USA Today Preseason top 25

[bgsuman]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/ ... atpoll.htm

NIU gets "other votes"

[BGorDeath]

Who's the idiot that voted for Duke?

[Jacobs4Heisman]

Who's the idiot that voted for Duke?

I thought the same thing.

Isn't there one coach who votes Duke 25th in the first poll for some weird reason? I thought I remembered reading something about that a couple years back.


I can't believe Michigan isn't grossly overranked and in the top 10 again.

I think NIU has the Conference's best shot to make the top 25 this year. Hopefully they can start strong.

Oklahoma hanging in at fifth -- a lot of coaches must have sent in their ballots early.

Am I the only one that thinks OSU will drop at least a couple of games this season?

The SEC has 7 ranked teams. That conference has definitely established itself as the premier conference in the country for football.

[jmillerbg]

If you look at all the first week polls in the last decade or more you will notice that Duke always receives one vote. This vote comes from the 'ol ball coach. He has done this historically because they gave him his first head coaching job. The Blue Devils will fall out next week.

[BGorDeath]

If you look at all the first week polls in the last decade or more you will notice that Duke always receives one vote. This vote comes from the 'ol ball coach. He has done this historically because they gave him his first head coaching job. The Blue Devils will fall out next week.

He's a bigger ass than I thought. He's ruining the integrity of the poll.

[Warthog]

Oklahoma hanging in at fifth -- a lot of coaches must have sent in their ballots early.

Not only that, they had the second most first place votes. I think that shows you something about the timing of placing votes. Those who voted early had them ranked very high. Those that voted late must have moved them WAY down for them to be below USC despite having 12 more first place votes then the Trojans.

Am I the only one that thinks OSU will drop at least a couple of games this season?

Count me in for that as well. Yes they will be good. But they are replacing virtually everyone on the defense. Yes they are good athletes, but you have to play together to become a good defense. I wouldn't be surpirsed to see them lose to Texas and Iowa in September. Then of course there is that game on Oct 7 as well.

[Falconfreak90]

Who's the idiot that voted for Duke?

I thought the same thing.

Isn't there one coach who votes Duke 25th in the first poll for some weird reason? I thought I remembered reading something about that a couple years back.


I can't believe Michigan isn't grossly overranked and in the top 10 again.

I think NIU has the Conference's best shot to make the top 25 this year. Hopefully they can start strong.

Oklahoma hanging in at fifth -- a lot of coaches must have sent in their ballots early.

Am I the only one that thinks OSU will drop at least a couple of games this season?

The SEC has 7 ranked teams. That conference has definitely established itself as the premier conference in the country for football.

Agree on all points. NIU *should* have a fine season.

OSU will lose at least 3 games this year...I've said that for 2 months. They're pretty loaded on Offense but I won't be sold on their D til they prove it. Just cuz ya look good on paper...

[BGSUFootballFan]

Look at WVU up there in the top 7. I like them, I'm glad they beat UGA even though I love watching SEC football!

[tekekini]

Oklahoma hanging in at fifth -- a lot of coaches must have sent in their ballots early.

Not only that, they had the second most first place votes. I think that shows you something about the timing of placing votes. Those who voted early had them ranked very high. Those that voted late must have moved them WAY down for them to be below USC despite having 12 more first place votes then the Trojans.

Am I the only one that thinks OSU will drop at least a couple of games this season?

Count me in for that as well. Yes they will be good. But they are replacing virtually everyone on the defense. Yes they are good athletes, but you have to play together to become a good defense. I wouldn't be surpirsed to see them lose to Texas and Iowa in September. Then of course there is that game on Oct 7 as well.

Fortunately Texas is going to be starting a Freshman QB, their starting RB is no longer on the team and the defense was never really that great. The Big 12 sucked last year and if there was any other team half way decent Texas may have lost a game or two. They were fortunate that OSU was not settled on a QB at that time. However, if anyone other than OSU had to win the championship I am glad it was Texas. They are a classy bunch in my opinion.

As far as Iowa goes, they lost some starters on D and they do not have a WR worth a damn, nor one who has much game experience if any. Their D lacks speed and will get burned. as Speels pointed out they will get burned, move to a zone, then we will hit hall and gonzo on short slants all day long. OSU will go 4 wide and they can choose to double Ginn and leave 1 of the other 3 WR covered by a LB or they can move the extra man over there and leave Ginn 1 on 1.


