USC has been voted number one by the the sports "writers" in the preseason AP college football poll for 2012. There may be some merit here.
A possible pro level QB is staying in school and will lead the charge. A refugee from Pedophile U (sorry couldn't resist) has made the move and will add some punch to the offense. They will have a good team. When a very weak schedule is taken into consideration it is easy to see how they may be able to run the table and compete for the number one spot in the land. They do have a tough game with Oregon and possibly a couple more scary outings (Stanford and the UCLA rivalry game), but it is very likely they will be undefeated at the end of the regular season. Of course this Kiffin is the head coach......That might not be a problem this year but will prove to be so in the long term.
Bama and LSU round out the top three. This is fitting. Which of these is the better team this year.?Hard to say. The "Honey Badger" has left the team (LSU) for a "drug" problem and that leaves the Tigers with one less high profile player. They need some help at QB also. It won't be a long year for the Tigers, but I can certainly see (and expect) one SEC loss. The Tigers non conference schedule is a joke, but that has become pretty much par for the course for the major programs in every conference.
Bama has a marginally tougher non Conference schedule than the Tigers, the highlight being a visit from Michigan. No IAA schools on the slate this year. The Tide may have a slight advantage over LSU in the SEC schedule though. They have a somewhat easier road (if there is such a thing in the SEC).
Rounding out the top ten in the AP poll may be fairly accurate. Or not. I am not certain Michigan is legitimate and have doubts about Arkansas, FSU and South Carolina.
Offseason distraction and a lack of certainty about just what the Hogs have this year should have kept them out of the top 10.
FSU is always "almost there" and seems to disappoint year in and year out. This has become par for the course for them recently but playing in a fairly weak conference works to their advantage.
Spurrier may really have it together this year for South Carolina. He does a good job but will probably fall just short of a top 10 ranking when all is said and done.
The bottom 15? The teams are interchangeable. Boise State is ranked too low and Louisville likely shouldn't even be there at all. I suppose a "BCS" conference team has to have a representative. WVU and perhaps even Texas are ranked too high. Stanford? Jury is out. It is hard to see how they will match the success of last year. Kansas State is questionable but Bill seems to be able to get a lot out of a little. Perhaps the only guy who can (or ever will) be able to win there.
Ohio State is slated at 18 and Notre Dame is not even on the radar. I guess the writers did not see fit to follow the trend and rank the Irish this year. Probably for good reason.
The season starts directly and I am looking forward to another fun year of watching games and griping about the ridiculous BCS system.
2 comments:
As much as I hate to admit it, Bama is probably the better team. It certainly was last year, and it's defense is typically more physical and intense than the Tigers by a smallish but noticable margin. If you have contact with the afterworld, do not tell my Grandmother Schneidau I said that.
I think that the Crimson Tide will be the better team this year also. I believe that LSU will lose 1 (or two) SEC games. Probably suffer the loss from a team least expected.
I have been reading a bit about Oklahoma State and wonder if they may be a top ten team before all is said and done.
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