An Early Consensus Top 25

[BigdaddyQH]

Here is an early consensus of the Top 25 teams. This represents 5 different mags and touts, but should give us some idea what the "experts" are thinking so far:

1. Alabama
2. Boise State
3. Ohio State
4. Texas
5. Iowa
6. TCU
7. Florida
8. Va. Tech
9. Nebraska
10. Wisconsin
11. Oregon
12. Ga. Tech
13. Oklahoma
14. USC
15. Arkansas
16. Pitt
17. Miami
18. North Carolina
19. Penn State
20. LSU
21. Cincinnati
22. Georgia
23. Oregon State
24. Utah
25. West Virginia

[jhack704]

Boise at 2?? I like to see wisc in top 10!

[BigdaddyQH]

Yes. Out of the five that I read, Boise was #1 in two of them. I can easily understand the reasoning. First, Boise has the easiest schedule of the challengers. Only Va. Tech in Landover should stand in their way of running the table again. Sure they play Oregon State at home, and Nevada in Reno, but that pales in comparison to Alabama, who must play Penn State and Florida at home, and Arkansas and LSU away, plus a Championship game. Ohio State plays Miami (Fl) and Penn State at home, and travels to both Wisconsin and Iowa. Then, you add on the fact that the BCS Championship game is in Arizona, where Boise State loves to play (2-0 in BCS Games) and picking Boise makes some sense.

[Vince Lombardi]

Boise will not only not be number 2, they won't be top 5. It's just not gonna happen.

[BigdaddyQH]

Boise will not only not be number 2, they won't be top 5. It's just not gonna happen.

Boise is an absoulte lock to be pre-season 2 or 3, probably 3. There is absolutely no doubt about that. No one has Boise State lower than 3. I will be willing to wager any amount of points on that. It is an absolute lock.

[rwsmith]

IS this going to be boise's chance this year...they just better hope for no more than 1 other undefeated

[frankzig]

boise 2 is a tough feel

[Kustac]

at least Boise is making the extra effort to play Virg Tech, I just don't know that this is enough to reward them over a 1 loss team from a major conference playing a much tougher schedule with say 3 tough games away from home compared to Boise's 1 on a somewhat neutral field right?

[The DiB]

at least Boise is making the extra effort to play Virg Tech, I just don't know that this is enough to reward them over a 1 loss team from a major conference playing a much tougher schedule with say 3 tough games away from home compared to Boise's 1 on a somewhat neutral field right?

A lot of it will probably have to do with how Vtech does... if they flop this year you can forget about Boise to the BCSCG. If that's Vtech's only loss on the year Boise will definitely be in the running.

[BigdaddyQH]

Boise plays Virginia Tech on the road. Va. Tech is ranked 8 in this poll. Alabama's toughest opponent is Florida who is ranked 7, and whom they play at home. Boise probably has it tougher than Alabama does as far as those two games are concerned. If a. Tech wins, the problem is over as Boise wil have no shot at any BCS game at all. No non-BCS Conference team with a loss has a shot at a BCS game. If Boise wins, they also play Oregon State, hovering around 23 in my survey. The same Oregon State who opens the year in Jerryworld against the other non-BCS team in the equation, TCU. Now a win by Oregon State really makes the game against Boise State meaningful. With the strong possibility of Alabama, Ohio State and Iowa all losing a game, and Texas falling at least once, you could be looking at Boise and TCU as the only undefeated teams in the nation. Then what do you do?

[iwantcougars]

I can see this consensus top 25 being close to the first ap rankings. But USC is ranked too high, i'll expect to seeing them at #19-24.Also i think sooners will rank ahead of ga tech

[iwantcougars]

boise state is a lock at #2, strong finish with their win over tcu plus undefeated season, only lost 1 starter. It's up to them to play for the bcs national champ

[HoldEmHook!!]

Place Boise St. in the SEC and they lose 2 games a season.......never does this argument come into play....

[HoldEmHook!!]

No way TCU should be in the top 10.....boise smoked them last year.....another big little school that benifts from a weak schedule

[Terrapin Station]

I can see this consensus top 25 being close to the first ap rankings. But USC is ranked too high, i'll expect to seeing them at #19-24.Also i think sooners will rank ahead of ga tech

Agree with you about USC

[BigdaddyQH]

Place Boise St. in the SEC and they lose 2 games a season.......never does this argument come into play....

Perhaps, but that is a weak argument. Put any SEC team in the Pac 10 and they lose 1-2 games if they are Alabama, and 2+ if they are anyone else. You can say the same thing about any BCS Conference.

[Vince Lombardi]

Boise is an absoulte lock to be pre-season 2 or 3, probably 3. There is absolutely no doubt about that. No one has Boise State lower than 3. I will be willing to wager any amount of points on that. It is an absolute lock.

PreSeason yes. Preseason means nothing. I'm telling you that Boise will not FINISH in the top 5. That's a lock.

[BigdaddyQH]

What happens in the post season is still tobe determined. If Boise State goes undefeated in the regular season, they are a LOCK in the Top 5 and ahead of any one loss team. There is absolutely no one who will argue that point. If they lose a game, they are out. It is that simple. So are you saying that if Boise State goes UNDEFEATED in the regular season, they STILL do not finish in the Top 5? If so, let's get a wager on. Name the number ofpoints or dollars you would like to wager. Like I said, a loss knocks them out.

