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.
It's an early blogpoll, and just like all those guys I complain about, it's full of the usual suspects! Well, okay, except Notre Dame.
LSU at #1 because everyone returns except for Jordan Jefferson. Alabama because Nick Saban is still Nick Saban, they'll still be a great defense, and the SEC has won the BCS. Five SEC teams are in my top ten. Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson returns for his senior season, and Georgia? Well, I have a soft spot for Mark Richt.
USC gets back in the top five by virtue of Matt Barkley returning while Oregon loses Darron Thomas and LaMichael James, two players who aren't easily replaced. I'll pick Michigan to win the Big Ten on the basis of Denard Robinson, Fitzgerald Toussaint, and a defense that only stands to get better given that in a single season they turned around as much as they did.
Wisconsin drops despite Montee Ball returning, largely because there is no one who will do what Russel Wilson did for them this season. I've stated my problems with Michigan State earlier - I think they'll still be good, but not top ten good.
Nebraska - ranked at 20th. I believe we'll contend for the division, but until the Huskers show they can put together a good season that's where they'll stay.
And to show what a nice, unbiased guy I am I've ranked Texas even thought their offense is full of the biggest bunch of untough overrated pansies in the Big 12.
We will release periodic blogpoll updates throughout the offseason. Feedback is welcome, if for no other reason than there ain't much else going on.
Most of the buzz today is about Alabama's great defensive effort against LSU in the 21-0 butt kicking that was a joke of a national title game. I can't think of a worse final game of a season that I've ever watched than the one last night, and while the Crimson Tide certainly shut down the Tigers, I found myself wondering how a team doesn't bother showing up for the biggest game of the season rather than believing they were being stymied by great defense.
The question appears to be whether Alabama showed they won, or LSU showed they didn't belong. As for me, I'm going with the latter. That and I don't feel like rewarding a coach who consistently skirts the boundaries of the rules by oversigning recruiting classes, cutting players and rewarding himself with a better roster because of it. Everyone knows that Nick Saban is a damned good coach - I guess we're going to find out how good once the new SEC regulations that limit oversigning kick in (although we'll see where they find the loopholes).
I'm willing to overlook Oklahoma State's loss at Iowa State and say without reservation that they should have been in this game instead of Alabama if for no other reason than at least it would have produced something more entertaining than what we saw last night.
Maybe a crappy final game was an apt ending to a season filled with a ton of turmoil. We were shocked when it was discovered that Jim Tressel covered up that he knew about his players violating NCAA rules, and then we were shocked again by Nevin Shapiro revealing that he'd been giving Miami players illegal benefits for years, only to discover that both of these scandals were nothing compared to that which had been happening at Penn State under Joe Paterno. (And yeah, I get the irony of calling out these scandals while talking about Nick Saban's ethics. Thing is - if you're willing to use Jerry Sandusky as a standard, the bar by which you measure, then you've got a good idea of why we can rationalize just about anything else, right?)
This season is in the can - perhaps we should be thankful for it's end. Maybe the next one be less, well, scandalous, so that we can spent the season rejoicing the players and the plays instead of the crap that sometimes surrounds them.
What kind of moron would you have had to have been to rank Virginia Tech #2 last week? First thing they do is go out and get squashed for the second time in a season by Clemson, who held David Wilson and Logan Thomas to 32 and 2 yards rushing, respectively.
Those who won their conference championships were given preference over those who did not, ala why Oregon moves one spot ahead of Stanford and Clemson (despite dropping out last week) one spot ahead of Virginia Tech, who dropped like a rock.
Houston and Michigan State drop like rocks also - Houston because they played quality competition and got their butts handed to them and the Spartans because I probably over ranked them most of the season.
Penn State drops out just because I had to bring back Clemson. Boy, does that suck. Speaking of suck, should I drop Oklahoma farther than I have, because they did suck. If there's one thing that team accomplished this season it was falling flat in some big games.
I have moved Virginia Tech into the number two spot behind LSU for one simple reason. I have no desire to see a LSU-Alabama rematch as a national title game. While I realize that the BlogPoll doesn't count in the BCS, I would like some feedback as to how likely y'all think that this will happen in the BCS formulas should LSU win their SEC title game, Virginia Tech win the ACC, and Oklahoma State destroy Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game Bedlam rivalry game.
Bottom line - Alabama had their shot. It's time to give someone else a chance.
Unfortunately, it appears more likely that if there's a not a LSU-Alabama rematch that Stanford is poised to make a move, going in front of the Hokies in this week's BCS poll. Oklahoma State remains at #3 in the BCS, while I have them ranked #8. While there's a chance that someone could leap frog Alabama, it's pretty doubtful.... unless coaches change their votes en masse, and how likely is that? Oh, hell, prolly not very likely even if I want it to happen.
Wisconsin comes in at #5, which is fairly high compared to the AP and Coaches polls and I fully expect them to throttle Michigan State in next week's inaugural Big Ten Championship game.
Nebraska re-joins the poll at #19.
As always, feedback needed!
Chaos chaos chaos, and now the SEC assumes the top three ranks with LSU, Alabama, and Arkansas sitting at 1,2,3. Arkansas and LSU will face each other this Friday, and regardless of who wins or loses, college football armageddon may come as a result.
Armageddon? Yes. A national title game that NO ONE wants to watch. Okay, maybe not no one, but no one that I know. Or particularly like all that much. If you couldn't take the obnoxiousness of the SEC before, well, the only hope is that there is still time for plenty more chaos.
Oklahoma State's loss was fun, but incredibly sad. Baylor's defeat of Oklahoma was particularly fun mostly because Robert Griffin III showed why he's the most incredible player in college football, and will most likely get little or no consideration for the Hypesman. Rooting for USC made me feel bad, but I've showered since then.
I dropped Nebraska from the poll and replaced them with Arkansas State. So there.
LSU remains at #1 - no shock there, but how 'bout those Oklahoma State Cowboys? They seem to be getting overlooked in the national scheme of things. Maybe that's because they've never really made it - always a bridesmaid never a bride, that sort of thing. But they sure as hell can score. They're second nationally in scoring offense at 51.7 points per game. Can they outscore teams like LSU, Oregon, and Alabama? Wouldn't you like to see Oregon play the Cowboys for a national title?
It'd be nice if Houston would lose. I don't hate Houston (Yes I do) and I wouldn't shed any tears of LSU or Alabama (or both) lost a game. Just for once, it'd be nice to see the SEC not make a national title game. Too bad about Boise State (not really) but this is the time of year the things start taking care of themselves.
As for the rest, hell, you tell me.
I decided it would be best if I just stayed the hell off the internets Sunday, as this loss to Northwestern is hitting a little harder than I thought it would. I'm still somewhat depressed about it - it's not as if I didn't expect Nebraska to lose some games, but this one came out of nowhere. And honestly - I was probably as bad as anyone at making fun of Northwestern going into the game. (I predicted a 56-14 win on THEIR podcast - what an ass, eh?).
The Poll - LSU is obviously a clear-cut #1 team. The lack of offense in the LSU - 'Bama game didn't bother me. Both of those teams have exceptional defenses - any team in the nation would have difficulty scoring on them. Alabama doesn't drop too far - they are still one of the best in the nation.
Arkansas and Virginia Tech drop only because they were slightly overrated last week and I'm not beyond making those corrections now. The rest is up for correction.
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