I'm not in love with preseason polls, for obvious, frequently articulated reasons, but the members of the BlogPoll are gearing up for our annual stab at the preseason ordering of teams. Methodologically speaking, as someone who's come around to leaning heavily on resume for ranking, this is the hardest one of the year.
With that in mind, please note that this is Preseason Ballot Draft. BlogPollers are submitting ballots today, looking at the composite results, and opening the floor for discussion. A final, official preseason ballot will be compiled a week from now.
Before I give this year's preseason ranks a first go, a quick tour of, gulp, last year's submission.
The Good There's not much good stuff here, at least at the top. Louisville at #7 was about as close as I got in the top ten. Beyond that, West Virginia, Nebraska, Boston College, and TCU were all pegged about right.
The Bad Um, everything else? Texas at #1 was, as noted at the time, a homerific nod to the champs. I was convinced we'd beat Ohio State, and if that had happened, it've looked mighty good. 'Specially if McCoy doesn't get hurt. As is, the wheels came off and Texas' post-VY weaknesses were exposed.
Auburn and Notre Dame were woefully overrated, while Iowa at #5 was just criminal. I blame Brian, who hyped 'em all the way up to #2.
And now, 2007:
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern Cal |
 25 |
| 2 | West Virginia |
24 |
| 3 | Michigan |
23 |
| 4 | Texas |
22 |
| 5 | LSU |
21 |
| 6 | Oklahoma |
20 |
| 7 | Hawaii |
19 |
| 8 | Louisville |
18 |
| 9 | Florida |
17 |
| 10 | Virginia Tech |
16 |
| 11 | Florida State |
15 |
| 12 | Penn State |
14 |
| 13 | Ohio State |
13 |
| 14 | South Carolina |
12 |
| 15 | Alabama |
11 |
| 16 | Missouri |
10 |
| 17 | Oregon |
9 |
| 18 | Texas A&M |
8 |
| 19 | Tennessee |
7 |
| 20 | Oklahoma State |
6 |
| 21 | Wisconsin |
5 |
| 22 | Georgia |
4 |
| 23 | UCLA |
3 |
| 24 | TCU |
2 |
| 25 | California |
1 |
Remember, this is a draft. This is your time to use the comments. Debate, argue, tell me I'm dumb. Let's start the discussion.
--PB--