[Vince Lombardi]

I'm saying their schedule sucks and they probably aren't in the top ten of the BEST teams in the nation. But I know the BCS and that anything is possible with that crock of shit instead of a playoff system. I will say this, just because Boise goes undefeated doesn't mean that they will be in the top 5. It depends on how many other teams go undefeated and how much better their schedule is than Boise's.

[LLXC]

Boise needs to open the season ranked in the top 3, and stay undefeated, in order to play in the national title game.

[BigdaddyQH]

Few, if any teams other than Boise State and possibly TCU will go undefeated this season. Obviously only one SEC team can go undefeated, and ditto for the ACC and Big 12. The Big East and Pac 10 simply do not have a team good enough to win all of their games. That leaves the Big 10, where only one team can go undefeated. So, at the very most, only 4 teams can go undefeated. That is the Max. So if Boise State goes undefeated, they finish no worse than 5th in the polls. Right now, the chances of Boise State and TCU being the only two undefeated teams are much better than the chance of having 6 undefeated teams in the six BCS Conferences.

Now the easy way to end all of this is to have both Boise State and TCU lose a game. That is easier said than done. TCU only has one tough non-con game, their opener against Oregon State in Jerryworld, but the MWC is a tougher conference than the Big East is, so they may lose a conference game. They do have to go to Utah.

[iwantcougars]

Perhaps, but that is a weak argument. Put any SEC team in the Pac 10 and they lose 1-2 games if they are Alabama, and 2+ if they are anyone else. You can say the same thing about any BCS Conference.

except on the big east

[BigdaddyQH]

This is true. The MWC is better overall than the Big East.

[HoldEmHook!!]

Perhaps, but that is a weak argument. Put any SEC team in the Pac 10 and they lose 1-2 games if they are Alabama, and 2+ if they are anyone else. You can say the same thing about any BCS Conference.

No way last years Bama team has 2 losses in the Pac-10. No true argument is ever weak and by the way you rely thrive on the power of hind-sight....

[BigdaddyQH]

Easily. they do not have the refs to give them any games. Alabama would lose away games. They can not beat Los Angeles teams. Theyhave not defeated a Los Angeles team in many a year now. But the fact is no SEC team in their right mind would ever schedule USC to a home and home, seeing as what happened to SEC teams who dared to do this.

[Ch3fDan]

Bigdaddy do you really think Georgia Tech will be able to be top 15 with losing Jonathan Dwyer, Morgan Burnette, Demaryius Thomas, and Derrick Morgan?

[Cookie Monster]

Boise State: I guess the wins o/u should be 12.5, and the over looks good.

[HoldEmHook!!]

Easily. they do not have the refs to give them any games. Alabama would lose away games. They can not beat Los Angeles teams. Theyhave not defeated a Los Angeles team in many a year now. But the fact is no SEC team in their right mind would ever schedule USC to a home and home, seeing as what happened to SEC teams who dared to do this.

Easily......thats a bold statement......Bama would beat any Pac 10 team....your posts are mostly filled with very insightful and helpfull information and that all goes out the window when you sit behind your keyboard and make assumptions that are BOGUS at best. An L.A. team, please excuse me while I LAUGH, not a snicker oh no, but deep down inside. I dont claim to know as much as you about football but I do know when you are wrong. I made my statement about Boise not any other west coast team, stop deflecting and stay on point.

[The DiB]

Boise State: I guess the wins o/u should be 12.5, and the over looks good.

Might as well just take Boise State ML on week 1 instead if you're considering that bet. If they beat Vtech, they're going undefeated. No point in having your money tied up all season.

[Cappy]

You gotta watch Boise this year, they're going to be tough, and they shouldn't have many challenges.

[Socrates]

Easily. they do not have the refs to give them any games. Alabama would lose away games. They can not beat Los Angeles teams. Theyhave not defeated a Los Angeles team in many a year now. But the fact is no SEC team in their right mind would ever schedule USC to a home and home, seeing as what happened to SEC teams who dared to do this.

A lot of people disrespect the pac-10, but you're right. Any SEC team knows they strongly run the risk of tanking a season if they have to play in Los Angeles or anywhere in California for that matter.

Why do that when you don't have to? Why play @USC, @Cal, @Oregon? They can win championships without 'man-ing' up against the PAC-10.

[Cookie Monster]

Might as well just take Boise State ML on week 1 instead if you're considering that bet. If they beat Vtech, they're going undefeated. No point in having your money tied up all season.

Boise could lose the first game and still win 13 games, going 12-1 in season and winning the bowl game.

[Vince Lombardi]

Perhaps, but that is a weak argument. Put any SEC team in the Pac 10 and they lose 1-2 games if they are Alabama, and 2+ if they are anyone else. You can say the same thing about any BCS Conference.

You think so? Now that USC has lost their mojo, the Pac 10 is a weak conference. I'm an Oregon fan, love to watch their offense but watching them in the bowl game was embarrassing. The SEC wasn't as strong in the bowls as they have been in the past but the Pac 10 as a whole has been embarrassed for the last few years with the exception of USC.

[HoldEmHook!!]

TCU, Wisc, and Ore ranked too high.......TCU = one hit wonder.....Wisc fades out end of season......Ore lost too much with their legal issues....... Oklahoma should be a little higher

[BigdaddyQH]

TCU has a very soft non-con schedule. Their only decent game is against Oregon State in Jerryworld. Their conference schedule sees them going to Utah, and plaqying all other notable MWC teams at home. I hope someone beats them, becuase they are not as good as advertised, but they could back door their way into a BCS game, or the Big Game this season.