USA Today Top 25

[Snaggletiger]

Here ya' go Jumbo.  Not a whole lot of difference that I've seen in most of the polls.  UF is the consensus top pick with the usual suspects right behind them.  SEC gettin' the love with 4 top 10 picks and UGA just out of the top 10.  Someone will drop there because the Dawgs open with #11 OSU, which is a lot of people's darkhorse pick to make some serious noise.

Notre Dame sneaks in with their powerful 7-6 campaign from last year. 

Discuss....

Rank  Team (first-place votes) 2008 record Points  Final 2008 rank
1. Florida (53)  13-1 1,466 1
2. Texas (4)  12-1 1,386 3
3. Oklahoma (1)  12-2 1,358 5
4. Southern California (1) 12-1 1,321 2
5. Alabama 12-2 1,134 6
6. Ohio State 10-3 1,126 11
7. Virginia Tech  10-4 1,020 14
8. Penn State  11-2 988 8
9. LSU 8-5 917 NR
10. Mississippi 9-4 889 15
11. Oklahoma State 9-4 861 18
12. California 9-4 711 25
13. Georgia 10-3 707 10
14. Oregon 10-3 694 9
15. Georgia Tech 9-4 559 22
16. Boise State 12-1 542 13
17. TCU 11-2 461 7
18. Utah 13-0 404 4
19. Florida State 9-4 371 23
20. North Carolina 8-5 293 NR
21. Iowa 9-4 257 20
22. Nebraska 9-4 236 NR
23. Notre Dame 7-6 194 NR
24. Brigham Young 10-3 178 21
25. Oregon State 9-4 165 19

[Jumbo]

Thanks Steve! Lsu's ranking seems high?

[Snaggletiger]

Thanks Steve! Lsu's ranking seems high?

You know, I've thought that too after last year.  On one hand, you have to believe their season was somewhat of a fluke.  They're coming off a MNC year and as always, at the top of the heap in recruiting.  They've been stockpiling athletes for years and you know they're loaded again.

However, most seem to point the finger at instability at the QB position.  If you think about it, other than J. Russell, LSU seems to always get by with a QB that just doesn't beat them, nothing too flashy.  Last year seemed to be far more than just QB problems.  They couldn't stop anybody either.

I have a feeling a lot of it has to do with the momentum after swatting the Yellow Jackets in a bowl.  I will say this will probably be a year where Les Miles either quiets all the naysayers or places his fat ass firmly on the hot seat.  He's got his players and program in place and it's time to show what he is really all about. 

[AUTailgatingRules]

Will Bama fall fast? Playing #7 VT could be a much tougher opener than Clemson

[ggraf71]

Will Bama fall fast? Playing #7 VT could be a much tougher opener than Clemson

Hope so, but I don't wanna jinx it like last year.

[AUTiger1]

I have no clue, that 's why they play the game and on any given Saturday in the SEC it can get weird......but.....it wouldn't shock me to see LSU win the west this year.  Then again it wouldn't shock me to see them have another year like they did last year.  They are a hard team to figure out. 

Now, to the rankings.  I still wish they would at least wait until the 3rd or 4th week to release them, but I think they are pretty fair.  There are a couple I think are a little higher than I would put them, but all in all it seems fair.   I don't think that ND should be in the top 25 and I figure that this will be "little tuna's" last year in South Bend.  Just my $.02.

[AWK]

Ole Miss at #10 is the most accurate poll I have seen thus far.

[RWS]

Will Bama fall fast? Playing #7 VT could be a much tougher opener than Clemson

I don't think it will be an epic beatdown of Clemson proportions, but I think we will win. If you actually take an in-depth look at their OL, it isn't much different from Clemson's lineup last season.

LT - (SR) 2nd year starter, but is a former TE that was converted to RT. Then, he was moved to LT. This will be his second year ever playing LT.

LG - (SR) 3rd year starter and pretty good OL, 2nd Team All-ACC. He has never played LG before, but was RG last season. There should not be that much adjustment with an interior lineman, but again they are pretty fucked if he gets hurt.

