The Rocky Top Talk Preseason BlogPoll Ballot

by David Hooper on Aug 23, 2009 2:00 PM EDT

After last week's discussion, I have finalized my list for the Blogpoll ballot. Without further adieu...

Rank	Team

1	Florida
2	Southern Cal
3	Texas
4	Oklahoma
5	Alabama
6	Penn State
7	Ohio State
8	LSU
9	California
10	Mississippi
11	Virginia Tech
12	Oklahoma State
13	Oregon
14	Georgia Tech
15	Georgia
16	TCU
17	Brigham Young
18	Boise State
19	North Carolina
20	Florida State
21	Utah
22	Nebraska
23	Iowa
24	Oregon State
25	Kansas

Quick Notes:

Alabama through LSU Flip a coin, and I'd be happy with these four in any order.
Cal and Ole Miss After having my jitters confirmed by others, I moved Cal ahead of Ole Miss.
Georgia Tech and Georgia No, it's not because the Bulldogs are rivals. Tech played toe-to-toe with UGA last year in Johnson's first year with what most people consider to be lesser talent. Georgia will be a little wiser to the offense this time around, but the talent gap is closing and the system will be more fluid with the added year of practice. The latter weighs more strongly in my mind.
Kansas The argument about Todd Reesing won me over. The kid has been everything KU could have hoped for. There's no reason to count him out against anybody. Top 25 it is.
Notre Dame Comments helped here as well. I had them at #25 initially, simply because the players were a year older. But we still don't know that Charlie Weis can coach effectively at the college level, which doesn't leave much reason to believe in them.
Duke I actually considered putting the Duke Blue Devils at #25. Brian Cook would have incurred a brain hemorrhage over it, but that would have made Alabama fans happy, so no dice.

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Comments

without further 'ado'

‘adieu’ means ‘goodbye’

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/without+further+ado’

by memphispete on Aug 23, 2009 4:53 PM EDT reply actions

I know.

;-)

by David Hooper on Aug 23, 2009 4:58 PM EDT up reply actions

than pardon the Google-slap & let the others who didn't know be informed ;)

by memphispete on Aug 23, 2009 5:03 PM EDT up reply actions

thEn, i mean....ugh, this Hooper's Disease is getting old. Is there no cure? First football game?!

by memphispete on Aug 23, 2009 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions

I should have made it obvious.

It’s a bit of a running gag from my past.

by David Hooper on Aug 23, 2009 5:10 PM EDT up reply actions

I would not want to play Georgia Tech

I may be proven wrong later, but I think Johnson was the best hire for any program the past two or three years at least.

"Florida didnt win their first SEC title until 1991 and now they think they invented football."
-Ron Zook

by rustytanton on Aug 23, 2009 6:43 PM EDT reply actions

not including UT? :-D

But seriously, I do agree. As impressive as he was with Navy’s talent, it’s still a little strange how it felt like a risky hire because of his offensive system.

by David Hooper on Aug 23, 2009 6:59 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm just not as convinced as everyone else

despite all USC’s talent they are still depending on true freshmen to helm their ship. Freshman can be successful (ie. Eric Ainge in ’04 I think) but to put them above McCoy with Texas and Bradford with Oklahoma seems like a leap in faith to me. Other than that the list looks good. Interesting seeing Nebraska back up there and non-traditionals like TCU and Boise State making recurring appearances. Parity.

"It's static noise. You can't hear anything. You go up and down the line, your wide receivers, your running backs, your tight ends, nobody can hear. Nobody."
- Cal QB Nate Longshore commenting on playing in Neyland Stadium