NCAA Football Predictions

Listen, I can't pretend to be a true expert in football. I consistently am amazed at what I'm learning about the game, both through the process of reading about the game and watching it, not to mention long conversations with men and women far more acquainted with it than I.

That said, I am excited about this fall. Not only do I expect great things from WVU, but I hope Tennessee's program will recover substantially.

And I have cable for the first time in years.

Regardless, I thought I'd share some research I'd done with you: the predictions of a substantial number of experts as to the NCAA final rankings.

ESPN/USAToday Coaches Poll

1. Texas
2. USC
3. Penn State
4. Ohio State
5. LSU
6. West Virginia
7. Virginia Tech
8. Alabama
9. TCU
10. Georgia
11. Notre Dame
12. Oregon
13. UCLA
14. Auburn
15. Wisconsin
16. Florida
17. Boston College
18. Miami (FL)
19. Texas Tech
20. Louisville
21. Clemson
22. Oklahoma
23. Florida State
24. Nebraska
25. California

The Associated Press Poll

1. Texas
2. USC
3. Penn State
4. Ohio State
5. West Virginia
6. LSU
7. Virginia Tech
8. Alabama
9. Notre Dame
10. Georgia
11. TCU
12. Florida
13. Oregon
14. Auburn
15. Wisconsin
16. UCLA
17. Miami (FL)
18. Boston College
19. Louisville
20. Texas Tech
21. Clemson
22. Oklahoma
23. Florida State
24. Nebraska
25. California

Athlon Sports

1. Oklahoma
2. Notre Dame
3. USC
4. Ohio State
5. Florida
6. West Virginia
7. Texas
8. California
9. Auburn
10. Louisville
11. LSU
12. Clemson
13. Michigan
14. Miami (FL)
15. Georgia
16. Iowa
17. Florida State
18. TCU
19. Oregon
20. Tennessee
21. Virginia Tech
22. Texas Tech
23. Utah
24. Arizona State
25. Nebraska

The Sporting News

1. Notre Dame
2. Ohio State
3. Auburn
4. LSU
5. West Virginia
6. USC
7. Texas
8. Florida
9. Oklahoma
10. Florida State
11. Iowa
12. Georgia
13. California
14. Miami (FL)
15. Penn State
16. Virginia Tech
17. Michigan
18. Tennessee
19. Louisville
20. Texas Tech
21. TCU
22. Nebraska
23. Oregon
24. Clemson
25. Alabama

Lindy's Sports

1. Notre Dame
2. Ohio State
3. West Virginia
4. Texas
5. Florida
6. USC
7. Oklahoma
8. Auburn
9. California
10. LSU
11. Michigan
12. Florida State
13. Louisville
14. Georgia
15. Utah
16. Miami
17. TCU
18. Clemson
19. Arizona State
20. Virginia Tech
21. Penn State
22. Nebraska
23. Oregon
24. Texas Tech
25. Iowa

and finally. . .

Street & Smith's

1. Ohio State
2. West Virginia
3. Texas
4. Notre Dame
5. Florida
6. California
7. USC
8. Auburn
9. LSU
10. Oklahoma
11. Florida State
12. Michigan
13. Louisville
14. Miami
15. Virginia Tech
16. Arizona State
17. Nebraska
18. Alabama
19. Georgia
20. Penn State
21. Iowa
22. Texas Tech
23. Clemson
24. Oregon
25. TCU

Interesting stuff, eh? What interests me the most about this is that there seems to be relatively little agreement as to who should be where. . . such unsettlement, in my opinion at least, makes for an interesting season - one full of doubt and high hopes, the combination of which leads to good football.

Being a firm believer that the more informed decisions, the better accuracy we can arrive at (sometimes), I amalgamated the charts through weighting the rankings and averaging them. This is the result:

1. Ohio State
2. Texas
3. West Virginia
4. USC
5. Notre Dame
6. LSU
7. Florida
8. Auburn
9. (tied) Virginia Tech/Georgia
11. Oklahoma
12. California
13. (tie) Florida State/Miami
15. TCU
16. Louisville
17. Alabama
18. Texas Tech
19. (tied) UCLA/Clemson
21. Wisconsin
22. (tied) Iowa/Nebraska
24. (tied) Arizona State/Boston College

Also, Alabama was ranked on only four lists, Michigan and Iowa on only three, UCLA, Arizona State, Wisconsin, and Boston College on only two lists, and Utah and Tennesse on only one list.

Before I sign off, I just want to point out a sad, sad thing. For years the Peach Bowl, one of the great classics of college football, has been sponsored by a major corporation that, until this moment, I had long given creedence as being somewhat "different" from other corporations - by different I mean willing to combine good business practices with a certain level of moral propriety, that is to say a genuine dedication to values (to the the nature of the values is less significant than the fact that their dedication to them). That company was, and is, Chik-Fil-A.

I am disappointed in Chick-Fil-A. They have changed the name of the Peach Bowl to the Chik-Fil-A Bowl. Because, I suppose, the Chik-Fil-A Peach Bowl didn't give them enough air and face time. My disappointment is palatable, not merely because another corporation has decided their marginal gains are more important than keeping a great American tradition about more than money (at least a little). Here is the letter I have just sent them:

Dear Sir or Ma'am:
I am writing not in reference to your restaurant or its products per say - I have long been a customer of your company and have never had any complaint as to the quality of food, cleanliness of facilities, or quality of service at any of the locations I have visited (primarily, I might add, in Bluefield, WV and Knoxville, TN). Instead, I am writing to mention my disappointment with your company's decision to change the name of the Peach Bowl to the Chk-Fil-A Bowl. I understand that your sponsorship of this nearly forty year-old institution is part of your efforts to make an honest profit for your shareholders/owners. That said, I have long been impressed at your company's willingness to sacrifice certain potential profits for long-term customer and employee loyalty - specifically I mention your high-quality of food and your no-Sundays policy. My father is a business man who has made certain sacrifices, though of a different type, on principle as well and I know and appreciate how difficult such sacrifices can be. Yet your company has endured through this without complaint. Yet now your company is willingly sacrificing a small part of a great American tradition for, if we are honest, likely to yield only marginal returns. I make no complaint to your affixing your corporate name and logo to the Peach Bowl's, but replacing it entirely strikes me as unacceptable and, to be frank, as money-grubbing. In a time when corporations are buying stadiums and teams around the world and franchising themselves through those institutions, I never expected yours to engage in such an act.

I hope that you will reconsider your action - perhaps it is a little thing and my concerns are misplaced, but given your company's history, I felt it warrented attention - unlike some corporations, I feel yours is genuinely concerned with the preservation of quality, not merely the acquisition of wealth. My best wishes for your future endeavors.

Sincerely,
Eric Drummond Smith

I sent the letter using the Chik-Fil-A corporate website and I encourage you to do the same - just click here and ask them to please let the Peach Bowl be called the Peach Bowl. Its not a bad company, really, it just needs its conscience "stoked."

Love the football.