Kickoff Zone College Football Blog

As I alluded to in my previous post, the polls are starting to be released.  Here is roughly 1/3 of the BCS Forumula, otherwise known as the USA Today/Coaches Poll for the 2010 preseason:

2010 preseason poll August 6:

1. Alabama

2. Ohio State

3. Florida

4. Texas

5. Boise State

6. Virginia Tech

7. TCU

8. Oklahoma

9. Nebraska

10. Iowa

11. Oregon

12. Wisconsin

13. Miami (FL)

14. Penn State

15. Pittsburgh

16. LSU

17. Georgia Tech

18. North Carolina

19. Arkansas

20. Florida State

21. Georgia

22. Oregon State

23. Auburn

24 (tie). Utah

24 (tie). West Virginia

Others receiving votesCincinnati (12-1) 135; Houston (10-4) 76; Brigham Young (11-2) 66; Arizona (8-5) 65; Mississippi (9-4) 48; Clemson (9-5) 44; Stanford (8-5) 41; Connecticut (8-5) 40; Notre Dame (6-6) 38; South Carolina (7-6) 38; Washington (5-7) 26; Missouri (8-5) 23; Navy (10-4) 12; Oklahoma State (9-4) 11; Boston College (8-5) 10; Michigan State (6-7) 10; Arizona State (4-8) 6; California (8-5) 6; Texas Tech (9-4) 5; South Florida (8-5) 4; Texas A&M (6-7) 3; Northwestern (8-5) 2; Temple (9-4) 2; Central Michigan (12-2) 1; Mississippi State (5-7) 1; Nevada (8-5) 1; Northern Illinois (7-6) 1; Southern Methodist (8-5) 1.

The USA TODAY Board of Coaches is made up of 59 head coaches at Division I-A institutions. All are members of the American Football Coaches Association. The board for the 2010 season: Robb Akey, Idaho; David Bailiff, Rice; Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech; Tim Beckman, Toledo; Todd Berry, Louisiana-Monroe; Bret Bielema, Wisconsin; Art Briles, Baylor; Dave Christensen, Wyoming; David Cutcliffe, Duke; Mark Dantonio, Michigan State; Todd Dodge, North Texas; Sonny Dykes, Louisiana Tech; Dan Enos, Central Michigan; Steve Fairchild, Colorado State; Larry Fedora, Southern Miss; Jimbo Fisher, Florida State; Al Golden, Temple; Jim Grobe, Wake Forest; Jim Harbaugh, Stanford; Mike Haywood, Miami (Ohio); Butch Jones, Cincinnati; Brian Kelly, Notre Dame; Jerry Kill, Northern Illinois; Mike Locksley, New Mexico; Mike London, Virginia; Bill Lynch, Indiana; Mike MacIntyre, San Jose State; Doug Marrone, Syracuse; Urban Meyer, Florida; Dan Mullen, Mississippi State; Ken Niumatalolo, Navy; Tom O’Brien, North Carolina State; George O’Leary, Central Florida; Bo Pelini, Nebraska; Chris Petersen, Boise State; Bobby Petrino, Arkansas; Gary Pinkel, Missouri; Larry Porter, Memphis; Jeff Quinn, Buffalo; Paul Rhoads, Iowa State; Mark Richt, Georgia; Mike Riley, Oregon State; Rich Rodriguez, Michigan; Nick Saban, Alabama; Steve Sarkisian, Washington; Greg Schiano, Rutgers; Howard Schnellenberger, Florida Atlantic; Mike Sherman, Texas A&M; Steve Spurrier, South Carolina; Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee; Mike Stoops, Arizona; Charlie Strong, Louisville; Kevin Sumlin, Houston; Bob Toledo, Tulane; Jim Tressel, Ohio State; Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech; Kyle Whittingham, Utah; Paul Wulff, Washington State; Ron Zook, Illinois.

Because it is serving an NCAA-imposed bowl ban, Southern California is not eligible to receive votes this season under AFCA policy.

Tags: Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 10 Conference, Big XII Conference, College Football, College Football Picks, College Football Power Rankings, Conference USA, Mountain West Conference, NCAA, Preseason College Football Rankings, Preseason Prognostications, Schedule, Southeastern Conference, Top 25, bcs, big east, odds, pac 10 by Tommy
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Many in the press have stated that the Alabama Crimson Tide will likely start the season as the #1 ranked team in the nation, while others have noted that preseason polls mean very little in the long run in terms of on-the-field play, while having too much influence on the final outcome of determining who will play for the BCS National Championship.

I tend to agree with both points.  While I think that preseason polls have too much influence on the BCS system, they do give you a snapshot of where things stand at any given particular moment.

I also think that Alabama should be the top ranked team heading into the season, but that does not necessarily mean that I believe they will repeat.  As the defending national champions, they should be ranked number one until somebody knocks them off of their perch.

The Kickoff, my employer, provides subscribers with a weekly power ranking system during the college football season.  We put a lot of time and effort into the process of bringing you the most accurate ratings system in college football.  That doesn’t mean that the preseason top ranked team is necessarily my pick to win the BCS title.  It’s a snapshot of where things stand at this particular moment.  As of right now, Alabama is the best team in the nation.  That doesn’t mean that they will be the best team in the nation in January, but until someone knocks them off, they have to be considered the #1 ranked team.  A power ranking system, like the one we use, gives a weekly indicator of how well a team is playing at that moment, but is no more an indicator of where they will be ranked in January than the Vegas oddsmakers.  The difference is that a power ranking system does not pretend to have any insider knowledge, nor is it putting any money on a team to make it through the season unscathed.

Tags: Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 10 Conference, College Football, College Football Power Rankings, NCAA, Preseason College Football Rankings, Preseason Prognostications, Rankings, Schedule, Southeastern Conference, Top 25, University of Alabama, bcs, big east, odds, recap by Tommy
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Today, we have reached our #1 preseason Heisman Trophy Candidate…

Drum Roll Please…

Heisman Trophy Contender #1:

Dion Lewis- RB, Pittsburgh

2009 Stats: 325 attempts, 1799 yards, 5.5 ypc, 17 TD,  138.4 yards per game

Ladies and gentlemen, Dion Lewis entered the 2009 season as a lightly recruited and unheralded 2 star recruit, and ended it as the most decorated freshman football player in the nation.  In this writer’s opinion, he is also the best overall player in college football today.  To quote former Pitt great and the 1976 Heisman Trophy Winner Tony Dorsett, “He has what I call the `Wow!’ effect. When he comes through those big defensive linemen and he’s still running, it’s like, Wow!”…

As a freshman, Lewis was basically unstoppable.  He was the first player since Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick in 1999 to earn Big East Offensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors in the same season.  He was named the National Freshman of the Year by the Sporting News, CBS Sports, and College Football News online.  He was named 2nd team All America by the Associated Press, SI.com, Sporting News, CBSSports.com, CollegeFootballNews.com, Rivals.com, Scout.com and Phil Steele.  He was also a unanimous Freshman All American pick. 

All Lewis needs to be included in the the final choices for the Heisman Trophy is to stay healthy and for the Pittsburgh Panthers to keep winning.  If those two things happen, then he will be a lock for the Heisman ceremony because he will put up Heisman-type numbers, and he is a good pick to win it.  There are a lot of great players in college football, but Dion Lewis is a truly special talent to watch.

Tags: College Football Picks, Dion Lewis, Heisman Watch, NCAA, Preseason College Football Rankings, Preseason Prognostications, Top 25, University of Pittsburgh, bcs, big east, recap by Tommy
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