Preseason

Anybody can do a Top 10 list. The AFCA does it all the time! Nevermind that those coaches who vote in the Coaches Poll (USA Today Poll, if you're into marketing) don't necessarily cast their own votes ... or make those votes public ... or watch games other than their opponents' ... or vote anybody for No. 1 but the winner of the BCS Championship Game. The names have changed, but polls have been as much of college football as the forward pass the last 75 years, and aren't going to go away anytime soon, if by 'soon,' you mean ever. Which is fine by me. The Top 10 ... teams ... tailgates ... cheerleaders ... polls are good for America. So apologies if I don't know who's No. 1 in Athlon, or care who Sports Illustrated picks to win it all this year, or think it speaks to the decline of newspapers that the AP ranked Boise State as the third-best team in the nation. In the Mountain Time Zone? Too low. West of the Rockies? Sure. In the country? I know the dollar's not what it used to be, but please. Florida and Texas, which are ranked behind Boise at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, have more talent on their 20th anniversary teams than the Broncos do in their first-string. Now, does Boise have the third-best chance to go undefeated in the country? There's the secret to preseason polls. Sportswriters, who generally don't know any more about handicapping than they do handicapped parking places - I should know. I was one - get together every time this year, peer into their laptops, and try to predict who will finish where at the end of the year. Who's picked No. 1 has nothing to do with who's the best team to start the season and everything to do with who has the best chance to finish with the best record ... based off of what they did last year. There are some notable exceptions (see Steele, Phil), but for the most part, that's how it works.