News Article: 2018 Preseason USA Today Coaches Poll & Rankings Prediction

[kyallie]

https://twitter.com/abc/status/1021459994133266432

 

[Blueguitar]

https://twitter.com/abc/status/1021459994133266432

I was just about to post my prediction of what the College Football News would predict the USA Today prediction would be, but then I thought that would be too meta. I love how they call the USA Today poll the "real thing" also. I guess that means if we are ranked first in the initial USA Today poll we can cancel the season -- we have already accomplished something "real."

Some college should do a graduate seminar titled "metaphysical epistemology and college football prognostication."

 

[DzynKingRTR]

We have gotten out of hand. We are now predicting predictions.

 

[mrusso]

We have gotten out of hand. We are now predicting predictions.

I predicted we would soon be predicting predictions. Wait...wut?:conf2:

 

[AUDub]

So AU-UW is a top ten matchup. Pretty cool.

 

[BamaFanatJSU]

So AU-UW is a top ten matchup. Pretty cool.

And likely an elimination game for the loser given the weakness of one's schedule and the difficulty of the other.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

And likely an elimination game for the loser given the weakness of one's schedule and the difficulty of the other.

I doubt that. Depends on how the rest of the season goes. If either ran the table and won their conference its very possible they make the playoffs. In fact I would almost guarantee you Auburn would.

 

[teamplayer]

I doubt that. Depends on how the rest of the season goes. If either ran the table and won their conference its very possible they make the playoffs. In fact I would almost guarantee you Auburn would.

I agree, but I think he meant that if Auburn isn't good enough to beat UW that they will probably not be good enough to win the rest of their games and that UW's schedule is so soft that it will be hard for them to gain respect if AU beats them; therefore, it could possibly be an elimination game for the loser.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

I agree, but I think he meant that if Auburn isn't good enough to beat UW that they will probably not be good enough to win the rest of their games and that UW's schedule is so soft that it will be hard for them to gain respect if AU beats them; therefore, it could possibly be an elimination game for the loser.

Yea I misread it my bad.

 

[CoachInWaiting]

Preseason polls always confuse and borderline mystify me....I never know if the pollsters are really predicting where the teams will begin the season or where they expect them to end the season. I doubt that there is a consensus either. When I decide to entertain myself and sit down and come up with a list like this, I can't help but figure into my thinking the team's strength of schedule and the possible challenges they will face along the way. In a real preseason evaluation, none of that should matter, but if it doesn't, what are we really ranking? It has to be a opinion piece comparing rosters and staffs, because nobody has played in preseason, nor will they have played when the preseason poll drops.

I know that a prediction of the final rankings, after the playoff, is a stretch for most, but I'd find it much more interesting. I'd really like to see how far from this preseason poll most of the pollsters would range. I bet it would be darn close.

 

[Blueguitar]

Preseason polls always confuse and borderline mystify me....I never know if the pollsters are really predicting where the teams will begin the season or where they expect them to end the season. I doubt that there is a consensus either. When I decide to entertain myself and sit down and come up with a list like this, I can't help but figure into my thinking the team's strength of schedule and the possible challenges they will face along the way. In a real preseason evaluation, none of that should matter, but if it doesn't, what are we really ranking? It has to be a opinion piece comparing rosters and staffs, because nobody has played in preseason, nor will they have played when the preseason poll drops.

I know that a prediction of the final rankings, after the playoff, is a stretch for most, but I'd find it much more interesting. I'd really like to see how far from this preseason poll most of the pollsters would range. I bet it would be darn close.

You're right about that -- they never specify exactly what point in time they are predicting. Another problem is that the "official" preseason polls give teams an edge or a penalty that they haven't earned (though it looks like the CFP committee has done a good job of discounting that effect). I think Gary Danielson was right about one thing -- he has said that the "official" polls in the early season aren't really measuring anything besides popular perception and the herd effect, and that they shouldn't start polling until October.