C - (JR) Lifetime backup. Also, he is 6'3 277 lbs. Terrence Cody is 6'5" and 354 lbs. I wonder how thats going to work out...

RG - (SO) 1 career start.

RT - (SO) Started 11 games last year as a true freshman, but struggled. He split reps in the spring with another RT, so nobody really knows who the #1 RT will be.

The defensive game plan will work the same both ways. If they are smart, they will blitz the piss out of us until it just isn't going to work. Both OLs are sort of unknown and each defense will test that. I think our front 7 gives us an advantage. I think our target should be the right side of their line, obviously. With Don'ta Hightower sliding to the outside as a JACK this season, our pass rush is going to get WAY better. We slid him out on the fly in the Utah game and it worked out pretty well. He has only become more of a beast over the offseason. Improving pass rush was a huge priority over the off season and I think we have accomplished that task.

Their QB isn't all that terrifying either. His best career game was last season against Virginia. He was 12/18, 137 yds, 1 TD. In 2008 he threw for 1,036 yards, 2 TD, 7 INT. VT's rushing offense was ranked 35th, averaging 174 ypg. Their passing offense was ranked 111th, total offense 103rd, passing efficiency 99th, and scoring offense 90th. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to throw a little more than that at our defense to put up alot of points on us. Their defense was pretty good last season, but they are losing 5 starters from that squad.

[War Eagle!!!]

blah....blah....blah...another 4 paragraphs of why ALabam will be good...blah...blah...blah...

Dude...we don't give a fuck...

[RWS]

Dude...we don't give a fuck...

Until we see how McElroy and the OL turns out, I don't really know if we will be good or not. I would like to think it will turn out OK and we will have a decent season with a bowl game. But I'm not sitting here saying we're going to have a 2008-like season. And apparently SOME folks here do give a fuck, otherwise the VT game would not have been mentioned.

[War Eagle!!!]

Until we see how McElroy and the OL turns out, I don't really know if we will be good or not. I would like to think it will turn out OK and we will have a decent season with a bowl game. But I'm not sitting here saying we're going to have a 2008-like season. And apparently SOME folks here do give a fuck, otherwise the VT game would not have been mentioned.

I give a fuck that VT beats Alabama's ass...I just don't give a fuck about your diatribe on why they shouldn't...

[boartitz]

Ole Miss at #10 is the most accurate poll I have seen thus far.

They won't be that high at the end of the season.

[Townhallsavoy]

Ole Miss at #10 is the most accurate poll I have seen thus far.

Highly disagree.  They'll be just like last year - very competitive, but not world beaters.

Jevon Snead is a great QB, and that's about all Ole Miss has.  Michael Oher is gone, and that'll about do it for the Ole Miss Rebels.

[War Eagle!!!]

Highly disagree.  They'll be just like last year - very competitive, but not world beaters.

Jevon Snead is a great QB, and that's about all Ole Miss has.  Michael Oher is gone, and that'll about do it for the Ole Miss Rebels.

Who is Michael Oher?

[boartitz]

No way that 3 teams from the SEC west can be top 10. Somebody has to lose.

[Snaggletiger]

If Ole Miss is truly worthy of a top 10-15 ranking, they have the schedule to make it happen.  They SHOULD be 4-0 when Bama comes to town.  They should be favored in every game until the end of the season when UT and LSU come to Oxford.  They have arguably the easiest schedule in the SEC this year.  

One guy that I wound up having to give props by the end of the season was McCluster (sp?) The little guy is a fucking playmaker and he did it all season.  I'm not sold on them either but then, I'm not sold on the SEC being as strong overall as in years past.  Legit returning QB's are Tebow and Snead.  After that...?

[Townhallsavoy]

Who is Michael Oher?

Their now-1st-round-selection left tackle.  Somehow Andre Smith was picked ahead of him, but the kid was a workhorse that rarely comes to your school. 

I like Ole Miss, and I think they'll be pretty good this year.  But no way, no how do they duplicate the success they had last year.  Pretty much, they return a great QB and a speedy Percy Harvin-type player in McCluster, but other than that, they really are average. 

[Ogre]

Who is Michael Oher?

I know where you were going here, and I like it.