USA Today Sports: Pre-season 1-128 rankings

[Mike Gwinn]

USA TODAY Sports' Dan Wolken predicts which four teams will compete in the 2015 College Football Playoff. USA TODAY Sports

This is not a repeat: Ohio State tops the USA TODAY Sports 1-128 preseason re-rank. If you can recall, the Buckeyes also led the way in the final re-rank to end the 2014 season. Typically, I've found that national champions — and defending national champions — tend to hold the top spot.

There's simply too much talent to ignore, even as the Buckeyes enter the season opener without five contributors, including All-America defensive end Joey Bosa, and head into the second half of August having yet to decide on a starting quarterback...

WKU #37, NIU #39, Marshall #41

LINK

 

[Rakeem_Cato]

I guess you can't strictly go off of what happened last year and we've lost some guys since the Boca Raton Bowl, but come on, we dominated them for four quarters last year. How are you gonna rank them ahead of us?

Additionally, I'm not convinced Western Kentucky is actually as good as everyone thinks they're gonna be. I understand they ended the year hot last year, but I still think we should be the better team when everything is said and done.

 

[OVERHERD]

Because they stop paying attention after the top 2-3 in the P5 conferences and just fill out names from there.

 

[Herd In the Plains]

WOW, they have Boise at 5!

 

[The Real SamC]

Last year, they released this list one team at a time, starting at the bottom. That was kinda fun.

Boise State (which it must be always remembered is the least academically legitimate school in all of Div I) doesn't play anybody, but is in an ESPN conference, and even has a separate ESPN deal on top of that, so that won't get mentioned. They probably will go undefeated. They don't play anybody.

If you figure (and this worked out about 90% of the time with last year's list) that you will beat every team more than 10 ahead of you and lose to those more than 10 ahead, and the 20 in between are toss ups, then they are saying we will have a very great year. (and you can do the same for any other team you wish).

 

[Herdon2]

I wish we could establish a series with Boise.

 

[The Real SamC]

I wish we could establish a series with Boise.

That will never happen, as long as BS "U" is one of the ESPN pet teams and CUSA is with Fox/CBS.

We were Boise before Boise was Boise, Satan's Vile Servant, KO Marcum killed that. And other schools were Marshall before Marshall was Marshall. History is full of mid-majors that, for a time, fly with the eagles. It is hard to sustain. Money issues, coaches move on, NCAA man shows up, nobody will schedule you, so on.

The manipulators at the Mother Ship, of course, want BS "U" to remain permanently in its little faux drama of the little engine that could. Part of that is the continual hype of the non-accomplishments of the team, and part is insuring that they never actually play anyone they might lose to.

Time will, despite ESPN's best efforts, move on and the next team in the spotlight will have their turn at it. And BS "U" will return to giving tickets away.

 

[Herdon2]

Boise has done something Marshall couldn't and that is maintain a winning program over many years. They ran their program right and had the right people in their organization to propel off of good seasons and winning. If Marshall had had people in place to take the program further in the mid 90s we would ha e been that Boise. We just didn't have the right people running things. Pruett told the school what he needed to sustain the momentum but they thought it would keep coming without investing back in the program. Wrong move and that is our story.

 

[cstolz26]

 

[Herdstruck]

Boise also ran the WAC, which was Marshall's MAC, in their days. Boise moved 'up' to a depleted MWC, since Utah, TCU, and BYU left.
They have had success, no doubt, but it took them a very long time to get there. They have lucked out keeping coaches, but we will see how long that lasts. They also are hoping Marshall and CSU and others don't win, but that's becoming more and more of a problem, since we are. Also, both can move while Boise can't.