CBS Sports Preseason Poll

[AlaskaGuy]

CBS Sports 130: Alabama tops preseason college football rankings of every FBS team

 

[AlaskaGuy]

Inside College Football: The season of 'more' and why preseason polls do matter

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Bold prediction - Penn State ends up with at least 2 losses in the regular season.

 

[AlaskaGuy]

Bold prediction - Penn State ends up with at least 2 losses in the regular season.

10 - 2 is solid.

 

[Deep Creek]

Well now, these put things in perspective.

"Nick Saban's latest bonus alone is larger than the annual budget of 181 Division I athletic departments."

Clemson has enough money for "sleep coaches," while Hawaii has a $15 million athletic budget deficit.

Phillips' statement reconfirms the existence of that divide. If you live in the right neighborhood, college football is resembling HGTV on steroids. Any project is possible with administrators spending like drunken sailors.

Why preseason polls matter

• Since the playoff debuted in 2014, the first CFP Rankings and the AP Top 25 that week have agreed on 72 of the 75 combined teams in the top 25.
  
• Each year since 2014, the first CFP Rankings have agreed with AP Top 25 that corresponding week on nine of the top 10 teams. That included the top two in 2014: 1. Mississippi State and No. 2 Florida State.
  
• In last year's Nov. 1 CFP debut, it and the AP Top 25 agreed on the exact ranking of six teams.

• Without the preseason polls, we wouldn't know that USC has started in the top five in the rankings in the AP Top 25 five times since 2004. Only once (2012) did it not finish there.
  
• Utah's Kyle Whittingham received a $15,000 bonus for starting the season ranked in the Coaches' Poll. Would he have not signed that contract if the school insisted on bonuses paid only after games are played?
  
• The end of the Big 12? Half the league (five teams) showed up in the preseason Coaches' Poll. No other league had half its teams in the top 25.

 

[NolePride]

There is no way UMASS is the worst team in the country.

 

[Deep Creek]

There is no way UMASS is the worst team in the country.

Maybe not. But we ain't giving that spot up without a fight!

 

[AlaskaGuy]

SI Reveals College Football Preseason Top 25

 

[AlaskaGuy]

Alabama and USC have the highest odds to win the College Football Playoff

 

[mcnabb7542]

So let me see if I get this straight:

SC 10-3 @ #4

UW 12-2 @ #7 ?????????????

 

[ericd7633]

SI Reveals College Football Preseason Top 25

Playoff according to SI:

#1. Alabama vs. #4. Oklahoma State
#2. Florida State vs. #3 Ohio State

 

[ericd7633]

So let me see if I get this straight:

SC 10-3 @ #4

UW 12-2 @ #7 ?????????????

^ 2016 record.

 

[mcnabb7542]

^ 2016 record.

Oh........

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

10 - 2 is solid.

But not as good as their pre-season rankings and hype have them finishing. People like to mention their offense against USC in the bowl game but their defense gave up 30+ points in 5 of their 14 games last year. Unless I'm missing something, every team with a pulse basically scored 30+ on them except OSU. They basically survived last year by winning shootouts.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

So let me see if I get this straight:

SC 10-3 @ #4

UW 12-2 @ #7 ?????????????

Returning talent does impact the ranking, but I've said all along USC was ranked way too high.

 

[mcnabb7542]

Returning talent does impact the ranking, but I've said all along USC was ranked way too high.

You know Maize I always thought you're an intelligent poster, I don't give shet what the tOSU poster's say...

 

[ericd7633]

But not as good as their pre-season rankings and hype have them finishing. People like to mention their offense against USC in the bowl game but their defense gave up 30+ points in 5 of their 14 games last year. Unless I'm missing something, every team with a pulse basically scored 30+ on them except OSU. They basically survived last year by winning shootouts.

If they go 10-2, they're going to enter bowl season in the top 8 more than likely. Which would put them a couple spots behind where they currently are as far as a consensus.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

If they go 10-2, they're going to enter bowl season in the top 8 more than likely. Which would put them a couple spots behind where they currently are as far as a consensus.

I only think they're going 10-2 because they don't play anyone. They play basically Michigan and Ohio State. And 2 of their 3 hardest games (OSU, UM, Neb) are at home.

 

[ericd7633]

I only think they're going 10-2 because they don't play anyone. They play basically Michigan and Ohio State. And 2 of their 3 hardest games (OSU, UM, Neb) are at home.

That's fine, but I haven't seen any major publications indicate them as a top 4 team, so I'm not sure why you're suggesting they are getting all this hype. They finish 10-2, they're going to finish between #5 and #8/9 in the rankings which is about where they're pegged to finish.

 

[scuttlebutt]

Maybe not. But we ain't giving that spot up without a fight!

Can't wait for the pre-season "Bottom 25".