Sunday, August 26, 2012

Initial BlogPoll Preseason Top 25

Take a look and let me know what you think. I'll revise the final version on Monday night after seeing your comments. A few points:

*As usual, I'm going with "how I think the season will end." I really don't think we'll get an Alabama-LSU rematch in the national title game -- I think Bama will run the table in the SEC en route to another national title, but there's no way the system creates a second straight "intra-conference rematch national title." (Although I do think that either Alabama or LSU would beat any other team in the country.) However: All it takes is an unbeaten team from another conference to give the system its ballast for SEC hegemony, and I think it will be...

*Oregon, who will get to play Alabama in the national title game, and fare much the same as it did against Auburn in the NCG two years ago (and against LSU at the start of last season). This pick implies that Oregon is going to go down to LA and beat USC in what will turn out to be a de facto national title semifinal playoff game. Beyond being impressed by Oregon's offense, I think they will have terrific motivation after USC ruined their season in Eugene last year.

*I think West Virginia is going to take the Big 12 by storm (and so will TCU, to a slightly lesser extent -- I think TCU stuns Oklahoma in the final week of the regular season, which is why I have TCU ahead of OU.)

*The rest of the poll is the usual mish-mash -- SEC dominance in the Top 10, a rough prediction of how I think each conference will end up by where I put each of its Top 25 teams relative to each other. Things can and will change immediately after next weekend, when I will revert to "resume" voting, with a premium on beating quality opponents.

No comments: