The Real Truth: Pre-Season Battle of Conferences

Pre-season polls being what they are, they at best show what people think of teams and conferences. This year, some changes are in the wind. Here is the latest USA Today Coaches Poll.

1.Alabama (55) 2.Ohio State (4) 3.Florida 4.Texas 5.Boise State 6.Virginia Tech 7.TCU 8.Oklahoma 9.Nebraska 10.Iowa 11.Oregon 12.Wisconsin 13.Miami (Fla.) 14.Penn State 15.Pittsburgh 16.LSU 17.Georgia Tech 18.North Carolina 19.Arkansas 20.Florida State 21.Georgia 22.Oregon State 23.Auburn 24t.Utah 24t.West Virginia

For some, the most important question of any pre-season poll is who is voting. From all appearances, this year's voters in the USA Today Coaches Poll are skewed in favor of conferences receiving the most votes.

The board for the 2010 season: Robb Akey, Idaho; David Bailiff, Rice; Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech; Tim Beckman, Toledo; Todd Berry, Louisiana-Monroe; Bret Bielema, Wisconsin; Art Briles, Baylor; Dave Christensen, Wyoming; David Cutcliffe, Duke; Mark Dantonio, Michigan State; Todd Dodge, North Texas; Sonny Dykes, Louisiana Tech; Dan Enos, Central Michigan; Steve Fairchild, Colorado State; Larry Fedora, Southern Miss; Jimbo Fisher, Florida State; Al Golden, Temple; Jim Grobe, Wake Forest; Jim Harbaugh, Stanford; Mike Haywood, Miami (Ohio); Butch Jones, Cincinnati; Brian Kelly, Notre Dame; Jerry Kill, Northern Illinois; Mike Locksley, New Mexico; Mike London, Virginia; Bill Lynch, Indiana; Mike MacIntyre, San Jose State; Doug Marrone, Syracuse; Urban Meyer, Florida; Dan Mullen, Mississippi State; Ken Niumatalolo, Navy; Tom O'Brien, North Carolina State; George O'Leary, Central Florida; Bo Pelini, Nebraska; Chris Petersen, Boise State; Bobby Petrino, Arkansas; Gary Pinkel, Missouri; Larry Porter, Memphis; Jeff Quinn, Buffalo; Paul Rhoads, Iowa State; Mark Richt, Georgia; Mike Riley, Oregon State; Rich Rodriguez, Michigan; Nick Saban, Alabama; Steve Sarkisian, Washington; Greg Schiano, Rutgers; Howard Schnellenberger, Florida Atlantic; Mike Sherman, Texas A&M; Steve Spurrier, South Carolina; Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee; Mike Stoops, Arizona; Charlie Strong, Louisville; Kevin Sumlin, Houston; Bob Toledo, Tulane; Jim Tressel, Ohio State; Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech; Kyle Whittingham, Utah; Paul Wulff, Washington State; Ron Zook, Illinois.

There are more Big 10 coaches than any other conference based on a quick count, with the ACC and SEC next. And so goes this poll, with six SEC teams, five ACC teams, and four Big Ten teams.

If this were a top 20 poll, the ACC leads the way with five teams in the top 20. The SEC only has four teams in the top 20, as does the Big Ten.

So, let's say that these coaches favor those teams they play. If this is the situation, then there is little reason why conference teams do not fare well even under this scenario since most conferences play many of the other teams and many play cross-conference more and more. Boise State's ranking at five is impressive, but it clearly benefits from its upgraded schedule and new conference which is relatively well-represented among the voting coaches.

Perhaps the most interesting team to consider is Nebraska. Since it still plays in the Big 12, the theory that coaches vote for teams they play favors Nebraska despite being a turncoat. At the same time, Big Ten coaches could have voted them up. In the end, this could mean that the most over-ranked team is Nebraska. We will see.

One team missing from the poll is the USC Trojans. Rules prohibit coaches from voting on any school with sanctions. While USC has appealed the sanctions, they have accepted the penalty on this season so the coaches were prohibited from voting for USC. If that had happened, either West Virginia or Utah would not have made the poll since the Trojans almost certainly would have been ranked.

So do these coaches believe that the ACC is the best? Not if one counts the entire conference, one has to believe. The SEC is deep and competitive. Yet there are those who believe the ACC has improved the most, and that the Big Ten is dropping back at least until Nebraska plays football with them next season. 

But the ACC is the only conference with five teams in the top 20 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll.

And that is The Real Truth!