Gators Near-Unanimous Preseason No. 1 In USA Today Coaches Poll

After an offseason of tumult, the preseason USA Today coaches' poll has arrived, proclaiming Tim Tebow's Florida Gators the early favorites as college football's top team. No surprise there, as the defending BCS Champion Gators return the rhino-QB and the bulk of their offense, plus the entire two deep from a top-five 2008 defense.

That choice is the most obvious and uncontested since the much-hyped start of USC's 2005 run. There's a lesson there, of course, for both the Gators and for fans. Its not like USC was a bad team, but the still-impressive results didn't quite match the hype. So what about the rest of the poll? We report, we decide, after the jump.

So about that near-unanimous thing. Florida actually lost a few first place votes -- four to Texas, one to Oklahoma and one to USC. Its a bit surprising, but then it's also merely the preseason poll, where silly ballots are most easily dismissed and least damaging.

What I find interesting is that, although USC is fourth, they'll be No. 3 (ahead of the Red River Rivalry loser the subsequent week) if they go undefeated through the first few weeks, and in a position to pounce if Florida or Texas/Oklahoma falters. That assumes they beat No. 6 Ohio State and Terrelle Pryor in Columbus, of course.

As far as conference talk, the SEC placed five teams in the top 13, at Nos. 1, 5, 9, 10 and 13. The Big 12 came in at Nos. 2, 3, 11 and 22. The Pac-10 could be sneaky with teams at No. 4, 12, 14 and 25. The ACC enters with the Nos. 7, 15, 19 and 20 teams and the Big Ten has the Nos. 6, 8 and 21 teams.

Where's the Big East, you ask? Not here! Meanwhile, part-time Big East member Notre Dame sneaks in at No. 23 while playoff-crusading Mountain West powers TCU, Utah and BYU are at Nos. 17, 18 and 24. Perennial wildcard Boise State is at No. 16.

Michigan actually received one vote, which angered my colleague Mark Hasty. "Tennessee and Michigan should have received no votes at all," he said. I haven't done my preseason rankings yet, but its hard to count Michigan out despite what happened last year. That's a talented team, used to winning, that had terrible quarterback issues. New freshman quarterback Tate Forcier might erase many of those concerns once the Big Ten season rolls around.

The larger concern among the FanHouse college football staff was the treatment of Alabama and the handful of non-BCS invaders.

Said Hasty: "Nope, there's no glass ceiling in this poll, what with Boise State, TCU, and Utah stuck together at 16-18. How does Utah go undefeated, totally embarrass a team from America's Greatest Conference in a bowl game and wind up ranked well out of the top 10? And why are they below Boise State and TCU? What does Utah have to do to be taken seriously?"

Adds Clay Travis, "How are Alabama and LSU legit top-10 teams. I mean that really. Alabama at 5? That's insane."

I probably won't be putting Alabama that high, but I don't think it's unreasonable either. I will be buying what LSU's selling this year, however. Last year's woes had more to do with shaky quarterback play and a two-headed-monster defensive coordinator setup with too many chefs in the kitchen. Les Miles seemed to address those issues by promoting redshirt freshman Jordan Jefferson to the starting quarterback position the Tigers' final two games -- thus mercifully ending Jarrett Lee's parade of pick-sixes -- and hiring Tennessee outcast John Chavis to run his defense. They'll be fine.

As for Utah, lets not forget they lost arguably their best player in quarterback Brian Johnson. There's a winning system in place and, while they went undefeated last season, the Sugar Bowl romp seems more of an isolated event rather than a trend. Don't forget they had miraculous escapes against TCU and Oregon State last year, and barely held on to a two-point win against the worst Michigan team in decades. Undefeated is undefeated but, as sometimes happens, I think the record was a little better than the team last year, something the surprise Sugar Bowl victory obscured.

Also, lets remember that Utah coach Kyle Whittingham could only stomach voting his team No. 5 for last year's end of regular season ballot. Let that marinate for a while.

As a matter of pure argument, I happen to believe Utah's 2004 team (under now-Florida coach Urban Meyer) was much superior to the undefeated group last year. They had the misfortune of timing that undefeated run with the year USC had a juggernaut and both Oklahoma and Auburn went undefeated. They have my sympathy inasmuch as I probably would have voted them over at least Auburn at the end of the year.

Other issues raised within FanHouse included the merits of a preseason poll altogether and these polls being less reflective of the teams than the biases of the voters.

Said Bruce Ciskie, "The worst part about this is that the biases are now in place. I mean, even if BYU beats Oklahoma in the opener (highly unlikely, but play along), they have a long way to go from 24th. Imagine how high they would be if the initial poll wasn't out until six weeks into the season, and BYU somehow got through the minefields and started 6-0."

And Michael David Smith, "I agree completely that the preseason polls are useful mostly as a measurement of the biases of the voters."

I'm in the minority here, but I think college football is all about debate and discussion and not so much about finality. Its quirks and flaws are inherent and somehow make for a compelling product. I understand the concern about preseason polls and I'd be willing to see the official ones pushed to a later date experimentally, but have a hunch that really wouldn't have as much effect as we might anticipate. In the interim multiple somebodies (fans, the AP poll, etc.) will have their polls and people will be watching them and perhaps influenced by them. There is no vacuum from which to avoid the chatter.

In the meantime, they're great discussion and, whatever the biases of voters, what's even more influential are the events of a 12- (sometimes 13-) game regular season in which only the final ballot matters. The regular season, how teams evolve and perform, is what is most important anyway.

If your blood is boiling in early August because of some preseason polls, perhaps its time to find another game.

As for BYU, 'Senator Blutarsky' at Get The Picture takes a less cynical view of their chances

[If] BYU somehow runs the table, it's going to be a serious contender to play in the BCS title game, no matter what else goes on, as it faces four teams in the preseason top twenty, including #3 Oklahoma. I'm not saying the Cougars would be a lock to play if they're 12-0, but they'll be in the mix, and deservedly so.

Cosigned.