Pre-Season AP Poll

[Red Five]

I stand corrected, the SEC had 3 teams (not 4) in the first poll.

However, I would argue that while the committee shouldn't take the polls into consideration, they undoubtedly had an impact on how they ranked teams throughout the season. Saying these polls don't matter is a statement that isn't based in reality.

Here is the ranking from week 10 last year, the committee's first poll

Committee________AP Poll

1 - Mississippi St___Mississippi St

2 - Florida St______Florida St

3 - Auburn________Alabama

4 - Ole Miss_______Auburn

5 - Oregon________Oregon

6 - Alabama_______Notre Dame

7 - TCU__________Ole Miss

8 - Michigan St____Michigan St

9 - Kansas St_____Georgia

10 - Notre Dame___TCU

11 - Georgia______Kansas St

I'd argue that the committee's poll isn't that similar to the AP poll.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

I stand corrected, the SEC had 3 teams (not 4) in the first poll.

However, I would argue that while the committee shouldn't take the polls into consideration, they undoubtedly had an impact on how they ranked teams throughout the season. Saying these polls don't matter is a statement that isn't based in reality.

Here is the ranking from week 10 last year, the committee's first poll

Committee________AP Poll

1 - Mississippi St___Mississippi St

2 - Florida St______Florida St

3 - Auburn________Alabama

4 - Ole Miss_______Auburn

5 - Oregon________Oregon

6 - Alabama_______Notre Dame

7 - TCU__________Ole Miss

8 - Michigan St____Michigan St

9 - Kansas St_____Georgia

10 - Notre Dame___TCU

11 - Georgia______Kansas St

I'd argue that the committee's poll isn't that similar to the AP poll.

I'd argue that they are fairly similar. The rankings are pretty much the same plus or minus 2.

We'll agree to disagree.

 

[Mavric]

I stand corrected, the SEC had 3 teams (not 4) in the first poll.

However, I would argue that while the committee shouldn't take the polls into consideration, they undoubtedly had an impact on how they ranked teams throughout the season. Saying these polls don't matter is a statement that isn't based in reality.

Here is the ranking from week 10 last year, the committee's first poll

Committee________AP Poll

1 - Mississippi St___Mississippi St

2 - Florida St______Florida St

3 - Auburn________Alabama

4 - Ole Miss_______Auburn

5 - Oregon________Oregon

6 - Alabama_______Notre Dame

7 - TCU__________Ole Miss

8 - Michigan St____Michigan St

9 - Kansas St_____Georgia

10 - Notre Dame___TCU

11 - Georgia______Kansas St

I'd argue that the committee's poll isn't that similar to the AP poll.

I'd argue that they are fairly similar. The rankings are pretty much the same plus or minus 2.

We'll agree to disagree.

I agree that the polls do matter perception-wise but it's actually +/- 4 on those that are in both which is a ways.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Preseason polls are the most useless thing for people to get worked up about(not claiming anyone in here is getting worked up).

It is the opinion of a bunch of journalists, who can guess what will happen about as good as you or I.

That being said, i dont mind the huskers not being in the top 25. I think they will be in the top 25 at some point this year and will end the year in the top 25, but i get that most writers want to see what they can do first.

SEC beats itself up. Bama and Auburn will be good but not sold on the rest till the prove they can go through the hole year and be consistent. The SEC has some great teams but they are so inconsistent in terms of what they bring to the table each week, hence the reason they all beat eachother.

And there we have it. The SEC beats itself up...bla bla bla.....Most other conferences "beat themselves up" also. Like DomiNUs said, they have a couple good programs at the top, some middle of the road programs and then the cellar dwellers.

They have gone years where they played very few if any quality teams in the OOC to prove they deserve the high praise they get. Then...OMG....they are all so good they beat themselves up.

It amazes me that people don't see how these preseason rankings matter.

Last year's records of the 7 SEC teams in the top 27 are, in order of their rankings:

12-2 Lost to OSU

8-5 Lost to Wisconsin

10-3 Beat Louisville

8-5 Lost to ND

9-4 Lost HUGE to TCU

7-6 Beat Texas Bad

11-3 Beat Minnesota

7-6 Beat Iowa

8-5 Beat WV

Please explain to me how teams like LSU or Auburn or Ol Miss deserve to be anywhere close to where they are ranked.

 

[NebraskaShellback]

 

[TAKODA]

I stand corrected, the SEC had 3 teams (not 4) in the first poll.

However, I would argue that while the committee shouldn't take the polls into consideration, they undoubtedly had an impact on how they ranked teams throughout the season. Saying these polls don't matter is a statement that isn't based in reality.

Here is the ranking from week 10 last year, the committee's first poll

Committee________AP Poll

1 - Mississippi St___Mississippi St

2 - Florida St______Florida St

3 - Auburn________Alabama

4 - Ole Miss_______Auburn

5 - Oregon________Oregon

6 - Alabama_______Notre Dame

7 - TCU__________Ole Miss

8 - Michigan St____Michigan St

9 - Kansas St_____Georgia

10 - Notre Dame___TCU

11 - Georgia______Kansas St

I'd argue that the committee's poll isn't that similar to the AP poll.

