If I have a single college put peave about college football its my disdain for preseason polls. It's not really the concept of a preseason poll, it's what results during the college season based on the preseason poll. The preseason poll is the baseline for how moronic pollsters conduct their voting on a week to week basis. A preseason poll is essentially each and every pollsters guess/prediction on who is the best team in the country. Sure we have some semblance of an idea. We know Tebow, McCoy and Bradford are back so we know the three times who vied for the National Championship will be good. We know USC is always good and Ohio State is always good. We know Duke will be bad. But do we really have any idea who the best team is going to be? No, not really. Predictions are what they are, and that is usually wrong.
If we could just understand the preseason poll and take it for what its worth, essentially nothing, than it'd be fine. But when a team comes out of nowhere to dominate the competition the pollsters too often rely on the preseason poll to judge the teams. In week 1 when the winner of Alabama vs. Virginia Tech gets the first big win of the season, but doesn't move ahead of Florida, Texas, or Oklahoma, does it make sense? No not at all. We're just assuming that those three teams are going to be great again this year and assuming that Tech or Bama aren't as good as them. Yet, after week 1 pollsters will have nothing to go on. Until Texas, Oklahoma or Florida loses they will in all likelyhood remain at the top of the polls for potentially no reason other than their 2008 season. Why? Because of the preseason polls and the morons that send it ballots.
In reality the only poll that should mean anything is the final one. The polls are just here to give "guidance" and a talking point to fans. It would just be nice if the pollsters could treat them as completely fluid and not bog down their voting with preconceived notions of the talents of teams before they ever step on the field.
With that Being Said, As a Member of the Blogpoll, I will Reluctantly Be Putting Out a Preseason Poll in the Coming Weeks
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