SEC Well-Represented in Coaches' Preseason Poll

In case you missed it, the 2009 preseason coaches' poll was released today, and again the SEC is well-represented with five teams in the top 15. It's no surprise that Florida is picked at number one. Alabama was picked number five, LSU at number nine, Ole Miss at number 10, and Georgia at number 13.

The Pac-10 also had five teams ranked, the Big 12 and ACC both with four, Mountain West and Big Ten with three teams, and the WAC with one. The Big East was the only major conference with no teams in the top 25.

Here is the complete list, courtesy of ESPN:

1. Florida

2. Texas

3. Oklahoma

4. USC

5. Alabama

6. Ohio State

7. Virginia Tech

8. Penn State

9. LSU

10. Mississippi

11. Oklahoma State

12. California

13. Georgia

14. Oregon

15. Georgia Tech

16. Boise State

17. TCU

18. Utah

19. Florida State

20. North Carolina

21. Iowa

22. Nebraska

23. Notre Dame

24. BYU

25. Oregon State

Now for my all-too-important opinions and ramblings:

• It's nice to see Florida State and Nebraska back.

• Is this a legitimate poll or a popularity contest? Why no Big East? Why no number one votes for Alabama, Penn State, or Ole Miss? Arkansas received no votes, yet they have the top-ranked running back corps in the nation!

As much as I hate the BCS rankings, skewed polls like this are the reason we will be stuck with it for a great period of time. This is why we should make these things public as well.

I predict some major shuffling going on in the first three weeks of the season, and I just hope this doesn't knock some well-deserving teams too far down the totem poll to make a run at the BCS title in January.