The AP poll for Week One is finally out with Penn State making its debut at #23, while this weekend’s opponent, Alabama, has dropped down to #3.
Oklahoma is #1, followed by LSU at #2, and Alabama, Boise State, and FSU make up the top five. The next five are Stanford, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, and Nebraska.
Five Big Ten teams wound up in the Top 25: Wisconsin #8, Nebraska #10, Ohio State #15, Michigan State #17, and Penn State #23.
In the USA Today poll, Penn State is #20.
Early season polls are meaningless. The fact that every season has an “Upset Saturday” is mute testimony to the immateriality of the weekly pissing contest, at least until the BCS rankings start to kick in. But even then, I’m just sayin’.
For example, the Nittany Lions are #23 on the basis of what? Sportswriters pull their votes straight out of their ass. PSU’s performance last Saturday would have looked good if it was played against Iowa or Michigan State, but Indiana State? Too many question marks and too many deferred decisions cloud any ranking at this juncture. For example, the PSU offensive line was horrible protecting the quarterback — against Indiana State, an FCS division school!
I guess there have to be rankings each week or the fans just wouldn’t be happy.
