The genius of pre-season polling
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.
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