2008 sj.com college football poll -- (1/9) Final Poll, Page 118

Re: 2008 SportsJournalists.com college football poll -- WEEK 1 (9/2), Page 19

Here's mine. I forgot to post last week. Please remember that I did not vote in the preseason poll (with permission), so I started following Week I. That skewed me a little bit compared to the rest of you.

1-5: USC, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Florida. The Trojans were number one for me before the season started. I would have had the Bulldogs at two, but dropped them last week after the two major injuries. I moved up OSU, because I thought Wells' injury wouldn't be such a major factor.
Clearly, I was wrong about that. To be honest, I wouldn't have dropped OSU without the running back question, because a tight loss like that one happens to the best of teams, particularly in what was a classic trap game. But Wells' uncertainty makes me penalize them a little. We'll find out the truth on Saturday.
6-10: Missouri, LSU, Texas, Auburn, Alabama. I know some of you hate how high the Tide are being ranked by a few of us, but winning bid in Death Valley stands tall this early in the season. You can't say "Well, Clemson sucks" now. They had a nice ranking in the SportsJournalists.com poll, too.
11-15: Texas Tech, Wisconsin, Kansas, Arizona State, East Carolina. Thought about putting the Pirates even higher, but I think this is fair for now. They will have a chance to rise if they run the table, which is possible. It's possible, very possible, that 10 teams in front of them won't.
16-20: Oregon, Penn State, Wake Forest, South Florida, Illinois. Wake Forest, South Florida and BYU all had big scares this week, and I put the Deacons highest because I think they're the best of the three. I feel Illinois' lone loss shouldn't drop them, because it was to a Top Six team, and I'm not sure anyone else down here could have played Mizzou any better.
21-25: BYU, Fresno State, Utah, California, West Virginia: Really struggled with this section. Honestly thought about dropping BYU, since Washington is so terrible, but thought that would have been unreasonable. Thought about dropping WVU, but its loss is to what appears to be a very good team. Decided to drop UCLA, which was my 25 last week, which seems unfair, but makes the most sense, because they were at the bottom of the poll and more deserving teams need in.

 

Re: 2008 SportsJournalists.com college football poll -- WEEK 1 (9/2), Page 19

Tom,

I give it the normal 1-25 for him. The editorial commentary is special for the board. It's almost like I'm trying to convince myself.