Blog Poll v.1.1

by GopherNation on Aug 13, 2008 3:30 PM CDT

The addition of The Daily Gopher means the subtraction of two Gopher blogs, which of course nets out to -1 Gopher blog in the blogsphere. This is pretty meaningless except for the fact that the University of Minnesota loses 1 vote in the prestigious Blog Poll.

For those of you who may be unaware the Blog Poll is a labor of love by Brian at MGO. Specifically it is a top 25 college football poll done by approximately 80+ college football blogs. Every week Brian compiles the information and releases the official Blog Poll (not yet a factor in the BCS formula).

The Daily Gopher is going to participate in the 2008 Blog Poll and is ready to release it's early top 25. In a preseason poll I am going to base my ranking on returning starters, returning a quality QB and a little bit of predicted finish. Once the season kicks in strength of schedule and actual results will trump how I think they'll play out. I'm not going into a ton of detail because more than anything I'll just make it up as I go.

Below is my initial ballot. My official final ballot isn't due until Monday so please take a look. Then PLEASE give me your well thought out arguments as to how I was able to actually put together the perfect top 25 OR why I'm a complete idiot and I should just hold off posting anything until basketball season.

First Draft of Top 25

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Georgia	25
2	Ohio State	24
3	Florida	23
4	Oklahoma	22
5	Southern Cal	21
6	Clemson	20
7	Texas Tech	19
8	Missouri	18
9	LSU	17
10	Auburn	16
11	Texas	15
12	Wisconsin	14
13	West Virginia	13
14	Wake Forest	12
15	Arizona State	11
16	South Florida	10
17	Oregon	9
18	Tennessee	8
19	Penn State	7
20	Kansas	6
21	Florida State	5
22	Alabama	4
23	California	3
24	Virginia Tech	2
25	Pittsburgh	1

Some Clarifying Thoughts

I could buy an argument for any of my top 5 or 6 teams as #1. This season feels deeper than the last couple, but of course it will all thin out after a couple weeks.

1. Georgia - Solid all over the field, and should be primed to make a serious run at BCS title game with a goose egg in the loss column. I thought about going with something different but my head wouldn't let me.

2. Ohio State - Last year's BCS title game was last year. This team was very good then, they bring back 18 starters and have star power all over the field. The Big Ten as a whole is very weak but don't sleep on the Buckeye's this year.

3. Florida - Tebow and Harvin are incredibly dangerous on offense. I know there are questions on defense but the return 8 starters from a year ago anchored by LB-Brandon Spikes. Thought long and hard about them as #1 but they play @ UGA so I'm giving the nod to the Bulldogs.

4. Oklahoma - Very solid on the OL combined with one of the best RBs in the Big 12 and you have a dangerous team. 4th overall might disappoint Sooner fans, but I think they'll win Big 12 South. Also has Tex, Kan, TT at home while avoiding Missouri. If I'm projecting based on schedule it would be hard to not put them in top 2.

5. USC - Returning a ton on defense which could be historically good and on offense they have some great weapons. USC vs Ohio State should be a blast to watch in week 3.

I'm down on Illinois. I've never been impressed with Juice and I think their offense will struggle without Mendenhall. The Illini will lose big @ Missouri, @ Penn St, @ Wisconsin and home to Ohio State.

I'm high on Florida State and Clemson. The ACC is probably worse than the Big 10 but I like the talent at these respective schools.

Well, with a little research and my own high-brow college football intellect, that is draft number one. Please engage in the conversation and show me the error of my ways.

Poll

Who should be #1 in my Blog Poll?

Georgia

9 votes

Ohio State

10 votes

Oklahoma

6 votes

Florida

1 votes

USC

9 votes

Florida Atlantic

10 votes

45 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 14 comments

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Comments

Uh-oh

Looks like the partisans are fearing a rematch with Fla Atl. .....

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.

by PJS on Aug 13, 2008 4:51 PM CDT 0 recs

Not to sound like a prying homer...

But what;s your justification for the way you ranked Nos. 7 and 8, particularly in the order you did?

http://www.RockMNation.com
Chance McDanielson for Heisman

by rptgwb on Aug 13, 2008 5:24 PM CDT 0 recs

is a hunch good enough?

After the first handful of teams I didn’t look as closely at each team. Mizz losing twice to OK last year turned me off a little and I feel as though TT is this year’s Mizz. This is not great justification I know. I also went with TT returning more starters (18) and an offense that is very dangerous.

