3 point loss to a team that enters the polls this week, also undefeated, neutral floor, out of the SEC (though no conference games yet played), and we get hit with the biggest tumble of any team staying in the polls. Just our first loss too. Not like we just got it handed to us at home against a mid major school that most people couldn’t find on a map if you paid them. Further proof how fickle the AP voters are, in all sports. If someone can tell me why, please enlighten this gnome. Be sure to use little words if you do.

Or the year of the underdogs. What a year in college football. #’s 1 and 2 have never been so unstable that in the end, who knows who could be at the championship game. All year long no one wanted to be #2 as they lost weekly. App State took down Michigan, Stanford took down USC, underdogs ruled the year and egos trampled those who came into the games with them. Clemson’s arch rival walked its way to #6 then couldn’t remember how to win. Kansas and the Big12 really didn’t have much competition outside their own ranks and made it up into the top 5 and even had Mizzou at #1. Hawaii, the lone unbeaten team, is sitting in a corner crying about their shot at the neational championship chances, but you have no point when you play cupcake seasons. I believe that this season, beyond all seasons emphasizes the need for not only a playoff system but also a greater effort for teams to only take a few cupcake games a year instead of packing the OOC’s with them to buffer the W’s.

In the end it looks like Ohio State (my bloodline school) will back it’s way into the championship while the other slot looks destined for LSU as it had the best season of the teams that remained from the losses that found Mizzou and WVU shaking their heads. I had a great weekend rooting for teams to lose, and each did to get my teams where they needed to be. I personally will get some satisfaction in watching a certain WVU fan that left some USC/Clemson stuff on my desk before that game occurred. I will not say anything but will have fun watching the ribbing that he will receive from the others.

With BC’s loss to Virginia Tech, Clemson looks to be Chick-Fil-A bound and it may be a Tiger Bowl as they may face Auburn. That should be a great crowd and a great payoff for Clemson this season.

That was a great season. College football, what a great sport.

Roaming the pay boards I have found some interesting tidbits that I thought I would pass along.

Seems that Clemson has finally made it into the Princeton Review’s top 20 schools. OK so it may not be THAT top 20 but it’s a top 20 none the less.

And for everyone who runs around the week before asking “What channel is the game on!!” check out THIS SITE for listings of every game over the opening weekend and the channel that they will be on. I, for one, am thanking Time Warner daily for now carrying ESPN U. Hopefully, the host will keep these updated weekly.

Like last year, I have done my best to roundup all the competing post-spring/pre-season rankings.

Read the rest of this entry »

This year, Fanblogs was nice enough to collect all the preseason top-25s and put them into a table for comparison.

Clemson shows up in only 1 of the 5 polls, the Rival poll, where the Tigers are 25th. There just isn’t much preseason love this season. Kevin has dubbed the Tigers “Best unranked team,” for whatever good that is.

If you’ll recall, Clemson showed up mostly in the mid-teens last season.

These just don’t even pass the sniff test. Various online “sources” of dubious quality and reputation are reporting that Clemson’s basketball team is not only ranked, but undefeated at 17-0 (3-0) after beating NC State in Raleigh 87-76.

The only reason why I might believe this is true is that Clemson reportedly shot only 5-13 (38%) from the freebie line.

Next up another road trip, this time to Maryland on Saturday. Game time is set for 2:00. The Terps are 14-2 (0-1) and appear in the top 25 of the ESPN/USA Today poll, Sportsline RPI*, and Sagarin ratings.

* The official NCAA RPI will start to be published sometime next week (or so I’ve read).

Recently I’ve found myself enjoying the early hype and high rankings that Clemson has garnered this year. The first USA Today poll has us in at #18. Knowing that we were able to improve over the offseason without playing a game makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. That #18 is like a warm blanket I can contentedly wrap myself up in.

Well it was great until I looked at our schedule. From last year. Remember that first game against A&M? You know the one where Jad Dean hit his 6th field with like 2 seconds remaining? The one where Clemson took a goose-egg offensive touchdown approach to winning? Remember what A&M was ranked then? No? Well here it is: #17.

Things didn’t get much better for the Aggies after they lost in Death Valley. After a few gimmes against cupcakes, they wound up losing to Colorado, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and Texas. The end result was a 5-6 record and not even a crappy bowl game.

And #18 last year was Arizona State. They finished 7-5 with victories over powerhouses Rutgers and Northwestern as their best wins of the season.

In all, 9 of last year’s pre-season USA Today top 25 finished outside the top 25, with 4 teams — Tennessee, Purdue, Texas A&M, and Pittsburgh — lacking a single vote at the end of the season.

On the other hand, 58, or nearly 1/2 of all D-I teams got at least one vote in the first poll. Others like TCU, which finished 9th, began the season voteless. So while TCU picked up the most spots, about 50, Penn State picked up 30, UCLA 23, Notre Dame went from 41 to 11 to end +30, West Virginia gained 36 to end at 6, and Clemson which picked up 21 after starting 44th.

Players, fans, and bloggers alike should not be letting some silly number go to our heads.

We have been talking preseason for some time now, but you know it’s officially here when the big preseason polls get released. Today, the USAToday Coaches Poll was released (note the absence of ESPN in the tag). The top five in order: OSU, Texas, USC, Notre Dame (tie) and Oklahoma. I personally feel that Texas and ND are overrated, and this will be huge for them as it’s hard to fall when you win or play other top competition early. Look at the effects of Miami/FSU recently vs that of say Miami/Va Tech or FSU/UF in the ’90’s. Obviously the Oklahoma votes were in prior to this week.

On to the important stuff though. The ACC placed 4 top 25 teams with FSU at 10, Miami at 11, Va Tech at 16 (and quarterback-less), and the Tigers at 18. BC is lurking around the chicken coup as Corso would say at 27, and USuCk getting some Spurrier love at 30. Ga Tech, Maryland and Duke all received votes as well. Duke? Votes? Do they think the football team is recruiting former lacrosse players or have some similarly related vendetta?

Not sure when the AP comes out but with under 30 days until they put it on the tee, it’s officially that time of year. Bring it on!