Thursday, August 14, 2008

Return of the Power 12

We are tantalizingly close to Saturday's full of football again. My version of the best teams out there...

1.) Southern Cal
Another National Championship, and they've got team of the decade sewn up.

2.) Ohio State
They return a gob of starters, and can beat about anyone (except teams from a certain regional conference). Should be fun when they face the Trojans early.

3.) Georgia
Lots of talent. But if you follow SEC football, Georgia always figures out a way to mess up a good thing. I'm just not a true believer yet to rank them up at the top.

4.) Oklahoma
This analysis isn't that hard-hitting, but I like Bob Stoops.

5.) West Virginia
There'll be a steep decline after this season, but they still have a great offense.

6.) Missouri
A good QB can take you far, and the Tigers have one.

7.) LSU
These Tigers have everything but a good QB. They could possibly develop one & finish this high at the end of the season. Or they could wallow in mediocrity and drop to third or fourth in their conference division.

8.) Texas
It's not so much about the X's & the O's; it's about the Jimmy's and the Joe's. Mack Brown keeps bringing a steady stream of talent to Austin, so they should do well this season.

9.) Florida
They need to develop a defense to go with their battering ram quarterback.

10.) Wisconsin
Under-rated every year -- sure, I'll stick them in my top 10. They may not hang around for long, though, because they get Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State in successive weeks fairly early.

11.) Clemson
Supposedly the ACC favorite. There's a decent chance they could lose their opening game of the season against a certain crimson-clad school.

12.) Auburn
Because Bueller would give me a hard time I didn't include them.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

I tend to agree. Clemson seems to be the wild card. I think they could be anywhere from no.3 to unranked.

But why do you have OSU #2 if they can't beat your #3?

III said...

I'm not convinced they'll have to face #3

Unknown said...

but these are not polls, they are power rankings. out of curiosity, who would win the game?

III said...

Details, details... just because Ohio State has had an entire conference as their personal kryptonite, should I rank all 12 teams ahead of the Buckeyes?

My deal is that I think the winner of the USC/Ohio State match-up will be considered the best team in the nation. And I've seen Georgia trip over themselves too many times before to give them so much credit. So, despite the SEC failings of Buckeyes past, I'm giving you guys the benefit of the doubt right now.

Keep quiveling with me about it, though, and I might bump your precious scarlet & grey down a few spots. ;)

Anonymous said...

I got to go to the Sugar Bowl last year, Georgia v. Hawaii. All the Georgia fans were talking about how it should be Georgia playing in the National Championship game! Of course, when we reminded them that Georgia didn't win their conference, or their division, they shut up pretty quick.

But, no matter how many seniors Ohio State has, there's nothing about the last two seasons that suggests to me that they belong in any top-5 list. If these seniors are so good, let them prove it on the field, but until then, I can't give them the benefit of the doubt.

Unknown said...

Just maintaining the integrity of power rankings. That's all.

III said...

I'm beginning to think I'll leave the Buckeyes outside my next Power 12 ranking ;)

Chad Billy-Steve Pknicholson said...

The Seven protests the Power of Twelve ripoff! Or is it just flattery? I am fighting every urge in my body not to comment on your Auburn bait. Go Red Sox.

III said...

"The Seven protests the Power of Twelve ripoff!"

You're right. How shameful of me to rip off y'alls totally original idea of ranking college football teams. What was I thinking...