College Football Is Close...

We are now inside of a month to the start of college football. Thank God- August 30 can't get here soon enough. I can't wait for my Wahoos to tee it up for the first game of the year against Southern California.

Wait.... what?

Southern California?

Really?

The Southern California?

Like, Pete-Carroll-Snoop-Dogg-National-Championship-contender Southern California?

Shit.

Great, 0-1 start, here we come. Who the hell scheduled that? And what the hell were they thinking? Damn it, Littlepage! If you want to fire Al Groh, just fire him; you don't have to set up him for certain failure simply for justification. Ass clown.

Anyway, enough about my sad-sack alma mater. College football's almost here, and the preseason coach's poll is out, with the Top 5 going Georgia, USC, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Florida. My 'Hoos are a generous #38 (by votes), one spot behind the Bearcats, of all teams. I was surprised to see that Duke didn't they're usual 1 vote; I guess Steve Spurrier didn't up the Dukies at #25 in the first poll like he has in years past. Too bad for them.

Of course, I look at that poll, and I have no idea what it means. Is Georgia really the best time in the country? Is Virginia really the 38th best? Who the hell knows? I really think college football needs to get rid of the preseason poll. In fact, they should do away with all polls until the 5th or 6th week of the season. They're meaningless and have way too much effect on the end of the season and the BCS (which sucks anyway, but we're stuck with it). Its ridiculous to rank teams based on nothing before the season and then simply adjust those rankings based on wins and loses instead of actually trying to rank teams based on performance.

I understand people like having rankings, especially TV people, because they want to be able to market "a top 5 matchup" to attract viewers. But seriously, USC vs. Ohio State in Week 2 is going to be a huge game, regardless of whether they have little numbers next to their names. If you want to have you're polls, wait at least until some games have been played before you release them. At least then teams would have a chance to legitimately play their way into the rankings.

A speaking of releasing polls, why is there more than one BCS poll? Why are the BCS rankings release at any time before they point at which they are actually needed? The BCS rankings have exactly one purpose- to determine the National Championship game (so-called #1 vs. #2). That doesn't matter until the season's over, so again I ask, what's the point of BCS rankings in October? Who cares who's #1 and #2 in the BCS on November 5th? All that matters is who's #1 and #2 in the BCS at the end of the year.

I would think that it would be in the BCS's best interest not to release rankings until the very end of the year. That way, you don't see how one school might leapfrog another in the final week (or how a team doesn't fall out of the top 2 after a late season loss) and all you get is one set definitive ranking. There would be less for the BCS people to defend because they could point to a single set of rankings and be done with it. Given how screwed up the system is, I would think they would welcome that. They wouldn't have to explain anything (or, at least, they would have less to explain).

But I don't grant the BCS people with an overabundance of intelligence, so I'm sure they'll continue to screw up college football every chance they get. A playoff works on every other level of college football, but Division I-A (or the Football Bowl Subdivision, whatever the fuck that means) refuses to give into reason and remains with its head fully shoved up its ass. Its a shame that such a great sports ends with a game determined by nothing more than monkeys throwing poop against a wall*. Still, I can't wait for the season to start. There's nothing like college football. Wahoowa.





[*Note: This would be way better than the BCS.]