It is way too damn early to rank teams for the 2012 season, but the makers of the blogpoll want to make this thing year-round, so here is your first 2012 preseason blogpoll ballot. Another will be up after signing day, but for now, here is a way too early projection for 2012:
Hammer & Rails Ballot - Week 17
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
 2 |
| 2 | LSU Tigers | -- |
| 3 | USC Trojans | -- |
| 4 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
| 5 | Michigan Wolverines |
5 |
| 6 | Wisconsin Badgers |
5 |
| 7 | Arkansas Razorbacks | -- |
| 8 | Oklahoma Sooners |
12 |
| 9 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys |
 -8 |
| 10 | Georgia Bulldogs |
9 |
| 11 | Florida St. Seminoles | -- |
| 12 | Kansas St. Wildcats |
4 |
| 13 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
-4 |
| 14 | Virginia Tech Hokies |
4 |
| 15 | West Virginia Mountaineers | -- |
| 16 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | -- |
| 17 | Boise St. Broncos |
-12 |
| 18 | Stanford Cardinal |
-10 |
| 19 | Texas Longhorns | -- |
| 20 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | -- |
| 21 | Michigan St. Spartans |
-7 |
| 22 | Clemson Tigers |
-5 |
| 23 | Northern Illinois Huskies |
-2 |
| 24 | Washington Huskies | -- |
| 25 | Miami Hurricanes | -- |
| Dropouts: Houston Cougars, Baylor Bears, TCU Horned Frogs, Southern Miss. Golden Eagles, Cincinnati Bearcats, Ohio Bobcats, Purdue Boilermakers | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
And a few explanations after the Jump:
- Since Alabama is the alleged national champion they get to start at No. 1
- I can't have co.-No. 1's, so LSU starts at No. 2 since they split with Alabama.
- I am contractually obligated to rate Notre Dame 16th, as is every preseason poll. It's in the Magna Carta or something so we can have college football articles of "What's wrong with Notre Dame?" when they inevitably start 2-3. Of course, they'll likely paste Purdue in that start, but that's beside the point.
- Everything else at this point is crap thrown at the wall. I think Miami can be a surprise team because they reminded me a lot of Purdue 2002: a good team that lost a ton of close games.Through dumbe mistakes.
- Finally, there is no Ohio State because like USC the last two years, they are bowl ineligible. As far as I am concerned, that makes them a college football non-entity. As stated before, any bowl ineligible teams will not receive votes. Miami will join them if the NCAA rules them ineligible.