It’s way too early for a 2013 Top 25 poll, nevertheless …
There was little drama in Alabama’s BCS title game blowout of Notre Dame on Monday night. Without any compelling storylines, it led to a dizzying number of articles about the hotness and sudden Twitter fame of Crimson Tide quarterback A.J. McCarron‘s girlfriend in its aftermath.
The anticlimactic finish to the season probably made a bunch of writers eager to look at head to 2013 too, because there’s no shortage of “Way Too Early 2013 Top 25″ stories out there.
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I’m sure this comes to no surprise, but everybody seems in lockstep that Alabama will be the No. 1 team entering next season. as if there was much question about a team that has won back-to-back BCS titles and three in the last four years.
Since these Top 25 poll predictions don’t differ too much from the way the previous season ended — and even when it comes time to actually vote, there’s not too much of a difference — Virginia Tech, which finished a disappointing 7-6 this season, didn’t make the cut in any of the six samples that I found online.
The best the Hokies could do was get into the “Also under consideration” category of several polls. The USA Today and Athlon Sports had them among 15-20 teams next in line for the rankings (the listing is alphabetical). The National Football Post had them 30th.
The last time Virginia Tech didn’t start the season ranked in the Top 25? 2004. The Hokies, coming off an 8-5 season, played No. 1 Southern California to open the year. As everyone remembers, they lost that game (which was closer than expected) but would go on to win the ACC in their first year in the league and go to the Sugar Bowl.
Here’s a look at the way-too-early top 10 from several publications:
Paul Myerberg of USA Today:
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Stanford
- Oregon
- Florida
- Florida State
- Georgia
- Notre Dame
- LSU
- Nebraska
Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com:
- Alabama
- Oregon
- Stanford
- Ohio State
- Texas A&M
- Georgia
- South Carolina
- Louisville
- Clemson
- Florida
Dave Miller of the National Football Post:
- Alabama
- Oregon
- Notre Dame
- Georgia
- Ohio State
- Stanford
- Texas A&M
- Florida
- South Carolina
- Florida State
Ty Duffy of The Big Lead (Top 20):
- Alabama
- Oregon
- Stanford
- Ohio State
- Oklahoma
- LSU
- Florida
- Oklahoma State
- South Carolina
- Texas A&M
Steven Lassan of Athlon Sports:
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Oregon
- Texas A&M
- Georgia
- Stanford
- Notre Dame
- South Carolina
- Clemson
- Louisville
- Alabama
- Stanford
- Oregon
- Georgia
- Texas A&M
- Notre Dame
- Ohio State
- Louisville
- South Carolina
- Florida
Any thoughts on the subject? Who’s overrated? Who’s underrated? Post them in the comments section.
January 10, 2013 - 11:25 AM
Andy i think you do a great job finding articles to keep us entertained while everyone anxiously await’s a decision on the Hokies coaching status so i give you props for that go Andy lol
. Also i give props to Alabama for another great year and i may have went overboard about ny comment last week that the SEC was overrated that perturbed AncientBob so much lol butt i was kinda pissed at how the commentator was so bias towards LSU and all SEC teams cause i know it is hands down the best conference although i will say the Hokies could compete in any conference with a competent off coaching staff GO HOKIES!!! BY the way Ancient bob you’re still cool with me lol!
Underrated: Louisville, Texas A&M, Oregon and Stanford.
Why: Louisville flew under the radar all year and reason being because of conference quo. We all saw the dominating beat down of ALMIGHTY Florida. Texas A&M turned numerous heads all year, especially at the end of the season. Probably one of the best teams in the country to finish up. Oregon IMO was the best team in the country. The speed coming off the edge is simply mind boggling. If you were to match this team with ALMIGHTY Bama, Bama wouldn’t stand a chance. Last but not least Stanford. This team also flew under the radar. With a HUGE win over Oregon this season in OT, and a Rose Bowl victory, they’ve reeled off 3 BCS wins in the last 3 years. Should raise some eyebrows….
