2008 Preseason Poll: Rankings and Discussion (official thread)

[Steve19]

Poll rankings don't win or lose games. We're everybody's season highlight, everybody's reason to train throughout the off-season. everybody's obsession, until after we play them. Then, we're those lucky Buckeyes who caught us on the worst day of our season when we just couldn't get our game together.

[TheIronColonel]

Don't lose sight of the fact that, right now, the SEC is the premiere conference. That may not have always been true (in fact, I believe it hasn't always been true) and it may not be true in the future. But it's true right now.

All of this SEC conference jibber jabber is the fallout from Auburn getting snubbed for Oklahoma a few years back. I don't think Auburn would have faired any better against USC, but it's the perception of being slighted more than the act of being slighted that draws the ire of fans. There has been a 5 year SEC conference superiority campaign to make sure that the SEC champion never gets slighted again, whether they actually deserve a title shot or not. I happen to believe that in 2006, Florida probably didn't deserve their title shot (although they certainly made great use of it).

This is going to be the state of things until someone monkey stomps an SEC champion in the title game. Nobody seems to care when SEC teams get beat down in other games (ask Wisconsin, Penn State, Michigan, and Missouri), they just point to the title. If Georgia or some other SEC team makes it to the title game and get a thorough beating laid on them, things might change. If not, forget about it. SEC guys will claim that their team got jobbed for a title shot and the winner wasn't the 'real' MNC team. If they win, the obvious happens: the north invades the south with guns and literacy.

[HorticullyBuck]

Yea, i agree it will take a while before this SEC era will fade out. Im one whos convinced College football (teams + conf.) goes in cycles. ALA scUM vs tOSU i know people disagree with that but i think it has legitimacy when it comes to recruiting and fans opinoins.

[powerlifter]

Originally Posted by TheIronColonel

Don't lose sight of the fact that, right now, the SEC is the premiere conference. That may not have always been true (in fact, I believe it hasn't always been true) and it may not be true in the future. But it's true right now.

All of this SEC conference jibber jabber is the fallout from Auburn getting snubbed for Oklahoma a few years back. I don't think Auburn would have faired any better against USC, but it's the perception of being slighted more than the act of being slighted that draws the ire of fans. There has been a 5 year SEC conference superiority campaign to make sure that the SEC champion never gets slighted again, whether they actually deserve a title shot or not. I happen to believe that in 2006, Florida probably didn't deserve their title shot (although they certainly made great use of it).

This is going to be the state of things until someone monkey stomps an SEC champion in the title game. Nobody seems to care when SEC teams get beat down in other games (ask Wisconsin, Penn State, Michigan, and Missouri), they just point to the title. If Georgia or some other SEC team makes it to the title game and get a thorough beating laid on them, things might change. If not, forget about it. SEC guys will claim that their team got jobbed for a title shot and the winner wasn't the 'real' MNC team. If they win, the obvious happens: the north invades the south with guns and literacy.

Bingo...If it was OSU and Michigan the past few years instead of Florida and LSU winning national title games people could whine more and it make sense.The top four or so teams in the SEC are damn good. There isn't another conference that matches up in that sense. It deserves the attention it gets. I firmly believe if GA or Florida won a national title this year it still wouldn't change most people's opinion around these parts.

[mercer_buckeye]

Originally Posted by TheIronColonel

Don't lose sight of the fact that, right now, the SEC is the premiere conference. That may not have always been true (in fact, I believe it hasn't always been true) and it may not be true in the future. But it's true right now.

All of this SEC conference jibber jabber is the fallout from Auburn getting snubbed for Oklahoma a few years back. I don't think Auburn would have faired any better against USC, but it's the perception of being slighted more than the act of being slighted that draws the ire of fans. There has been a 5 year SEC conference superiority campaign to make sure that the SEC champion never gets slighted again, whether they actually deserve a title shot or not. I happen to believe that in 2006, Florida probably didn't deserve their title shot (although they certainly made great use of it).

This is going to be the state of things until someone monkey stomps an SEC champion in the title game. Nobody seems to care when SEC teams get beat down in other games (ask Wisconsin, Penn State, Michigan, and Missouri), they just point to the title. If Georgia or some other SEC team makes it to the title game and get a thorough beating laid on them, things might change. If not, forget about it. SEC guys will claim that their team got jobbed for a title shot and the winner wasn't the 'real' MNC team. If they win, the obvious happens: the north invades the south with guns and literacy.

Originally Posted by powerlifter

Bingo...If it was OSU and Michigan the past few years instead of Florida and LSU winning national title games people could whine more and it make sense.The top four or so teams in the SEC are damn good. There isn't another conference that matches up in that sense. It deserves the attention it gets. I firmly believe if GA or Florida won a national title this year it still wouldn't change most people's opinion around these parts.

OregonBuck's gonna get pissed when he reads this.

[TheIronColonel]

Hey, don't put powerlifter's words in my mouth. I made fun of the South, dammit, and I will not have my homer credentials questioned.

[mercer_buckeye]

Originally Posted by TheIronColonel

Don't lose sight of the fact that, right now, the SEC is the premiere conference. That may not have always been true (in fact, I believe it hasn't always been true) and it may not be true in the future. But it's true right now.

I was talking about this. Seriously SEC is the premiere conference! The whip is coming down.

[TheIronColonel]

The truth hurts. I'm as big a Big Ten guy as there is, but the facts are the facts: the SEC is tops right now. Now, we're not as bad as the haters say we are. I mean, thankfully there's the Big East and ACC to cushion our downward tumble. We'll be back on top before you know it, though, once we get some churn in the coaching ranks (I'm looking at you, JoePa and JayPa).

[powerlifter]

Originally Posted by TheIronColonel</