The First Blog Poll From ITB!
Well folks your fearless leader has taken on several new endeavors for this 2010 season, amongst those is the participation in the blog poll now ran over at SBNation. I'm honored to be a member and just so you know I'm that little green "X" representing North Carolina. The best part about the blog poll is that it offers transparency to the readers as well as the other voters. If I'm voting UNC too high you'll see it on a weekly basis on both my site and over at the SBNation mother site.
Here's my first ballot:
In The Bleachers Ballot - Week 1
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio St. Buckeyes | -- |
| 2 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -- |
| 3 | Boise St. Broncos | -- |
| 4 | Oklahoma Sooners | -- |
| 5 | Virginia Tech Hokies | -- |
| 6 | Texas Longhorns | -- |
| 7 | Florida Gators | -- |
| 8 | TCU Horned Frogs | -- |
| 9 | Iowa Hawkeyes | -- |
| 10 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | -- |
| 11 | USC Trojans | -- |
| 12 | Wisconsin Badgers | -- |
| 13 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
| 14 | Miami Hurricanes | -- |
| 15 | Pittsburgh Panthers | -- |
| 16 | Georgia Bulldogs | -- |
| 17 | Utah Utes | -- |
| 18 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | -- |
| 19 | Oregon St. Beavers | -- |
| 20 | Auburn Tigers | -- |
| 21 | Penn St. Nittany Lions | -- |
| 22 | Florida St. Seminoles | -- |
| 23 | LSU Tigers | -- |
| 24 | North Carolina Tar Heels | -- |
| 25 | Navy Midshipmen | -- |
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »
So with that I'll drop a little explanation as to what my thought process was:
Ohio State is my #1 because of the volume of experience they return as well as the clear path they have laid out for the title game.
Florida doesn't impress me nearly as much as they do some people. In the last two seasons the Gators have lost the offensive and defensive coordinator that helped create the '08 BCS Title as well as the quarterback and other dynamic playmakers that got it done on the field. With a new Defensive coordinator and a new quarterback the Gators are a Top 5 talent roster but couldn't see placing them higher than #7 to open the season.
USC is in my poll as you quickly notice. The #11 Trojans are one of the most talented teams in the nation and they've got a quarterback who should see massive improvements in his second year at the helm. Kiffin is going to run the football and use play action and with Monte captaining the defense I expect the Trojans to play good football.
Georgia at #16 is a team I'm bullish on. They're changing defenses but I expect their offense to give Grantham time to work out the kinks of that 3-4. Ealey running the ball, Green catching passes from Murray and an offensive line that is among the nation's best make the Dawgs a team that has a shot to win the SEC East.
Penn State at #21 bothers me. Losing Daryll Clark and that linebacking core plus some D-line strength is much of the reason I have them so low; beyond Evan Royster I don't know what to expect out of the Nittany Lions.
Navy as #25 has one of the better quarterback's in the nation. A ton of experience on offense and a chance to make 2010 a special season.
Arkansas, WVU, BC were the last three out for me and that is largely due to unknowns. Arkansas' utter lack of defense means that while they might put up enough points I don't think they're a very good overall football team.West Virginia has Noel Devine who gives them a shot to win ball games with his explosiveness but questions at quarterback. BC's issue is in the passing game. Shinskie might should improve but with no receivers we may not get to see the 26-year-old sophomore's leap between his first and second season.
Leave your thoughts and comments below, folks. Looking forward to making this a fun season.
