I think pre-season polls are ridiculous. They are based off speculation that someone will be better this season even if they are unproven. So from now on I say ESPN and all other pollsters put out their final rankings the day after the BCS title game. Then freeze those rankings and that is where they will start the next season. I know that you lose players to graduation and the draft so you may not be as good the next season but if you you lose a few times early, you'll quickly be dropped out of the mix (See Michigan being ranked high and being beaten early and falling out of title contention). I really think that is the only fair way of doing it. I know life and college football are never fair but why not reward a team for doing really well the season before by starting them off where they left off at the end of the previous season. And why boost a mediocre team that is unproven into the top 25 because they got a few blue chip recruits that offseason...You never know if they will pan out or not.

Solution: Make final rankings that come out after the bowl season also the preseason rankings for the upcoming season. That way a team can start off where it left off the season before, or fall out of contention if they weren't as good as the season before.

any thoughts on why this will or won't work?

I kind of like the hype that happens during the pre-season. It gives teams a chance to be noticed that might have had a bad year previously. And I don't think it would really do that much to help non-BCS teams in any case. And this year Hawaii would still be ranked in the top 25 after the departure of their Coach, QB, and receivers. And I certainly don't think that Hawaii should be a top 25 team this year.

i say don't have rankings at all. Until after the first week. Why keep ranking teams of question? Or just get rid of the BcS and open votes to ALL coaches.

The ONE thing I do like about the BCS is that the rankings don't come out until October. Hype is great, but you can't rank a team on guesses, wishes, and practices.

I don't think the preseason polls are that big of deal. Yes, the coaches poll still has a preseason poll, but the only other poll that counts (the Harris) doesn't start polling until 6 weeks into the season. By the end of the year both polls usually come close to getting it right.

I would much rather see college football go regional. Create a writers' and coaches' poll in the West (for Pac-10, WAC, and MWC), Midwest (Big 12, Big 10, and MAC), Southeast (ACC, SEC, Sun Belt) and the East (Big East, Independents, CUSA).

Take the top team from each region and put them in BCS bowls, and have a championship game a week later. Writers and coaches should only be accountable in rating teams in their region, teams that they actually see, instead of teams that are all the way across the country.

Cougfan84 wrote:

I think pre-season polls are ridiculous. They are based off speculation that someone will be better this season even if they are unproven. So from now on I say ESPN and all other pollsters put out their final rankings the day after the BCS title game. Then freeze those rankings and that is where they will start the next season. I know that you lose players to graduation and the draft so you may not be as good the next season but if you you lose a few times early, you'll quickly be dropped out of the mix (See Michigan being ranked high and being beaten early and falling out of title contention). I really think that is the only fair way of doing it. I know life and college football are never fair but why not reward a team for doing really well the season before by starting them off where they left off at the end of the previous season. And why boost a mediocre team that is unproven into the top 25 because they got a few blue chip recruits that offseason...You never know if they will pan out or not.

Solution: Make final rankings that come out after the bowl season also the preseason rankings for the upcoming season. That way a team can start off where it left off the season before, or fall out of contention if they weren't as good as the season before.

any thoughts on why this will or won't work?

Not a chance. The organizations behind these pre-season polls do this for business reasons. The only way to get them to stop is for everyone to quit visiting their websites or buying their mags. It's a business. A pre-season poll is like any other pretty item that is displayed in the attempt to improve sales.