apparently drew the short straw this year. You see what you created Boise State? Are you happy??
14. Tennessee Volunteers - New starting quarterback Jonathan Crompton is throwing again after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow in late April. Crompton and the Volunteers' returning receivers will need summer workouts to iron out the offense installed by new offensive coordinator Dave Clawson. The Vols are holding their collective breath while waiting to see if junior running back Montario Hardesty fully recovers from a stress fracture in his lower leg.
To sum that up, Tennessee will be one of the top teams in the nation next year for 3 reasons:
1 - Their starting QB just had surgery
2 - Their WRs need time to learn the offense
3 - Their RB may or may not be the same after a leg injury
Can you imagine Mark Schlabach selling you a house?
You - Hello, um, why should I buy this house?
Mark - Because, the roof is leaky, the plumbing is iffy, and the foundation is cracking.
15. Arizona State Sun Devils
16. Wisconsin Badgers
17. Kansas Jayhawks
18. Illinois Fighting Illini
(Yawn) This is getting boring. When the hell are the crazy picks coming ba-
19. Pittsburgh Panthers
Ah. I spoke too soon.
Ok, enough of this beating around the bush. Lets just skip ahead and give the people what they want. Ladies and Gentlemen, here it is
(drum roll)
25. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Taa Daaaaaah!
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4 comment(s):
As an unbiased observer, I like the Notre Dame inclusion in the top 25. Yes, I know they had awful year last year, but it was an abberation, an anomaly, a fluke, a head-scratcher, an irregularity, an abnormality, a preternatural occurance....well, you get my point. Look for ND to turn around that record from last year with a strong offense led by a more experienced Jimmy Claussen, a super athletic receiving corp, and a much improved offensive line that will actually keep Claussen upright this year. Yes they lost a couple key starters on defense with Trevor Laws and Tom Zbikowski now playing on sundays, but they return 17 starters overall. They have the most favorable schedule in years and alot of early home games to get them off to a solid start. I think this year ND fans will actually have something to cheer about....or I could be completely wrong!
As an unbiased observer
Aaaand, you lost me already...
ND has a reasonable shot an 8-4, 9-3 season. Michigan is a mess, BC has a new QB and the Wannstach is still the head coach at Pitt. USC is still an automatic loss barring a miracle, but ND and Michigan State enjoy losing to each other at home and the game is in East Lansing this year. Really the last thing I want is an improbable 11-1 season followed by the all too probable beatdown by an SEC team in a BCS Bowl. Nope, this should be a nice set-up year for a title run in 2009.
And I'm going to tell myself this same story until it comes true.
Tracer & FI, I don't disagree that ND could have a respectable year in '08, I just think that putting in the top 25 smacks of laziness. Its like he couldn't think of anyone else, so he picked ND. The Irish look pretty good for 8-4 or 9-3, but with their schedule, I don't know if that is good enough for #25 in the nation.
He included BYU as a token non-BCS team, but other than that, it doesnt look like he put a lot of thought or research into these rankings. I mean, Clemson? Texas Tech? Pitt??
His analysis says they might be able to get into a bowl game. Well, the #25 team in the nation shouldn't be iffy on going to a bowl game, so he shows he doesn't know what he is talking about.
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