Bearcats 29th in USA Today Coaches Poll
A lot of people say that the coaches poll is one of the dumbest college football polls. We know that the coaches don't actually fill out their ballots, and if they do, they are few and far between. After all, they are busy preparing for their own games, coaching their games and traveling. That skews your opinion of other teams in the nation.
The preseason poll by the coaches courtesy of USA Today came out today. No Big East team made the poll. That's not a big surprise. It happened last season. However, Cincinnati received votes as the 29th team.
| Aug. 2, 2012 — preseason poll |
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| Rank | Team (first-place votes) | Record | Points | Final 2011 rank | |
| 1. | LSU (18) | 13-1 | 1,403 | 2 | |
| 2. | Alabama (20) | 12-1 | 1,399 | 1 | |
| 3. | Southern California (19) | 10-2 | 1,388 | NR | |
| 4. | Oklahoma (1) | 10-3 | 1,276 | 15 | |
| 5. | Oregon | 12-2 | 1,258 | 4 | |
| 6. | Georgia | 10-4 | 1,061 | 20 | |
| 7. | Florida State (1) | 9-4 | 1,055 | 23 | |
| 8. | Michigan | 11-2 | 1,023 | 9 | |
| 9. | South Carolina | 11-2 | 981 | 8 | |
| 10. | Arkansas | 11-2 | 948 | 5 | |
| 11. | West Virginia | 10-3 | 833 | 18 | |
| 12. | Wisconsin | 11-3 | 743 | 11 | |
| 13. | Michigan State | 11-3 | 717 | 10 | |
| 14. | Clemson | 10-4 | 598 | 22 | |
| 15. | Texas | 8-5 | 549 | NR | |
| 16. | Nebraska | 9-4 | 501 | 24 | |
| 17. | TCU | 11-2 | 499 | 13 | |
| 18. | Stanford | 11-2 | 497 | 7 | |
| 19. | Oklahoma State | 12-1 | 476 | 3 | |
| 20. | Virginia Tech | 11-3 | 461 | 17 | |
| 21. | Kansas State | 10-3 | 398 | 16 | |
| 22. | Boise State | 12-1 | 271 | 6 | |
| 23. | Florida | 7-6 | 250 | NR | |
| 24. | Notre Dame | 8-5 | 166 | NR | |
| 25. | Auburn | 8-5 | 66 | NR | |
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| Others receiving votes (with 2011 records) | |||||
| Washington (7-6) 64; Louisville (7-6) 46; Georgia Tech (8-5) 35; Cincinnati (10-3) 32; Texas A&M (7-6) 28; Baylor (10-3) 23; Utah (8-5) 22; Mississippi State (7-6) 21; South Florida (5-7) 12; N.C. State (8-5) 11; BYU (10-3) 10; Louisiana Tech (8-5) 10; Virginia (8-5) 9; Houston (13-1) 7; Southern Mississippi (12-2) 6; Central Florida (5-7) 5; Rutgers (9-4) 5; Florida International (8-5) 3; Missouri (8-5) 3; Tennessee (5-7) 3; Northern Illinois (11-3) 2; Texas Tech (5-7) 1. | |||||
I'm not really sure how they ended up with Cincinnati that high. The Bearcats would be picked 2nd in the Big East by this reasoning. No one besides UC fans has picked them second in the Big East so far. If you look at it another way, Louisville and Cincinnati, along with West Virginia but they are in the Big 12 so not really, tied for the league crown last season. They are the top 2 teams getting votes this season. Am I saying no one who votes in the coaches poll followed any of the developments in the Big East this offseason? Pretty much. If UC beats Pitt, there is a chance they could be ranked. I suppose that's nice.
