There's NO OFFSEASON!
Such is the battle cry of college football. It's complete load of poop, of course, but we keep making things up anyway. How's that for cynicism?
There are issues lingering from 2011 I still haven't written about, and Nebraska spring football left us with little to nothing tangible. There are questions, but we have a while to get to them - it's a ways to go before August.
In the meantime, there's a Top 25 to update. Things have happened. A coach of a team I had ranked in the Top 10 had an affair, wrecked his motorcycle, then lied about it to his boss and lost his job. He was replaced by a coach that most people remember for saying silly things and slapping himself in the face.
How do you begin to do a ranking of a new football season? I tend to start with the teams I believe are most likely to win their conference. It doesn't help all that much sometimes. Want an example? Who's going to win the Big Ten?
Michigan is the most likely favorite because of the return of Denard Robinson and a defense that showed a huge amount of improvement in their first year under a new coaching staff.
Michigan State? Kirk Cousins and his top three receivers; B.J. Cunningham, Keshawn Martin, and Keith Nichol, are gone.
Wisconsin? Russell Wilson was huge for them. Montee Ball returns, but you don't lose offensive linemen like Peter Konz, Kevin Zeitler and Josh Oglesby while replacing your line coach and not expect to see some dropoff in production.
Nebraska? Sorry, but even though I'm a homer, I'm going to be hard on them until they prove something. A lot of talent returns on a young team, but they need to quit losing games they shouldn't (NU???? ARGHGHGHGH!) before they get much consideration.
The SEC looks like it'll be between LSU and Alabama again. The Big 12 should belong to Oklahoma, the Pac-12 to USC as Oregon took a big hit when Darron Thomas and LaMichael James both declared for the NFL. (It didn't work out so well for Thomas, who went undrafted. James went as the 61st selection to the 49ers. It wasn't as if they left for first round money. Fools.)
The Big East? Good question. Who's left? Who stands out?*
The ACC? Probably between Florida State and Virginia Tech.
Feed is welcome, as always.
Corn Nation Ballot - Week 18
Rank | Team | Delta |
---|---|---|
1 | LSU Tigers | -- |
2 | USC Trojans | 1 |
3 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -1 |
4 | Oklahoma Sooners | 2 |
5 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
6 | TCU Horned Frogs | 1 |
7 | South Carolina Gamecocks | 1 |
8 | Georgia Bulldogs | 1 |
9 | Michigan Wolverines | -5 |
10 | Virginia Tech Hokies | 1 |
11 | Wisconsin Badgers | 1 |
12 | Michigan St. Spartans | 1 |
13 | Florida St. Seminoles | 4 |
14 | Boise St. Broncos | -- |
15 | Kansas St. Wildcats | -- |
16 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys | -- |
17 | West Virginia Mountaineers | -- |
18 | Stanford Cardinal | -- |
19 | Arkansas Razorbacks | -9 |
20 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | -- |
21 | Texas Longhorns | -- |
22 | Washington Huskies | -- |
23 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | -- |
24 | Louisville Cardinals | -- |
25 | Utah Utes | -- |
Dropouts: Southern Miss. Golden Eagles, Cincinnati Bearcats, BYU Cougars |
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
*Hahahahah. Trick question. Who stands out in the Big East?