Preseason Polls: Top 25 Released Today

Much to the relief of everyone on this site, the official preseason top 25 poll was released today for college football. Because of the demand of the mothership, I’m putting this article out there in an attempt to be “professional.”

I’ll spare you the entire poll but will give you the highlights for the Big Ten and perhaps a couple interesting tidbits. Here’s the Top 5:

1. Georgia (60 FPV)
2. Michigan (2 FPV)
3. Ohio State (1 FPV)
4. Alabama
5. LSU

For the Big Ten, it goes like this:

2. Michigan

3. Ohio State

7. Penn State

19. Wisconsin

25. Iowa

Receiving votes: 38. Minnesota(6 points), 43. Illinois(3 Votes)

Future Big Ten members USC (Number 6), Washington(Number 9), and Oregon(Number 15) are all ranked with UCLA winding up at 28 with 66 points.

No Surprises at the Top

As many could have guessed, Ohio State and Michigan got well within the top 10, going number 3 and number 2 respectively. I kind of find that a bit strange personally. While Michigan kind of makes sense, I feel like the Ohio State QB differential might have warranted a slide down the pole to where Penn State actually sits. I didn’t vote though, so screw it.

If you’re dying to know who gave Michigan their first place votes, it was Texas writer Kirk Bohls and ESPN’s own Rece Davis covering Alabama. The lone writer to vote for Ohio State was Robert Cessna of the Texas A&M beat.

Iowa?

8-5 Music City Bowl Champion Iowa lands at 25. Seems a bit of a shocker to me and I’m sure the Iowa faithful of this website. I guess when you have to fill 25 spots and the transfer portal has been so massive, you throw in brand names where you can. Regardless, Iowa did clear Texas Tech by 30 points in total and was ranked as high as 15th by the Minnesota writer. Here’s hoping that new offense pans out for you.

Half In, Half Out

While 7 teams got to see their names in this poll in various spots from the Big Ten, half the conference got no love at all. I don’t think anyone thought Indiana, Northwestern, or Rutgers would field votes. I think it also makes sense that Nebraska, Purdue, and Michigan State would be stiffed due to their seasons last year and the state of their programs. However....

Maryland Snubbed?

Not to give too much away, but I am a little surprised Maryland didn’t get one vote. Given the trajectory of the program, I’d have thought they’d field at least 1 ranking in the 20-25 range. Perhaps this will give them some ammo early in the year.