This is my final preseason BlogPoll ballot. For those who hate it, I'm sorry. Try not to lose any sleep over it. When it looks like crap at the end of the year, I won't be surprised.
This is a first stab - a shot in the dark without any data to mine - so take it for what it's worth - not much. With that said, a few quick notes.
*Hawaii stays at #7. Several of you rolled your eyes at this ranking, but I stand by it. Note, too, that I'm predicting Hawaii to finish undefeated. I'm not saying they're the best team in the country, but I am saying that they're gonna run the table. As such, they get the high rank. One loss with that schedule and they tumble way, way down, if not out altogether.
*The Arkansas omission has been corrected.
*Cal moves up, Oregon goes down (and out). The more I think about it, the more I like arguments I've seen for the Bears, and the more I worry about the Ducks under Dennis Dixon. Talent is not his question, of course. But summer baseball? Eek. Let's see how they do against Michigan and re-evaluate.
*Texas, OU, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M. Somebody has to get beat up here, and I'm placing my chips on A&M keeping its head higher above water than Oklahoma State.
*Some minor reshuffling in the back half of the poll. TCU's defensive ends are in tact; I think they're a strong bet to finish with one loss (no more than two). I'm still not sold on Wisconsin - not when I don't think they can survive @PSU, @OSU, or vs Michigan. We'll see.
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern Cal | -- |
| 2 | West Virginia | -- |
| 3 | Michigan | -- |
| 4 | Texas | -- |
| 5 | LSU | -- |
| 6 | Oklahoma | -- |
| 7 | Hawaii | -- |
| 8 | Louisville | -- |
| 9 | Florida | -- |
| 10 | Virginia Tech | -- |
| 11 | Florida State | -- |
| 12 | Penn State | -- |
| 13 | Ohio State | -- |
| 14 | California |
 11 |
| 15 | Missouri |
1 |
| 16 | South Carolina |
 2 |
| 17 | TCU |
7 |
| 18 | Arkansas |
8 |
| 19 | Texas A&M |
1 |
| 20 | Tennessee |
1 |
| 21 | UCLA |
2 |
| 22 | Alabama |
7 |
| 23 | Wisconsin |
2 |
| 24 | Nebraska |
2 |
| 25 | Georgia |
3 |
--PB--