Garnet and Cocky’s Top 25
Many people don’t like the idea of a preseason top 25 poll. Some don’t even want one until conference play is underway. I’m in between, but here at FanSided, we put a top 25 out every week, and the one thing I hate more than anything about top 25 polls is bias and secrecy. So, since those two things leave a certain level of distaste in my mouth after reading them, here is my top 25 ballot and some short reasoning behind my picks. Also, keep in mind that I did not do a preseason poll, so some teams that won this weekend will be ranked lower than their preseason rankings in the Coaches and AP polls.
25. Florida For most of their matchup with Bowling Green, viewers might have thought Urban Meyer went back to coach the Falcons instead of the Buckeyes. The Gators passing game isn’t too good right now.
24. BYU They looked impressive against a team in Washington State that was supposed to be the impressive one. Their defense is either really good, or Mike Leach’s offense really has a long way to go.
23. Stanford Last year they beat San Jose State 57-3. This year? 20-17. It’s the Andrew-Luck-is-gone syndrome, I guess.
22. TCU They’re one of the few teams that didn’t have a game in week one, so it’s hard to judge them off this year.
21. Tennessee NC State was a hot pick before the Vols rolled them over in Atlanta. Tyler Bray looks like the real deal.
20. Kansas State Last year might not be a fluke. After a shaky start, this offense proved it can still put up points.
19. Ohio State Their offense sure looked good against Miami (Ohio). But it won’t really get tested until late Sept. when they play Michigan State. UCF’s offense will provide a tough challenge for Meyer’s defense next week, though.
18. Oklahoma State Running the score up or not, they will be fun to watch. Again.
17. Texas I’m not sold on this team this year. They didn’t look impressive against Wyoming, even though the final score was lopsided.
16. Nebraska Despite his horrible throwing motion, Taylor Martinez looked like a Heisman candidate in week one.
15. Michigan Yeah, they looked awful, but they played Alabama. The Tide will make a lot of teams look awful this year, and I bet Michigan will, too, by the end of the year.
14. Virginia Tech They gutted out a win after almost having one gutted from them with 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter. If history tells us anything it’s that VT will be back in the ACC Championship game after besting GT for the third year in a row.
13. Clemson Collectively they did not look good against Auburn. Individually, Taj Boyd, Andre Ellington, and DeAndre Hopkins looked spectacular.
12. Wisconsin Talk about a scare. If it wasn’t for Monte Ball, Wisconsin might not be ranked coming out of the first week of the season.
11. Michigan State That game against Boise State was one of the best of the weekend. Michigan State looked good fighting the Broncos off.
10. Arkansas Another impressive score from week one that accompanied a less-than-impressive performance. Arkansas passing game looks solid, but they let Jacksonville State hang around for a while and put up some points early on.
9. West Virginia They almost scored 70 points for the second game in a row (dating back to last years hilarious and embarrassing beat-down of Clemson). The Mountaineers might be the best team in the Big 12.
8. Florida State They do this to us every year. Start in or a round the top ten and then come no where close to sniffing it at the end of the year. With one of the best D Lines in the country, that might change this season.
7. Georgia They have the easiest schedule an SEC team could have. It’s the only reason they’re ranked above SC in many polls, despite the fact that Carolina has beat them two years in a row and plays them at home this season. Georgia might win the SEC East again, but, like last year, not because they were better than the Gamecocks
6. South Carolina The only other ranked team besides Virginia Tech to open the season against an in-conference in-division foe. South Carolina did it on the road and paid the price. Connor Shaw might not play against ECU this weekend and the Gamecocks might not be able to get their passing game going with him out.
5. Oklahoma I’m going to be honest. I don’t know how good UTEP is. I’ll be honest again. Oklahoma should be able to score more than 24 points on them.
4. Oregon The Ducks looked good – on the field and in uniform. The Pac 12 is pretty watered down this season, so they should run through their schedule until early Nov. when Southern Cal shows up.
3. Southern Cal Not because of anything they did as recently as this past weekend, but because Alabama and LSU were better last year, and they didn’t get worse this year.
2. LSU They looked scary good this weekend. Then again, most SEC teams would against North Texas. I’m Actually surprised they allowed them to score two touchdowns.
1. Alabama If there was a more impressive performance during week one I’d like you to tell me what it was. Once you did, I’d call you a big fat liar.