College football '97 edition

The preseason USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. Number of first place votes in brackets, records reflect the teams record last season and the Previous Rank indicates where they finished last year. Rank Team Record Pts Pvs 1. Florida (19) 12-1 1407 1 2. Penn State (9) 11-2 1335 7 3. Washington (15) 9-3 1311 15 4. Florida State (3) 11-1 1298 3 5. Tennessee (8) 10-2 1250 9 6. Nebraska (4) 11-2 1240 6 7. Colorado (3) 10-2 1153 8 8. North Carolina (1) 10-2 1137 10 9. Ohio State 11-1 1097 2 10. Texas 8-5 973 23 11. LSU 10-2 874 13 12. Notre Dame 8-3 780 21 13. Michigan 8-4 771 20 14. Miami-FL 9-3 746 14 15. Alabama 10-3 609 11 16. Syracuse 9-3 591 19 17. BYU 14-1 372 5 18. Stanford 7-5 591 19 19. Auburn 8-4 360 25 20. Iowa 9-3 325 18 21. Clemson 7-5 318 - 22. USC 6-6 272 - 23. Kansas State 9-3 238 17 24. Wisconsin 8-5 195 - 25. Virginia Tech 10-2 180 12 Others ------ Texas A&M 148 Colorado State 137 UCLA 130 Arizona State 126 Michigan state 93 Northwestern 89 Virginia 58 West Virginia 51 Georgia 24 Utah 15 East Carolina 13 S. Miss. 13 San Diego St 12 Navy 10 S. Carolina 7 Wyoming 6 Washington St 4 Georgia Tech 3 Oregon 3 Duke 2 Texas Tech 2 Army 1

Time to start. Lines for games through 8/25 NORTHWESTERN 6 Oklahoma SYRACUSE 8.5 Wisconsin

What's that bet format again?

Oh right, 200 Oklahoma 50 Wisconsin

Wisconsin 300

OK I forgot Thursday. Thursday - College Football (more) OHIO U 15 Kent Temple 1 W> MICHIGAN C MICHIGAN 16 N. Illinois KANSAS 25 Uab

1. Penn St. (51) 5-0 1,724 2 2. Nebraska (14) 5-0 1,668 3 3. Florida St. (3) 5-0 1,603 4 4. North Carolina (2) 6-0 1,521 5 5. Michigan 5-0 1,490 6 6. Auburn 6-0 1,366 8 7. Florida 5-1 1,280 1 8. LSU 5-1 1,199 14 9. Tennessee 4-1 1,126 9 10. Washington 4-1 1,121 10 11. Ohio St. 5-1 1,113 7 12. Michigan St. 5-0 1,058 11 13. Washington St. 5-0 958 12 14. Texas A&M 5-0 827 15 15. Iowa 4-1 703 17 16. Oklahoma St. 6-0 665 20 17. UCLA 4-2 637 18 18. Air Force 7-0 516 19 19. Georgia 4-1 446 13 20. Kansas St. 4-1 388 22 21. Georgia Tech 4-1 281 25 22. Virginia Tech 5-1 274 23 23. West Virginia 5-1 182 - 24. Wisconsin 6-1 134 - 25. Stanford 4-2 119 16 Others receiving votes: Arizona St. 69, New Mexico 57, Toledo 46, Purdue 38, Wyoming 26, Virginia 20, Alabama 15, Colorado 15, Brigham Young 14, Miami, Ohio 11, Ohio U. 9, Clemson 8, Marshall 8, Southern Miss. 5, Colorado St. 4, Rice 4, N. Carolina St. 2.

What does everyone think? Should I book my seats on the plane from Detroit to Pasadena for Michigan? This week should be fun. The Wolverines are gearing up to face arch rival Michigan State. They (MSU) had an unfortunate run in with the Northwestern Wildcats (Good Job Guys!!!!), to bad it would of been nice to see two undefeated teams. See in CALI.

Book 'em Mike!

They still have to get through Ohio State and Penn State, no?

Those teams aren't exactly patsies.

No they aren't but if our defense keeps playing like they have been, the Rose Bowl is definately within our grasp. Hopefully, I'll be booking a flight to Pasedena myself. See ya on the plane Mike. Go Blue!!

You can say that again, so I think I will. D wins championships, if there is any truth to this then look out big 10 & who ever else gets in the way.

Missouri is play great against Nebraska today.

In the final seconds the Nebraska pass gets deflected, a Mizzou player accidetally kicks the ball which bounces off several players like a pinball and a Nebraska player makes a diving, lunging catch. Actually, on the replay it was Wiggins of Nebraska who booted it backwards to his buddy. A play for the ages. Wow!

Nebraska, schmebraska ! we all know the #1 in the nation is the MICHIGAN WOLVERINES ! Michigan has beaten Notre Dame, Colorado, Michigan State, Iowa, and now Penn State; even if the Cornhuskers are undefeated, how can you give them any credit when they play such a creampuff schedule. It was a nice catch though...

