We are back once again with the Preseason Consensus Poll, where we average all of the nationally published top 25 polls in preseason magazines and online sites. This first sampling finds USC as the clear cut No. 1 team heading into the preseason in college football. We will update this poll through mid-August. Click this free link for the poll as well as BCS bowl projections and more.
By Steve Helwagen
Bucknuts.com
Welcome to the first installment of the 2007 Preseason Consensus Poll.
Each year, it is my mission in life to produce an ongoing consensus preseason top 25 for college football. The premise is simple: We use the published polls on web sites and in magazines as “votes” in our own consensus poll. Teams ranked No. 1 get 25 points and so on down to one point for those ranked 25th.
We will maintain this list and add to it every time a new preseason list is released right up through the release of the preseason Associated Press media poll in August.
A year ago, the final edition of the Preseason Consensus Poll correctly predicted one of the two participants in the BCS national championship game. The poll had Ohio State No. 1 and the Buckeyes played Florida, ranked ninth in the preseason poll, for the national title.
There were six preseason polls that listed both Ohio State and Florida in the top five. They were Athlon Sports (OSU fourth, Florida fifth), Lindy’s (OSU second, Florida fifth), CollegeFootballNews.com (Florida second, OSU fifth), Street & Smith’s (OSU first, Florida fifth), The Gold Sheet (OSU fourth, Florida fifth) and Blue Ribbon (OSU first, Florida fifth).
In terms of the other BCS games, the participants were: Rose, USC (fifth in preseason poll)-Michigan (14th); Sugar, LSU (eighth)-Notre Dame (third); Orange, Louisville (11th)-Wake Forest (not in top 40); and Fiesta, Boise State (29th)-Oklahoma (seventh).
Top-10 preseason poll teams that did not make BCS bowls included Texas (second), West Virginia (fourth), Auburn (sixth) and Florida State (10th).
So, although your favorite team may not be in the top 10 to start the year, that shows there is some hope that they will still play in a major bowl.
So far, we have as many as 13 preseason polls.
We have polls from Athlon Sports, The Sporting News, CBSSportsLine.com (Dennis Dodd), SI.com (Stewart Mandel), CollegeFootballNews.com, Lindy’s, NationalChamps.net, Street & Smith’s, Phil Steele, ESPN.com (Mark Schlabach), AutumnSpectacle.com, StatFox.com and the CBS SportsLine.com preseason magazine.
It is almost a clean sweep for USC in the top spot. The Trojans received 12 of the 13 first-place votes. Only AutumnSpectacle.com, which picked LSU, put a team other than LSU in the top spot.
In terms of conference strength, the SEC again seems to be tops with four top-15 teams and six top-20 teams – more than any other conference in both regards. The Big Ten has four teams in the top 20, but nobody else in the 41-team poll. The Big East, Pac-10 and Big 12 all have three teams in the top 20. The ACC places just one team in the top 20.
If you had to project the various BCS bowls off of these predictions, you would be looking at:
* Rose: Tues., Jan. 1, 4:30 p.m. (ABC) – Michigan (Big Ten champ) vs. Oklahoma (BCS at-large). Rose gets first choice to replace USC and goes for Oklahoma over Louisville.
* Sugar: Tues., Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m. (FOX) – Florida (BCS at-large) vs. Wisconsin (BCS at-large). Sugar drafts Florida to replace LSU, then gets Wisconsin on the second go-around.
* Fiesta: Wed., Jan. 2, 8 p.m. (FOX) – Texas (Big 12 champ) vs. Louisville (BCS at-large). Fiesta takes Louisville with last BCS bid. Ohio State and Georgia were ineligible as the third school from their respective leagues, dropping them likely into a Capital One Bowl berth.
* Orange: Thurs., Jan. 3, 8 p.m. (FOX) – West Virginia (Big East champ) vs. Virginia Tech (ACC champ). Natural match-up of Mid-Atlantic rivals.
* National championship game (at New Orleans): Mon., Jan. 7, 8 p.m. (FOX) – USC vs. LSU. This seems to be the consensus, and how can you blame anybody after the way these two closed with strong bowl wins last year?
