The Brigham Young Cougars squeaked into the final USA Today Top 25 rankings for 2011. It allowed BYU to claim a fifth season with a national ranking in the past six years.
The coaches weren’t so kind in the 2012 preseason poll.
BYU did not make the Top 25, but the Cougars were one of 22 schools grouped into the “Others receiving votes” category. Extrapolating the numbers, BYU is “ranked” 36 with 10 points. Number 25 Auburn had 66 points.
With today’s debut of the USA Today Preseason Top 25 comes this special edition Reaction to the Rankings (R2R).
I am on record saying I would have put BYU on my ballot if I had a vote in the polls, which makes me a little disappointed that the coaches didn’t feel the same. With a slew of experienced, talented players returning this team should be much improved over 2011. However, I am not surprised the Cougars didn't make the cut. Every outlet, that I have seen, doing preseason rankings has BYU as top 30-40 team. Why would the coaches vote otherwise? A compelling case can be built to justify including, or excluding, BYU.
The opponents in all four of BYU’s big road games received more points than BYU. Using the logic that the higher ranked team would win head-to-head, that gives BYU an 8-4 record, and that record will not be good enough to get BYU into the Top 25 at season’s end.
In the end, this is just the preseason poll. Winning games still matters the most, and if BYU can win, especially those four road games, then the ranking will come.
What’s your R2R?
The Editor appreciates all feedback. He can be reached via email at bluecougarfootball@gmail.com
The coaches weren’t so kind in the 2012 preseason poll.
BYU did not make the Top 25, but the Cougars were one of 22 schools grouped into the “Others receiving votes” category. Extrapolating the numbers, BYU is “ranked” 36 with 10 points. Number 25 Auburn had 66 points.
With today’s debut of the USA Today Preseason Top 25 comes this special edition Reaction to the Rankings (R2R).
I am on record saying I would have put BYU on my ballot if I had a vote in the polls, which makes me a little disappointed that the coaches didn’t feel the same. With a slew of experienced, talented players returning this team should be much improved over 2011. However, I am not surprised the Cougars didn't make the cut. Every outlet, that I have seen, doing preseason rankings has BYU as top 30-40 team. Why would the coaches vote otherwise? A compelling case can be built to justify including, or excluding, BYU.
The opponents in all four of BYU’s big road games received more points than BYU. Using the logic that the higher ranked team would win head-to-head, that gives BYU an 8-4 record, and that record will not be good enough to get BYU into the Top 25 at season’s end.
In the end, this is just the preseason poll. Winning games still matters the most, and if BYU can win, especially those four road games, then the ranking will come.
What’s your R2R?
The Editor appreciates all feedback. He can be reached via email at bluecougarfootball@gmail.com
I think preseason rankings are a joke. An even bigger joke is the fact that they can play a major role in determining who goes where at the end of the season, since after the first few weeks, your ranking is largely in the hands of those who happen to be ahead of you thanks to preseason assumptions. I think it is pretty unheard of for a team to finish ranked, retain all key players, and all of the sudden drop 11 spots in the rankings going into the next season. If ND was ranked 25, and had the same amount of returning players, I can guarantee you they would not have dropped.
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