Well the first of the major polls is out and Georgia squeaks by USC to claim the top spot. This is something like the first time in 15 years that three different teams are in double digits in terms of #1 votes. Georgia picks up 22 first-place votes, USC 14 and Ohio State 14. Things will get real interesting real fast when Ohio State travels to USC on September 13th.

1. Georgia (22) 11-2 1,438 3
2. Southern California (14) 11-2 1,430 2
3. Ohio State (14) 11-2 1,392 4
4. Oklahoma (3) 11-3 1,329 8
5. Florida (5) 9-4 1,293 16
6. LSU (3) 12-2 1,163 1
7. Missouri 12-2 1,143 5
8. West Virginia 11-2 1,008 6
9. Clemson 9-4 999 22
10. Texas 10-3 979 10
11. Auburn 9-4 888 14t
12. Wisconsin 9-4 747 21
13. Kansas 12-1 714 7
14. Texas Tech 9-4 644 23
15. Virginia Tech 11-3 568 9
16. Arizona State 10-3 560 13
17. Brigham Young 11-2 547 14t
18. Tennessee 10-4 506 12
19. Illinois 9-4 422 18
20. Oregon 9-4 399 24
21. South Florida 9-4 350 NR
22. Penn State 9-4 313 25
23. Wake Forest 9-4 203 NR
24. Michigan 9-4 112 19
25. Fresno State 9-4 91 NR

Others receiving votes

Alabama (7-6) 83; South Carolina (6-6) 64; Utah (9-4) 60; Florida State (7-6) 53; Rutgers (8-5) 53; Boston College (11-3) 47; California (7-6) 41; Pittsburgh (5-7) 34; Boise State (10-3) 25; Oregon State (9-4) 23; Nebraska (5-7) 17; Cincinnati (10-3) 13; Virginia (9-4) 12; Connecticut (9-4) 9; Michigan State (7-6) 9; Mississippi State (8-5) 6; Kentucky (8-5) 5; Notre Dame (3-9) 5; TCU (8-5) 5; Maryland (6-7) 4; North Carolina (4-8) 3; Texas A&M (7-6) 3; UCLA (6-7) 3; Central Florida (10-4) 2; Georgia Tech (7-6) 2; Louisville (6-6) 2; Arizona (5-7) 1; Colorado (6-7) 1; Oklahoma State (7-6) 1; Tulsa (10-4) 1.

No real surprises but I thought Ohio State would appear at #2 and OU #3...

Anyone care to wade into the "overrated" waters? I'll go with LSU (no QB), Wisconsin, Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, Illinois, Penn St, Michigan, and, of course, USC.

Wow, sounds like you feel the Big 10 is overrated... not that I disagree. I will say that LSU will be better than you think... the only reason why they will not finish at number 6 is the fact that they have to play UGA #1, UF #5, Auburn, Alabama, and four other SEC teams.

I will say Clemson and LSU...Clemson never seems to live up to HIGH expectations and I just think LSU lost too much start power to be ranked to high in the pre-season but we will see how it all turns out.

I continue to find it unbelievable that the coaches' poll has any non-symbolic value. As long as these guys insist on their popularity contest making up 1/3 of the BCS formula, I have trouble taking any of their season-ending whining seriously.

What sticks out most is USC being ranked over Ohio State. OSU has more and better returning players. I guess we'll find out who deserved it soon enough...

Sports Illustrated Top 25:

1. Georgia
2. Ohio STate
3. USC
4. Missouri
5. Florida
6. Oklahoma
7. Auburn
8. Texas Tech
9. LSU
10. Wisconsin
11. Clemson
12. Tennessee
13. Texas
14. West Virginia
15. Kansas
16. Arizona State
17. BUY
18. Oregon State
19. Pittsburgh
20. Oregon
21. South Florida
22. Penn State
23. Illinois
24. Virginia Tech
25. Utah

I am always stunned at SI's love of Oregon State. I haven't seen a single other poll that has OSU in the Top 25... let alone at #18. In 2001, Sports Illustrated named Oregon State its preseason #1 team. Anyone remember that? There was like a 10-page splash in their college football preview issue about how great OSU was going to be. And in their first game of the year (I remember this well because I was there), Oregon State was blown out 44-24 by a then-unranked Fresno State team. Sheesh.

I've noticed that many of these preseason polls reflect where a team ended up being ranked last season. And there are certain teams that always seem to get ranked in preseason polls because of name recognition. Look at the past 2-3 years and see where Florida State and Miami were ranked in preseason polls, and compare that to where they ended up at the end of the season. I always enjoy going back toward the end of the season to look again at the preseason polls, especially SI's. You can usually count on the fact that at least 1/2 of the teams in the preason poll will end up no where near as high as they were rated in preseason, and another 10-12 teams that got no recognition in preseason will be ranked in the top 25 at the end of the season.

It's kind of like the Emmy awards - you always know Kelsey Grammer is going to get nominated, regardless what stupid show he is in.

What a great analogy about Kelsey Grammer! That is soooo true.

It's almost here!

Alabama is ranked 2nd with 21 first-place votes in the AP poll. In the coaches' poll, the Tide are ranked fourth with only two first-place votes. Those guys really hate Nick Saban's guts.