Too soon for a fall poll?

Need a college football fix? Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com has posted his preseason Top 25 college football poll for the 2011-2012 season or post-spring edition. I guess he will come up with another poll in August??? There's a lot of time between now and two-a-days. Players will transfer (UG's leading rusher), players will get in trouble, and coaches may get fired (the Vest). It's too soon to have a college football Top 25. But since there is one out there, let's have fun with it.

Here’s his list:

1)      Oklahoma

2)      Alabama

3)      LSU

4)      Oregon

5)      Stanford

6)      Oklahoma State

7)      Texas A&M

8)      Florida State

9)      Ohio State

10)  Nebraska

11)  Michigan State

12)  Wisconsin

13)  Arkansas

14)  Boise State

15)  Auburn

16)  TCU

17)  Virginia Tech

18)  South Carolina

19)  Notre Dame

20)  Mississippi State

21)  Arizona State

22)  Utah

23)  Georgia

24)  West Virginia

25)  Florida

Let’s break down this list. Dodd is high on OU, I mean really high. If you read his article (link provided after article) it sounds like OU hung the moon in football during the BCS era. He calls OU quarterback U as they’ve had two Heisman winners since 2003 and four times since 2000 their quarterbacks have been finalist (that means they were any where on the list; 2-10). He also writes about the 7 Big 12 Championships in the league’s 15 years of existence.

Oh yeah, he also writes that no team has been to the BCS Championship game more than OU. What he didn’t mention, they’ve only won 1 NCAA Championship during that time (2000-2001 vs FSU) and only 2 championships winners have come out of the Big 12 (Texas 2005-2006). This means OU has lost more championship games than any other school; that's something to hang your hat on. OU is overrated year after year and Stoops has not won since his brother left town. OU may be the cream of the crop in Big 12 land this year, as he does not have Texas in his top 25, but the SEC is still king in this land. Maybe I should remind Dodd that OU is 3-5 in BCS games? Or maybe Dodd will remember the 24-14 loss to University of Florida in the 2009 Championship game, or that the SEC is 7-0 in BCS Championship games (Big 12 2-5, OU’s record 1-3), or the fact that the SEC has won the last 5 NCAA Championships?

The rest of the list doesn’t make much sense to me. How can you predict that 4 of your top 15 teams (Alabama, Auburn, LSU, and Arkansas) will be from the same division in the SEC? The SEC is talented, but how does this work at the end of the season? Auburn and Alabama have lost a lot of talent. Alabama was 5-3 in conference last year with McElroy and Ingram in the backfield. LSU lost their best defensive player, a player that single handly won 2 games for them last year and they don't have an offense. Arkansas is returning a ton of talent, the best wide receivers in the nation, along with a Heisman Trophy candidate in Knile Davis at running back. If their returning backup QB, Tyler Wilson, can play like he did against Auburn and Arkansas' two new tackles can adjust to life in the SEC... watch out for the Razorbacks.

I’m also confused by Dodd's pick of Oregon (#4) and Stanford (#5). He cites that Oregon is primed to go on an “USC type of run in the PAC-12”. I agree with him there. But Stanford is your next highest rated team? David Shaw, Stanford’s new coach, will have his hands full. Everyone is so high on Andrew Luck; he’s talented, but I don’t know if there’s enough talent around him for a #5 ranking? If Stanford only has one tough game coming against Oregon this year, then I can see them possibly being a Top 10 team by virtue of wins and losses not by overall talent or ability of team on a national level.

I’m getting the feeling that Dodd may have been flipping through a "quick guide to college conferences" when he was picking his Top 25. After his 2 SEC picks (#2 and 3), Dodd picks 2 PAC-12 teams, 2 Big 12 teams, then FSU (an ACC team that has been up and down over the past 10 years and lost their starting QB), and then he has a run of 4 Big 10 teams (OSU, Nebraska, Michigan State, and Wisconsin). OSU will be without their starting QB for 5 games. Even if they win those 5 games, Pryor will need a couple of games to catch up to the speed of the Big 10 transitioning from practice reps. OSU also may be without the services of their “Vest” next season; time will tell. Dodd then rounds out the last 10 spots with the SEC East and the best of the rest.

Just to clarify, your SEC Championship game will be Arkansas vs. South Carolina. This will match-up the last two teams to join the SEC (1992). The media will have a field day and dump on this game as neither team is sexy enough on the national level. The “Visor” will get all of the headlines, and to make things sexy again, all the media hype will center on Spurrier and his time at UF. The true story is, Steve Spurrier, a throwing quarterback and coach, winning behind a great running attack. This will be the second time these two teams will be playing each other during the 2011-2012 season; Arkansas wins again.

The BCS National title game appears to be OU and Oregon. Both teams have little competition in conference thus making an undefeated run to the championship game theirs to lose. Arkansas will lose at least one game in conference. A one loss Arkansas team, even with them playing in the SEC, will not garner enough support to be in the BCS title game.

Will this finally make SEC fans frustrated enough to rally support and flex their collective muscle for a BCS playoff system!?!?!

HogManInLA will have his preseason Top 25 posted in August. There are no bonus points for predicting the season three months before everyone else. But I do appreciate Dodd giving me something to rant about today.

Dennis Dodd’s article: http://www.cbssports.com/#!/collegefootball/story/15046344/postspring-top-25-never-too-soon-to-anoint-sooners