Daily Blog •August 18, 2011 |
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This is my second update on how the conference poll voting is shaping up. The last couple of years, I have I put up a poll for everyone to pick who would win each conference game during the year. I found these results fascinating prior to the year. When you vote in the poll, it tabulates the current % of votes for each team in each individual game. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the year for the people who predicted the conference's most accurately. However, you need to vote on every single game to qualify. You cannot just vote on the six BCS conferences and skip the others. You have only until the end of next week to get your votes in!
Here are the current conference standings for all the conferences with the percentages of each game factored in according to your votes.
According to your votes Alabama is predicted to go undefeated in the regular season The Crimson Tide's closest game is expected to come against LSU as they received 65% of the vote. In the East, South Carolina is expected to win all of their games except their road trip to Arkansas as the Gamecocks will look to make it two straight SEC East titles. Georgia also is expected to go 7-1 but 48% of you so far expect them to beat South Carolina at home. Finally, Tennessee with a tough opening schedule is expected to start 0-6 before winning their final two.
Wisconsin is expected to go through the conference unscathed. Their closest game so far is expected to be a home game vs Nebraska (63%). Ohio St gets the nod for 2nd place in the Leaders due to their win over Penn St which would break their record of six straight shared or outright Big Ten titles. Big Ten newcomer Nebraska is expected to win the Legends division.
Like my magazine you are predicting the Sooners to run the table in the regular season. Texas A&M looks to have their best conference finish in many years according to you with their loss coming only to conference heavyweight Oklahoma on the road. Texas according to you is expected to have another "sub-par" season for them as you have projected 4 conference losses for the Horns.
According to you, Florida St will win the ACC Atlantic. So far the Seminoles look like clear winners in all the games (80% or more). Virginia Tech gets the nod in the Coastal as the Hokies (8-0) look to have a rematch against the Seminoles in the ACC Title game. Miami and North Carolina have each had their off-the-field issues this year and are picked to go 5-3 in the conference.
Of all the conferences that you have projected, the Pac-12 is the most interesting with Stanford (9-0) taking down 2-time defending champ Oregon in the North while Pac-12 newcomer Utah taking home the South title. Lots of the games in the conference are close and with more than a week left these standings could change.
The Big East also figures to be very competitive this year and so far your votes reflect that. Right now you favor Pittsburgh, USF and West Virginia all finishing a top the league at 6-1.
Boise St is your pick to win the MWC in their very first season and all of the games are 80% or more. 2-time defending champ TCU is picked 2nd while Air Force is picked third.
I wrote in the magazine that there could be the possibility of a CUSA Title Game featuring two 12-0 teams and you have both Houston and Southern Miss running through the conference slate 8-0 making that also a possibility according to you. Tulsa who finished #24 last year is picked 2nd in the West while LY's CUSA Title champ UCF is picked 2nd in the East.
The WAC is vey balanced this year but Nevada seems to be your clear favorite as at least 70% of you have them winning in each game. Hawaii is your #2 while Fresno is #3.
The MAC West was a tough division for me to forecast and it seems like you guys agree with Western Michigan, Toledo and Northern Illinois all tied at the top at 7-1. In the East, Ohio and Temple are the clear favorites with 75% of you calling Ohio to beat Temple at home and grabbing the East crown.
This is a conference that kind of surprised me. Troy was your clear favorite to win just as my magazine predicted but defending champ FIU was only picked 4th while Middle Tennessee and Arkansas St were both picked to finish ahead of the Golden Panthers.
In a couple of days I will give you an final look at the standings for all of the conferences. If you have not voted already, on the PhilSteele.com homepage below the Daily Blog click on the conference poll. After clicking on the conference you get the complete conference schedule for each team with the home team capitalized. All you have to do is vote on who you will think the winner will be in each game and the current voting tally appears. Remember you can only vote once and take your time by maybe doing one conference at a time. To vote you do have to register your e-mail address and then login but this is just to make sure there is no stuffing of the ballot box. Have a great time voting and thanks in advance! Remember you only have a couple more days to vote as the the polls will be closed at the end of next week!
Only 14 Days Away Until the 1st College Football Game!!!