Preseason College Football Rankings

Well, college football starts this weekend and I am already salivating just thinking about it. During the football season, I love getting up and watching Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit on College Game Day and then watching the big game(s) of the day. The weather is usually starting to get a bit cooler and there is a certain crispness in the air...like Mother Nature herself is giddy with anticipation of the day's game(s). Even though I love where I live, I do miss the college town feel on game day...the smells, the sounds, the tailgating, the fans, the bands, the anticipation of the game and, of course, the game itself. There really is nothing like the atmosphere of major college football, period.

The past two years, Ohio State has lost in the BCS title game to a more superior SEC team (lost to Florida in 2007 and LSWho? in 2008). Maybe this is the year the Buckeyes can break that trend however the AP thinks the trend will continue as they predict an SEC team, Georgia, will reign supreme over the college football landscape and beat Ohio St. for the championship (Sports Illustrated also agrees with this).

As I've said before, one of the things I generally do is keep my Sports Illustrated issues which detail preseason rankings and for casted results for college football/basketball and pro football/basketball/baseball/hockey. It really is funny, sometimes, to go back and look to see where teams, which had preseason hype, ended up at the end of their respective season. Very few teams end the season where they started out (last season, 7 teams lost when they were ranked #2).

While Georgia is a quintessential SEC team that has loads of talent, speed and strength, I'm a bit hesitant to say they will roll through the SEC undefeated, win the SEC championship and then the BCS title game...that's a pretty tall order. I know LSU didn't escape undefeated last year when they won the national championship but I really do think in order for Georgia end the season #1, they will have to. Oh, and Georgia's road schedule is downright brutal with games at South Carolina, LSU and Auburn (plus the date with Florida). However, Georgia and Florida are the two SEC teams poised to play on January 8, 2009 so whoever wins the Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party will have a leg up on the other to play in the national championship game.

One of my friends, Ryan Singleton (probably the only consistent reader of this, besides my wife), suggested a while back to post the preseason AP poll and then, after the season ends, place the final rankings next to the preseason for comparison. Here are the initial AP rankings for the 2008 season with #1 votes in ():

AP Top 25
1. Georgia (22)
2. Ohio State (21)
3. USC (12)
4. Oklahoma (4)
5. Florida (6)
6. Missouri
7. LSU
8. West Virginia
9. Clemson
10. Auburn
11. Texas
12. Texas Tech
13. Wisconsin
14. Kansas
15. Arizona State
16. Brigham Young
17. Virginia Tech
18. Tennessee
19. South Florida
20. Illinois
21. Oregon
22. Penn State
23. Wake Forest
24. Alabama
25. Pittsburgh

We'll see if Georgia can remain among the elite in college football and if they can do what few other teams have done...go wire to wire through the season ranked #1. I have some doubts weather they can as the SEC has proven year after year to be the ultimate gauntlet. I do predict that if Georgia falters, another SEC team will be there to pick up the ball and run all the way to the national championship game.