Because it's -never- too early to talk about football, and in homage to Saturday evening's spring game, the first BlogPoll Roundtable, courtesy of Schembechler Hall.
1) It's early, but thus far, which offseason change or changes in college football are you most excited about?
Not to beat a dead horse, but the idea that there will be no consensus #1 team, with as many as, what, eight, nine schools receiving early first place votes has me tingling with excitement. One thing's for certain, the standard deviations of teams' rankings are gonna be just silly.
If there's a downside to this, it means that we're going to have an awful lot of obnoxious punditry. The upside? LD will have some terrific material to work with.
2) With spring practice underway, what are the three concerns about your team that are causing you the most anxiety? (USC fans can't just list the departures of Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, and LenDale White.)
(1) Jevan Snead, (2) Colt McCoy, (3) Mack Brown. Not complicated.
In the case of the first two, who is better? I'm dying to know. "Insiders" report that both look great. This is (mostly) a good problem to have, but not if (3) Mack doesn't handle it properly. Car-giver McTresselvest blew it last year with Zwick and Troy Smith. Mack needs to pick a guy and stick with him until he loses, period. Frankly, the potential sharing of duties, media and fan controversy, the ridiculous added pressure it will put on these kids... I can't take it. Please, Mack, please: pick a guy and go with him. After we lose, tinker all you want. Until then, pick a guy and swing for the fences.
3) Care to take a stab at a preseason top five?
It's terribly early, and the field is wiiiiiiide open, so no. Just a general thought, though: I'm predicting a big year from the SEC, after last year's "subpar" year. It's not that the SEC wasn't strong last year; it was, as it is every year, and will be forever, Amen. But with Tennessee's rough year, the injury to Prothro that kept Alabama from taking it all the way, a streaky Georgia team, a rebuilding Auburn group, and Urban Meyer's first year in Florida... well, I just think they're all gonna be a little bit better this year.
For that matter, the Big 12 may show some signs of improvement this year. Nebraska showed a little bit of life at the end of the year, OU should be a step ahead of last year, Texas is reloading, and... well, okay. The conference is still kind of down.
--HF--