BYU Football: Yes, preseason polls matter and here’s why
By Adam Gibby
Cool Kid Club
Remember back in high school when there was always that table where all the football and basketball players ate at? The table was maybe big enough to fit eight people, yet twenty kids would pull up their chair to be part of the group. Half of them didn’t even play, yet they still were in the group.
Preseason rankings have sort of the same feel.
LSU went 5-5 last season and just lost their likely starting quarterback Myles Brennon. The Tigers have to play Alabama, Texas A&M, and Florida this year. Somehow this team is ranked No. 15 in the preseason poll.
Texas has one ten win season in the last decade, but has three losing record seasons in that time span. The Longhorns are ranked 19th.
Penn State went 4-5 last season and is ranked 20th.
Miami didn’t have a single good win last year, finished 7-3 yet are ranked 16th.
I could go on and on with teams who are in the top 25 just because of their name. They are at the cool kids table, while teams like BYU (11-1), Ball State (7-1), Liberty (10-1), and Northwestern (10-2) are left in the “receiving votes” cluster.
It doesn’t matter that Northwestern finished ranked 10th last year, their name isn’t Wisconsin. Nevermind that Liberty was 10-1, 8-4 North Carolina is clearly the better team and needs to be ranked.
The point here is clear. If a team has a brand name they will be given special access and the inside track for the NY6 and Playoff and everyone else has to work for it.