Who Wants Their Ballot Back?

College football polls are lame.

There, I said it. The coaches' poll is a joke because the coaches don't actually watch other teams play. Honestly, you think Jim Tressel has any idea what Kevin Riley is doing at Cal this year? Or that Urban Meyer knows who's replacing Chase Daniel at Missouri? So how are these guys (and others like them) supposed to be counted on to sort out a poll that actually figures into the BCS? Exactly, they shouldn't be.

Don't get me started on the Harris Poll. Supposedly, a bunch of "experts". You know, former players, coaches, and media members who really do watch a lot of games. Except that they don't. Heck, the people who make up the committee aren't even a fair and balanced bunch.

I say all of that for two reasons: 1.) to vent, and 2.) because preseason polls are even more ridiculous. The preseason USA Today Coaches' Poll just came out and the Virginia Tech Hokies are a solid #7. Oh, but wait; today, it was announced that star running back Darren Evans is out for the season with a torn ACL. Ouch. Both literally and figuratively.

Ya think some of those voters might be changing their minds now? Yeah, me too. So why even have a preseason poll? I'm not sure either. Obviously, everybody loves cranking up that football hype machine as early as possible, but think about how silly it is to rank teams before they play a single down. I mean, can't we at least wait until week one is over? Every year, there are a couple teams that are ranked entirely too high in the polls and come crashing down in the first few weeks of the season (hello, 2008 West Virginia!!) Conversely, there is always at least one team that starts out around #15 and sneaks around the chicken coop until the next thing you know, they're one of the last undefeateds (hello, 2008 Texas!!) [note: the Skip To My Lank college football preview is beginning next Monday and we'll address who those teams will be this season in addition to lots more, so don't worry].

How many games are enough to justify a team's ranking? I have no clue; some would say you don't even know who's the best at the end of the year after all of the games have been played. That's not the point, though; the point is that we can all agree that playing zero games is NOT enough of a sample size to rank teams. So, please, polls nationwide, relax, find something else to do with the end of your summer, and then grace us with your presence the first weekend in October. Fair enough? Good, I thought so, too. Who knows, you might even boost your accuracy scores if you watch a few games before judging teams.

Wait, never mind; I just remembered who actually votes in the polls: the guys who don't watch that many games anyway.

~~ Lank