It’s that time of year again, folks.
In twelve days, we’ll see the first college football game of the year on ESPN.
Only one Saturday left until December without college football.
Let’s get ready.
Now.
The Polls
The official start of college football is always marked by the issuance of the Associated Press (AP) and Coaches Pre-Season Top 25 polls. Here is the full story from @RalphDrussoAP on the @AP_Top25 poll (and here are the voters in that poll). USC – with all their sanctions gone – is the #1 team in the AP poll. LSU is the #1 team in the coaches poll. Both have legitimate shots at winning the BCS title. And throw Alabama in their for a possible repeat championship.
Our break down of the AP Poll shows that there are:
- Six teams from the Southeastern Conference (SEC)
- Six teams from the Big 12 Conference
- Five teams from the Big 10 Conference
- Three teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
- Three teams from the Pacific 12 Conference (PAC-12)
- One team from the Mountain West Conference (MWC)
- And one team from the Big East Conference
Our analysis of the Coaches Poll shows that there are:
- Seven teams from the SEC
- Six teams from the Big 12
- Four teams from the Big 10
- Three teams from the ACC
- Three teams from the PAC-12
- One team from the MWC
- And Notre Dame
Once again, and the @HokieGuru agrees with the pollsters, the SEC appears to be the strongest conference in the country.
Military Veteran, Daniel Rodriguez, walks on at Clemson University
There was a great story from @SteveYanda in the Washington Post about Daniel Rodriguez, a walk on wide receiver at Clemson University. He was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star Medal for bravery in combat during one of the bloodiest battles in the Afghan war. He still lives with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in the Army, especially the 12 months he spent in Afghanistan You can see that story here. I’m happy that he can live his dream and play for a big time college football team.
Who wins the conferences?
- SEC – LSU (loaded even without the Honey Badger)
- Big12 – Oklahoma (Landry Jones is a stud)
- Big 10 – Wisconsin (yes, I think they are better than Michigan – and yes, it was still a catch by Danny Coale).
- ACC – Florida State (the @HokieGuru believes they are back this year – even though he was fooled last year on their “back back back backness” – every year, they are back back back – but we do think they are back this year – they are back – they are back twice on Saturdays)
- PAC 12 – USC (Matt Barkley is @HokieGuru‘s best quarterback in America – just ahead of Logan Thomas 🙂 )
- Big East – Very bullish on Louisville, but think that the @Govloop South Florida Bulls might have an answer – then again, all it usually takes is 8-4 or 7-5 to win this conference – Cincy, Pitt, and Rutgers anyone? Parity in the Big East. IT RULES.
- MWC – Boise State (no questions asked – best coaches – best game plan – best in game adjustments)
Who is in the BCS national title game?
Hard question – the @HokieGuru sees undefeated teams in Oklahoma and USC – but can an SEC team remain undefeated? That’s the big question – if there are three undefeated teams – who gets left out? Will a one loss SEC team get into the BCS national title game over an undefeated USC or Oklahoma? What if Florida State really is back (oh yeah, backness, baby – back, back, back, back, back!!!!) and goes through the season undefeated? What if Wisconsin goes undefeated? This is why the BCS needs substantial improvement.
If I had to pick today, the @HokieGuru national title game would be LSU and USC.
With the Mad Hatter winning again. #GeauxTigers
Happy Saturday!!! 🙂 Have a good week!!
Go Bulls! Will this be our year? Can’t wait for season to start