blog poll ballot #1...
BLOGPOLL TOP 25
If this causes less retrospective embarassment than going on record as saying "Echoes" the best CD in a year that produced "Transatlanticism," "The Meadowlands," "Boy In The Corner," "Michigan," "Chutes Too Narrow," "You Forgot It In People," "It Still Moves," "Permission To Land," heck...even "Speakerboxxx," I'll be happy. God, The Rapture still sucks. Because I'm lazy, I'm stealing Joey's intro...
Started by interweb legend Brian of the consistently incredible mgoblog, the Blog Poll was an inspired idea, and now, it's finally upon us. You thought that we were writing all those diatribes to pass the time? Fall back, dun. This shit is serious.
So below, please find my inaugural Blog Poll ballot. I'll be composing one each week during the season. And before we get to it, I'd just make a few points:
1) Fuck the schedules. I am not ranking who has the easiest road to Pasadena, so don't respond with shit like "How can you have Purdue so low?! It doesn't play Michigan or The Idiots and Inmates University of Ballot Impropriety."
2) Fuck last year. I don't think that polling is a continuum with continuity from year to year. Auburn didn't lose last year and finished ranked second, you say? Great. How did it do in the draft? Oh, it lost its entire starting backfield, you say? Well, that's why it's not in the top five. Show me something.
3) Fuck the rosters. Well, not fully. Talent is an important component in the formula for success in college football, but so are coaching, preparation, and intangibles like emotion, confidence, and experience. Michigan might have as much talent as any team not from L.A. (not so fast, UCLA), or maybe Baton Rouge, but it also has Lloyd Carr and a defensive coordinator still trying to stop that Chunky Soup guy from Syracuse. That matters when a nighttime road opener presents a team with oh so many of the usual excuses for a loss. So please, none of those "Suchandsuchteam has such better personnel than soandsoteam." That might be true, but recruiting rankings don't guarantee wins. Nor are retroactive national titles awarded after each spring's NFL draft.
Instead, I am just trying to answer one question: Head to head and playing on Jupiter in a stadium simulating Earth conditions, who wins?
1. USC
- Um, the one not coached by Steve Spurrier.
2. Michigan
- Look, most of the college football blogs I read right now are written by people who have some sort of tangential relation to UM. And other than USC, I like them over any other team you'd put them on the field against. That being said, I don't think they finish here.
3. Texas
- I think they beat OU this year, but they aren't going undefeated. Baylor? Any thoughts?
4. Miami
- Getting rid of Brock Berlin can't be a bad thing. I think there's a serious "run the table" threat here. As opposed to the "Run The Road" threat, which makes seemingly educated bloggers think that any grime MC not named "Dizzee" is worth listening to. For real, where was S.A.S.?
5. Tennessee
- The SEC will once again not be represented in the National Championship game, as LSU/UT/UF/UGA will engage in a round robin war of attrition that will confuse the hell out Terry Bowden for months to come.
6. LSU
- I think Urban's got a higher ceiling than Les, but UF loses in the Death Valley, so named because it strikes me as the stadium I'd most likely lose my life in.
7. Florida
- Death Cab plays Atlanta on October 29th. UF plays UGA on October 29th. Will likely be one of the more tearful days for Georgians in recent memory.
8. Louisville
- The threat is real.
9. Oklahoma
- Is Jason White the first guy ever to win a title and be a Ewing Theory candidate at the same time?
10. Purdue
- See #8, and fuck a scheduling quirk. Maybe they'll finally get their rapper comparison.
11. Ohio State
- Okay, so are they gonna nickname Troy Smith "Juice" already? Think about it for a second.
12. Florida State
- Hate on, playa. You put these guys in Virginia Tech's uniforms, and they're a preseason Top 5.
13. Georgia
- Solid stable of RB's. Mobile, experienced QB becomes The Man. Potentially freakish TE. Sort of like UVA's 2004 offense, only with 5-star recruits. Oh, and by the way...you've noticed by now a certain team that plays on blue turf was not in the Top 12. Or the Top 25. Go 'head...take a peek.
14. Virginia Tech
- No, it hasn't been that long since VT was perpetually one stupid Big East loss away from ending their season in a tailspin.
15. Auburn
- A cheap comparison to be sure, but they're looking at a "less than the sum of its parts" three-loss season like LSU last year.
16. Cal
- Something about a pissed-off, disrespected Cal team seems so appealing at this juncture.
17. Iowa
- Nice story and all, but you find me the DL's who are stopping Mike Hart and (possibly) Maurice Wells. Then we'll talk Top-5.
18. Texas Tech
- Ah, Kansas...this could've been your program if only you discovered the joys of the forward pass in the Big XII first.
19. Alabama
- Call 'em the Crimsn TiDe. You'll figure it out.
20. Minnesota
- If the Gopher fanbase doesn't embrace a certain Bobby Brown classic that I shouldn't have to name, they lose any "playing home games in the Metrodome" sympathy I have for them.
21. Virginia
- Blogpoll #5...patience.
22. Fresno State
- 'Cause if there was a rematch, we'd care this time.
23. North Carolina State
- Most disgusting D since Telly from "Kids."
24. Pittsburgh
- Not convinced that Dave Wannstedt is the guy you hire to avoid another late-season collapse, but I'll take a flyer on these guys, because any team that shames Penn State is OK by me.
25. Oregon
- Sorry, ASU fans...wrong sleeper Pac-10 team.
