I have a feeling I’m setting all of you up for a letdown by previewing a posting that probably isn’t going to be all that great, but, since this piece is about something else entirely, I wanted to let you know that I will be doing what marktheshark suggested I do, but, in the meantime, I have cast my preseason BlogPoll ballot, which looks like this:
 | ||
| Rank | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | |
| 2 | Texas | |
| 3 | Southern Cal | |
| 4 | Oklahoma | |
| 5 | LSU | |
| 6 | Ohio State | |
| 7 | Penn State | |
| 8 | Alabama | |
| 9 | California | |
| 10 | Clemson | |
| 11 | Oklahoma State | |
| 12 | Mississippi | |
| 13 | Georgia Tech | |
| 14 | Virginia Tech | |
| 15 | Boise State | |
| 16 | Michigan State | |
| 17 | Pittsburgh | |
| 18 | UCLA | |
| 19 | TCU | |
| 20 | Oregon | |
| 21 | Georgia | |
| 22 | North Carolina | |
| 23 | Brigham Young | |
| 24 | Iowa | |
| 25 | Southern Miss | |
The preliminary draft of my ballot was published and explained previously, with Nos. 1 through 10 being covered here and Nos. 11 through 25 being covered here. My otherwise inexplicable affinity for the outlying Clemson Tigers, Michigan St. Spartans, and Pittsburgh Panthers was previously explained here.
Changes to my first draft were made for the following reasons:
- I moved the Virginia Tech Hokies up because of these arguments, but I didn’t move them too far up because of these facts.
- The elevation of VPI caused every team from the Boise St. Broncos to the TCU Horned Frogs to drop one notch.
- I dropped the North Carolina Tar Heels because I couldn’t adequately answer these points.
- I bounced the Arizona St. Sun Devils due to these observations.
- I ranked the Iowa Hawkeyes because they appeared to be the dog with the fewest fleas from my "others receiving consideration."
- The traditional nod to Dr. Saturday of ranking the Southern Miss. Golden Eagles 25th in the preseason poll remains in place.
- I still did not consider ranking the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. This has been a public service announcement.
I wish to stress that, while this is a revised ballot, it is not (or, at least, is not necessarily) a final ballot. There is still time to provide feedback (even of the "What the heck are you thinking . . . ?!?!" variety) before the ballot deadline, which is more than a week away. As always, your constructive criticisms are invited.
Go ‘Dawgs!