HTR's Official Meaningless Preseason Top 25

While it's somewhat hypocritical of me to spend time compiling a preseason top 25 given that I'm of the "no polls till mid-October" opinion, there's just a little more open space to fill here before actual football starts to happen in all its glory. So, here's my top 25. It means nothing, but it is always neat to check back at the end of the season to see how many stupid things I said in late August. After a full offseason of reading Pre-Snap Read and Bill C's work, here's what I've got:

Rank	Team
1	LSU
2	USC
3	Alabama
4	Oregon
5	Oklahoma
6	Georgia
7	West Virginia
8	South Carolina
9	Michigan State
10	Florida State
11	Michigan
12	Virginia Tech
13	Wisconsin
14	Texas
15	Clemson
16	Arkansas
17	Nebraska
18	TCU
19	Stanford
20	Utah
21	Oklahoma State
22	Missouri
23	Ohio State
24	Kansas State
25	Boise State

Some things to ponder: 

• The triumvirate. Last year it was LSU, Alabama, and Oklahoma starting out at the top; this year, just sub in a possibly legitimately "back" USC team. Each of these teams has issues (LSU-the secondary, USC-basically the defense as a whole, Alabama-lots of talent to replace on both sides of the ball) but this is college football. Every teams has issues. With that said, I'm buying approximately infinity shares in Lane Kiffin Enterprises. That offense is just unfair. Barkley throwing to Marqise Lee and Robert Woods and handing off to Silas Redd or Curtis McNeal. Good luck stopping that, college football. As for Alabama and LSU, you probably know more than enough about them after what happened last season. They won't let you score and they'll run the ball run through your face over and over again. 

• Speaking of hype trains on which I have jumped...West Virginia! It's definitely possible that I'm giving WVU too much credit for a big bowl win, but I think this team is perfect for the Big 12. The Syracuse loss last year was a bit of a head scratcher, but I honestly think WVU in 2012 leans more toward its Orange Bowl form than its form against the Orangemen. 

• Notre Dame. Okay, so last season I was suckered into not only predicted a legitimate Florida State resurgence but a ND one as well. I had the Irish down for 10 wins, which, to be fair, probably should have happened if not for a complete and utter derpacolypse descending upon ND against USF and Michigan. Unfortunately for ND, I think having a better season in 2012 is going to be pretty impossible given the schedule. Plus, the situation at QB is a question mark--who knows what Everett Golson will look like--and the secondary is just waiting to give up 400+ yards passing to Matt Barkley down the road. Otherwise, ND should have a decent front 7 and a strong ground game, but I'm not sure that that will be enough to improve upon last season's 8-5 mark. 

• Getting off the blocks. I've got Georgia winning the SEC East, but a few suspensions on defense have given me pause, especially since UGA travels to Mizzou in Week 2. It doesn't sound like Richt hasn't finalized the length of the suspensions to Alec Ogletree, Sanders Commings, and Bacarri Rambo, but they're all going to be missing the game against Mizzou. UGA needs to avoid an early loss (a la last season's 0-2 start) if the annoying HURR DURR MARK RICHT HOT SEAT discussions are going to be avoided. 

• Everybody is gone. About Boise...I just don't know. I'm slotting them in there out of respect for Chris Petersen, but they've got to replace six NFL draft picks plus Kellen Moore (who somehow went undrafted). That's a tall order...they just have to fall off, right?

• Meh. Kansas State, Arkansas...meh. I don't think there's any way KSU replicates what it was able to pull off last season, but I'm pretty sure people have said that very thing about Bill Snyder-coached teams many times before. As for Arkansas, I'm just not buying that. Nice offensive skill players in Tyler Wilson, Knile Davis, and Cobi Hamilton, but the defense just isn't there and in spite of all the Internet snark and wisecracking, you really do get the feeling that JLS is going to take this team that should probably win at least 9 and run it into the ground. 

• Michigan. I'll put up some sort of season predictions post later this week, but for now I'll just say that Michigan is probably not a top 10 team right now (not that it really matters). Beat Alabama and you can say hello to Michigan's highest ranking since the 2007 preseason.