College Football – Do away with preseason polls

Week 3 of the 2015 is the perfect reason why we should do away with preseason polls and have the first ‘official’ polls come out after week 3. This assumption…

Week 3 of the 2015 is the perfect reason why we should do away with preseason polls and have the first ‘official’ polls come out after week 3. This assumption of a current teams ability that has basis in last years performance is just a ridiculous conclusion. Let’s start with the top 10 preseason top 10 rankings (Current W-L):

  1. Ohio State (3-0)
    Unimpressive win vs N. Illinois (20-13)
  2. TCU (3-0)
    Struggled at Minnesota (23-17)
  3. Alabama (2-1)
    Loss to Ole Miss @ home (37-43)
  4. Baylor (2-0)
    Not challenged yet.
  5. Michigan State (3-0)
    Impressive win against Oregon (31-28)
  6. Auburn (2-1)
    Destroyed by LSU (45-21)
    OT win against Jacksonville State(27-20)
  7. Oregon (2-1)
    Loss to Michigan State (28-31)
  8. USC (2-1)
    Loss to Stanford @ home (31-41)
  9. Georgia (3-0)
    Not challenged yet.
    Win vs South Carolina (52-20)
  10. Florida State (3-0)
    Won @ Boston College (14-0)

If the rankings came out today, after week 3, here is my assessment of the top 10. Based solely on what has happened ON the field.

  1. Michigan State
  2. Ole Miss
  3. TCU
  4. LSU
  5. Georgia
  6. Oklahoma
  7. Oregon
  8. Baylor
  9. Alabama
  10. Texas A&M

Biggest thing I see is power teams struggling against inferior opponents. When you think of how this affects the playoff committee selection it should factor in greatly. For a team like Ohio State, who really plays no one at all for the entire season, that should absolutely make a difference.

Most impressive so far is Michigan State, who beat a good Oregon team and has handled every other opponent with no issue. Ole Miss is a surprise but I feel on the fence about the ability to sustain that level of play. TCU has all the tools to win it all but they need to put together a complete game against a quality opponent. Anytime you have a QB like Boykin, you will compete. LSU, in my opinion is the most improved team and has beat 2 ranked opponents. Good defense, solid QB play from Harris and the best player in College Football in Leonard Fournette.

It is still early but by week 5 we should have a clearer picture of where things shake out.