Here we go again. The college football season is upon us, so it's time for the media and the coaches to annoint someone as the best team. Here's a link to ESPN's listing of both the AP and USA Today list of the top 25 teams.
For those who can't access the link, here they are:
AP TOP 25
1. Ohio State (35) 0-0 1,558
2. Notre Dame (10) 0-0 1,470
3. Texas (8) 0-0 1,411
4. Auburn (3) 0-0 1,395
5. West Virginia (6) 0-0 1,354
6. USC (3) 0-0 1,345
7. Florida 0-0 1,178
8. LSU 0-0 1,144
9. California 0-0 975
10. Oklahoma 0-0 960
11. Florida State 0-0 949
12. Miami (FL) 0-0 893
13. Louisville 0-0 844
14. Michigan 0-0 824
15. Georgia 0-0 743
16. Iowa 0-0 720
17. Virginia Tech 0-0 614
18. Clemson 0-0 479
19. Penn State 0-0 386
20. Nebraska 0-0 332
21. Oregon 0-0 324
22. TCU 0-0 257
23. Tennessee 0-0 215
24. Arizona State 0-0 182
25. Texas Tech 0-0 181
USA TODAY TOP 25
1. Ohio State (28) 0-0 1,487
2. Texas (11) 0-0 1,378
3. USC (1) 0-0 1,348
3. Notre Dame (9) 0-0 1,348
5. Oklahoma (13) 0-0 1,320
6. Auburn (1) 0-0 1,206
7. West Virginia 0-0 1,202
8. Florida 0-0 1,054
9. LSU 0-0 1,037
10. Florida State 0-0 874
11. Miami (FL) 0-0 839
12. California 0-0 798
13. Louisville 0-0 785
14. Georgia 0-0 784
15. Michigan 0-0 778
16. Virginia Tech 0-0 591
17. Iowa 0-0 519
18. Clemson 0-0 493
19. Penn State 0-0 406
20. Oregon 0-0 373
21. TCU 0-0 270
22. Nebraska 0-0 261
23. Tennessee 0-0 216
24. Alabama 0-0 210
25. Texas Tech 0-0 198
Michigan could be better than where they're ranked. Too early to say, but they've got the potential to be a darkhorse this year in terms of the national title.
Ohio State, on paper, looks to be the class of the field, but I still believe they're going to lose one or two. It's going to be a tough season for whoever wins the Big 11, and I don't think anyone will sweep their way to the title.
Texas has another strong recruiting class coming in (Mack Brown can recruit), so they should be in the mix. Their conference is in a down period, so they shouldn't have a whole lot of difficulty getting to their conference final again.
Cal and West Virginia are wild cards. I personally feel they will justify their rankings and could even surpass them, especially the Mountaineers. Their impressive bowl win last year when many (myself included) thought they didn't deserve to be there spoke volumes.
Yeah, yeah, "that school" is going to be very good. They feature perhaps the best offensive player in the country in Quinn (though I think the guy on the team they'll face in their opener, Georgia Tech's Calvin Johnson, could end up being more dominant) and if their defense improves, they'll be tough for any team to beat. Another outstanding recruiting class and the great strides they made in Year 1 of the Charlie Weiss era has to give the golden domers hope.
Be on the lookout for OU. I think AD is ready to have a monster season and put them back in the spotlight.
My team? Well, the return of Posluszny was great and I do think Morelli will be okay @ QB, but the loss of such a great secondary is going to sting. Up front, they'll be okay, but they're going to need for the young guys in the secondary to step up HUGE! We'll find out very shortly, when they travel to the midwest to play "that school" (way to gouge people w/ the high ticket prices!), just how much we'll miss Zemaitis, Lowry, Harrell, and Phillips.
I'm really looking forward to this season. It should prove very exciting, as I can see quite a few teams in the mix for this year's national title.