College Football Preseason Rankings: Agree or Disagree?

OK, pigskin fans. We all say we don't care about preseason polls, that they mean squat and are nothing more than exercises in mental masturbation.

Yep, and then we eat it up like Roger Clemens' little black book. We can't help ourselves.

We stop and gawk at traffic accidents. We cover our eyes during tense or scary moments of a movie, but peek to see what we missed.

We use the cheat phone number when we get stuck on a NY Times crossword puzzle, then brag about how we completed it. In pen.

Yep, we are hypocrites.

College Football fans, rejoice—the sports "bibles" are out.

Feast on them. Gorge on them. Debate them to no end. It's what keeps us busy until August 28th.

We will bicker and argue about them if our team isn't highly ranked, and pronounce them geniuses if our team is ranked number one.

First up: Athlon Preseason College Football Rankings

1-Florida

2-Ohio State

3-Oklahoma

4-USC

5-Georgia

6-Mizzou

7-West Virginia

8-Auburn

9-LSU

10-Clemson

11-Texas

12-Wisconsin

13-Kansas

14-BYU

15-Arizona State

16-Illinois

17-Tennessee

18-Texas Tech

19-Oregon

20-South Florida

21-Va Tech

22-Rutgers

23-Penn State

24-Wake Forest

25-Fresno State

Some interesting selections, for sure.

While I emotionally love the Gators as the No. 1 pick (chomp chomp), I am  hesitant (insert logical mind here) to totally agree with that pick. Offense wins games, but defense wins championships. No doubt Florida is stacked in the offense, but the D is suspect—especially in the secondary.

The Buckeyes are No. 2, but for some reason, the defending champs, LSU, weren't afforded the same courtesy to be No. 1. Fair? Maybe, since they lost Flynn, Perrilloux, and Dorsey, to name a few. But the Bucks return everybody, so they get the high ranking.

Here's what I want to know though: how come USC is ranked lower than the Bucks when SC smoked the Bucks' only loss in the Rose Bowl?

Is it setting up the big showdown between OSU and USC on September 13th? Oh yeah.

If SC wins, they will leapfrog everyone in front of them to steal the No. 1 spot. The logic is simple—if USC beats Virginia and Ohio State, then Florida's projected wins over Hawai'i and Miami will not hold as much weight.

Love the Sooners, Trojans, and Bulldogs as the next three picks. You could actually interchange them all, and it would still be fine.

Mizzou as No. 6 is a solid pick. Chase Daniel will be chasing the Heisman, and it will all come down to the conference championship game. The Tigers tasted "almost" last season, and now they want more—if the Sooners cry "uncle."

West Virginia as No. 7—why not? They have Pat White, and don't really get tested until October 4th hosting Rutgers.

Auburn and LSU sit No. 8 and No. 9. I'm on the fence on these teams. LSU should be No. 1—I'm one of those believers who says you are No. 1 until defeated.

While Les Miles may not be the most popular coach around, he is certainly a winner. The QB situation could be problematic, but then again, Coach Miles is pretty smart. He'll figure it out.

As far as Auburn—well, their schedule isn't the most favorable. While they have a cream puff in Tennessee-Martin, they also have a road trip to West Virginia. Throw in LSU, Georgia, and Tennessee—if they win them all, maybe they will be No. 1.

Clemson coming in at No. 10 is a nice pick. Bowden has to start with a bang against the Tide. That game will be the litmus test. If Clemson doesn't get a BCS bowl bid this year, the fans may start lighting fires under his chair. There's too much talent on this team for a second-tier bowl.

The rest...

Wisconsin at No. 12? The Badgers have to find a QB—this may be a lofty ranking for them. Scratch that—it's way too high.

The running game is solid, but their schedule has a nightmare start. They travel to Fresno State, then get a bye before going back on the road to Ann Arbor, and then host Ohio State and Penn State. I see two losses in there for sure—and it'll only be the first week of October.

Love the No. 14 BYU pick. This team will be rolling, and under Max Hall, they will light it up on the scoreboards. They have to play at Washington and then host UCLA, so good for them for scheduling BCS teams, albeit not very strong ones—and pushing themselves for respect.

Why is Texas Tech only ranked No. 18? I would have them in the top 15, but oh well. Harrell-to-Crabtree will be the most familiar phrase in the Big 12. Don't be shocked if both of them are in New York in December.

The lack of respect for Tech could be the D factor—Hawai'i set the precedent and now offensive powerhouses are looked upon with skepticism.

Penn State at No. 23 puzzles me. They lost their stud linebacker Sean Lee, and the quarterback situation is muddled, at best.

So if PSU didn't fare well last season, why are they in the top 25 this season with fewer superstuds? Is this one of those "find-a-team-in-the-Big-Ten-so-we-can-make-a top-25-list" choices?

Lastly, Fresno State at No. 25 is the best ranking yet. Pat Hill could be named coach of the year if he beats Rutgers, Wisconsin, UCLA, Hawai'i, and Boise State. That's a tall order.

Memo to Wisconsin fans—Fresno in September will be at least 110 degrees. Enjoy yourselves.

By Conference in Top 25

ACC: 3

Big East: 3

Big Ten: 4

Big 12: 5

Pac-10: 3

SEC: 5

Other: 2

Something to chew on: Notre Dame is ranked No. 19, ahead of Wisconsin, Tennessee, and Oregon on Phil Steele's preseason rankings.

What say the football fans on the rankings?