Preseason polls: Should we even pay attention?

On Monday morning in Greensboro, the ACC media anxiously awaited the release of the preseason media poll predicting where the conference's 12 teams would finish in 2010.

A day earlier, 98 of these same media folk voted in the poll. And once the ACC was ready to dispense the results, it was time to breathlessly report them to the public.

The whole routine has the look and feel of something that, you know, actually matters.

Once the poll is released, the writers descend on the conference's coaches to ask them their opinions of the writers' opinions.

The coaches, who believe they have as much football knowledge in their earwax as most of these scribblers have in their entire bodies, sort of play along and provide reaction quotes for all the stories.

But surely, privately, these coaches are telling themselves: "Most of these hacks don't know a Cover 3 from a meat and 3. And I'm supposed to care about what they think my team is going to do this year?"

There's no mystery as to why these preseason polls get so much pub:

1) Because the people participating in the polls love to let everyone else know what they think;

and

2) Because it's July;

and

3) Because it's college football

This sport has become somewhat gigantic, and with a mere 12 regular-season games people need to have something to dissect over the rest of the year.

So while it's a curious and trivial thing, it's not a bad thing.

Nevertheless, here's a question regarding the ACC preseason poll:

Should we even pay attention?

The question is asked because, well, the ACC Swoffie-razzi doesn't have a particularly good record of forecasting this stuff.

Here's a look at the media picks in the previous six polls, with actual winners in parentheses:

2009
Atlantic Champ: Florida State (Clemson)
Coastal Champ: Virginia Tech (Georgia Tech)
ACC Champ: Virginia Tech (Georgia Tech)

2008
Atlantic Champ: Clemson (Boston College)
Coastal Champ: Virginia Tech (Virginia Tech)
ACC Champ: Clemson (Virginia Tech)

2007
Atlantic Champ: Florida State (Boston College)
Coastal Champ: Virginia Tech (Virginia Tech)
ACC Champ: Virginia Tech (Virginia Tech)

2006
Atlantic Champ: Florida State (Wake Forest)
Coastal Champ: Miami (Georgia Tech)
ACC Champ: Miami (Wake Forest)

2005
Atlantic Champ: Florida State (Florida State)
Coastal Champ: Virginia Tech (Virginia Tech)
ACC Champ: Florida State (Florida State)

2004
ACC Champ: Florida State (Virginia Tech)

That's four straight years the media has incorrectly predicted the Atlantic Division winner. So Clemson fans should take heart in this year's pick of Florida State.

That's two years out of six successfully picking the ACC champ.

And one pick that really stands out: Wake Forest predicted to finish sixth in its division in 2006, only to go on to win the whole darn thing.

I'm not going to argue with this year's picks of Florida State and Virginia Tech, but I'm also not going to argue with folks who foresee different teams atop the pecking order.

This history of preseason poll position demonstrates the media's overwhelming tendency to go with convention. The problem with that thinking is that it flies in the face of college football's best quality: Crazy things happen.

Full disclosure: I've typically been on the Wimp Bandwagon, along with everyone else.

On to some Thursday linkage...

I think I discovered whom Kyle Parker was using as his chief advisor during recent negotiations with the Rockies: Texas A&M president R. Bowen Loftin.

Talk about a tough bargainer:

The Big 12 Conference promised Texas A&M $20 million annually and the Aggies intend to collect, A&M president R. Bowen Loftin said Wednesday.

“A key part of Texas A&M’s decision to remain in the Big 12 earlier this summer was the commissioner’s commitment that Texas A&M would receive a minimum of $20 million annually in future conference distributions,” Loftin said in a statement. “We remain committed to the conference and fully anticipate that the Big 12 will honor its commitment to Texas A&M.”

And what happens if the Big 12 doesn’t honor its $20 million pledge? A high-ranking A&M official said late Wednesday that every legal avenue would be explored first, with the potential of bolting for the Southeastern Conference coming after.

So what's up with people who use their first initial and middle name? Is it merely an attempt to sound sophisticated? Imagine drinking a beer at a tailgate and introducing yourself to someone who says: "Hi, my name is R. Bowen."

How come we never hear of coaches who do that? Or NASCAR drivers?

Guessing Clemson's current coach would've had a problem getting the job if he went by: "W. Christopher."

R. Bowen Loftin ... sounds like a guy who wears a bow tie.

Well lookie here:


Looks like the Chick-fil-A Classic is having a tough time finding two teams to play its 2011 game. We told you that Clemson rebuffed overtures to move its home date with Auburn to Atlanta, and now rumors of a Southern Cal-Georgia matchup are being shot down.

And check out this snippet:

As for USC, Stokan said Trojans coach Lane Kiffin sent him a text message in February to suggest a 2011 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game matchup against his former team, Tennessee. “It’d be a great storyline,” Stokan quoted Kiffin as telling him in a subsequent phone conversation. Stokan said new Tennessee coach Derek Dooley later told him he’d be willing to play USC in Atlanta — after he has three years or so to get his program established.

Hey, what ever happened to Patrick Nix? The guy who served as OC at Georgia Tech and Miami is now in the Lowcountry.

Mark Bradley of the AJC wonders if Joshua Nesbitt is the most valuable player in college football.

Speaking of Paul Johnson, his successor isn't doing too shabbily. Navy is ranked No. 23 in Rivals' preseason poll.

Jimbo Fisher says FSU is making progress on its football-only indoor practice facility.

“I think it’s important,” Fisher said. “I really do. Like for instance the first year we were here [in 2007], we played Clemson – for four straight days, we can’t walk outside. I sit inside and do walk-throughs for four straight days before we played. I mean, it affects winning and losing … it’s not just rain, it’s the lightning.

“Because you’re in the lightning capital of the world.”

The lightning capital of the world? Who knew? Man, Bobby Bowden sure slept through a lot in his later years as coach of the Seminoles.

Dabo Swinney's raise finally becomes official, and Dat Boy said earlier this week that his first two purchases were a swimming pool and a trampoline.

He said he'd always wanted a swimming pool and a trampoline. I said: "You couldn't afford a trampoline when you were a receivers coach?" He laughed and said no.

Paul Finebaum has officially become the scrooge of scrooges. In a column proposing Vanderbilt's expulsion from the SEC, he becomes the only person on the planet who doesn't like Robbie Caldwell.

One can understand the media lapping it up. If you had to listen to three days of sleep-inducing, mind-numbing, coach-speak from the likes of Urban Meyer, Mark Richt, Bob Petrino, Gene Chizik and Les Miles, you would probably find Caldwell's monologue about "turkey insemination" downright side-splitting, too.

However, if I wanted to see Jerry Clower, I'd pop in an old DVD of "Hee-Haw" and sit back on the couch with a bottle of RC Cola and a Moon Pie. That's about what I got out of Caldwell's deep fried act last week. And besides, if you're the Vanderbilt head coach, shouldn't you at least try to give off the appearance you could have been admitted to the school as a student?

I found the whole presentation insulting, not only to a great academic institution like Vanderbilt, but to the SEC as well. If the administrators at Vanderbilt want to make a charade of college football, that's fine. They've already eliminated the athletic department several years ago. But I suggest they do it in some other league than the SEC.


LW