| FTBL Should preseason rankings be abolished?

[bamatommy]

I don't think preseason rankings make any sense. Before anybody has played a snap, there's already a pecking order. This gives some teams an advantage and others a disadvantage.

How can you rank a team that hasn't even played yet? I say wait until at least one month into the season before you do that. Then you're basing it on what a team has done this year, instead of previous years.

 

[ghice]

I think "Official" Pre-Season Rankings should be abolished. It doesn't hurt to guess otherwise.

 

[Guest]

Absolutely! Why rank teams based on the opinion of a bunch of analysts? The rankings should not begin until after the 3rd week of the season. Every team should have played 1 conference game by then.

 

[imalive1459]

Why rank teams based on the opinion of a bunch of analysts?

Isn't that what they are regardless of when they are put out?

 

[Argo]

Why rank teams based on the opinion of a bunch of analysts?

Isn't that what they are regardless of when they are put out?

Exactly. If a voter has USC at #1 in their mind now, they'll still put them there after starting 3-0. I don't see the difference.

Waiting till week 3 would probably change a few teams, but not enough to really make a difference.

 

[AFF]

The preseason polls are a part of the college football experience that I personally look forward to each year. It helps to raise the level of anticipation for the upcoming season while at the same time helping to expose bias and incompetence in the media.

I agree with Argo that abolishing preseason polls is not going to make much of a difference (if any) to the final outcome of the season. Media bias and coaches bias will always be there no matter at what point in the season their biased view is actually published.

Besides, which polls should be abolished? Only the AP and the Coaches polls? Why stop there? Shouldn't they also censor magazines from publishing their own preseason top 20?

And who shall we entrust to carry out the abolishment? Perhaps the NCAA could spare a few brownshirts to help imprison anyone who doesn't comply.

 

[Guest]

True, it will be their opinions pre-season or 3 weeks into the season. However, if they wait a few weeks they will have something to base their opinion on instead of just "hype". Look at last years pre-season rankings.....9 teams that were not ranked in the pre-season, were ranked by week 3. Only 2 teams in the pre-season rankings did not change positions by weak 3 (#1 USC and #2 LSU). 7 teams that were ranked in the pre-season were not ranked at all by week 3. I love the "water cooler" arguements over rankings just as much as any college football fan, but the polls that will factor into the bowl games at the end of the year (AP and Coaches) should skip pre-season rankings. Just my opinion of course. :roll:

 

[BamaHeat]

I don't have a problem with them. It gives us something to talk about before the season begins.

 

[firestorm]

I don't have a problem with them. It gives us something to talk about before the season begins.

Agreed.

RTR,

 

[Guest]

The annual Exercise in Folly?

One good thing about it is that obligates the "experts" to cut themselves down to size every year...which is a good and fun thing. Other than that, they serve little value to LBS.

 

[shipley00]

The networks that carry certain conferences will never allow them to go away. How else will they sell their OSU vs Sisters of the poor matchup early in the season.

A compromise would be a preseason-poll that doesn't change for the first three weeks, then the official poll comes out not based on previous rankings in week 4.

 

[hsvtider]

i enjoy the preseason polls! i like looking at the ridiculous changes before a game is even played. it also gives us a chance to have something to talk about before the season and recruiting heats up. And even if we are ranked lower it wont matter when we keep winning, with enough w's against strong teams we'll move up the poll faster and faster. RTR!!!

 

[Guest]

The problem with the pre season rankings usually arises when a team no one expected to be good has that surprising season. They might be 5-0 before the polsters pay them any attention. I don't like using the polls as a basis for much of anything meaningful, but it does give us something to talk about until we actually kick it off.

Does anyone besides me like power ratings better than polls?