My AP Top 25 preseason ballot

Aug. 20, 2011 2:33 pm

I hate doing the preseason ballot. I don't think there should be one. I think it has too much bearing on polls for the next several weeks.

But they said I had to do it, so I took the top 20 teams from Phil Steele's "power poll," except his No. 18, Texas. You have a regular-season losing record, you shouldn't be ranked in the preseason the following year.

Then I tacked on five teams of my own to fill out the ballot, putting Iowa at 25th to play to the Hawkeye fans in the readership and because that's where I had Iowa in my final poll of last season.

But this all comes tumbling down the night of Sept. 5 when the first regular-season ballot is due. No way does my preseason No. 1, Alabama, keep that spot for beating Kent State. No, the winner from one of these games is my likely No. 1: Boise State-Georgia, LSU-Oregon.

If Tulsa wins at Oklahoma, it's Tulsa. If Kent State wins at 'Bama, it's Kent State.

We'll go from there. I trust the best team in the nation will be ranked No. 1 when it's all over next January. If not, blame Nevin Shapiro and Terrelle Pryor.

My poll, and some gibberish about how many voters had my picks ranked higher and lower than I did:

0 - HIGHEST