The Official 2011 NCAA College Football Thread

[Telionis]

I know it seems early, but the four major (non-AP) preseason rankings are out, and I'm already getting psyched!
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Here are the 2011 Consensus Preseason rankings (a composite of the rankings by TSN, Lindy's, Athlon Sports, and Phil Steele).

Stassen - 2011 Preseason Consensus

Since Phil Steele has been the most accurate among all his competitors over the last ten seasons, I made the following list by doubling the weight of Phil's rankings versus those of the other sporting news outlets.

1. Alabama
2. Oklahoma
3. Oregon
4. Boise State
5. Louisiana State
6. Florida State
7. Virginia Tech
8. Texas A&M
9. Nebraska
10. Notre Dame
11. Stanford
12. Ohio State
13. Arkansas
14. Oklahoma State
15. Texas Christian
16. Georgia
17. South Carolina
18. Southern Cal
19. West Virginia
20. Wisconsin
21. Texas
22. Michigan State
23. Mississippi State
24. Penn State
25. Florida
26. Southern Miss
27. Arizona State
28. Northwestern
29. Houston
30. Auburn
31. Miami-Florida
32. Missouri
33. Utah
34. South Florida

Consensus Championship Games:

ACC: Florida State v Virginia Tech
Big Ten: Nebraska v Ohio State
C-USA: So. Miss or UCF v Houston
MAC: Ohio v Toledo
PAC 12: Oregon v Arizona State
SEC: Georgia v Alabama

National Title Prediction: Alabama v Oklahoma or Oregon

[AdamVR4]

#21 may be optimistic for Texas. I think we're all just hoping for 6-8 wins and then 11+ in 2012.

[Telionis]

#21 may be optimistic for Texas. I think we're all just hoping for 6-8 wins and then 11+ in 2012.

Steele thinks you guys will be #18. Athlon is the only other outlet that has you ranked, but you should still win 8+ games IMHO. I think #7 is extremely optimistic for VT also, but Steele has a very solid track record.

[Telionis]

Opening weekend will have some great games. We start with neutral field games between:

• Oregon v. LSU
• Boise State v. Georgia

The next weekend (9/10) we'll get to see

• Alabama at Penn State
• Nevada at Oregon

Then September 17th will be a very interesting day, especially for the ACC.

• Oklahoma at Florida State
• West Virginia at Maryland
• Auburn at Clemson
• Ohio State at Miami

Then 9/24 we get to see

• LSU at West Virginia

and on 10/1 will get to see

• Texas A&M at Arkansas

Am I missing any great OOC match-ups?

[AdamVR4]

Opening weekend will have some great games. We start with neutral field games between:

• Oregon v. LSU
• Boise State v. Georgia

The next weekend (9/10) we'll get to see

• Alabama at Penn State
• Nevada at Oregon

Then September 17th will be a very interesting day, especially for the ACC.

• Oklahoma at Florida State
• West Virginia at Maryland
• Auburn at Clemson
• Ohio State at Miami

Then 9/24 we get to see

• LSU at West Virginia

and on 10/1 will get to see

• Texas A&M at Arkansas

Am I missing any great OOC match-ups?

These should both be interesting...
Texas vs BYU Sept 10
Texas @ UCLA Sept 17 (UCLA curb-stomped us in Austin last season)

[HilbillyHomeboy]

WTF? The conferences for the B10 are bullshit, talk about a slant for Ohio State. Wow...

The SEC will be very exciting this year, ridiculous talent. No clue where to go with that. Bama looks amazing, but LSU might have something to say about that. LSU's schedule is very impressive. The East is a total toss up to me, UGA, USC, UF...who knows?

I wouldn't even venture a guess at the MNC for this year. There's way too many teams with a legit shot.

The Big East will be much improved this year. Not world beaters by any stretch, but it won't be the disaster that was last year. Can not wait to hang 70 on Marsha come Sept. 4, pukes are talking so much smack. Oh and F-U sPitt, not even in the top 34, lol.

Jeremy

[AdamVR4]

WTF? The conferences for the B10 are bullshit, talk about a slant for Ohio State. Wow...

Guess I'm not really seeing it?

Leaders Division
Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin

Legends Division
Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern

[HilbillyHomeboy]

Guess I'm not really seeing it?

Leaders Division
Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin

Legends Division
Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern

Really? Hmm, this is what I'm thinking. When's the last time Illinois, Indiana or Purdue have been relevant in college football? Those are basketball schools. Penn State loves to choke when it's balls out time. So, really, whiskey is about all tOSU has to sweat, IMO. There's no perenially weak team on the Legends side, perhaps Northwestern(though not recently) and maybe Minnesota. Looks lopsided to me. I know I sure as hell wouldn't want to have to make my run through Michigan, Sparty, Nebraska, and Iowa.

Jeremy

[AdamVR4]

Really? Hmm, this is what I'm thinking. When's the last time Illinois, Indiana or Purdue have been relevant in college football? Those are basketball schools. Penn State loves to choke when it's balls out time. So, really, whiskey is about all tOSU has to sweat, IMO. There's no perenially weak team on the Legends side, perhaps Northwestern(though not recently) and maybe Minnesota. Looks lopsided to me. I know I sure as hell wouldn't want to have to make my run through Michigan, Sparty, Nebraska, and Iowa.

Jeremy

Okay... I was pretty interested, so I threw the W-L records for all the B10 teams since 2002 into a spreadsheet. I thought the results were interesting...

[Telionis]

Okay... I was pretty interested, so I threw the W-L records for all the B10 teams since 2002 into a spreadsheet. I thought the results were interesting...

That's a really good idea! I'm going to do the same with the ACC. However, I think that you're forgetting how significantly OSU and Wisconsin strengthen the leaders side. There is much more variation on the leaders side, which means that the strongest team on that side will have a much easier road to the championship than anyone on the legends side (one or two big games, versus tough games every single week).

Legends Average = 0.575, SD = 0.081
Leaders Average = 0.568, SD = 0.208