Blog Poll roundtable:
1. What's the biggest ripoff in this preseason poll? Either pick a team that's offensively over or underrated, or you can rag on a particular voter's bad pick (hey, we're all adults here, we can handle it).
Two people (Bruce Ciskie and 50-yard Lion) picked Oklahoma to be fourth in the country. Are you kidding me? Talk about living on reputation, and without your QB to top it off. Further, neither of these can even fall back on emotion and bias--they aren't even OK fans. I thought the ranking in the teens might have been a gift.
2. What shold a preseason poll measure? Specifically, should it be a predictor of end-of-season standing (meaning that a team's schedule should be taken into account when determining a ranking), or should it merely be a barometer of talent/hype/expectations?
This is a tough one. Personally, I tried to look at how the teams are entering the season, and rely less on how it might look in January. It is a pre season poll, and so it should be a starting point. This impacts West Virginia most of all. With their cake schedule, they could easily back into the Championship game. Still, they aren't a top flight team in my opinion. After the first week, I believe it becomes a measure of performance during this season.
3. What is your biggest stretch in your preseason ballot? That is to say, which team has the best chance of making you look like an idiot for overrating them?
Cal. No doubt. I went with them at #5 but it was one of those "either put them #5 or #15 decisions).
4. What do you see as the biggest flaw in the polling system (both wire service and blogpolling)? Is polling an integral part of the great game of college football, or is it an outdated system that needs to be replaced? If you say the latter, enlighten us with your new plan.
There's no perfect system. The biggest flaw is that it is very difficult to evaluate teams. First, you can't see them all. Second, statistics and scores are tough to compare because the quality of the opponent makes such a big difference. There's also a team that holds back a little, yet dominates a game to win 27-3, as opposed to a team that wins 70-3. The only alternative is to use a computer system, and we've seen how well that works.
5. You're Scott Bakula, and you have the opportunity to "Quantum Leap" back in time and change any single moment in your team's history. It can be a play on the field, a hiring decision, or your school's founders deciding to build the campus in Northern Indiana, of all godforsaken places. What do you do?
There are so many....I would go back to my senior year, 1986. BG is setting up to play Fresno State in the California Bowl. When Coach Denny Stolz is approached the week before the game by San Diego State, he says "talk to me after the game" instead of "yeah, I'm ready. Let's announce right before the Bowl Game."
A close second would be hiring Jim Tressel instead of Gary Blackney.
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