Here are some of the picks that surprised me a little:
- Pittsburgh got just as many votes to win the Big East as South Florida. Equally surprising, those 6 voters didn't pick West Virginia to win the Big East. It's not that I don't think South Florida has a chance (I don't think Pitt has a chance), but I thought the ESPN faithful were all over West Virginia's jock to make some BCS noise this season.
- Florida is getting more respect in the SEC than Georgia. Personally, I think that is a good call right now. But everyone and their brother picked Georgia as the preseason #1 team. And very few of them have the confidence to pick the Bulldogs to win the SEC, much less as national champs? Pick an argument people, c'mon!
- This is just showing my lack of knowledge for the Sun Belt Conference, but is Florida Atlantic really going to be that good this season? 10 out of 12 analysts have Florida Atlantic winning the conference with Troy getting the other 2 votes. That just caught me off guard. I don't know if that is really a surprise pick.
- My favorite pick of all (both a sarcastic and a homer expression): Rece Davis has Alabama winning the SEC West.
If I may take a moment please:
Dear Rece
While we appreciate your confidence in the Tide to pull out a conference win or 2, what in Bear Bryant's name are you thinking??? LSU!!! Auburn!!! We are doing our best to fly under the radar this year and here you go putting us on the "bulletin board material" wall.
But seriously, it's always fun to see what people think before the season starts. Because (a) it's only their opinions and it doesn't mean crap and (b) they will change their minds within 2 weeks about half of these predictions and still say "I told you they were sleepers".
*note* Todd McShay also picked Bama to win the west, but he was never a news anchor in my hometown where there were Tide fans scattered everywhere. He just may be pushing for some kind of fan mail or something.
Honestly, I was just looking for a reason to talk about some football. What do you guys think? Are these predictions on par with how you see the conference battles unfolding?
more
