Way Too Early Top 25 Polls

WindyCityGopher

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With the CFP championship now in the rearview mirror, it's the silly season of writers doing their Way Too Early Top 25 Polls. I thought it would be fun to track those that include the Gophers. We'll start with The Athletic's Stewart Mandel, who has the U at 18, which is best in the Big Ten West (Wisconsin is 19 and Iowa is 23), and fourth overall in the conference after OSU (2), Michigan (7) and MSU (10).

18. Minnesota (9-4)​

Kirk Ciarrocca, offensive coordinator for P.J. Fleck’s 11-win 2019 team, is back and reunited with sixth-year QB Tanner Morgan. The Gophers also get back running back Mohamed Ibrahim, a two-time 1,000-yard rusher lost in the 2021 opener, and veteran WR Chris Autman-Bell, but must replace four O-line starters. Minnesota fielded the nation’s No. 12 defense but loses a lot up front. Western Kentucky transfer CB Beanie Bishop is a likely starter.

(for those with access to The Athletic):
 

Total Defense was #3, Scoring Defense was #6, where's he getting #12?

NYT will pay hundreds of millions for a service that can't even get their statistics right?
 


Total Defense was #3, Scoring Defense was #6, where's he getting #12?

NYT will pay hundreds of millions for a service that can't even get their statistics right?
We were 12th in yards per play which may be a better metric since our O dominates TOP and eats up so much clock shrinking the game.
 
















Doesn't WI lose a lot of their defense too? 20-25 I get, but #6? WTF
I just think it’s amazing. Last time wisconsin finished top 6 in the polls was 1999. Next year is NOT their best team since 1999 and their schedule next year, IMO, is a beast

Illinois in the opener but it’s Illinois’ second game
@ Michigan state
@ Purdue
@ Ohio state
@ Iowa

rumor is they are trading a road home to play @nebraska as well

home against Minnesota
 

With the CFP championship now in the rearview mirror, it's the silly season of writers doing their Way Too Early Top 25 Polls. I thought it would be fun to track those that include the Gophers. We'll start with The Athletic's Stewart Mandel, who has the U at 18, which is best in the Big Ten West (Wisconsin is 19 and Iowa is 23), and fourth overall in the conference after OSU (2), Michigan (7) and MSU (10).

18. Minnesota (9-4)​

Kirk Ciarrocca, offensive coordinator for P.J. Fleck’s 11-win 2019 team, is back and reunited with sixth-year QB Tanner Morgan. The Gophers also get back running back Mohamed Ibrahim, a two-time 1,000-yard rusher lost in the 2021 opener, and veteran WR Chris Autman-Bell, but must replace four O-line starters. Minnesota fielded the nation’s No. 12 defense but loses a lot up front. Western Kentucky transfer CB Beanie Bishop is a likely starter.

(for those with access to The Athletic):


Always loved The Athletic.

Full Disclosure. Ive never read it and am 100% basing this on them ranking the Gophers
 





WI - 6
Miami - 11
Nebby - 25

I guess we could all write for “Action.”
But,I like his stache

Shhh...don't tell this guy but Wisconsin hasn't been meaningfully better than Minnesota for 4 years now. But I guess they make for a good "contrarian" team to slip in there without really going out on a limb and making a bold call.
 

Polls should not be conducted until after week #4 in the season. Exhibit A: 14 teams in the AP preseason Top 25 did not appear in the final poll:

#6 Texas A&M
#7 Iowa State
#10 North Carolina
#12 Wisconsin
#13 Florida
#14 Miami
#15 USC
#16 LSU
#17 Indiana
#19 Penn State
#20 Washington
#21 Texas
#22 Coastal Carolina
#25 Arizona State

Thank you for attending my TED talk.
 


Polls should not be conducted until after week #4 in the season. Exhibit A: 14 teams in the AP preseason Top 25 did not appear in the final poll:

#6 Texas A&M
#7 Iowa State
#10 North Carolina
#12 Wisconsin
#13 Florida
#14 Miami
#15 USC
#16 LSU
#17 Indiana
#19 Penn State
#20 Washington
#21 Texas
#22 Coastal Carolina
#25 Arizona State

Thank you for attending my TED talk.
Week 4 is even too early in a lot of cases because teams have been playing creampuffs in a lot of cases to that point and haven't really played a lot of tough games.

One thing they have right about the CFP is waiting until week 8 or whatever to release the first poll. At least by that point you have a pretty good idea how teams are going to look.

Preseason polls give people something to talk about and might also help hype early season matchups but outside of that they are worthless. Kind of like the early bowl projections that come out, just throwing darts at a board and hoping to get a few right.
 

Polls should not be conducted until after week #4 in the season. Exhibit A: 14 teams in the AP preseason Top 25 did not appear in the final poll:

#6 Texas A&M
#7 Iowa State
#10 North Carolina
#12 Wisconsin
#13 Florida
#14 Miami
#15 USC
#16 LSU
#17 Indiana
#19 Penn State
#20 Washington
#21 Texas
#22 Coastal Carolina
#25 Arizona State

Thank you for attending my TED talk.
Couldn’t the fact that none of these teams were ranked at the end indicate that it was fine that there was a preseason poll because it didn’t determine the final poll
 

Polls should not be conducted until after week #4 in the season. Exhibit A: 14 teams in the AP preseason Top 25 did not appear in the final poll:

#6 Texas A&M
#7 Iowa State
#10 North Carolina
#12 Wisconsin
#13 Florida
#14 Miami
#15 USC
#16 LSU
#17 Indiana
#19 Penn State
#20 Washington
#21 Texas
#22 Coastal Carolina
#25 Arizona State

Thank you for attending my TED talk.
Make sure to update your CV - informative and brief👍
 

Couldn’t the fact that none of these teams were ranked at the end indicate that it was fine that there was a preseason poll because it didn’t determine the final poll
The fact that Iowa was ranked #2 at one point this year was based entirely on the preseason polls and the fact that Indiana and Iowa State were way overranked to start the season.

It is what it is, but it does have an impact when teams are ranked way higher than they should be to start the year because any team that beats them early in the year gets a huge bump from it.
 

The fact that Iowa was ranked #2 at one point this year was based entirely on the preseason polls and the fact that Indiana and Iowa State were way overranked to start the season.

It is what it is, but it does have an impact when teams are ranked way higher than they should be to start the year because any team that beats them early in the year gets a huge bump from it.
But it figures itself at the end.
Iowa is a 10 win team ranked 23rd behind 10 win Utah, 10 win BYU,
 


2020 was a gain for G5 as there were teams that had great seasons like Coastal Carolina in a fluky COVID Season. Getting back to normal and still ranking these teams as high as they get ranked is ridiculous. There are 1-2 competitive G5 teams each year.

Having a 13-1 Louisiana team that had one game that mattered on their schedule and lost to a 5-7 Texas team, ranked is ridiculous. (They won 6 of 9 Sun Belt games by 8 or fewer pts.)

Then to have those teams in the top 25 preseason is even more ridiculous.
 




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