Recently the AP Top 25 was released for the upcoming 2006 college football season. There were a few surprises, but it was solid overall. The rankings, which we'll go over in a moment, will likely change after week one. Two of the big teams in this ranking—Ohio State and Texas—go at it in week two on September 9. Last year's meeting between these two teams was monumental and perhaps decided the national championship. Had Texas lost that game, most of the country would not be as familiar with Vince Young.
Still, the 2006 NFL Draft took a lot out of the Ohio State Buckeyes. Are they really the number one team? How about Notre Dame? Is it time to jump on their bandwagon? Will they bring back the glory days gone by? Here's the current AP top 25 for college football.
1. Ohio State
2. Notre Dame
3. Texas
4. Auburn
5. West Virginia
6. USC
7. Florida
8. LSU
9. California
10. Oklahoma
11. Florida State
12. Miami
13. Louisville
14. Michigan
15. Georgia
16. Iowa
17. Virginia Tech
18. Clemson
19. Penn State
20. Nebraska
21. Oregon
22. TCU
23. Tennessee
24. Arizona State
25. Texas Tech
My only gripe is that Miami is listed lower than Florida State. Miami is clearly the better team. Once the season starts, this will be one of the listing spots that changes. Also, I'm not so high on Texas. They are riding a lot of emotion from last season, including emotion in the voting. They lost they field general in Vince Young and that's going to hurt. We'll find out how real they are in week two when the Ohio State Buckeyes come to town.
Why is USC ranked 6th? They lost key players and replacements are largely unproven. Again, this is preseason respect since they got into the championship game last season. USC's first test comes in their second game on September 16 against Nebraska. That's a home game for USC. USC averaged 49.1 points per game last season, but that's going to drop.
The preseason Top 25 is basically a bunch of guessing using last year's performances as a guide. There's a good chance that 80% of these teams will move after their first games. Some won't even be on the Top 25 come week two. College football is going to be exciting right out of the gate. It's quite possible that we end up with a Notre Dame vs. Ohio State championship game.
The author is an experienced sports betting editor at SportsGamblingReview.com, an online sportsbook review portal. He also writes a daily blog on College Football Betting with up to the minute odds, news and picks.
Written By: Sebastien Veilleux
