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2022 Pre-Season AP Poll

The new season is already under way for some schools. It will be in high gear tomorrow. Let's look at the pre-season AP Poll. (I need to find a new free image hosting site).

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No surprise in the top 3 teams to start the year. Alabama leads the way with their best offensive and defensive player returning for their last season in college. Both Brice Young and Will Anderson will be very high draft choices if the season ends the way Saban wants it to. Most people think that Ohio State will have the best offense in college football this year. It all depends on what new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles can do to stop the bleeding this year. Then you have Georgia losing a lot of talent on offense and defense trying to reload like Alabama does every year. Everyone favorite frat boy, Stetson Bennett, is back to lead the offense, and the defense still has a ton of talent.

Then everyone looks at Dabo and says he can't have a bad team 2 years in a row. Most people will tell you that they had a ton of injuries last year, and I think they have already last one defensive end for 6 weeks already. Maybe karma is finally catching up with the boys up in Pickens County.

It's nice the voters are happy Brian Kelly left Notre Dame. They must think that Marcus Freeman is ready for the bright lights. Too bad they will fall a little bit after getting beat at the Horseshoe this weekend. I hope Gameday is ready in Columbus. I just want Lee Corso to have a good year. It's tough watching him now, but you have got to love the headgear picks every week.

Paying for the number one recruiting class has Jimbo and A&M coming in at number 6. I hope he has his QB situation in hand. It will be interesting to see who he loses to not go to the SEC Championship game...I mean besides Alabama. After all, they did beat them last year.

Utah has a tough game in Gainesville to open the season. Public enemy number 2 (#1 will be toward the bottom of this page) Billy Napier will welcome the Pac 12 contender. I hope Utah beats the brakes off of the Gators. It will be nice to see Florida go 6-6 again this year.

Michigan is looking up at Ohio State again to start the year. Everyone's favorite pair of khaki pants said some interesting things this off season, but that is not new. It will be fun watching the Maize and Blue fly a little lower this year after their B1G Championship last year. I wonder how much Ohio State wants to beat them by this year?

Mr. Someone hold my belt, so I don't go on the field finally took a head coaching job this off season. I wonder if Venables will be working to see if he can get Oklahoma and Texas into the SEC any sooner than 2025? I just surprised he took that job with Oklahoma coming into the SEC. Good luck to him for the next 2 years.

Baylor opens at number 10 this year. It seems like it will be a 3-man race for the Big XII title this year between the Oklahoma schools and Baylor. We will see if they can sustain some success out in Waco Texas. Just don't get beat by Texas this year, because it will not get any easier moving forward.

One-time Saban and Smart assistant, Dan Lanning takes over the pride of the Pacific Northwest. After Mario Cristobal went back home to Miami (I hope he adjust quickly to the environment). The former coach did Dan no favors by scheduling Georgia for the first game. I guess he will see how much different football is out west quickly.

The third Big XII school in the rankings are the fighting mullets of Oklahoma State. Coach Gundy has the Pokes poised to have another good year. I'm sure he is happy that Riley backed his bags for the bright lights of LA. I'm sure he was not happy to lose his defensive coordinator to Ohio State. But he tries to win with offense anyway, so it should be a normal season there in Stillwater.

Pesky NC State is next on the list at lucky number 13. The Wolfpack tries to win the ACC again this year by having to beat Clemson along the way. And that is all I'm really wanting to see out of NC State this year...beat Clemson.

The fighting Lincolns are having a great off season this year. New coach, new QB, new conference...nothing like a good face lift. It did cost them some money I'm sure, but all good plastic surgery does. At least they have plenty of good doctors to choose from being in Southern Cali. Now, all the fans want the bandages to come off and look at the new shinny visage.

Mel Tucker and Michigan State are next. They got off to a great start last year behind Wake Forrest transfer RB Kenneth Walker III. I hope they have another runner to replace Mr. Walker III, they will need one to emerge to battle for 2nd place in the B1G East division...or whatever it is called... Leaders, Legends... big, slow football.

The Hurricanes are back baby. At least everyone in Coral Gables is hoping so. Former player Mario Cristobal is returning as head coach. He's retired the turnover chain. Fans just hope he can turn over the losing 5-6 games a year too. His returning QB is supposed to be pretty good, so there is always a change is the ACC.

Pitt walked into Heinz Field, sorry Acrisure Stadium and walked out the winner of the Backyard Brawl. I didn't see the game but saw some highlight this morning and was surprised the WVa. wide receiver just gift wrapped the pick 6. Man, that was a crappy way to lose the game. I know they had a shot late, and Mr. transfer himself JT Daniels came up just a little short on a throw. I guess we know why he didn't play at Georgia.

The mighty Badgers of Wisconsin on in the top 20 again this year. I haven't really heard anything about them this preseason, so they will win the B1G West. Who know, someone will have to win that division. It's them or Iowa every year it seems like. I mean, maybe Hilinski and Northwester can win it this year? We still hate Bobo for making us suffer through Hill instead of Hilinski.

Woo Pig Sooie is another representative from the SEC West in the standings. South Carolina's game 2 opponent had a strong year last season, and I hope they do not remember that until week 3. Or if they can just forget about it in week 2. Playing an Arkansas team that can run the ball is still traumatic for me. This to me is the season for SC. If they win this game, then it will be a better season than anyone thought, lose the game and it might be 6-6 again this year.

Public enemy #1 is next on the poll. Is Kentucky a football or basketball school? It seems like years of really good basketball still has most fans not sure about how they feel about the football team. Well, the culture up there is certainly alive and well...sunglass or no sunglasses.

The mustard man himself checks in at number 21. Lane might go 6-6 this year or he can go 9-3. It will be fun watching Ole Miss lose a 42-37 game a couple of times this year. You cannot say that they are not entertaining tv.

Even without there star QB, Wake Forest checks in number 22. They certainly didn't need him against the over matched Keydets from VMI. And, and a Citadel grad I love to see them lose at anything. Also, Wake Forest is the closest NCAA team to me right now, so it is good if they have another 9-10 win season this year. It is always good to see a different color than light blue and red walking around town.

Cincinnati looks to follow up on their CFP Playoff appearance last year. Of course, they do it with a new starting QB and some other star players off to the NFL. It will be a good judge of how Luke Fickell has recruited and molded players there. Another good season and some B1G team will be throwing money at him to come coach their team. With them moving to the Big XII, those B1G schools might not look as impressive as they once did.

Speaking of teams moving to the Big XII Houston is up next in the poll. Dana Holgorsen seems to have another good team on his hands. Basically, running off anyone that was halfway decent a couple of years ago has worked out for him. Also being in Houston isn't so bad either. Good luck to the Cougars this year. Holgorsen is always entertaining on offense.

Last but certainly not least are the BYU cougars. Back-to-back cougars in the poll. They are always a tough team to play. It's a shame they will not be moving into the Pac 12, because they could win a lot in that conference. They should still be okay in the Big XII, but they could have an ever-bigger rivalry with Utah if they went to the Pac 12.

I don't see a whole lot of movement this weekend except after Notre Dame and Oregon lose their high-profile games. Let's see what fun and interesting teams move in and out of the AP poll this next week.

As always, Go Cocks!

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