Overrated: Florida, LSU, Bama, and Ohio State
Why: Florida flying high all year in the rankings with close wins against multiple teams including Louisiana-Laf this team just simply got exposed against Louisville. IMO the most overrated team in the country. LSU will be losing 6 players on defense and their lackluster offense is anything but, I don’t expect any excitement coming out of Death Valley this upcoming season. Bama, good ole Bama. IMO the 2nd most overrated team in the country. You stop Bamas running game like A&M did you beat them. With OSU going undefeated and NOT sanctioning themselves we wouldn’t even be talking about BAMA at all. Bama got exposed by A&M, simple as that. OSU on the other hand has shown me nothing outside their pretty 12-0 season. Who have they beat? EXACTLY! The Big Ten is about as bad as the ACC is and if you were to put them against Bama, it would be a replay of Monday nights game.
Disclaimer: These are the words of the biggest Hokie fan ever. These are by no means affiliated with Virginia Tech or shit, you get the point
Not sure how some of these pollsters could have FSU in their Top 10′s and not Clemson.
Who’s overrated? Everybody on the list. Too damned early to have polls and as we all learned, they are biased, without logic, and have absolutely no bearing on how the teams have performed.
I am so glad I chose to ignore the title game because it simply proved the BCS is flawed. The polls are flawed. And the 4 team playoff are not going to be enough.
In short, the polls are a futile exercise in simulating intelligent discussion and more about provoking emotions of the highest order.
Taj Boyd has announced he is returning for his senior year and I haven’t seen any other defections for the NFL from Clemson so they are setting their sights on a national championship next year. I don’t know why the 3 Hokies are dragging it out, Exum is the only one close to the top drafts and he’s probably projected in the 4th or after. Boyd said his projected draft was possibly 2nd round but realistically 4th or later so he’s staying. You think LT is going to be rated higher than that, don’t think so.
Virginia Tech not being ranked in the Top 25, even though it is early, but these people do know the business,is another indication that the football program at Tech is headed in the wrong direction.
The polls, accurate or not, do reflect the opinions of people in the business, and indicate that the Hokies are not highly thought of these days.
As has been said many times by many people, changes are needed in the football program at Virginia Tech.
Awwww, Kenroe, you are so kind!
Notice that there’s not a BCS-buster in the bunch. All they’ve done is throw 9 major college names in a hat, list Alabama as number one and pick the rest randomly. All of these schools don’t even know who they’ll have playing for them yet. This is truly the silly season!
Florida … OVERRATED. They have about as much offense as we do!
Andy, isn’t McCarron’s girlfriend an Auburn alum? Why isn’t she dating Cam Newton instead? Is playing the part of Juliet more fun? As if Auburn fans could use another kick to the gut! At least Johnny Football’s girlfriend isn’t a Longhorn!
As all of us were preparing for the last proceed, Sarah and even I encased up the vast majority of our DVD collection. It match pretty nicely perfectly into a few moving forward boxes, so all of us loaded it in the truck and even left.
Frank, and others drinking the hokies-aid,
First of all, to have a 2013 top 25 poll in conjunction with the subject of Virginia tech football is downright disingenuous. It feeds into the lie that Virginia tech somehow should be included. Only the elites of the sport (top5) are what matters to which the hokies will never be thought of in such lofty terms. We don’t spend enough on the program, we don’t coach on that level nor do we play and win games over high ranked opponents. While I wished we did, I simply know that this current head coach and AD have no designs on reshaping this program within the ranks of te elites.
So, when the koolaid drinkers for Beamer wake up after the night Alabama destroys what there is of the hokie program, hopefully they will remember that we were better in 2009, and it still wasn’t good enough. 2013 will be a further reminder that the hokie football program has not only stalled, it’s a wreaking stagnant pool of ‘rest on your laurels’ what we send to be and thank god Beamer came along when we were losing to VMI.
Don’t forget, koolaid drinkers, hillsville’s favorite son lost to JMU.