Nice to see Penn State get trounced. Go Bucks!

I definitely agree that the Wolverines should be #1. Florida St. seemed to have a pretty easy go at it with NC though. Nonetheless, Michigan has the best defense in the country, the best player in the country in Charles Woodson, and they beat the #2 ranked team in the nation by 26 points. What else do you need?

I would have argued that Ricky Williams was the best play but he kind of let us down today with an 80 yard day. And the leading Heisman contender quarterback had a poor day too. So you may have something.

1. Michigan (44) 9-0 1,723 4 2. Florida St. (23) 9-0 1,693 3 3. Nebraska (3) 9-0 1,623 1 4. Ohio St. 9-1 1,496 7 5. Tennessee 7-1 1,477 8 6. Penn St. 7-1 1,342 2 7. Georgia 7-1 1,314 9 8. North Carolina 8-1 1,248 5 9. UCLA 7-2 1,200 10 10. Kansas St. 8-1 1,125 11 11. LSU 7-2 995 14 12. Florida 7-2 966 13 13. Washington 7-2 898 6 14. Washington St. 8-1 873 16 15. Arizona St. 7-2 865 15 16. Auburn 7-2 615 17 17. Mississippi St. 6-2 473 19 18. Texas A&M 7-2 418 21 19. Purdue 7-2 404 23 19. Virginia Tech 7-2 404 20 21. Syracuse 7-3 372 22 22. Iowa 6-3 289 12 23. Wisconsin 8-2 288 - 24. Oklahoma St. 7-2 254 25 25. Missouri 6-4 115 - Others receiving votes: West Virginia 88, Colorado St. 82, Virginia 26, Southern Miss. 22, Louisiana Tech 14, Toledo 14, Air Force 13, Mississippi 9, Tulane 3, Clemson 2, Marshall 2, Miami, Ohio 2, Michigan St. 1, Oregon 1, Southern Cal 1. Mizzou deserves to be at least 25!

I knew those pollsters would finally come around. It's kinda cool to attend a college that has the #1 ranked team in the nation! Hopefully now we won't blow it, and maybe even pull off a National Championship.

And hey Terry, I'll give ya Mizzou at 25...Definitely!

I'll agree with Brian, I'm just glad it finally happened before I graduated!! I really hope they don't blow it, because I don't think my plane tickets to Pasedena are refundable!!

The alliance people must be downing pepto by the case. Any doubters out there that don't think Mich. deserves the top spot should take a look at who roles in to Ann Arbor on Nov. 22. That will be one for the ages!!!Three words for Nebraska and FSU fans out there: STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE!!! With a victory there all doubts will go the way of a Scott Frost pass. I really hope people can be realistic when making heisman picks. Even though C.W. deserves it he has no chance. Manning or that lame runner from UT Wil iams both have a better shot. See ya all in pasadena(:

I agree that Mich. should be #1 just on the fact that we have the toughest schedule in the country, and you're right Sara, I've been waiting 5 years for this to happen, and I'm glad it is before I leave. I'm not sweating OSU though, I thought our toughest game would be when we had to go to Happy Valley, and look at the outcome there. The Wolverine defense is for real! As far as the Heisman goes...a man can dream can't he? #2 all the way!

I got 7500 to play with? How about 5000 on the Air Force Academy.

Woo Woo

Alliance bowl selections: Orange Bowl Nebraska - Tennessee Sugar Bowl Florida State - Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Kansas State - Syracuse

Well, it's 98. But here are the bowl games. Wednesday, December 23 - College louisville 3.5 marshall (Motor City Bowl) Friday, December 25 - College oregon 5.5 colorado (Aloha Bowl) air force 3.5 washington (Oahu Bowl) Saturday, December 26 - College missouri 3.5 west virginia (Insight.com Bowl) Tuesday, December 29 - College alabama 5.5 virginia tech (Music City Bowl) miami fla 7.0 no carolina st (Micron PC Bowl) kansas state 11.5 purdue (Alamo Bowl) Wednesday, December 30 - College so mississippi 15.5 idaho (Humanitarian Bowl) nebraska 3.0 arizona (Holiday Bowl) Thursday, December 31 - College tulane 5.5 byu (Liberty Bowl) usc 16.0 texas christian (Sun Bowl) virginia 1.5 georgia (Peach Bowl) texas tech 8.5 mississippi (Independence Bowl) Friday, January 1 - College penn state 6.5 kentucky (Outback Bowl) georgia tech 1.0 notre dame (Gator Bowl) michigan 3.0 arkansas (Citrus Bowl) *texas 6.5 mississippi st (Cotton Bowl)***** ucla 9.0 wisconsin (Rose Bowl) ohio state 12.0 texas a&m (Sugar Bowl) Saturday, January 2 - College florida 7.5 syracuse (Orange Bowl) Monday, January 4 - College florida state 4.5 tennessee (Fiesta Bowl)

