Just as most every magazine picked the Florida Gators to repeat as national champions in 2009, the major preseason magazines are lining up solidly behind the only team to beat the Gators in 2009 – BCS national champion Alabama.
Athlon, Lindy’s and The Sporting News (which now owns the Street & Smith brand) all have Nick Saban’s team ranked No. 1 in their preseason magazines. The only dissenter to this point is Phil Steele, which is picking Oklahoma and Ohio State to finish ahead of the Crimson Tide.
Following Alabama in the consensus Top 10 ranking is Ohio State No. 2, Boise State No. 3 and the Gators at No. 4. Then comes Oklahoma, Texas Christian, Nebraska, Texas, Southern California and Virginia Tech.
Here’s the Top 10 by magazine:
Athlon: 1. Alabama; 2. Ohio State; 3. Southern California; 4. Boise State; 5. Oklahoma; 6. Florida; 7. Nebraska; 8. Texas; 9. Oregon; 10. Virginia Tech.
Lindy’s: 1. Alabama; 2. Boise State; 3. Ohio State; 4. Texas; 5. Florida; 6. Wisconsin; 7. Texas Christian; 8. Virginia Tech; 9. Oklahoma; 10. Iowa.
The Sporting News: 1. Alabama; 2. Ohio State; 3. Boise State; 4. Miami, Fla.; 5. Florida; 6. Texas Christian; 7. Nebraska; 8. Wisconsin; 9. Texas; 10. Oklahoma.
Phil Steele: 1. Oklahoma; 2. Ohio State; 3. Alabama; 4. Texas Christian; 5. Nebraska; 6. Boise State; 7. Florida; 8. Southern California; 9. Miami, Fla.; 10. Oregon.
A year ago, of course, the Gators were a consensus No. 1 – in the magazines and also the Associated Press (media) and USA Today/ESPN (coaches) polls. Texas followed the Gators and the rest of the Top 10 was (in order) Oklahoma, Southern California, Virginia Tech, Mississippi, Ohio State, Alabama, Penn State and Oklahoma State.
But the Crimson Tide changed all that by beating Florida, 32-13, in the SEC Championship Game and then by beating No. 2 Texas, 37-21, in the BCS Championship Game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
The actual final Top 10: 1. Alabama; 2. Texas; 3. Florida; 4. Boise State; 5. Ohio State; 6. Texas Christian; 7. Iowa; 8. Cincinnati; 9. Penn State; 10. Virginia Tech.
Oklahoma, of course, lost the services of Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford, and Oklahoma State finished out of the Top 25, and Southern California finished 22nd. Boise State, meanwhile, improved seven spots to finish No. 4, TCU jumped 12 spots to 6, Iowa jumped 15 spots to 7th and Cincinnati jumped 21 spots to 8th.
So what does it all mean? Nothing, of course. But what it does do is get you talking about college football season, which will be here sooner than you think.
AROUND THE SEC: I spent Sunday working the Internet and found some interesting news items and stories at newspapers serving Florida’s 11 fellow SEC brethren.
Alabama: The Crimson Tide’s loss to Utah in the Allstate Sugar Bowl following the 2008 season was a defining one for the two schools’ futures, according to this story from the Tuscaloosa News:
http://www.tidesports.com/article/20100627/NEWS/100629751/1011?p=6&tc=pg
Arkansas: Sounds like Bobby Petrino is really settling in with the Razorbacks. The football coach took the time to list a few of his favorite things for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:
http://recruiting.arkansasonline.com/index.php/2010/06/25/petrinos-weakness-chocolate/#more-7878
Auburn: Safety Zac Etheridge hopes to return to the field after rehabbing from the season-ending neck injury he suffered against Ole Miss last Oct. 31. The story from the Opelika-Auburn News:
Louisiana State: Chad Jones, a football-baseball standout at Louisiana State, was in a horrible auto accident in New Orleans. His football coach Les Miles and baseball coach Paul Mainieri were both emotional talking about Jones, according to this story from the Baton Rouge Advocate.
http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/97245089.html?showAll=y&c=y
Mississippi: The Rebels may have been guilty of secondary NCAA violation when an assistant coach posted on a recruit’s Facebook site. The Clarion Ledger has the story:
Mississippi State: The stories differ naturally why basketball player Phil Turner won’t be playing for Rick Stansbury next year, according to this story in the Clarion Ledger:
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100627/SPORTS030102/6270335/Stansbury-disputes-Turner-s-story
Georgia: The Bulldogs hope they’ve gone a “Long” way to improving their offensive line in the future, according to this story in the Athens Daily News-Banner-Herald:
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/062510/foo_661115740.shtml
Kentucky: Did men’s basketball coach John Calipari put his foot in his mouth talking about having five NBA first-round draft choices? You can decide for yourself by reading this story from the Lexington Herald-Leader:
http://www.kentucky.com/2010/06/27/1325424/uk-basketball-notebook-old-guard.html
South Carolina: The Gamecocks and UCLA’s Bruins could look in the mirror and see each other, as this College World Series Championship Series story in The State will show:
http://www.thestate.com/2010/06/28/1353802/college-baseball-championship.html
Tennessee: After being burned by Lane Kiffin, the Volunteers have protected themselves from Derek Dooley leaving early. The Knoxville News-Sentinel has the story:
http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2010/mar/31/buyouts-dooley-ut-hefty/
Vanderbilt: It looks like the Commodores may be losing left-handed pitcher Richie Goodenow to … Lipscomb? Read all about it in this story from The Tennessean:
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100627/SPORTS0602/6270378/2082/SPORTS