We were tempted to throw Duke in here just because, after 1 and 2, can it really be said that any of the remaining 23 are playing "exceptional football?" Can you really look at any other teams and say, with great confidence that they'd beat the 94 other teams not getting ranked (so long as they avoid committing 16 penalties)? I can't. Here's what I'd like to do: LSU Southern Cal Everybody Else But I can't, so... LSU Southern Cal Ohio ...
HLS Top 25 - 2007/08
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Week 2: “Don’t Blame Me” Edition
Somehow our voters couldn't see it in their hearts to completely wipe Auburn off the face of our Top 25 this week, despite the fact that they lost to a commuter school. Don't blame me, if I could have cast negative votes in Tommy Tuberville's direction, I would have. As good as it was to see Michigan (sucks!) lose, I have a special place in my heart for Auburn/Tuberville themed schadenfreude. Rank Team 1 LSU 2 Southern ...
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Week 1
One, two, three, four, five! Well, we've got 1 full weekend of college football in the books. And 3 of the 4 HLS pollsters have submitted ballots. If the 4th pulls one together, this may change a bit, but I suspect this is a pretty set order. Southern Cal WVU Florida Texas LSU Cal Oklahoma UCLA Georgia Wisconsin Ohio State Penn State Rutgers Georgia Tech Virginia Tech Louisville Auburn Boston Freaking College TCU Clemson Arkansas Oregon ...
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Preseason Edition: #1 – Southern Cal
You had to see it coming, right? I mean, it only makes sense now that people at ESPN or some other MSM locale are comparing the Poodle to Rockne. Last year, SoCal was merely good. Very good, yes, but still only good. They weren't quite the same as the 2005 edition of "the greatest team ever, ever, ever," but they were still damned good. And while the offensive firepower dropped from 49.1 points a game to 30, the defense started to become the beast that the Poodle had envisioned in so many ...
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Preseason Edition: #2 – Texas
By the time I got around to writing the top 5 of the HLSTNHT25-PE, I stopped reading as much Phil Steel and started going more by memory because the programs are pretty well known commodities. But now I'm at #2 and I'm back to paging thru Phil's work, trying to commit plagiarisms provide you with anything useful because, well, they're pretty unknown to me. All I know is that they should be good this year. Very good. And how's that work, exactly? After all, they did lose to KSU and ...
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Preseason Edition: #3 – LSU
When Ohio State soundly defeated the Irish in their BCS game 2 seasons ago (despite ND being "in it" pretty much until the end), it was pretty clear that Ohio State was going to be a buzz-saw during the 2006 season, and, likely, would be going to the National Championship game. Last year, when LSU soundly defeated the Irish in a BCS game, it had the same feel. It just looked like LSU was playing on a different level, and were, possibly, at the time, the best team in the country. But I'm ...
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Preseason Edition: #4 – West Virginia
In lieu of the usual wit and insight, I give you the lyrics to "Take Me Home Country Roads." Cherish them. Sing them loudly. And drunkenly. Always drunkenly. Almost heaven, west virginia Blue ridge mountains Shenandoah river - Life is old there Older than the trees Younger than the mountains Growin like a breeze Country roads, take me home To the place I belong West virginia, mountain momma Take me home, country roads All my memories gathered round her Miners lady, stranger ...
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Preseason Edition: #5 – Florida
Despite Urban Meyer's poaching habits, the Gators aren't so loaded with talent that they can just "reload" rather than "rebuild." But if this is a "rebuilding year," where they get to start somewhere in the top-10, I'll take it. The defending National Champs actually have a lot of questions this year. Will the ill-fitting Chris Leak be missed as Timmy! Tebow takes over full-time at QB? Will the almost completely new personnel at defense be able to keep up while the offense learns to find ...
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Preseason Edition: #6 – Michigan
Before I get into the preview of the Skunkbears, I'd just like to point out a little tidbit I heard on ESPN Radio today provided by Michigan (sucks!) Alum Dana Jacobson. Apparently she had just finished an interview with Llloyd Carr, and they'd discussed the importance of these little "tune-up" games with football luminaries like Appalachian State. In Dana's words, these games are important because you'd never want to start the season against someone like Notre Dame. It's funny because from ...
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Preseason Edition: #7 – Virginia Tech
Last year, Frank Beamer and the boys went thru the bizzaro-world of the ACC, winning 10 games, beating Miami, and yet still failing to appear in the ACC's BCS berth. Frankly the ACC wasn't what it normally is and neither, really, was VaTech. They managed to lose to Georgia Tech and Boston Freaking College in back-to-back weeks. Beamer must have thought he was having a bad dream at that point. Things look to improve this year as we can't imagine Boston Freaking College winning in ...