Once small step for Coug-dom, I guess. Where did these photos come from? Thanks to our own Longball and his big-time camera skills at last week’s practices, he was able to snap off a few good ones. Check out his photo gallery from last week right here (note – you can get the photo galleries by clicking “gallery” along the top of the site).
Moving on, you can tell by the title of this post that it’s time once again for this year’s blog poll. That’s right, we are participating again with the biggest, baddest, most reputable top 25 on the planet…..outside of, you know, all the real top 25 that the major media pays attention to. Every week in this space, we will post our top 25 ballot, and you can pat us on the back where we got it right, and fire away where we missed wildly. With that, read more for the first ballot of the season, the entire top 25 blog poll as it looks right now, and of course, the usual links and such around the WSU universe…..
First, I still can’t believe it – FOOTBALL STARTS IN A LITTLE OVER A WEEK! Where in the world did the summer go? As a teacher friend told me, depressed as can be right now staring down the barrel of yet another school year – “The three best things about being a teacher? June, July and August…” Yeah, I know, you’ve probably heard that one before. But it isn’t the first time I’ve heard it, nor will it be the last. Oh well. Hey teachers, at least you have June, July and August! Anyway, here’s the first ballot of the season. Be kind:
WSU Football Blog Ballot – Week 1
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | — |
| 2 | Ohio St. Buckeyes | — |
| 3 | Florida Gators | — |
| 4 | Texas Longhorns | — |
| 5 | Boise St. Broncos | — |
| 6 | Oklahoma Sooners | — |
| 7 | Virginia Tech Hokies | — |
| 8 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | — |
| 9 | TCU Horned Frogs | — |
| 10 | Iowa Hawkeyes | — |
| 11 | Wisconsin Badgers | — |
| 12 | Oregon Ducks | — |
| 13 | Miami Hurricanes | — |
| 14 | Penn St. Nittany Lions | — |
| 15 | Pittsburgh Panthers | — |
| 16 | LSU Tigers | — |
| 17 | North Carolina Tar Heels | — |
| 18 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | — |
| 19 | Florida St. Seminoles | — |
| 20 | Arkansas Razorbacks | — |
| 21 | Oregon St. Beavers | — |
| 22 | Georgia Bulldogs | — |
| 23 | Auburn Tigers | — |
| 24 | USC Trojans | — |
| 25 | Utah Utes | — |
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »
Some notes on the ballot:
1) IT’S EARLY – Too early if you want to know the truth, but everyone’s doing it so what can you do? Personally I believe the first polls shouldn’t even be taken until at least four games have been played. Sure, there are some pretenders out there, but usually after September you have a good idea about who’s good and who’s got, uh, issues. And, of course, what if everyone misses HUGE in that first poll? Think of, say, Auburn. They are a team a lot of people like this year, and some have even said they are a dark-horse SEC championship game pick for 2010. But they are starting out pretty low at #23. Granted they play in the greatest conference in the history of EVER, so it’s not too hard to picture them making a huge jump if they start hot. But they still have to climb past a lot of teams in front of them, just because of how they looked last season. To decide who’s good and who isn’t before a single game has been played just seems a little off. But it’s not a perfect system, and it’s all we’ve got, so, here we are.
2) SORRY BOISE STATE – I know they are the trendy chic pick for 2010, some saying they can’t imagine them not getting to the BCS title game if they run the table. But I don’t know, I just couldn’t put them higher than #5. Think about this for a moment. Colin Cowherd pointed this out earlier in the week, but since 2002, Boise State is 84-4 vs. non-BCS teams…..and just 6-7 vs. BCS competition. I know they have a lot of starters back from last year’s team, a team that beat TCU in their bowl game, but is that a reason to put them in front of teams like Florida or Texas? Really? I just can’t do it.
3) THE PAC-10 ISN’T REPRESENTING…YET – Just three PAC teams on our ballot right now, in the Oregon schools plus USC. But I have a feeling that is going to change after the first few weeks, and by the end of September at least one more Pac-10 team will be making a weekly appearance.
The official poll will be released this afternoon, but you can get a glance at it to see how things are going right here.
Moving on:
- Grippi’s recap from yesterday’s practice is available here. LIKE: Strong finish to practice on a hot August day in Pullman, with some good highlights on both sides of the ball, and some players returning from injury. DON’T LIKE: Still some key guys nursing their injuries, including possible starters in Gino Simone, LeAndre Daniels and Aire Justin. Oh, and the “three-stooges-esque” start to the practice, as Grippi describes it:
The first play of team drills Tuesday looked like something out of a “The Longest Yard” rehearsal. Quarterback Jeff Tuel took the snap under center, bobbled it, and got stepped on by center Zack Williams, who had been driven back by Bernard Wolfgramm. While going down, Tuel tried to get the ball to Chantz Staden, but the handoff went awry and the ball caromed into the hands of Kevin Kooyman, who fell on it in the end zone.
- Grippi also has a good look at the offensive line and running backs, preview style. O-line here, running backs here.
- Cougfan’s recap is premium, but they touch on the return of the Wolfgramm at d-tackle, an injury to Nolan Washington, and a slow start to practice.
- Joe Nickell’s WSU Blog has full recaps from yesterday, and touches on a physical practice with guys making plays, highlighted by a standout day from Daniel Simmons in the secondary. Oh, he posted THREE video clips too:
Lentil Festival:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOka7oYx1iM&w=400&h=258]Coach Wulff:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2rxIKeotYo&w=400&h=258]Daniel Simmons:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgbnLxH4ZMo&w=400&h=258] - Finally, in Joe’s post is that they now have a Cougar Football Facebook page. They just put up a new pic of the Pac-10 logo painted on the Martin Stadium turf, so something new to check out:
That’s it for now. Enjoy your Wednesday, and as always, GO COUGS!
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