So I didn't get around to posting my preseason ballot (or even submitting a vote), but it probably would have looked something like this anyway.
I'll comment about a few teams atop the poll and then the Big Ten teams.
The Daily Gopher Ballot - Week 1
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -- |
| 2 | USC Trojans | -- |
| 3 | LSU Tigers | -- |
| 4 | Oklahoma Sooners | -- |
| 5 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
| 6 | Georgia Bulldogs | -- |
| 7 | Florida St. Seminoles | -- |
| 8 | Michigan St. Spartans | -- |
| 9 | South Carolina Gamecocks | -- |
| 10 | Arkansas Razorbacks | -- |
| 11 | Clemson Tigers | -- |
| 12 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | -- |
| 13 | West Virginia Mountaineers | -- |
| 14 | Texas Longhorns | -- |
| 15 | Virginia Tech Hokies | -- |
| 16 | Ohio St. Buckeyes | -- |
| 17 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys | -- |
| 18 | TCU Horned Frogs | -- |
| 19 | Wisconsin Badgers | -- |
| 20 | Stanford Cardinal | -- |
| 21 | Kansas St. Wildcats | -- |
| 22 | Florida Gators | -- |
| 23 | Boise St. Broncos | -- |
| 24 | Michigan Wolverines | -- |
| 25 | Louisville Cardinals | -- |
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
(comments after the jump)
At the top I probably would have put USC, were I submitting this vote a week ago. I am not all that enamored with Michigan (more on that later) this year and I believed that Bama was significantly better, so I'm not all that surprised by their domination. But beating a Big Ten team and dominating them the way that they did is enough to earn the #1 spot for now.
Michigan - Last year I felt like they were the weakest 10-2 team out there and I feel pretty confident that they were one of the most overrated teams coming into 2012. Yes, they are very talented (and of course they are miles better than the Gophers, I'm comparing them to the rest of the country not Minnesota), but they still have some warts that they successfully hid last year. But they still lost to Iowa and they needed a 28-point 4th quarter to beat Notre Dame. Are they a top-25 team? Yes, would I have put them in my top 15 to start the year, no way. My money would still be on them being the 4th or 5th best Big Ten team.
Wisconsin - Talent isn't really a huge question mark but like Michigan, I think they are overrated at this point. Replacing an entire coaching staff, hoping to get similar QB results as last year and replacing some All-American talent along the OL are all significant questions. They are a top 20 team, they are not going to win the Big Ten this year (even with their fortunate schedule).
Michigan State - I've made now secret that I think MSU is the best of the Big Ten. Their defense is outstanding, their running game will be pretty good and they'll have time for their passing game to get things going.
Nebraska - I think is going to be very good, especially if Martinez continues to play as well as he did this weekend. They will be the team to threaten Michigan Stat atop the Legends division.
Ohio State - might be the best team in the Big Ten, but they can't play more than 12 games so it doesn't really matter.
That is all I have for now.