Final Preseason BlogPoll

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

The first final preseason blogpoll is due tomorrow morning, so here it is. I know that previously I’d stated the only change I’d be making was to replace Notre Dame with Arkansas, but after reading some of my fellow voters’ opinions, I decided to make many more changes.

The most glarious change is dropping Florida four votes to #7. I’d kept them high because of my respect for them as the defending national champs. At the last minute, I’ve decided to change that and drop them to what I think is a more realistic projection for where they are relative to the other teams in the poll.

I brought West Virginia up three places because they have a helluva offense, and they have a schedule that’s conducive to finishing in the top five. The only tough games are against Rutgers and Louisville, typical for the Mountaineers.

After reading up on Penn State further, I’ve decided to raise them a bit, along with Rutgers, and drop UCLA by two.

Arkansas entered at #25. I suppose they’re paying somewhat for Houston Nutt’s off-season antics, and they’re probably a better team than that, but that’s where they’re going to have to start.

There’s been a fair amount of comments from fellow blogpollers - including founder Brian Cook - that the first week will blow all the polls away. I’m not so sure of that as there aren’t a huge amount of games that will heavily affect the poll.

Maybe Kansas State could upset Auburn while Oklahoma State beats Georgia. The latter is a possibility, not so much the former. We’re not going to learn a lot with USC playing Idaho, Texas playing Arkansas State, along with a smattering of other twinkie games like Michigan playing Appalachian State and Ohio State playing Youngstown State.

Tennessee versus Cal is a good match-up, as are Florida State/Clemson, Boston College/Wake Forest, Georgia Tech/Notre Dame, and maybe Wisconsin/Washington State if for no other reason than we get to see how capable the Badgers starting quarterback is.

It’s almost here. I probably won’t sleep Thursday and Friday night. HA!