🏈 Sporting News ranks 6 SEC teams in preseason top 25

[252BAMA]

Sporting News revealed its latest top 25, and six SEC teams make the cut. While only two are in the top 10, a total of five make the top 15. The preseason poll predicts a top-five showdown in Atlanta for Week 1 between Alabama and Florida State, but not quite the rankings some have predicted.

Sporting News ranks 6 SEC teams in preseason top 25

 

[BAMAneck]

With it being the off season , I thought Tennessee would have been higher ..............

 

[252BAMA]

With it being the off season , I thought Tennessee would have been higher ..............

That ship (or is it 'ship?) sailed last year. Was last seen in the Sea of Life.

 

[TerryP]

The Sporting News chooses to cite SDS (mistake number one) followed by citing Jason Kirk of SBNation. The two don't belong in the same sentence, paragraph, or even report. Still, Jason is off the mark.

I glanced at the article where they have a list of games featuring the #1 ranked team versus a top 20 opponent, right? Immediately I notice mistakes--games I'm shocked were missed.

As one example, anyone care to tell me who was the pre-season #1 going into the 1992 season? Yah, I knew you'd know who it was.

Dollars to donuts, I'm guessing there are at least five games--if not more--missed in this article. Heck, I just looked at one year, 1950 since they said that's where we're staring, and noticed they missed the very first game where #1 ranked Notre Dame played a UNC team ranked #20.

 

[alagator]

SN doesn't list the year they had Auburn ranked #1 to start the season? @TerryP You remember the year. Auburn lost to USC and GT in their first two games.

 

[252BAMA]

Probably didn't list 2003 Auburn because they were ranked 6th in the 2003 Preseason AP Poll

 

[alagator]

SN doesn't list the year they had Auburn ranked #1 to start the season?

Probably didn't list 2003 Auburn because they were ranked 6th in the 2003 Preseason AP Poll

Missed my sarcasm

 

[TheChief]

With it being the off season , I thought Tennessee would have been higher ..............

I think the Life Champion poll comes out sometime around Independence Day.

 

[252BAMA]

Missed my sarcasm

I did if Auburn was not ranked #1 in their Poll. Auburn did receive one first place vote in the AP Poll.

 

[TerryP]

I did if Auburn was not ranked #1 in their Poll. Auburn did receive one first place vote in the AP Poll.

The Sporting News was the only publication to rank Auburn #1 in the pre-season of '03. I recall many jokes during that off/pre-season about SN and how on earth they'd come up with that ranking especially with USC being their opener. I was among those laughing.

TSN was at the brink of its fall those years. After that season their subscriber base fell off the map due to poor reporting, a buyout from a couple of different companies (one went radio, the other print.) SN quickly pointed to SI as the reason for their downfall (as well as ESPN's dominance at the time.) Content is what killed them, IMO. You could no longer get things like box scores in magazine style print is one example. That's certainly web related to a degree--only around 10% of the world's population had the Internet at that point and we were about past the "'net boom" era.

Their story, as it relates to college football, was lost in the shuffle of all the other headlines that season. USC and LSU "splitting" the title, three coaches breaking their agreements and voting USC #1 after LSU won the BCSNC, and changes in how the Coaches Poll was released.

 

[252BAMA]

If you were wondering about South Florida at #22. USF returns 16 starters from an 11-2 team. Seven on offense, including the QB, and nine on defense. They are one of a handful of teams that are being allowed to play a 15 week schedule. Army and Navy, of course, because of their late game, and the others because of games at Hawaii.

USF opens at San Jose State, which is one of the teams playing at Hawaii, so the opener is being played on 8/26. The ONLY game in FBS being played that weekend. This gives USF, which does not play Hawaii, the luxury of having two byes. Unless I missed one, USF is the ONLY FBS team with two byes.

I would not be surprised if USF matched their 11-2 record of 2016. They do not play FSU, one of the two losses in 2016. That (11-2) would certainly put them in the Top 25.

 

[252BAMA]

With it being the off season , I thought Tennessee would have been higher ..............

Poster on the Bama Scout board picked ut to finish last in the SEC East. At 0-8! Hell , they have never lost more than 7 games in a season, much less 8 conference games. In 110 years of football. NEVER. EVER. Incredible!

When I pointed this out to the poster, he gave his reasons for the pick which were reasonable and not just because he hated the hell out of them. Like the rest of us.

 

[252BAMA]

Oklahoma is too high and Oklahoma State is too low. Oklahoma plays at OSU AND at tOSU! OSU has OU at home and does not play tOSU. Nuff said.

 

[252BAMA]

Can't believe Oregon is not on there. Only two teams (Syracuse and FAU) return more starters than does Oregon. They do not play USC. Huge! They play 5 conference home games and 4 on the road in odd numbered years. Huge! Plus they have Nebraska at home. Last year they had 5 conference road games and Nebraska on the road.

 

[TUSKtimes]

Can't believe Oregon is not on there. Only two teams (Syracuse and FAU) return more starters than does Oregon. They do not play USC. Huge! They play 5 conference home games and 4 on the road in odd numbered years. Huge! Plus they have Nebraska at home. Last year they had 5 conference road games and Nebraska on the road.

A new coaching staff and last season's dismal results (4-8) I'm sure has dampened expectations. They got a lot to prove.

 

[252BAMA]

A new coaching staff and last season's dismal results (4-8) I'm sure has dampened expectations. They got a lot to prove.

Three of the eight losses were by three points each. One in 2 OTs. I believe they will prove they are not near as bad as perceived.

 

[TUSKtimes]

Three of the eight losses were by three points each. One in 2 OTs. I believe they will prove they are not near as bad as perceived.

They might, they have a better coaching staff already. But most of the flash has been in the unis. Rivals had them in the top 20 in recruiting and let's hope most of those studs can play defense.

 

[TheChief]

If you were wondering about South Florida at #22. USF returns 16 starters from an 11-2 team. Seven on offense, including the QB, and nine on defense. They are one of a handful of teams that are being allowed to play a 15 week schedule. Army and Navy, of course, because of their late game, and the others because of games at Hawaii.

USF opens at San Jose State, which is one of the teams playing at Hawaii, so the opener is being played on 8/26. The ONLY game in FBS being played that weekend. This gives USF, which does not play Hawaii, the luxury of having two byes. Unless I missed one, USF is the ONLY FBS team with two byes.

I would not be surprised if USF matched their 11-2 record of 2016. They do not play FSU, one of the two losses in 2016. That (11-2) would certainly put them in the Top 25.

Houston and Cincinnati are on their schedule. I think they get by Stony Brook. Illinois? Temple? East Carolina? UMass? Tulsa? UCF? Are any of those teams any good?

Just playing devil's advocate, but shouldn't they have to play someone halfway decent and win the game to get into the top 25? I'm not disagreeing that they'll be in the top 25 at 11-2, but it seems to me they ought to play SOMEONE and win.

For fun, how would Kentucky fare with USF's schedule? If UK would do as well, are they top 25?