Wish what you want about the D. They are ready to go. Tressell will have em ready. They will be good enough to not lose games. With the offense, the D does not need to be as good as it was before. The only thing missing is experience and that comes with each game played. All media, reports, articles, everything I see, read, and hear is that this D is actually more athletic and has more speed than last years D. The experience will come. LOOK out!

Sorry to ruin your day again, not really, but you will see about the D. I saw them on spring game, Everyone has seen them, evaluated them and everyone has given their thoughts placing them #1.

It will be interesting. There are no garuntees but do not be suprised at how well the D may play. Do not be suprised if they are better than last years D half way through the season.

[Falconfreak90]

Oklahoma hanging in at fifth -- a lot of coaches must have sent in their ballots early.

Not only that, they had the second most first place votes. I think that shows you something about the timing of placing votes. Those who voted early had them ranked very high. Those that voted late must have moved them WAY down for them to be below USC despite having 12 more first place votes then the Trojans.

Am I the only one that thinks OSU will drop at least a couple of games this season?

Count me in for that as well. Yes they will be good. But they are replacing virtually everyone on the defense. Yes they are good athletes, but you have to play together to become a good defense. I wouldn't be surpirsed to see them lose to Texas and Iowa in September. Then of course there is that game on Oct 7 as well.

Fortunately Texas is going to be starting a Freshman QB, their starting RB is no longer on the team and the defense was never really that great. The Big 12 sucked last year and if there was any other team half way decent Texas may have lost a game or two. They were fortunate that OSU was not settled on a QB at that time. However, if anyone other than OSU had to win the championship I am glad it was Texas. They are a classy bunch in my opinion.

As far as Iowa goes, they lost some starters on D and they do not have a WR worth a damn, nor one who has much game experience if any. Their D lacks speed and will get burned. as Speels pointed out they will get burned, move to a zone, then we will hit hall and gonzo on short slants all day long. OSU will go 4 wide and they can choose to double Ginn and leave 1 of the other 3 WR covered by a LB or they can move the extra man over there and leave Ginn 1 on 1.


Wish what you want about the D. They are ready to go. Tressell will have em ready. They will be good enough to not lose games. With the offense, the D does not need to be as good as it was before. The only thing missing is experience and that comes with each game played. All media, reports, articles, everything I see, read, and hear is that this D is actually more athletic and has more speed than last years D. The experience will come. LOOK out!

Sorry to ruin your day again, not really, but you will see about the D. I saw them on spring game, Everyone has seen them, evaluated them and everyone has given their thoughts placing them #1.

It will be interesting. There are no garuntees but do not be suprised at how well the D may play. Do not be suprised if they are better than last years D half way through the season.

Stirring up the beehive again I see. Why is it that when anyone disagrees with your assessment of the "Mighty Buckeyes", they're wrong? My day isn't ruined at all because how OSU does this year has absolutely no bearing on how BGSU does...except one Saturday in October.

"Do not be suprised if they are better than last years D half way through the season".

Well, since OSU plays TX, Iowa and Penn State in the first half of the season.... I'll believe they are better when I see it. And since you saw it firsthand, it must be true! The Big 12 didn't suck last year, BTW. That conference never sucks.

You have a fine day!

GO FALCONS

[hammb]

OSU is worthy of a #1 rating, but they are not a perfect team. All of the top teams have serious question marks coming into this season. USC lost their QB & playmakers at RB. OSU lost their defense. Texas lost Vince. OU just cut their QB. ND was out-talented last year, but is well coached...did they bring in enough talent to hang?

At this point I'm not sure there's any team that I really think is a legit undefeated candidate, but OSU's schedule is certainly favorable. @UT, @Iowa, and @MSU are tough games. I cannot see Tressel losing to UM in the 'shoe, but you never know. I still have serious questions about the defense and the passing game. I know the defenders are talented, and highly recruited, but there are tons of those guys nationwide who don't pan out. At WR Holmes was the only true consistent threat they had last year. Say what you will about Ginn, I do think he's a special athlete, but he has yet to put together more than one or two games in a row of actual football. Until I see him show that he's a legit WR I'm not convinced the passing game will be as dominant as expected. Smith/Pittman/Wells should be able to run the ball against almost anyone...their OL should be good as well.

