BLOGPOLL WHA-WHAT! Pre-Games Edition
We're back in the Blogpoll Top 25 for another year of super terrific awesome time of ranking teams and making lists! This pre-games played edition kicks all that jazz off. I'll preface this by talking strategy, this is basically a "who would beat who" poll right now. It isn't a Phil Steele styled "where will they finish" poll that takes scheduling into account. This is a "team #20 will beat 21-25 more often than not" poll. So put that in your pipe and smoke it. Thoughts under the poll after the jump.
In The Bleachers Ballot - Week 1
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -- |
| 2 | Oklahoma Sooners | -- |
| 3 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
| 4 | Boise St. Broncos | -- |
| 5 | LSU Tigers | -- |
| 6 | Florida St. Seminoles | -- |
| 7 | Texas A&M Aggies | -- |
| 8 | South Carolina Gamecocks | -- |
| 9 | Wisconsin Badgers | -- |
| 10 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | -- |
| 11 | Arkansas Razorbacks | -- |
| 12 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys | -- |
| 13 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | -- |
| 14 | Ohio St. Buckeyes | -- |
| 15 | Michigan St. Spartans | -- |
| 16 | Virginia Tech Hokies | -- |
| 17 | TCU Horned Frogs | -- |
| 18 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | -- |
| 19 | Missouri Tigers | -- |
| 20 | Stanford Cardinal | -- |
| 21 | Georgia Bulldogs | -- |
| 22 | Arizona St. Sun Devils | -- |
| 23 | West Virginia Mountaineers | -- |
| 24 | Central Florida Knights | -- |
| 25 | Florida Gators | -- |
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings ยป
Two teams have moved down from the ITB's Preseason Top 25 we did a little while back; Arkansas and LSU. The Hogs lost Knile Davis for the season due to injury and that means the running game that I was so pumped up about just a few weeks ago is now gone. They're still a mighty fine team and who knows, maybe Ronnie Wingo blossoms this year, but for now they drop a couple spots.
LSU has the controversy swirling around the bar brawl and we're not sure what's going to come of that so they've been flipped with Boise State with the loss of Russell Shepard and Jordan Jefferson. He's the team's most dynamic playmaker and without him they're losing a piece that could help bridge the gap until the Bayou Bengals find an actual running game to rely on. Shepard is the bigger loss for LSU in my eyes.
The difference between Jefferson and Jarrett Lee isn't as wide as people believe, folks forget the Tennessee, Florida and Auburn game that Lee played damn fine in. He helped considerably in the Tennessee and Florida games and during the back and forth against Auburn he kept LSU in the game until Cam Newton decided play time was over.
Guess who is all up in the house folks? Notre Dame! That's right, number ten, they benefit from Arkansas' dropping down and form me deciding to get somewhat obsessive about what they actually have on their roster. This team has got tons returning from a team that closed out last year as hot as just about anyone in the nation. The offensive line woes that plagued the Irish a few seasons ago will be gone. Thanks to that youth becoming older players, the experience they've gained and Brian Kelly's new scheme that does take some of the pressure off of them.
Of course the real story for Notre Damewill be on defense. Sure Michael Floyd coming back is great but the most important piece for their success is Manti Te'o. He is the heart and soul of that roster and the kid is a monster on the field. He is every bit as solid at his position as Floyd and he has a leadership quality to him that pushes him to the forefront for the Irish. Expect this team to be in a BCS Bowl this year.
Really not much else to say here; I think I've gone into why I have little faith in Stanford quite extensively over this summer. As is always the case with our blogpoll you can go ahead and tweet those responses to me and I'll spar with you over the twitter to your little heart's desire.