If you see a published poll that we are missing, please send a link or the list to shelwage@columbus.rr.com
Here is a look at the Preseason Consensus Poll on July 23:
Preseason Consensus Poll
(First-Place votes; last year’s record in parentheses)
1. USC (12 first-place votes; 11-2), 324 points
2. LSU (1; 11-2), 298 points
3. West Virginia (11-2), 280 points
4. Michigan (11-2), 270 points
5. Texas (10-3), 256 points
6. Florida (13-1), 251 points
7. Wisconsin (12-1), 237 points
8. Oklahoma (11-3), 234 points
9. Virginia Tech (10-3), 224 points
10. Louisville (12-1), 192 points
11. Ohio State (12-1), 178 points
12. Georgia (9-4), 140 points
13. California (10-3), 135 points
14. Arkansas (10-4), 126 points
15. Rutgers (11-2), 123 points
16. UCLA (7-6), 111 points
17. Tennessee (9-4), 102 points
18. Auburn (11-2), 101 points
19. Penn State (9-4), 94 points
20. Nebraska (9-5), 74.5 points
21. TCU (11-2), 71 points
22. Texas A&M (9-4), 61 points
23. Florida State (7-6), 59 points
24. South Carolina (8-5), 40 points
25. Boise State (13-0), 34 points
26. Hawaii (11-3), 29 points
27. Wake Forest (11-3), 27 points
28. Boston College (10-3), 25 points
29. Alabama (6-7), 23 points
30. Georgia Tech (9-5), 17 points
31. Missouri (8-5), 15.5 points
32. Oregon State (10-4), 14 points
33. South Florida (9-4), 12 points
34. Arizona State (7-6), 10 points
35. (tie) BYU (11-2), 9 points
35. (tie) Clemson (8-5), 9 points
37. Oregon (7-6), 8 points
38. (tie) Arizona (6-6), 2 points
38. (tie) Miami (Fla.) (7-6), 2 points
38. (tie) Notre Dame (10-3), 2 points
38. (tie) Southern Miss (9-5), 2 points
Lindy’s
1. USC
2. LSU
3. Michigan
4. West Virginia
5. Texas
6. Wisconsin
7. Tennessee
8. Virginia Tech
9. Louisville
10. Oklahoma
11. Florida
12. California
13. Ohio State
14. Arkansas
15. TCU
16. Rutgers
17. Georgia
18. Texas A&M
19. Hawaii
20. Wake Forest
21. Florida State
22. UCLA
23. Auburn
24. Boston College
25. Nebraska
Athlon Sports
1. USC
2. Texas
3. LSU
4. Wisconsin
5. West Virginia
6. Florida
7. Oklahoma
8. Michigan
9. Virginia Tech
10. Rutgers
11. California
12. Ohio State
13. Louisville
14. Georgia Tech
15. UCLA
16. Georgia
17. Penn State
18. Nebraska
19. Hawaii
20. Tennessee
21. Auburn
22. Oregon State
23. Texas A&M
24. Miami (Fla.)
25. TCU
The Sporting News
1. USC
2. LSU
3. Michigan
4. West Virginia
5. Florida
6. Texas
7. Virginia Tech
8. Wisconsin
9. Louisville
10. UCLA
11. Florida State
12. California
13. Oklahoma
14. Georgia
15. Penn State
16. Auburn
17. Ohio State
18. Tennessee
19. Rutgers
20. TCU
21. South Florida
22. Boise State
23. Nebraska
24. Southern Miss
25. BYU
Phil Steele’s College Football Preview
1. USC
2. LSU
3. Oklahoma
4. West Virginia
5. Michigan
6. Texas
7. Louisville
8. Florida State
9. Virginia Tech
10. Penn State
11. Georgia
12. Hawaii
13. South Carolina
14. Florida
15. Ohio State
16. Wisconsin
17. Alabama
18. Oregon
19. Missouri
20. Texas A&M
21. UCLA
22. Nebraska
23. TCU
24. South Florida
25. Tennessee
Street & Smith’s
1. USC
2. West Virginia
3. Wisconsin
4. LSU
5. Michigan
6. Florida
7. Oklahoma
