Preseason BlogPoll Released
August 20, 2008 at 12:18pm by TipsterHog
Filed under Arkansas Razorbacks, Football, NCAA
We here at RazorBloggers are honored again this year to be invited to be a voter in the 2008 College Football BlogPoll.
The BlogPoll is a collection of 83 voters (bloggers) who represent schools from across the country with Brian over at MGoBlog (Michigan) serving as the ‘ringmaster’ of the poll.
Discussion forums allow voters to ‘cuss and discuss’ their ballots prior to the publishing of the weekly poll. As Brian says:
“We are more fun (than the AP and Coaches polls) and we do have an open, totally transparent system that attempts to reveal our voters’ biases and deal with them instead.”
The conference affiliation for the 83 voters breaks down like this: Big 10 (19), SEC (18), Big 12 (12), ACC (10), Pac 10 (7), Big East (6), Independents (5), Mountain West (2), MAC (2), Conference USA (2).
You can see the complete preseason BlogPoll over at MGoBlog. Walking on Sunshine will be casting our ballot and posting it here each week throughout the season for discussion.
So without further ado, here’s our preseason ballot:
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | 0-0 | 13 | Talented juniors and seniors; manageable schedule. |
| 2 | Ohio St. | 0-0 | 5 | After week 3 at USC, smooth sailing in weak Big 10. |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 0-0 | 8 | QB Bradford was #1 in 2007 NCAA Pass Efficiency. |
| 4 | Georgia | 0-0 | 2 | Stafford, Moreno lead 17 returnees. Schedule #3. |
| 5 | USC | 0-0 | 3 | After injury, QB Mustain set to lead Trojans. |
| 6 | Missouri | 0-0 | 4 | QB Daniel, WR Maclin lead explosive offense. |
| 7 | Auburn | 0-0 | 15 | OC Franklin says “Spread” will work in SEC. |
| 8 | West Virginia | 0-0 | 6 | With RB Slaton gone, QB Pat White carries the load. |
| 9 | Wisconsin | 0-0 | 24 | 17 returning starters give Bielema his best yet. |
| 10 | Clemson | 0-0 | 21 | RB tandem of Davis and Spiller nation’s best. |
| 11 | Texas Tech | 0-0 | 22 | Leach, Red Raiders have the horses in ‘08. |
| 12 | Penn St. | 0-0 | NR | Veteran O-line anchors Paterno’s 43rd year. |
| 13 | South Florida | 0-0 | NR | Returns 17 starters from a team that got to #2 in ‘07. |
| 14 | Texas | 0-0 | 10 | 11 returnees land ‘Shorthorns’ 3rd in Big XII South. |
| 15 | South Carolina | 0-0 | NR | 2007 collapse a result of injuries not talent. |
| 16 | Virginia Tech | 0-0 | 9 | Hokies look to be the class of ACC Coastal Division. |
| 17 | BYU | 0-0 | 14 | Cougars undefeated (16-0) in MWC last 2 years. |
| 18 | Wake Forest | 0-0 | NR | HC Grobe + Veteran QB Skinner = Success in 2008. |
| 19 | Arizona St. | 0-0 | 16 | QB Carpenter has 31 straight starts under his belt. |
| 20 | Tennessee | 0-0 | 12 | Vols try to replace OC Cutcliffe and QB Ainge. |
| 21 | LSU | 0-0 | 1 | No QB could spell disaster for talented Tigers. |
| 22 | Illinois | 0-0 | 20 | Despite heavy losses, the “Zooker” is flying high. |
| 23 | Utah | 0-0 | NR | Utes this years’ “Non-BCS” darling; could go 12-0. |
| 24 | Kansas | 0-0 | 7 | QB Reesing leads the “Fighting Manginos” in ‘08. |
| 25 | Tulsa | 0-0 | NR | HC Graham, OC Malzahn looking for new QB. |
| Others considered: California, Notre Dame, Oregon, Florida St., Pittsburgh, Alabama, Boise St., TCU, Maryland, Iowa, North Carolina, Arizona, Nebraska, East Carolina, Miami, Louisville, Rutgers, Michigan, Fresno St. | ||||
Ohio St #2? Are you serious? The Big 10 is by far the most over rated and over hyped conference in America (the Big 12, well Big 3, runs a close second). I’m a strong advocate for not even putting together a poll until conference play begins because we all know at the end of the day Stoops will choke, again, ESPN will hype Ohio State as the greatest football team ever, again, and most certainly the SEC will destroy a slow, inferior Ohio State team to win the national championship, AGAIN.
Preseason polls are always wrong. Week 4 will tell the tale. Still, you gotta have a guess based on last year and the facts. Florida is having a little session of the injury bug. Did that young defense mature? Georgia’s schedule is impossible. Auburn is going into the top 10 with questions at QB? In the SEC? West Virginia loses their tailback and their coaching staff. Tenn and LSU are working with a new OC and a new QB.
Sitting here today it looks like the year of the unknown. Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, and South Florida would be closer to the top is they were the big names of college football. Tradition is important and will play a role.
It is one of the best things about college football; it is a game of emotion and teamwork. It is unpredictable. That’s my prediction.
Hogs may have a much better team than people give them credit for,alot of people think Texas and Alabama will be the first true test,dont forget ULM strolled into Tuskaloosa Ala last year and kicked some Tide Tail,they may be the Hogs first Test.
HogBloggerJr, I’ll be the first to fall off the Buckeye bandwagon if they get hammered at USC. I think they’re top 5 any way you slice it on paper. I agree with you though, I get sick of the ESPN/ABC machine pumping the Big 10 teams.
Don’t sell the Big 12 short this year too. When Kansas, Nebraska, Texas A&M are “middle tier” teams, that says a lot. Top to bottom, they are better than last season when they had 4 teams finish in the top 10.
I think it’s a mistake to place LSU at #21. Other than the QB position, they may be as talented as any school in the country. Remember, defense wins championships, and the Tigers may be the best in the land. They have talented O-linemen, WRs, and RBs coming back, so watch out. This team, unlike the Hogs last season, might do pretty well with a “bus driver” at the controls.
Sunshine, If we see you have Ole Miss listed ahead of Arkansas we will change your name to something not allowed by TipsterHog.