USA Today Preseason Poll Is Out...No Cincinnati Bearcats?

Something definitely has to be wrong...right?

The preseason edition of the USA Today college football poll was released Friday, and, inexplicably, the Cincinnati Bearcats were left out.

After going 12-1 last season, with a Sugar Bowl appearance and with the amount of talent returning in 2010, it is hard to imagine this team not beginning the season in the top 25.

But then again, it was hard to imagine the pollsters starting them as low as they did to begin last season. 

After all, they don't play in the SEC. 

As a Bearcat fan, I have no problem starting the season unranked, with the only exception being it is nearly impossible to make it all the way to the top when starting that low. 

Even if Cincinnati does run the table and go undefeated, they will almost certainly not even crack the top five, and that is an outrage. 

Something needs to be changed. I know it will never happen, but coming out with the initial poll a month into the season is the best solution to avoid teams being severely under-ranked. 

That's a whole different story.

If Cincinnati had the same résumé and players with a different name on their jerseys, like, say, LSU, they would certainly be in the top 15, but they don't, and that is the way it works in college football. 

Cincinnati is the defending Big East champs with more talent and balance than a year ago. Just look at the roster. It's plain and easy to see.  

Maybe someday things will change, and Cincinnati, along with other schools of the same caliber, will get the respect and recognition they deserve. 

Until then, they will just have to keep fighting, and I will keep writing and believing in my team. 

In 2010, I believe Cincinnati will once again prove everybody wrong.