Preseason BlogPoll Ballot

It's that time of year once again, when I have to embarrass myself with a preseason BlogPoll ballot. Now, I want you all to understand that preseason polls are essentially meaningless and I will not be using this as a guide on how to rank teams throughout the season. This is just my guess of how good everybody will be. I'm willing to make changes based on the community's input. So here we go.

1 Alabama I believe that the defending champion should be the preseason #1 barring extreme personnel losses. Bama gets the honor of the top spot to defend their title. Someone's got to knock them off their perch...

2 LSU ...Preferably by us.

3 Oregon Hasn't Chip Kelly earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to finding a replacement quarterback? I'm honestly surprised by how little support the Ducks are getting as the anti-SEC national title contender.

4 Wisconsin Ho hum. Great offensive line, bruising running game, and a transfer QB from the ACC. Worked last year. It'll work this year.

5 Florida St. They've recruited well, have a killer defense, and play in a weak ACC. FSU has to be perfect to win the national title, and I think they'll slip up somewhere, but this is a real good team that probably won't lose its starting QB to injury again.

6 West Virginia LSU fans know how good Geno Smith is and how great of a home environment Morgantown is. Their defense is a bit of a concern, but getting OU at home is probably the difference maker.

7 USC I'm not a huge believer in USC this year, but I don't want to drop them too far without being seen as a "hater". They have huge problems on the defensive line, their defense wasn't terribly good last year, and they were exceedingly fortunate to win 10 games. They could play better this year and have a worse record.

8 Oklahoma St. Their schedule is backloaded, which gives them time to break in their QB. And let's be honest, I'm pretty sure they are a product of their system, not their talent, and Gundy didn't go anywhere.

9 South Carolina All of the pieces are there and they have perhaps the best player in the SEC in Lattimore. There's a good chance they will be the highest ranked USC at the end of the year.

10 Oklahoma You do not want to have question marks in your secondary in the Big 12. OU is prone to giving up big plays which isn't that big of a deal because it's not like they play any big play offenses...

11 Michigan If they can get through the Bama game intact, this team could have a great year. Do not doubt a talented senior QB like Denard Robinson.

12 Georgia Mark Richt has lost control of my BlogPoll ballot.

13 Utah Do not sleep on the Utes, who had a great second half last year and get Jordan Wynn back from injury. I really like this team now that they've had a year to adjust to the step up in competition.

14 Arkansas Will likely take a big step back without Petrino and the bulk of their stellar receiving corp. They still can't play defense.

15 Clemson Think LSU fans are bummed about their conference title? We didn't see our team allow 70 points in the bowl game. Defense is still a question mark.

16 Nebraska Lost to the top two Big Ten teams by a combined 59 points last year, so I think some skepticism is warranted until they prove they can play with the big boys.

17 Kansas St. Yes, they won a lot of close games last year, but I think one should never bet against Bill Snyder.

18 Virginia Tech Watch. Now that no one is hyping them as a preseason top ten team, this is the year they go undefeated and win the ACC running away. Logan Thomas is their best QB since Vick.

19 Stanford Time to take the inevitable slide back towards the middle of the conference. Hope Cardinal fans enjoyed rubbing shoulders with the football elite.

20 Tennessee Maybe I've been drinking (ok, I've been drinking), but I love their offense and surely Dooley is due for some good luck after his first two years in Knoxville.

21 Boise St. They are in a rebuilding year, but they are still a lot better than most of the teams on their schedule.

22 Texas A&M Here is where I express my undying love for Kevin Sumlin. Going from Sherman to Sumlin is worth at least three wins, right?

23 Michigan St. Losing Kirk Cousins is going to hurt this team more they think. That guy was an amazing college quarterback who never got enough credit.

24 Notre Dame Brian Kelly is too good of a coach to not turn this program around. He won at Cincinnati, people.

25 Ohio St. There's still lots of talent there and Urban Meyer may be a complete jackass, but he's also a hell of a football coach.

INTENTIONALLY NOT RANKED

Texas Prove it, fellas. I think I'll be ranking the Horns before long, but they are out of mulligans.

TCU Utah showed the gap between the mid majors and the big leagues, and they hadn't lost a dozen players to a drug scandal. Could be in for a long year.

Washington I don't want to overrate LSU's opponents, but I really like this Huskies team. They are not a traffic cone.

Louisville I couldn't bring myself to rank a Big East team.

Florida Where have all the playmakers gone?