I am not a big fan of pre-season polls. If I had it my way, polls would not be released until the season was at least 4-5 weeks underway. I understand the need for hype and fan spirit. However, being ranked in the top ten pre-season is a built-in advantage for the most visible programs. It leads to media bias and lost objectivity of both voting coaches and voting reporters. But that's a whole other topic.
I'm going to swallow my distaste for pre-season polls and do my best to identify who I think are the top 25 football programs (on paper) in the country for the 2008 season. This is not a prediction of how the season will necessarily end. I'll leave that for the end of the column.
#1 Ohio State. Beat USC in the Coliseum and they have a very good shot at getting in the national title game again to every college football fan's (except for buckeyes) dismay. The schedule is that easy. Only Rich Rodriguez and the Wolverines stand a real shot of keeping the bucknuts out of the title game and that chance is minimal unfortunately.
#2 Southern Cal. Basically, the same deal as The University of Ohio State. Win on September 13 against the poisonous nuts, and they're well on their way to the BCS championship game in Miami. The Pac 10 is a horrific conference, even worse than the Big 10 in my humble opinion. With Dixon gone, Oregon is now a middle tier team and the Trojans have the Ducks at home. The Sun Devils visit the Coliseum as well. And UCLA is nowhere near ready to challenge Pete and his boys. I give TUOOS (the university of ohio state according to incoming frosh Terrell Pryor) the edge simply because of the returning talent. USC has plenty of its own but whoever wins that game is headed to the title game.
#3 Oklahoma. Very favorable home schedule, another year of experience for Bradford and Murry as well. Add in the embarrassment they suffered in the Fiesta Bowl last year and you have an extremely motivated team. The early part of their schedule should be a roll over. The Sooners have Texas Tech and Kansas at home and if they get out of the Big 12 with one or less losses they have a very good shot at getting to Miami.
#4 Florida.
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