Mark Schlabach of the Worldwide Leader has a post spring top 25 up. UC comes in at 18, five spots behind Pitt at 13. I don't really have an issue with that position. A poll this early is based entirely on paper. And on paper UC comes in between 15 and 20 heading into this year. I can make arguments as to why UC may be better or worse than Miami or Florida State, Georgia or USC but all arguments are hypothetical. The statement that all arguments are hypothetical is an emphatic truth in everyday life, but it is the governing law of college football arguments.
Nationalchamps.net has its preseason All-Americans lists up. National champs is a publication that I generally despise on account of their shoddy research and generally lazy appearance but it is something to look at in the long cold football off season. And they do have a useful Future Schedules index that can come in quite handy at times. Anyway three Bearcats made their list in the honorable mention category; Armon Binns, Ben Guidguli and Alex Hoffman. Now looking at the 6 receivers they have (and why exactly do they have just two WR spots per team when there isn't a team in the country outside of Columbus that only uses two receivers per set. How stupid is that?) anyway they have James Rodgers and AJ Green 1st team, James Cleveland and Jonathan Baldwin 2nd team and Austin Pettis and Greg Sallis 3rd team. Now I will give you 2 minutes to think of what teams those last two players hail from. go. Times up: its Boise State and Hawaii. picking those two guys is being contrarian for the sake of being the contrarian, a practice for which I have nothing but hatred and disdain. Greg Salas caught a lot of balls last year, 106 of them. But some consideration has to be given to the fact that Hawaii threw the ball more than almost anyone and that being the best receiver on a team that passes 66 percent of all plays means you will get numbers, not that you are of All-American quality. And Austin Pettis wasn't even the best receiver on his own team. Having Binns not make the third team is an act of intellectual negligence. Have I mentioned that nationalchamps.net is a poorly researched rag published by hacks yet? Oh I have. Point stands anyway.