Let me get this straight. A group of coaches voted for the USA Today preseason poll earlier this summer. Then a group of sportswriters, choosing from the same scores of possible college football programs, voted on their own preseason top 25. And the two polls came out virtually the same. How is that possible?
Up top I can understand because certain teams get a great deal more hype--and, well, talented players, than others. Agreeing on Alabama as the top team in the nation is no cause for alarm. Ditto Ohio state at 2 and even Oregon, Stanford and Georgia at teams 3-5. I personally would have it Stanford, Georgia and then Oregon but that's not quibbling about. The AP voters then "punished" Texas A&M one spot for Johnny Football's weekly shenanigans, flipping South Carolina ahead of them to differ from the coaches' poll. Clemson, Louisville and Florida then round out the top ten in both polls.
Teams numbered 11-14 are the same in both polls but their order is moved around. What was ND, FSU, LSU and Okie State in USA Today became FSU, LSU Oklahoma State and Notre Dame to the writers.
That both polls have the same 14 teams ranked in the top 14, although in slightly different order, is odd but what comes next defies belief. Texas, OU, Michigan, Nebraska, Boise, TCU,UCLA, Northwestern, Wisconsin, USC and Oregon State are in that exact order in both polls to fill out 14-25. That my friends is hard to do. How busy were the AP voters? Did they just pick up the coaches' poll, make a few adjustments and then mail it in? Sure seems like it. If it is some sort of protest against having preseason polls, then I am all for it but it screams more of laziness than resistance.
shake it up boys. It will get boring fast if there is too much agreement.
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