I'd argue that they are fairly similar. The rankings are pretty much the same plus or minus 2.

We'll agree to disagree.

And I too will argue that they are fairly similar

yet different

even though they are alike and different, the only team that deserves to be ranked at this very moment is Ohio State at #1. The reason is obvious, they were the last champions. Are they still the best team in the nation today? Maybe not but that will be determined the coming weeks/months. Best we can do with a flawed and imperfect system.

 

[NUinID]

The top 5 looked ok. After that, it might have been the worst rankings I have ever seen.

Sam kinda goes his own way. I really don't get the love for PSU from him or anyone for that matter. Penn St. is not going to be any better than 8-4 IMO. Arkansas? They are getting better but are still looking at about 7 games on their schedule that could go either way. Cal, Utah, Okie St. all are stretches IMO. The one I do agree with is Oregon. I see 9-3 for them this year.

Why? I know I'm an Oregon pumper but c'mon.

Oregon is replacing a QB and that is basically it. In terms of not "reloading" every other position they lost (which wasn't many) has quality guys in replacement. If Oregon is getting downgraded so harshly for losing a QB, then so should Bama, Auburn, Georgia, Baylor, Florida State, UCLA, Ole Miss (those are the ones in top 25).

Oregon, has ALL of it's weapons returning. They may not beat MSU, but they are not dropping 3 games this year. NO WAY.

Darron Thomas was 23-3 as a starter at Oregon and they weren't even close to as talented around him as they are around Vernon Adams. Ya. I'm biased. I don't care.

Then you watched their offense when he wasn't in the game. Their offense became quite average by their standards. He was a very special player. In 1996 Nebraska returned a ton on offense and defensively. Did they miss a beat with Frost coming into the game? There is nothing that says Adams is even going to start. He only got on campus about a week ago. I see them losing to MSU, ASU or Stanford and then another one somewhere, maybe Utah Sorry Helfredge or however you spell it is not as good as Chip Kelly

Hey I like watching Oregon to, my son is a fan. Why is 9-3 such a big drop? They may go 10-2. I hadn't looked at their scheduled as closely until a minute ago. I thought they played few more games against the tougher teams in the PAC 12. I see the PAC 10 beating up each other this year. I think a 2 loss team wins the conference, and then no one gets into the playoffs.

 

[Minnesota_husker]

Preseason polls are the most useless thing for people to get worked up about(not claiming anyone in here is getting worked up).

It is the opinion of a bunch of journalists, who can guess what will happen about as good as you or I.

That being said, i dont mind the huskers not being in the top 25. I think they will be in the top 25 at some point this year and will end the year in the top 25, but i get that most writers want to see what they can do first.

SEC beats itself up. Bama and Auburn will be good but not sold on the rest till the prove they can go through the hole year and be consistent. The SEC has some great teams but they are so inconsistent in terms of what they bring to the table each week, hence the reason they all beat eachother.

And there we have it. The SEC beats itself up...bla bla bla.....Most other conferences "beat themselves up" also. Like DomiNUs said, they have a couple good programs at the top, some middle of the road programs and then the cellar dwellers.

They have gone years where they played very few if any quality teams in the OOC to prove they deserve the high praise they get. Then...OMG....they are all so good they beat themselves up.

It amazes me that people don't see how these preseason rankings matter.

Last year's records of the 7 SEC teams in the top 27 are, in order of their rankings:

12-2 Lost to OSU

8-5 Lost to Wisconsin

10-3 Beat Louisville

8-5 Lost to ND

9-4 Lost HUGE to TCU

7-6 Beat Texas Bad

11-3 Beat Minnesota

7-6 Beat Iowa

8-5 Beat WV

Please explain to me how teams like LSU or Auburn or Ol Miss deserve to be anywhere close to where they are ranked.

The SEC does beat itself up. Not saying that the B1G or Pac dont beat itself up, but because of how the two divisions are set up in the SEC, you could argue that a team like Miss State has a pretty tough schedule. Even if the SEC is overrated, they still have some top tier talent.

If you look at the other conferences, there top teams might be better than the SEC, but the SEC does have tremendous depth in talent and ability. I dont have a huge issue with them having a bunch of top 25 teams in the preseason.

In terms of where they are ranked this year, it has a lot more to where they are in comparison. Yes last year and previous years is a good way to judge, but you judge based on who they added and how there young talent is growing.

USC is a good example of that.

I am not saying the SEC is god, nor do i think an SEC team wins the national championship, but in terms of talent, i think they have a lot of pretty good teams.

 

[Saunders]

At the very least, the pre-season polls shape the narrative for 2/3 of the season. I'd prefer not to go through another 2 months of "BEST DIVISION EVER" BS from the "news" sources again...

