BlogPoll 2008

Preliminary calls for the BlogPoll are out- hosted here as always.

A lot of folks are much wiser than me about the ins and outs of, say, the Pac-10. I go with my gut and a smattering of anecdotal observations- which I will share as required. But basically, I love the SEC; it worked last year- and no doubt it will this year too. I’m sure one of the top three in this poll will be in the BCS Championship game- and would win say, the Big Ten outright. No one can tell me Ohio State is winning consistently, on the road, in the SEC. Thus, my top troika:

1 Florida
2 Georgia
3 LSU
4 Southern Cal: only non-SEC team I believe could win games consistently in the south’s more tricky environs.
5 Auburn
6 Ohio State
7 Oklahoma
8 Texas Tech
9 Boise State: schedule screams 11-1 and they are a serious, very credible BCS threat versus a South Florida/Wake Forest-style champion
10 Kansas
11 Tennessee: aggressive- but you think the Illini or Penn State could whip them two out of three? Not me.
12 Clemson: ACC is down, again, this year- so 10-2 is right there for the Tigers.
13 West Virginia
14 Illinois
15 Texas
16 Penn State
17 Alabama: what can I say? I think they’d beat everyone below this spot straight up.
18 Pittsburgh: they get Iowa at home, at Notre Dame- a split there means 4-1 out of conference.
19 Missouri
20 Michigan: currently vogue to leave Michigan off- but all Tulanians understand Rodriguez really knows what he is doing. People, he was the brains behind 12-0- at Tulane!
21 Florida State: holes, but some top tier talent, and the ACC schedule helps.
22 Virginia Tech
23 South Carolina
24 Tulsa: I’m the only C-USA voter, so my pick for league champion is getting on my ballot.
25 Wisconsin: yes, I'm not “pretending” I think ASU is actually good

Just missed: Notre Dame, Oregon