The NCAA Football Coaches Preseason Poll came out this week. The Top Ten went like this (with their rank last year in the same preseason poll):
- Ohio State (2)
- Oregon (7)
- Georgia (4)
- Texas (1)
- Notre Dame (5)
- Indiana (19)
- Miami (10)
- Texas A&M (21)
- Oklahoma (NR)
- Ole Miss (15)
What do you think about that?
The only two teams up there that did not make the CFP last year were Notre Dame and Texas.
For me to see Indiana and Ole Miss in a preseason Top 10 for the first time in my life is still hard to process. But I don’t mind the process.
Notice there is a Big Ten team at number 1. This is the first time a Big Ten team has been name #1 in this poll since 2015. That team, too, was Ohio State.
This was the Indiana game against Ohio State in 2015. Indiana got beat by the #1 Buckeyes 34-27.
Notice too that a team that beat Oregon twice and Ohio State once last year is four and five places behind them in this preseason poll. What do think about that? Does Indiana really deserve a #6 ranking?
Am I the only one not disappointed that Alabama and LSU are not in the top ten? Bama lost 4 games last year. They are ranked #11. More bended knee and bowing to a by gone era will get you a #11 ranking. I can hear Bear Bryant now. “Any team that got whipped by a Big Ten school, and Indiana makes it worse, doesn’t deserve to haul water heading into the next season.”
LSU lost 6 games last year. They, with newly hired media darling Lane Kiffin, are ranked #13 in this preseason coaches poll. The only other two schools in this poll with 6 losses last year are Penn State at # 17 and Clemson at # 23. What do you think about that?
You know, the last thing I want to do is give an old coach the “business”. However, I am over Coach Nick Saban, with his office still on campus, showing up on ESPN Gameday with his “we” mentality when it comes to talking about the SEC and the Tide. It was fashionable for Coach Lee Corso to talk nice about the Hoosiers. They were the losingest team in history before Coach Curt Cignetti showed up to rewrite history. I know. I know. ESPN is in cahoots with the SEC where it just means more and all that malarkey. What do you think about that?
I fully understand why the Indiana Hoosiers are #6 in this poll after going 16-0 last season. Things take time. Coaches don’t want to accept what happened in Bloomington last year. It’s against the natural order of things. When the AP preseason poll comes out, expect a little more Hoosier love. I predict the Hoosiers will be either # 3 OR # 4 in that poll. The media will give Indiana a little more credit.
The Indiana Hoosiers just got a defensive bolster, thanks to the judge that said you got five years to play five years. Poor Stephen Daley, the DT who hurt himself celebrating after the Big Ten Championship Game, is back and will be on the field for the Hoosiers. He had 19 tackles for loss last year. Kellan Wyatt, an edge guy on defense, got hurt during the Michigan State game last year. He too is back. Think about what these guys will give after not being able to participate in the playoff run the Hoosiers had last year. They all want more. This Hoosier story is still be written. What do you think about that?
Finally, I don’t understand how the coaches can deny a place in this poll for the Louisville Cardinals.
Coach Jeff Brohm has done nothing but win consistently. WKU, Purdue, Louisville. His record is 94-56. Louisville’s offense is loaded. Just wait and see. How important is that 94-56 record? Well, it’s a winning percentage that qualifies him for the College Football Hall of Fame. Numbers his old coach, Howard Schnellenberger, does not possess. No, I am not saying the Cards will make it to the College Football Playoff. Only 12 can do that. Watch out this season. Remember in 2018 when Brohm’s unranked Purdue team beat #2 Ohio State 49-20? Look, I root for the Ole Miss Rebels. When these two teams meet Labor Day Weekend in Nashville, one can only surmise that money got them to this location, Ole Miss better be ready. This a game that a Jeff Brohm coached team has a great shot at. I look for the scoreboard to suffer power failure when this one is played. And know this, the Cards will reach into the bag of tricks and unleash a few plays that will make one wonder where in the heck that came from? What do you think about that?
We’re almost there, kids. I can’t wait.