CFB Coaches Preseason Poll Released

We are only a month away from college football kicking off (thank fucking God!) and today the USA Today released their preseason top 25 Coaches Poll. Here are some initial thoughts from the poll.


1.Oklahoma (42)-It's hard to argue with the amount of starters Oklahoma has coming back and with Texas being down. The Sooners are a legit #1 preseason but you could make compelling arguments for Alabama, Oregon, and LSU. Landry Jones would be the answer to most of those arguments.

2.Alabama (13)-Bama is going to be really good this season even with the heavy losses at key positions. I think they will be a lot more hungry and Trent Richardson will be a beast.

3.Oregon (2)-Scoregon is back and the Ducks will continue to put up a lot of points on the scoreboard. I wouldn't be surprised if they went undefeated if they can get by LSU in the season opener.

4.LSU (2)-I like this LSU team a lot. Not a huge fan of Les Miles but talent wise the Bayou Bengals are ready to contend for a SEC Title.

5.Florida State-Probably a little overrated considering their defense got worked in big games but then again FSU always seems to be overrated so why not preseason?

6.Stanford-The best QB in the nation and a relentless defense coming back off a one loss season is the reason why Stanford has their highest preseason ranking...ever. A very good team it will be interesting to see how they react without Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines.

7.Boise State-All they do is win and win big. If they crush Georgia in Atlanta chances are they go undefeated.

8.Oklahoma State-Good team but certainly not great. Mike Gundy needs to beat Oklahoma before he earns my utmost respect.

9.Texas A&M -I like the Aggies a lot I'm just surprised they are ranked this high preseason. Apparently not all of the coaches are as dumb as they vote sometimes.

10.Wisconsin-The Badgers are one of my sleeper teams for the BCS Title but now I see they are ranked top 10 preseason it's not much of a sleeper like Auburn was last year. The Badgers or Nebraska will win the Big Ten.

11.Nebraska-Kinda surprised they are not ranked higher. The season will ride on how healthy they can keep Taylor Martinez in their Big Ten inaugural season.

12.South Carolina-The Cocks should win the SEC East and if they had a better, more reliable QB they would be a top 5 team preseason.

13.Virginia Tech-The only team that can contend with FSU for the ACC Title.

14.Arkansas-Don't laugh but Arkansas could be this year's Auburn. Everybody expects one of either Bama or LSU to run away with the SEC West but the Razorbacks are loaded and should be tough. I would have Arkansas ranked way higher.

15.TCU-Trust me I love the Horned Frogs and I think they deserve all the respect they can get but this might be a tad too high for them preseason. They lost a ton of starters and despite an easy schedule I don't see them going undefeated.

16.Ohio State-The Buckeyes actually might be underrated. Yes they got a new coach and a new QB but they still have elite talent and they pretty much have owned the Big Ten for the past decade. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they finished top 10 again.

17.Michigan State-The Bama and Iowa losses must have left a bad taste in voter's mouths. Sparty will be better than this preseason ranking.

18.Notre Dame-This seems about right. ND has almost every starter back and should take another step up in the second year of the Brian Kelly era. I think a 10-3 season is attainable. The defense should carry them.

19.Auburn-Last year Auburn was underrated preseason and this year they might be overrated. They lost a ton from their BCS National Championship team but if they can run the ball they have a shot at shocking a lot of teams in the SEC West.

20.Mississippi State-Seriously? The Bulldogs played out of their minds last year but I think a thing called reality will hit them in the face this season.

21.Missouri-No arguments here. Mizzou with the right QB could be scary this season.

22.Georgia-Top 25 right now on name alone. UGA has been a huge disappointment the last 3 seasons in my opinion. If Mark Richt doesn't turn around the downward trend this could be his last season in Athens.

23.Florida-Like Georgia the Gators are top 25 on name alone. They have a ton of talent but their QB is horrible and both lines could struggle this season.

24.Texas-The Longhorns were horrible last season but should rebound to a 8 or 9 win season.

25.Penn State-Well they still have JoePa.

Others receiving votes
Arizona State (6-6) 158; West Virginia (9-4) 149; Utah (10-3) 50; Miami (Fla.) (7-6) 49; Iowa (8-5) 41; Northwestern (7-6) 30; Arizona (7-6) 28; Central Florida (11-3) 22; Michigan (7-6) 19; Air Force (9-4) 15; North Carolina (8-5) 14; Houston (5-7) 13; South Florida (8-5) 9; Hawaii (10-4) 8; Clemson (6-7) 7; Tennessee (6-7) 7; Southern Miss (8-5) 6; Brigham Young (7-6) 5; North Carolina State (9-4) 4; Northern Illinois (11-3) 4; Oregon State (5-7) 4; Pittsburgh (8-5) 3; Washington (7-6) 3; Georgia Tech (6-7) 1; Nevada (13-1) 1

Not a whole lot to argue with since it is a preseason poll. I would have had West Virginia in the top 20 no doubt and am kind of surprised how low South Florida is and that Baylor didn't receive any votes. All in all the sports directors did a great job of voting for the coaches. Now go give yourself a raise.

Notre Dame lands lucky number 13 in Sheldon Day, lose out on Tommy Schutt

Notre Dame landed one of it's "biggest" commitments on Tuesday when Indianapolis Warren Central defensive tackle Sheldon Day confirmed his verbal. Day who is listed at 6'2 286 lbs is the second prospect out of Indianapolis to join the class with the other being Cathedral safety John Turner.

As you probably know Notre Dame has always had difficulty getting defensive tackles. For whatever reason it's been a big time swing and miss position for the Fighting Irish when trying to get the elite recruits. Day isn't as heavily recruited as Gerald McCoy or Marvin Austin but he is extremely important for Notre Dame in order to build depth along the defensive line. Last year the Irish brought in elite defensive ends in Aaron Lynch and Stephon Tuitt among others and this year the interior is being focused on.

Day looks like a beast on film. He reminds me a lot of Trevor Laws. Quick hands, good burst, and a body that appears at least on film ready to contribute right away. Louis Nix, aka Irish Chocolate, was overweight when he enrolled and needed time to get into playing shape with the grueling workouts executed by strength and conditioning coach Paul Longo. Day will have the benefit of coming in at a much lighter weight and will backup Nix at the nose tackle position starting in 2012.

If Notre Dame wants to get back to an elite defense it is imperative to land more recruits like Day. Defensive tackles are always hard to find but it looks like defensive coordinator Bob Diaco got a potentially great one in Day. Day picked Notre Dame over offers from Arkansas, Florida, LSU, Michigan, and many others. The 4 star d-tackle is the third ranked prospect in the state of Indiana and 22nd overall at his position nationally.

With the verbal commitment of Day top defensive tackle prospect Tommy Schutt has been informed by the Notre Dame coaching staff that he would no longer be recruited despite a visit set up for this week. Schutt told Irish Illustrated.com's Jake Brown that he planned on committing this week to the Irish. Look for Schutt to verbal to Florida soon.

And don't bother asking me why Notre Dame would stop recruiting Schutt with the verbal of Day. You can never have too many defensive tackles and it makes absolutely no sense to stop recruiting a kid who was about to commit and is currently the 29th overall prospect in the whole nation.