A Look Back

It's almost preseason hype time. Phil Steele's right around the corner and we're nigh on polls and picks. But, before we do that, let's take a look back at what I picked last pre-season. We'll match up my preseason top-25 with the AP's and their final top-10. First, though, let's see how my conference picks shook out back in '09.

The SEC: I had Florida over Alabama, but the reverse ended up true. Not too bad, I guess. I did, however, have South Carolina third in the East. Originally, I had LSU winning the West, but audibled late in favor of the Tide.

The Big-XII: I correctly picked Texas over Nebraska, but that wasn't really that hard to do. Oklahoma disappointed me by finishing 4th instead of 2nd in the South (but who knew Bradford was going down?). BUt Kansas was BY FAR my biggest mistake. I had the Jayhawks second up top and they finished up dead last with a miserable 1-7 record. Yikes.

The PAC-10: I had USC, but Oregon won the league title; I had the ducks all the way down at seven. Not only that, but the Trojans finished fifth. Cal was my no. 2, but the Bears dropped to 6th. I did have faith in Stanford, but beyond that, my picks in this league were a hot mess.

The ACC: Georgia Tech over...zzzz...oh, sorry, I fell asleep. Georgia Tech over Clemson; I had Virgina Tech over Florida State. I did have the Bees and Tigers second in their respective divisions, with the rest of my picks hitting pretty close to the final standings.

The Big East: HAHAHA I had Rutgers winning this league and Cincy at no. 4. Instead, the opposite occurred. I pegged Pitt for no. 2, but was a spot or two off with WVU and UConn.

The Big Ten: Everybody had Ohio State, so no points there. The biggest whiff? I had Iowa middling down at sixth and then they somehow hokumed themselves to an 11-2 record. Northwestern hit me hard, too, pulling a fourth place finish out of their asses while I had them at no. 9. Putting Illinois at fourth was as dumb as it gets with the Zooker running things; this was by far the worst set of picks from '09.

My Preseason Top-1o:

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Ohio State
4. Oklahoma
5. USC
6. Penn State
7. Bama
8. Cal
9. Rutgers
10. Boise State

Before you laugh at that Rutgers, remember the AP's #8, Ole Miss. Ouch. At least I was thinking about Boise State...and let's just ignore that Cal shall we?

AP Preseason Top-1o:

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. OKlahoma
4. USC
5. Bama
6. Ohio State
7. VA Tech
8. Ole Miss
9. Oklahoma State
10. Penn State

And, just for shits and gigs, here's the final top-10 just to see how bad we all are at this preseason picking thing:

AP Final Rankings

1. Alabama
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. Boise State
5. Ohio State
6. TCU
7. Iowa
8. Cincy
9. Penn State
10. VA Tech