 

[Scratchtown]

https://twitter.com/swmckewonOWH/status/635545963008946176

The top 5 looked ok. After that, it might have been the worst rankings I have ever seen.

Sam kinda goes his own way. I really don't get the love for PSU from him or anyone for that matter. Penn St. is not going to be any better than 8-4 IMO. Arkansas? They are getting better but are still looking at about 7 games on their schedule that could go either way. Cal, Utah, Okie St. all are stretches IMO. The one I do agree with is Oregon. I see 9-3 for them this year.

Why? I know I'm an Oregon pumper but c'mon.

Oregon is replacing a QB and that is basically it. In terms of not "reloading" every other position they lost (which wasn't many) has quality guys in replacement. If Oregon is getting downgraded so harshly for losing a QB, then so should Bama, Auburn, Georgia, Baylor, Florida State, UCLA, Ole Miss (those are the ones in top 25).

Oregon, has ALL of it's weapons returning. They may not beat MSU, but they are not dropping 3 games this year. NO WAY.

Darron Thomas was 23-3 as a starter at Oregon and they weren't even close to as talented around him as they are around Vernon Adams. Ya. I'm biased. I don't care.

Then you watched their offense when he wasn't in the game. Their offense became quite average by their standards. He was a very special player. In 1996 Nebraska returned a ton on offense and defensively. Did they miss a beat with Frost coming into the game? There is nothing that says Adams is even going to start. He only got on campus about a week ago. I see them losing to MSU, ASU or Stanford and then another one somewhere, maybe Utah Sorry Helfredge or however you spell it is not as good as Chip Kelly

Hey I like watching Oregon to, my son is a fan. Why is 9-3 such a big drop? They may go 10-2. I hadn't looked at their scheduled as closely until a minute ago. I thought they played few more games against the tougher teams in the PAC 12. I see the PAC 10 beating up each other this year. I think a 2 loss team wins the conference, and then no one gets into the playoffs.

Well no kidding their offense went bland when mariota wasn't in the game. They ran like 2 plays and milked the clock as far as they could. That post tells me to just ignore it, because if that's the reasoning you are going with.....lol

 

[Landlord]

I don't care too much, but the preseason polls are a bad thing, and they do have influence that they shouldn't.

Miss St. jumped from #12 to #3 after beating a supposedly top ranked LSU team, then was the #1 team in the country after beating supposedly #2 Auburn.
They end up in the Orange Bowl at 10-2 because of that unwarranted boost up the polls. Looking at end of season results, they beat one ranked team (Auburn #23), and lost to every ranked team they played. Their schedule was closer to Boise State's than Ohio State's.

 

[Scratchtown]

I don't care too much, but the preseason polls are a bad thing, and they do have influence that they shouldn't.

Miss St. jumped from #12 to #3 after beating a supposedly top ranked LSU team, then was the #1 team in the country after beating supposedly #2 Auburn.

They end up in the Orange Bowl at 10-2 because of that unwarranted boost up the polls. Looking at end of season results, they beat one ranked team (Auburn #23), and lost to every ranked team they played. Their schedule was closer to Boise State's than Ohio State's.

Good find LOMS, I didn't realize this. according to the espn folk. Miss state was playoff bound if they beat Ole Miss. Just thankful the Rebels won that game. We could have had a horrible mess with 2 champs out of the playoff

 

[Saunders]

I don't mind pre-season polls. It gives fans a talking point. Just don't rank 10 teams from the same conference in the top 25, because it's mathematically impossible for them to finish that way, unless you don't care about objectivity.

 

[Notre Dame Joe]

I don't care too much, but the preseason polls are a bad thing, and they do have influence that they shouldn't.

Miss St. jumped from #12 to #3 after beating a supposedly top ranked LSU team, then was the #1 team in the country after beating supposedly #2 Auburn.
They end up in the Orange Bowl at 10-2 because of that unwarranted boost up the polls. Looking at end of season results, they beat one ranked team (Auburn #23), and lost to every ranked team they played. Their schedule was closer to Boise State's than Ohio State's.

There's no way out of the SEC regular season logic circle. Not with the WWL and CBS heavily invested in their success.

 

[Red Five]

I don't care too much, but the preseason polls are a bad thing, and they do have influence that they shouldn't.

Miss St. jumped from #12 to #3 after beating a supposedly top ranked LSU team, then was the #1 team in the country after beating supposedly #2 Auburn.

They end up in the Orange Bowl at 10-2 because of that unwarranted boost up the polls. Looking at end of season results, they beat one ranked team (Auburn #23), and lost to every ranked team they played. Their schedule was closer to Boise State's than Ohio State's.

Good find LOMS, I didn't realize this. according to the espn folk. Miss state was playoff bound if they beat Ole Miss. Just thankful the Rebels won that game. We could have had a horrible mess with 2 champs out of the playoff

Miss St wouldn't have been in the playoff if they had beat Ole Miss.