8. Texas
9. Virginia Tech
10. Louisville
11. California
12. Arkansas
13. Penn State
14. Auburn
15. Ohio State
16. Georgia
17. UCLA
18. Missouri
19. Rutgers
20. Nebraska
21. Tennessee
22. Clemson
23. TCU
24. Oregon State
25. Boise State
CBS SportsLine.com (preview magazine)
1. USC
2. LSU
3. Michigan
4. West Virginia
5. Florida
6. Wisconsin
7. Louisville
8. Texas
9. Oklahoma
10. Virginia Tech
11. Auburn
12. UCLA
13. Arkansas
14. California
15. Ohio State
16. Tennessee
17. TCU
18. Rutgers
19. Boise State
20. Georgia
21. Texas A&M
22. Penn State
23. Boston College
24. Nebraska
25. Hawaii
StatFox.com
1. USC
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. Wisconsin
5. West Virginia
6. LSU
7. Ohio State
8. Arkansas
9. Michigan
10. Virginia Tech
11. Nebraska
12. Oklahoma
13. Rutgers
14. Florida State
15. Georgia
16. Tennessee
17. TCU
18. Texas A&M
19. Alabama
20. Wake Forest
21. Clemson
22. Oregon State
23. South Florida
24. Arizona
25. Auburn
CBS SportsLine.com (Dennis Dodd)
1. USC
2. LSU
3. Michigan
4. West Virginia
5. Wisconsin
6. Virginia Tech
7. Florida
8. Texas
9. Louisville
10. Oklahoma
11. Auburn
12. California
13. UCLA
14. Tennessee
15. Ohio State
16. Arkansas
17. TCU
18. Rutgers
19. Boise State
20. Georgia
21. South Carolina
22. Texas A&M
23. BYU
24. Notre Dame
25. (tie) Nebraska
25. (tie) Missouri
SI.com (Stewart Mandel)
1. USC
2. LSU
3. Florida
4. West Virginia
5. Louisville
6. Michigan
7. Virginia Tech
8. Texas
9. Oklahoma
10. Wisconsin
11. Ohio State
12. Rutgers
13. Arkansas
14. Penn State
15. Boise State
16. Auburn
17. Tennessee
18. Nebraska
19. Georgia
20. California
21. TCU
22. UCLA
23. Oregon State
24. South Carolina
25. South Florida
NationalChamps.net
1. USC
2. LSU
3. Michigan
4. Florida
5. West Virginia
6. Wisconsin
7. Texas
8. Oklahoma
9. Louisville
10. Ohio State
11. Virginia Tech
12. Arkansas
13. California
14. Auburn
15. Georgia
16. Rutgers
17. Penn State
18. Nebraska
19. Tennessee
20. Texas A&M
21. Boston College
22. UCLA
23. TCU
24. South Carolina
25. South Florida
ESPN.com (Mark Schlabach)
1. USC
2. Michigan
3. West Virginia
4. Wisconsin
5. Oklahoma
6. Virginia Tech
7. Texas
8. Florida
9. California
10. LSU
11. Louisville
12. Arkansas
13. Rutgers
14. Ohio State
15. Texas A&M
16. Georgia
17. Penn State
18. Nebraska
19. TCU
20. Auburn
21. Tennessee
22. Boise State
23. UCLA
24. Wake Forest
25. Alabama
CollegeFootballNews.com
1. USC
2. LSU
3. Texas
4. Florida
5. Wisconsin
6. Ohio State
7. Oklahoma
8. Arkansas
9. UCLA
10. Michigan
11. West Virginia
12. Georgia
13. Virginia Tech
14. Auburn
15. Nebraska
16. Tennessee
17. Florida State
18. California
19. Boston College
20. Texas A&M
21. Rutgers
22. Georgia Tech
23. TCU
24. Penn State
25. Oregon State
AutumnSpectacle.com
1. LSU
2. USC
3. West Virginia
4. Oklahoma
5. Louisville
6. Michigan
7. Georgia
8. South Carolina
9. Virginia Tech
10. Ohio State
11. Florida
12. Texas
13. Wake Forest
14. Rutgers
15. UCLA
16. Arizona State
17. Penn State
18. Boston College
19. California
20. Alabama
21. BYU
22. Texas A&M
23. TCU
24. Wisconsin
25. Georgia Tech