Upon further review Mizz has potentially the best offensive AND defensive players in the conference. And they have a favorable schedule with road games used up on the likes of Baylor and ISU. I’m not willing to put them nearly as high as some others have, but ahead of TT maybe they should be.

I’ll look more closely before I submit my final, first poll.

by GopherNation on Aug 13, 2008 6:23 PM CDT 0 recs

I can respect a hunch

I just didn’t think there was much of a valid, logical conclusion to put Tech ahead of Mizzou unless it was just a gut feeling.

http://www.RockMNation.com
Chance McDanielson for Heisman

by rptgwb on Aug 13, 2008 6:47 PM CDT up 0 recs

Georgia

So you’re not on the “Dogs lose star tackle, lose SEC East” bandwagon, eh? Interesting…

by Jon Marthaler on Aug 13, 2008 7:16 PM CDT 0 recs

this is such a crapshoot at this point

nobody would have put Missouri ahead of Nebraska a year ago or even have Kansas receiving a vote. But that is no excuse for not using the data I currently have at my fingertips.

by GopherNation on Aug 13, 2008 7:26 PM CDT 0 recs

Florida

Returning everyone on defense might not be good if your defense got burnt extra-crispy on a regular basis last year. Florida might get bumped down a bit for that.

Skeptical on Clemson (wake me when they win something) and Pitt (I think too many people are overvaluing them after the WVU choke job). Extremely skeptical of Texas Tech (63-56 games are entertaining but not a formula for a BCS appearance). I think Illinois has a decent shot at least at the low end of the top 25, though leaving them out isn’t crazy. I know absolutely nothing about Wake Forest, so I’ll defer to your judgment there (though I refuse to believe the ACC deserves more teams in the top 25 than the Big Ten).

The first one’s always the hardest to do – all you have to go on is what happened last year and who’s back. I don’t see anything too absurd (aside from TTU in the top 10), which is about all that can be hoped for with preseason ballots.

by SpartanDan on Aug 13, 2008 7:32 PM CDT 0 recs

OSU

All they need to do is get past USC – can’t see them losing in the Big 10

by FishingMN on Aug 13, 2008 8:30 PM CDT 0 recs

I agree, kind of

Totally agree about OSU in the B10. ... but are they the second best team in the country? Were they actually the second best team in the country the last two years heaing into the bowl season They’ve lost by a combined 41 points (I think) in two straight national championship games.

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.

by PJS on Aug 13, 2008 8:37 PM CDT up 0 recs

As a Pac-Ten fan

and especially as a Cal fan, I just don’t see Oregon as being a better football team than Cal. I just don’t see it. And I really don’t see how Florida got to #3 ahead of Oklahoma and USC.

by RollOnYouBears667 on Aug 13, 2008 9:27 PM CDT 0 recs

Agree with Illannoy thoughts...

There is NO way they will be close to as good as they were last year. Juice is still QB’ing, which is the handicap.

Switch Mizzou and Tech, and we’re good on the poll. Of course, I’m biased.

http://www.Mizzourah.net

by Big Head on Aug 13, 2008 10:34 PM CDT 0 recs

Florida playing at Georgia?? what?

Am i missing something or isn’t the UF-UGA played in Jacksonville every year????

by WishIwasMBIII on Aug 14, 2008 1:56 AM CDT 0 recs

I am confused...

Why the hell is Pittsburgh anywhere near the top-25? Maybe if this were the top-25 underachieving programs in college football, but yikes, really? I mean, has Dave Wannstedt really given you that much confidence to put them there? Ok, I guess their win over West Virginia, knocking them out of the title hunt, was good. But worth a vote?

Never.

I also suggest two teams for your top-25: Utah and BYU.

BYU is coming off an 11-2 season, where they return most of their offense. And even though they replace some key players on defense, they’re easily the favorite to crash the BCS out of all the non-BCS teams.

As for Utah, well this is a homer pick, but the Utes are coming off a 9-4 season, return nearly their entire offense and defense (from the same team that finished the season 8-1). Had their quarterback not gone down at the start of the season last year, Utah very well could have been 11-2, as they went 7-1 with him starting.

Just my opinion.

by JazzyUte on Aug 14, 2008 4:46 AM CDT 0 recs

I was being a BCS snob

I was viewing BYU and Utah as closer to the Hawaii’s and Fresno States in recent years rather than Boise State. It is just a preseason poll and after getting a chance to see them, I’ll potentially vote for them. Pitt was my throw away vote based on a strong finish to 2007 and a few consecutive good recruiting classes. Talent goes a long way.

by GopherNation on Aug 14, 2008 7:28 AM CDT 0 recs