AP releases first College rankings poll

[Wolf]

http://collegefootball.rivals.com/co...asp?CID=838647

NEW YORK — By the time Georgia was done demolishing Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl, it was apparent the Bulldogs were well on their way to being No. 1 - to start the 2008 college football season.

Seeking its first national championship in 28 years, Georgia is on top of The Associated Press preseason Top 25 for the first time.

The Bulldogs received 22 first-place votes and 1,528 points from a panel of 65 media members in the poll released Saturday.


"To have people believing we have one of the best teams in the nation going into this thing, it's exciting for us," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said in a telephone interview with the AP.

"I don't think anything is guaranteed, but we certainly have put ourselves in position where at least the college football world thinks we're pretty good."

Ohio State, coming off a second consecutive loss in the national championship game but returning 20 starters, is No. 2. The Buckeyes received 21 first-place votes and 1,506 points.

No. 3 Southern California, which plays Ohio State in Los Angeles on Sept. 13, received 12 first-place votes. No. 4 Oklahoma had four first-place votes and No. 5 Florida received six first-place votes.

Georgia finished last season 11-2 and No. 2 in the country behind Southeastern Conference rival LSU. The Tigers won the national championship in the Superdome in New Orleans on Jan. 7 by beating the Buckeyes.

But a week earlier on that same field the Bulldogs ended their season with a seventh straight victory and sent a message about 2008: "Look out!"

Georgia toyed with high-scoring Hawaii and its Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback Colt Brennan in a 41-10 rout, and one glance at the Bulldogs' depth chart, with all those freshmen and sophomores playing major roles, revealed the Bulldogs would be a force this season. The questions started even as Georgia celebrated its big victory on the confetti-covered turf.

[The1ApplePie]

Trojans all the way!

Ohio State are gonna prove to be too slow to actually face elite teams like they have the last few years.

[Corrosion]

As much as I despise Ohio St. I hope they beat the ever living snot outa USC , I hate them almost as much as the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Yankee's .

[TD]

Good to see Georgia at #1. They were arguably the best team in the country at the end of last year (certainly better than OSU). Unfortunately a four week stretch of road games of at LSU, Florida (in Jacksonville), at Kentucky, and at Auburn may be too much for them.

I do love SEC football though. It's the #1 benefit of living down here.

[The1ApplePie]

Originally Posted by corrosion

As much as I despise Ohio St. I hope they beat the ever living snot outa USC , I hate them almost as much as the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Yankee's .

I am a Trojans fan because

1. I wanted to go there after high school but was too broke (and who wants to cheer the SHSU Bearkats?)
2. UT fans are annoying.

[Yankee_In_TX]

Anyone else annoyed that GA and OSU dropped?

There goes "margin of victory doesn't matter." Or maybe that was just the BCS numbers.

And if it was choice of opponent, then why would you vote GA #1 to begin with?

I think the polls should be held back until week 4 or so.

[bah007]

I think USC deserves to be ranked higher than Georgia & Ohio St (but Ohio St should be ahead of Georgia).

You should rewarded for playing tougher teams, especially if you beat them down.

[bah007]

And yes....there should be no preseason poll.

The opening poll should be after week four. By that time, most teams have played at least one decent opponent so you get a better idea of how good they really are.

[YoungTexanFan]

Originally Posted by Yankee_In_TX

Anyone else annoyed that GA and OSU dropped?

There goes "margin of victory doesn't matter." Or maybe that was just the BCS numbers.

And if it was choice of opponent, then why would you vote GA #1 to begin with?

I think the polls should be held back until week 4 or so.

Ohio State dropped because they aren't that good of a team and play in a weak conference. I know you like them, but the last part is a fact you can't debate. The first reference is my opinion, and I attribute their "success" in recent years in part to their weak conference.

UGA simply fell because they played a very weak team that they are expected to kill. USC went across the country to a BCS team that produces solid amounts of NFL prospects and just beat them down. That's why.

[YoungTexanFan]

It's the same reason I'm not bitching and moaning about KU not moving up. We simply didn't deserve it based upon who we played. Sure, we moved up some by default due to teams ahead of us losing, but we held steady for the most part and we deserved that.

[bah007]

Originally Posted by YoungTexanFan

Ohio State dropped because they aren't that good of a team and play in a weak conference. I know you like them, but the last part is a fact you can't debate. The first reference is my opinion, and I attribute their "success" in recent years in part to their weak conference.

UGA simply fell because they played a very weak team that they are expected to kill. USC went across the country to a BCS team that produces solid amounts of NFL prospects and just beat them down. That's why.

I don't think Ohio St should be penalized for their weak schedule until they actually start playing those teams.

I also don't think that Georgia should be getting extra votes because of their tough schedule, because they haven't even played those teams yet.

Teams with weak schedules get punished twice (in the preseason poll, & then later when they actually play those weak teams).

It's the same with the teams that have strong schedules (except they get bonus in the preseason & then later when they beat a good team).

Take away the preseason polls...

[YoungTexanFan]

Originally Posted by bah007

I don't think Ohio St should be penalized for their weak schedule until they actually start playing those teams.

I also don't think that Georgia should be getting extra votes because of their tough schedule, because they haven't even played those teams yet.

Teams with weak schedules get punished twice (in the preseason poll, & then later when they actually play those weak teams).

It's the same with the teams that have strong schedules (except they get bonus in the preseason & then later when they beat a good team).

Take away the preseason polls...