To say their defense will be better than last year's is just laughable, at best. If you're telling me that you think they'll have 2 LBs and a DB, none of whom have logged real playing time, to start playing like top 20 picks in the first season? That would be an absolute shock to say the least. OSU's secondary was crap last year, but still there was a reason those guys were starting over the youngsters that will be playing this year. Replacing Hawk & Carp without losing a beat is wishful thinking. Donte Whitner was a HUGELY valuable cog last year too. He was the only member of the secondary that really shone out, IMO. The dude could play safety, cover the inside guy, cover the outide guy, blitz, support the run. He was so versatile, he will be sorely missed as well.

I think you seriously underrate Iowa Tek. They've got a great, senior QB, and that means a lot in college football. They don't have any superstars at WR, no, but Tate will make them better than they are. Ferentz will put together a dominant OL, he always does. They lost some starters off defense, but I think they'll still field a good unit on that side of the ball. Ferentz is a top notch coach, and Iowa is a tough place to play. It's not as though Tressel has never lost big road games in the Big 10 either. Losses against UW & NW in recent years come to mind. Iowa will be a tough game.

I don't care what you say Texas lost, they return the core of their team. I do think that Vince Young was the biggest cog of that team, and an invaluable leader, still they will be a damn good team. They had a very young WR corps last year, and losing their top RB won't hurt much, they had 4 or 5 of them that could get the job done last year.

OSU is worthy of being #1, but so are 2-3 other teams. You'll notice that they didn't even get half of the first place votes, so they're not exactly a consensus #1. OSU will be good, no doubt, but I certainly wouldn't expect a cakewalk to the championship game.

Freak, I gotta disagree with you on the Big 12 too. That conference sucked ass last year. Texas was the only legit top 15 team in that group, IMO, and as far as BCS conferences go that's weak. There were a ton of patsies that Texas rolled over last year. Even OU was weak last year.

[Flipper]

OSU fans are an odd bunch. You can be an alumnus of virtually any other school in or out of the state of Ohio and they'll say "Yeah, you went to Austin Peay, but since you're in Ohio now you're a Buckeye fan, right"

They're like a cult...the Scientologists perhaps... I'll bet Tom Cruise is a Buckeye fan since he knocked up Katie Holmes and bnought a house in Ottawa Hills.

[tekekini]

I know there are alot of highly talented highly recruited players that do not pan out but some of these guys have proven, a bit.

Kerr played a season at IU. I know some of you under rate him because he went to IU and "someone" had to make the tackles. Yes, but not 120 + tackles or so. He knows how to get to the ball.

Schlegal played for Air force before he transfered. He was a big time player for that D, where he transferred from has nothing to do with it. It is how you play.

LArinitus played very well last year filling in for Carpenter against UM and ND. He is a very good player.

LArry Grant is a JUCO and has some experience post high school. I know its not NCAA 1-A experience but it is better than most players comming in.

Ross Homan is the one they are saying will be better than Hawk by the time he leaves.

The talent is there, there is more experience there then people think. The experience on the rest of the team will come.

They will make mistakes but limiting them is the key and the offense can bring them out of it.

[mmisbg]

OSU fans are an odd bunch. You can be an alumnus of virtually any other school in or out of the state of Ohio and they'll say "Yeah, you went to Austin Peay, but since you're in Ohio now you're a Buckeye fan, right"

They're like a cult...the Scientologists perhaps... I'll bet Tom Cruise is a Buckeye fan since he knocked up Katie Holmes and bnought a house in Ottawa Hills.

Flipper,

Dead on the money...period. I was an Ohio State fan when I was younger. Then, I saw first hand what you so perfectly described. This is exactly how OSU people are.

Sure, you find a few people like this in most college scenes. There are a some in UM, MSU, UK....actually, I've found WMU to be bad about it. But through it all, OSU takes the cake.

I just about snapped the hundredth time I heard the phase, "I don't know why you would go anywere but OSU to study..."

Go ahead, kiss their butts if you want. Be a sell-out if you want. Pretend you graduated from there instead of BGSU if you want. Whatever floats your boat. But I don't see why you should be frustrated when people on this forum give you a hard time about it.

Go Falcons!

[bgmaggot00]

Ugh... not this thread again. Can we either lock it before it turns into a 10 page monstrosity or just start up an OSU-bashing forum? Granted, I'm not supporting them, I just get sick of seeing this every month or so.