Athlon Way-Too-Early Top 25 College Football Rankings for 2019

BigRedBuster said:
That's been one of my biggest problems for years back when the polls chose the champion.  Once a team was in the polls, they were, many times, given the benefit fo the doubt for issues throughout the season....while one that doesn't start in the polls, struggled to get respect even though they're winning games.
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That's been the SEC's bread and butter for years. They will often start with most of the conference being ranked, including half the top ten. Then when they start beating each other early in the season, the winner gets an extra boost for beating a ranked team. By the time the dust clears, most of these SEC teams have 4-5 losses but the top of the conference has a buoyed reputation by running a gauntlet of ranked teams at the time. 

 
So, @StPaulHusker , let me ask this.  It seems that you view polls as a slice in time.  Meaning, that's how a team is playing right now.

So, Nebraska lost 6 games in a row to start the season. They weren't on anyone's radar as far as rankings.  BUT....the team changed in the middle of the season and we beat Minnesota by a wide margin, took care of business against BC and then played a very competitive game against the #8 team in the country and lost by only 5 points.

If we are going to look at polls only as a slice in time, couldn't there be an argument that Nebraska should have been ranked at some point during the end of the season?

Ulty said:
That's been the SEC's bread and butter for years. They will often start with most of the conference being ranked, including half the top ten. Then when they start beating each other early in the season, the winner gets an extra boost for beating a ranked team. By the time the dust clears, most of these SEC teams have 4-5 losses but the top of the conference has a buoyed reputation by running a gauntlet of ranked teams at the time. 
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And...oh BTW....they refuse to schedule other P5 teams....especially away from home.

 
B.B. Hemingway said:
If Nebraska is 10-2 I'd think #12 would be the floor of where they'd be ranked (not that it matters, I guess).

Also, @StPaulHusker is right. Athlon is high AF. We're losing 2 of the top 4 players on the team from last year.
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......and were adding 35 new players so we should be able to replace 2.   Not sure where Stan ranked in the top 5 last year but DO was not a top player - he rose up.  Do you not see 2 or 3 players that will rise up next year?

 
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B.B. Hemingway said:
A preseason poll is somewhat predicated on what someone did the year before. Nebraska didn't look like the 19th best team in the country. I've never took the preseason poll as a prediction on where they thought they'd end up.
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This seems like you are talking about the "end of year polls" - for this year.

 
GBRFAN said:
......and were adding 35 new players so we should be able to replace 2.   Not sure where Stan ranked in the top 5 last year but DO was not a top player - he rose up.  Do you not see 2 or 3 players that will rise up next year?
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I've like Ozigbo since he stepped on campus, so I did think he was one of our top players, especially on offense. I was clear in another post that I thought Washington could make up for the loss of Ozigbo. Now, Stanley? No one man is going to make up for his production. I'm sure there will be guys who step up, but Stanley, and even Ziggy, won't be easy to replace.

 
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Ulty said:
That's been the SEC's bread and butter for years. They will often start with most of the conference being ranked, including half the top ten. Then when they start beating each other early in the season, the winner gets an extra boost for beating a ranked team. By the time the dust clears, most of these SEC teams have 4-5 losses but the top of the conference has a buoyed reputation by running a gauntlet of ranked teams at the time. 
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Kentucky was this year's beneficiary of the SEC early season boost.  I give them credit for beating Florida, but UF was still adjusting to Dan Mullen as the head coach.  Kentucky then beat an overrated Mississippi State in late September and then did ok in an average SEC East (they should have lost to Missouri).

 
StPaulHusker said:
I could see Nebraska ending up 19-25 if things go well.  I don't see how they could be considered the 19th best team in the country right now.

Do we need to continue to argue this?
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you can stop when ever you want and no preseason poll is based on "now" when now is the end of this year 

 
ColoradoHusk said:
For most voters it does, for some voters it doesn't.  It helps when voters/magazines lay out what their preseason poll is based on.
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Maybe. I find it hard to believe that the results from the season before don't enter every voters' mind in the process. And it should, in my opinion. If I was voting, I'd use those results (of the last polls from the season before) and use that as a starting point.

 
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B.B. Hemingway said:
Do you think preseason polls have nothing to do with where you finished the year before? I'd argue that plays a huge role.
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i would say it is 1 of 3 factors:

- How you finished previous year

- How your current and incoming players are going to improve or not improve your team

- What your schedule looks like 

 
B.B. Hemingway said:
Maybe. I find it hard to believe that the results from the season before don't enter every voters' mind in the process. And it should, in my opinion. If I was voting, I'd use those results (of the last polls from the season before) and use that as a starting point.
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I would imagine they mostly use that, and the number of returning starters (most importantly the QB).

 
B.B. Hemingway said:
Maybe. I find it hard to believe that the results from the season before don't enter every voters' mind in the process. And it should, in my opinion. If I was voting, I'd use those results (of the last polls from the season before) and use that as a starting point.
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I would probably use the previous season's ending poll as a starting point, as well.  But, I would also make a number of changes based on who is returning to the team, the schedules, and so on to come up with how I would predict the season would end, which I would use as the basis for my top 25 poll.

 
GBRFAN said:
i would say it is 1 of 3 factors:

- How you finished previous year

- How your current and incoming players are going to improve or not improve your team

- What your schedule looks like 
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I agree with you (along with maybe another factor or two), and which all goes into the points of view of people are saying that preseason polls should be based on projections of how teams will do during the season.

 
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