Monday, August 27, 2007

Revised Blogpoll Preseason Ballot

Ok, let the nitpicking begin. Per blogpoll roundtable 3.1, I went in and made some changes. I think for the better. I have until Wednesday at 10 am to make any final changes, so if you want to persuade me to make any moves on this poll don't send anything smaller than a twenty. I need the kind that folds, not the kind that jingles. M'kay? Or just leave a comment. My rational below the poll.


RankTeamDelta
1 Southern Cal --
2 LSU --
3 Texas --
4 Michigan --
5 Wisconsin 1
6 Oklahoma 2
7 Virginia Tech --
8 Florida 3
9 Louisville 2
10 West Virginia 1
11 Georgia Tech 2
12 Penn State 4
13 Georgia 1
14 Florida State 4
15 California 1
16 Auburn 1
17 Nebraska --
18 UCLA --
19 Ohio State --
20 Tennessee --
21 Rutgers --
22 Arkansas 4
23 Boston College 1
24 TCU 1
25 Hawaii --

Dropped Out: Miami (Florida) (#24).

Most of the ones at the top really don't need any explination, so we'll start with #5, and may skip a few if we have already discussed them in detail.

5. Wisconsin is a bit of a sexy pic in my book. I think they are a very good team, but without a proven starting quarterback I wonder. Don't get me wrong, unproven quarterbacks make Sport Ccenter highlights all the time. Especially against West Virginia. Matt Grothe, Dustin Grutza, Taylor Bennett......La la la la la. Defense is a little more impressive in the Big 10. PJ Hill and the offensive line should carry the team through most of the season, until Tyler Donovan get's his feet under him. He's a fifth year senior and should be familiar with the system by now, but there's probably a reason he hasn't started until now.

6. Oklahoma- Whatever I said above probably applies for the Sooners. Except I don't think their running back's name is PJ Hill. Red shirt freshman Sam Bradford gets the nod to start the season at quarterback. All he should have to do is hand the ball off and complete 50% of his passes to be effective as long as he doesn't turn the ball over. The defense should be smothering and won't be fooled by the Statue of Liberty play again, dammit!

8. Florida has the talent, but with only one returning starter on defense, could make some stupid mistakes at critical times. And then they will be caught in the gaze of Urban Meyer. And we all know how that works.

9. Louisville has way too much talent on offense for anyone. Brohom, Urrutia, and Douglas have been together for three years. The offensive line should be very strong. And the defense only has to hold the other team to 35. Or make that 34.

13. Georgia is going to be thin on the offensive line. They only have two returning starters and not much depth. I have a world of respect for Mark Richt, but I had them too high to begin with. With only three starters returning on defense, 13 might still be to high.

14. I like the coaches that Bowden brought in, but the more I think about it the more I think it might actually take two years to get this team back to running the ball. You don't go from one of the worst rushing teams in the country to one of the best over night. They'll be better, but not top ten better.

15. California- Tony Milano would be dissapointed in me for not knowing more about this team. Nate Longshore is a fine quarterback and he has his top three receivers back. The defense looks to be a little thin, but it is the Pac 10 after all. Zing!

16. Auburn-Maybe I just have too much respect for the program to put them anywhere below this point. They don't have much of anything returning on the offense besides Brandon Cox, but a good portion of the D is returning. And they will probably need it.

22. Arkansas- I can not believe no one said anything to me about not having them in my initial poll. Darren McFadden should get you a top 25 all by himself. And he might be all by himself, but he needs not your quarterback. He can pass it to himself or hand it off to himself with just as much success.

OK, I'm spent. 23-25 you do not impress me yet. And Miami? Ummmmm! Why oh why did I ever rank you to begin with?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Johnny,

You know I like it when UofL is the underdog...

WVU 8
UofL 10

John Radcliff said...

Aw Butch, I should have had you guys up there to begin with. Champs until someone knocks you off.