March Madness is here again: Here are the tournament seeds: SOUTH WEST EAST MIDWEST 1 Auburn 1 Connecticut 1 Duke 1 Michigan State 16 Winthrop 16 UT San Antonio 16 Florida A&M 16 Mt St Mary's 8 Syracuse 8 Missouri 8 Charleston 8 Villanova 9 Oklahoma State 9 New Mexico 9 Tulsa 9 Mississippi 5 UCLA 5 Iowa 5 Wisconsin 5 UNC Charlotte 12 Detroit 12 UAB 12 SW Missouri St 12 Rhode Island 4 Ohio State 4 Arkansas 4 Tennessee 4 Arizona 13 Murray State 13 Siena 13 Delaware 13 Oklahoma 6 Indiana 6 Florida 6 Temple 6 Kansas 11 Geo Washington 11 Pennsylvania 11 Kent 11 Evansville 3 St John's 3 North Carolina 3 Cincinnati 3 Kentucky 14 Samford 14 Weber State 14 George Mason 14 New Mexico St 7 Louisville 7 Minnesota **7 Texas** 7 Washington 10 Creighton 10 Gonzaga 10 Purdue 10 Miami Ohio 2 Maryland 2 Stanford 2 Miami Fla 2 Utah 15 Valparaiso 15 Alcorn State 15 Lafayette 15 Arkansas St Texas may be able to get by Purdue, but Miami will be tough! And let's not even talk about Duke.

Nebraska ranked number 1, no surprise there. UT is as high as number 3 in some polls.

where is Penn State??? Bottom 20th??? Going to check....

Associated Press Top 25 College Football Poll The Associated Press Top 25 college football preseason poll, with number of first-place votes and last season's record in parentheses, total points and previous ranking: TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. Nebraska (36) (12-1) 1,732 3 2. Florida St (29) (12-0) 1,720 1 3. Alabama (3) (10-3) 1,570 8 4. Wisconsin (1) (10-2) 1,408 4 5. Miami Fla (9-4) 1,392 15 6. Michigan (10-2) 1,380 5 7. Texas (2) (9-5) 1,297 21 8. Kansas St (6) (11-1) 1,276 6 9. Florida (9-4) 1,255 12 10. Georgia (8-4) 1,226 16 11. Virginia Tech (11-1) 1,044 2 12. Tennessee (9-3) 940 9 13. Washington (7-5) 816 NR 14. Purdue (7-5) 751 25 15. USC (6-6) 723 NR 16. Ohio St (6-6) 601 NR 17. Clemson (6-6) 599 NR 18. Mississippi (8-4) 541 22 19. Oklahoma (7-5) 455 NR 20. TCU (8-4) 404 NR 21. Illinois (8-4) 361 24 22. Penn St (10-3) 359 11 23. So Mississippi (9-3) 224 14 24. Colorado (7-5) 166 NR 25. Michigan St (10-2) 145 7 Others Receiving Votes: Texas A&M 139, UCLA 115, East Carolina 75, Oregon 63, Auburn 36, Colorado St 35, Mississippi St 34, Utah 33, Notre Dame 32, Virginia 26, Marshall 23, Arkansas 22, Georgia Tech 10, LSU 10, Syracuse 9, BYU 7, Minnesota 5, Boston College 3, Texas Tech 3, Toledo 3, Stanford 2, Arizona St 1, Oregon St 1.

So, where is the fearsome Hawaii team no one in Texas wants to play??

Associated Press Top 25 1. Florida St (5-0) 2. Nebraska (4-0) 3. Virginia Tech (4-0) 4. Kansas St (5-0) 5. Clemson (5-0) 6. Michigan (4-1) 7. Miami Fla (3-1) 8. Ohio St (4-0) 9. Oregon (4-1) 10. Oklahoma (4-0) 11. Texas (3-1) 12. Florida (4-1) 13. Washington (3-1) 14. TCU (4-0) 15. Auburn (5-0) 16. UCLA (4-1) 17. So Mississippi (3-1) 18. USC (3-1) 19. Georgia (3-1) 20. Mississippi St (3-1) 21. Tennessee (2-2) 22. Northwestern (4-1) 23. Oregon St (4-0) 24. Wisconsin (3-2) 25. Notre Dame (2-2) ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coach's Poll 1. Nebraska 4-0 2. Florida State 5-0 3. Virginia Tech 4-0 4. Kansas State 5-0 5. Clemson 5-0 6. Michigan 4-1 7. Ohio State 4-0 8. Miami (Fla.) 3-1 9. Florida 4-1 10. Texas 3-1 11. Washington 3-1 12. Oklahoma 4-0 13. Auburn 5-0 14. Texas Christian 4-0 15. Oregon 4-1 16. Southern California 3-1 17. UCLA 4-1 18. Southern Mississippi 3-1 19. Georgia 3-1 20. Mississippi State 3-1 21. Tennessee 2-2 22. Wisconsin 3-2 23. Oregon State 4-0 24. Northwestern 4-1 25. Michigan State 3-1