BlogPoll: Roundtable Roundup #1

Wow. There was much tremendously exciting conversation about the first BlogPoll roundtable. I now endeavor to summarize the general tenor of the conversation:

Overrated:
The chorus was most unified on this question and on this answer: Texas. Nebraska blogger Struggling Joe summarizes everyone's argument by referencing this article that reveals that the Longhorns love... pillow fights? I like the incredulous question mark of Joe's reaction: "Pillow fights...good God almighty?" Exactly. The comment thread is also littered with imprecations against Mack and the Longhorns. Some people are declaring Vince Young to not be all that and a bag of Heismans, which I freely admit to not understanding. After the Rose Bowl whenever I hear the man's name I look for a bomb shelter. Most of the criticism comes down to "Mack will blow it again," though. mgoblog thinks someone should come up with something a little more rigorous than that. Not it.

Those worried about a large influx of Michigan voters polluting the stream can probably relax--we Wolverines are notoriously manic depressive. Witness the traitorous Straight Bangin', who delves into the love/hate relationship Michigan fans have with Lloyd Carr. If you want real "Et Tu, Brutus" action, though, you have to head over to Sexy Results. Ian's fantastic, tortured post knifes both his undergrad and law school alma maters in extremely convincing fashion and proposes a Sports Guy-esque theory that rings true:

"It'll be great to see whether or not the Dawg fans buy into the Tee Martin Corollary, which states that anytime a beloved white QB for an almost-there team is replaced by lifelong backup, mobile black QB, you stand a better chance of winning a national championship (trust me, I fell hard for this last year)."

I do believe that would have to be a "hypothesis," though... a corollary is relative to another law.

The other two highly-rated Big Ten teams also come in for a beating. iBlog For Cookies raps Ohio State on the head for having no semblance of an offense under Jim Tressel (criminal variety excluded). So does Every Day Should Be Saturday, though mgoblog vainly wishes this sentence was actually true:

"There's little reason to think their offensive woes and lack of a power runner will get any better this season, and no matter how good your linebackers are-and jesus, sportswriters nationwide are soaking their keyboards over them-a D left on the field that long will lose their grip late in the game every time."

Oh, EDSBS... if that were true I would be a much happier man. The djl Zone ends the pile-on.

mgoblog itself dinged Iowa as ripe for a collapse, and Have You Met Tony? blows his entire section on all three Big Ten teams.

Heismanpundit makes an interesting point about SEC fave-rave Tennessee: for God's sake, the Vols gave up 30+ points in each of their last three SEC games. The opponents: Auburn, Kentucky(!), and Vanderbilt(!!). Boi From Troy risks the wrath of Glenn Reynolds to agree.

Underrated:
Brent at ParadigmBlog makes an excellent point by invoking the Ewing theory to pimp Miami next year. The starting quarterback is gone, which is always a bad thing unless he was a man with the name and football acumen of an East German porn star. Brock Berlin will be panhandling for change next year, so Brent thinks that Bruce Feldman might end up mighty happy. Benedict Arnold over at Straight Bangin' concurs, as does Sexy Results.

Boi From Troy says that Cal isn't getting its proper respect, as does The djl Zone.

The djl Zone, a Falcon, also highlights Omar Jacobs and Bowling Green (a piddling #29 on the consensus poll) as an underrated squad, an assessment both myself and Have You Met Tony? agree with. Boise and Louisville are the sexy mid-major picks this year but neither has a guy who threw for 200 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions against Oklahoma in his first collegiate start. The Boise-BG showdown on the smurf turf will be a seminal moment for blogpollers, as many are pegging the Broncos as a top-ten squad who will defeat Georgia in their opener.

Fellow Michigan blogger IBFC wins the "weird pick" award in this category by fingering... Rutgers? Yes, that appears to be right.

Flyer Rose Bowl Pick:
Every Day Should Be Saturday jumps aboard the Boston College bandwagon. Er, on second thought, they've built it.

The vicious dissent on Purdue comes to a head here, as well, with several people pointing out the weak-scheduled Boilers as potential party crashers and other people claiming that their defense is overrated and Tiller is Mack Brown minus talent. mgoblog foresees that the Boilers, along with Boise, will be at the tippy top of teams pollsters love to disagree about.

The comments section has several plugs for Texas A&M. We Are the Boys notes that the A&M schedule looks very, very weak until the season-ending clashes with Oklahoma and Texas. Reggie McNeal and the promise of a Year 3 Franchione Uplift has people excited.

pssst... blogpollers... I'll update this post later today with stuff I missed. If there are teams or items that I've left out of the conversation, comment here and I'll add them. And if you've got a post you're about to put up, leave a note here as well.

Update: Just one last-minute entry from Bruce Ciskie, who also says Texas SUX0RS.