I get what you are saying, and I agree about the pre-season polls. I'm with you on that front. However, Ohio State shouldn't be ranked as highly as they are IMO. Also, conferences do have to play a part in rankings, though I agree about the pre-season part of conference rankings. However, Ohio St. beating a FSC (??) team and UCS thrashing a BCS team across the country that is an NFL pipeline should very well play into rankings as long as they are out there.

[bah007]

Originally Posted by YoungTexanFan

I get what you are saying, and I agree about the pre-season polls. I'm with you on that front. However, Ohio State shouldn't be ranked as highly as they are IMO. Also, conferences do have to play a part in rankings, though I agree about the pre-season part of conference rankings. However, Ohio St. beating a FSC (??) team and UCS thrashing a BCS team across the country that is an NFL pipeline should very well play into rankings as long as they are out there.

USC should definitely be ahead of Ohio St based on the first game. Thrashing Virginia is a lot more impressive than thrashing Youngstown St.

But, my point is that Ohio St shouldnt be penalized for that game until after it is played. That should go for all teams of course.

[kastofsna]

looks like pollsters are actually voting based on the games that were just played as opposed to keeping their preseason rankings in mind first and foremost

[Yankee_In_TX]

Originally Posted by bah007

But, my point is that Ohio St shouldnt be penalized for that game until after it is played. That should go for all teams of course.

Hmmm, I guess I hadn't thought about it that way. Just seems like kind of a farce - I vote GA 1 and OSU 2, knowing my vote will change as soon as week 1 plays out. I'm not saying OSU deserves to be 1, 2, or 3 - just saying I don't like preseason polls.

Despite always complaining about rankings, I don't overly concern myself with rankings as far as OSU goes - as my buddy always says, win all your games and you'll go to the NCAA championship. Lose a game, and then who knows, but you didn't take care of business. (besides, I still want a playoff as much as the BCS has benefited OSU)

[YoungTexanFan]

Originally Posted by Yankee_In_TX

Hmmm, I guess I hadn't thought about it that way. Just seems like kind of a farce - I vote GA 1 and OSU 2, knowing my vote will change as soon as week 1 plays out. I'm not saying OSU deserves to be 1, 2, or 3 - just saying I don't like preseason polls.

Despite always complaining about rankings, I don't overly concern myself with rankings as far as OSU goes - as my buddy always says, win all your games and you'll go to the NCAA championship. Lose a game, and then who knows, but you didn't take care of business. (besides, I still want a playoff as much as the BCS has benefited OSU)

I get what you're saying, and I agree with the general aspects. You are an OSU fan and that is awesome. No offense to the board, but I get tired of Cougar fans all the time; I like to know that our team has diversity with who we follow. You like your Buckeyes just like I do my Jayhawks, and that is respectable.

I do have a problem with the pre-season polls though because Georgia is going to get more leway with their schedule coming down from the top spot than say a Kansas or a West Virginia (just examples). If a team ranked say...16, loses a game to a team still in the top 50, they have a great shot at falling out of the polls completely. However, if a team ranked in the top 5 loses a game to a top 25 team AND another team, they have an excellent shot of still being in the top 25. Essentially, it allows media darlings and the top "paper" teams to lose 3 games and still be ranked (cough::LSU::cough) ahead of teams with 1 loss (Kansas).

[Yankee_In_TX]

(disclaimer - the ONLY game I saw was OSU/USC)

Poor GA.....Keep winning, keep slipping....

[TexansSeminole]

Originally Posted by YoungTexanFan

I do have a problem with the pre-season polls though because Georgia is going to get more leway with their schedule coming down from the top spot than say a Kansas or a West Virginia (just examples). If a team ranked say...16, loses a game to a team still in the top 50, they have a great shot at falling out of the polls completely. However, if a team ranked in the top 5 loses a game to a top 25 team AND another team, they have an excellent shot of still being in the top 25. Essentially, it allows media darlings and the top "paper" teams to lose 3 games and still be ranked (cough::LSU::cough) ahead of teams with 1 loss (Kansas).

How do you think OSU and USC are always in the top 5. They start in the top 5, so they never fall too far down even when they lose a game. Then comes the end of the season and they don't even have to play conference championship games. They just win by having the best record in the conference. Not to mention the Pac10 is a pretty sorry conference.

100 bucks says if they had to play conference championships they wouldn't have gone to BCS games half as many times as they have.

IMO if your conference doesn't have a championship game you don't deserve to even be in the national championship game. You've got Big 12, SEC, and ACC schools who fight during conference championship week to win their conference and make it to a BCS bowl game while Ohio State and USC sit on the sidelines with their conference championships already in the bag because of their record. Who wants championships to be decided by record? I don't understand why this hasnt been corrected.

The fact that these two are in the championship game so often is not a coincidence, they've got the easiest roads to the game. Oh yea, and they start in the top 5 in the preseason polls EVERY YEAR.

The whole system is BS and designed to keep the top teams near the top.

BCS will never do a playoff because these are the teams that make them money. They can't have these lower tier teams get to the championship game.

The worst part about it all is that the Pac-10 is supposed to be "the conference of champions." How much of a BS slap in the face is that.

[rmartin65]

Originally Posted by Yankee_In_TX

(disclaimer - the ONLY game I saw was OSU/USC)

Poor GA.....Keep winning, keep slipping....

I only caught about 3 quarters of the game, but Georgia looked pretty bad. Definitely worse than USC and Oklahoma.

[Wolf]

Reality is Ohio state will be back up there

Texas/Oklahoma,Texas Tech and Missouri will more than likely play each other this season (without looking) and that is 3 teams that will be knocked out ...SEC and ACC will probably beat up on each other so Ohio State will move up again..

another reason why the polls are outdated and not worth spit (but that is on another thread)