If this causes less retrospective embarassment than going on record as saying "Echoes" the best CD in a year that produced "Transatlanticism," "The Meadowlands," "Boy In The Corner," "Michigan," "Chutes Too Narrow," "You Forgot It In People," "It Still Moves," "Permission To Land," heck...even "Speakerboxxx," I'll be happy. God, The Rapture still sucks. Because I'm lazy, I'm stealing Joey's intro...
Started by interweb legend Brian of the consistently incredible mgoblog, the Blog Poll was an inspired idea, and now, it's finally upon us. You thought that we were writing all those diatribes to pass the time? Fall back, dun. This shit is serious.
So below, please find my inaugural Blog Poll ballot. I'll be composing one each week during the season. And before we get to it, I'd just make a few points:
1) Fuck the schedules. I am not ranking who has the easiest road to Pasadena, so don't respond with shit like "How can you have Purdue so low?! It doesn't play Michigan or The Idiots and Inmates University of Ballot Impropriety."
2) Fuck last year. I don't think that polling is a continuum with continuity from year to year. Auburn didn't lose last year and finished ranked second, you say? Great. How did it do in the draft? Oh, it lost its entire starting backfield, you say? Well, that's why it's not in the top five. Show me something.
3) Fuck the rosters. Well, not fully. Talent is an important component in the formula for success in college football, but so are coaching, preparation, and intangibles like emotion, confidence, and experience. Michigan might have as much talent as any team not from L.A. (not so fast, UCLA), or maybe Baton Rouge, but it also has Lloyd Carr and a defensive coordinator still trying to stop that Chunky Soup guy from Syracuse. That matters when a nighttime road opener presents a team with oh so many of the usual excuses for a loss. So please, none of those "Suchandsuchteam has such better personnel than soandsoteam." That might be true, but recruiting rankings don't guarantee wins. Nor are retroactive national titles awarded after each spring's NFL draft.
Instead, I am just trying to answer one question: Head to head and playing on Jupiter in a stadium simulating Earth conditions, who wins?
1. USC
- Um, the one not coached by Steve Spurrier.
2. Michigan
- Look, most of the college football blogs I read right now are written by people who have some sort of tangential relation to UM. And other than USC, I like them over any other team you'd put them on the field against. That being said, I don't think they finish here.
3. Texas
- I think they beat OU this year, but they aren't going undefeated. Baylor? Any thoughts?
4. Miami
- Getting rid of Brock Berlin can't be a bad thing. I think there's a serious "run the table" threat here. As opposed to the "Run The Road" threat, which makes seemingly educated bloggers think that any grime MC not named "Dizzee" is worth listening to. For real, where was S.A.S.?
5. Tennessee
- The SEC will once again not be represented in the National Championship game, as LSU/UT/UF/UGA will engage in a round robin war of attrition that will confuse the hell out Terry Bowden for months to come.
6. LSU
- I think Urban's got a higher ceiling than Les, but UF loses in the Death Valley, so named because it strikes me as the stadium I'd most likely lose my life in.
7. Florida
- Death Cab plays Atlanta on October 29th. UF plays UGA on October 29th. Will likely be one of the more tearful days for Georgians in recent memory.
8. Louisville
- The threat is real.
9. Oklahoma
- Is Jason White the first guy ever to win a title and be a Ewing Theory candidate at the same time?
10. Purdue
- See #8, and fuck a scheduling quirk. Maybe they'll finally get their rapper comparison.
11. Ohio State
- Okay, so are they gonna nickname Troy Smith "Juice" already? Think about it for a second.
12. Florida State
- Hate on, playa. You put these guys in Virginia Tech's uniforms, and they're a preseason Top 5.
13. Georgia
- Solid stable of RB's. Mobile, experienced QB becomes The Man. Potentially freakish TE. Sort of like UVA's 2004 offense, only with 5-star recruits. Oh, and by the way...you've noticed by now a certain team that plays on blue turf was not in the Top 12. Or the Top 25. Go 'head...take a peek.
14. Virginia Tech
- No, it hasn't been that long since VT was perpetually one stupid Big East loss away from ending their season in a tailspin.
15. Auburn
- A cheap comparison to be sure, but they're looking at a "less than the sum of its parts" three-loss season like LSU last year.
16. Cal
- Something about a pissed-off, disrespected Cal team seems so appealing at this juncture.
17. Iowa
- Nice story and all, but you find me the DL's who are stopping Mike Hart and (possibly) Maurice Wells. Then we'll talk Top-5.
18. Texas Tech
- Ah, Kansas...this could've been your program if only you discovered the joys of the forward pass in the Big XII first.
19. Alabama
- Call 'em the Crimsn TiDe. You'll figure it out.
20. Minnesota
- If the Gopher fanbase doesn't embrace a certain Bobby Brown classic that I shouldn't have to name, they lose any "playing home games in the Metrodome" sympathy I have for them.
21. Virginia
- Blogpoll #5...patience.
22. Fresno State
- 'Cause if there was a rematch, we'd care this time.
23. North Carolina State
- Most disgusting D since Telly from "Kids."
24. Pittsburgh
- Not convinced that Dave Wannstedt is the guy you hire to avoid another late-season collapse, but I'll take a flyer on these guys, because any team that shames Penn State is OK by me.
25. Oregon
- Sorry, ASU fans...wrong sleeper Pac-10 team.
posted by Ian at 7:24 PM
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