Spring Loaded

The hopes and dreams of the college football season are about to end for some unlucky teams.

About to end? The season hasn’t even started yet.

True, but before it does, the preseason polls will be released, the AP poll of media members and the coaches’ poll. And those results may prove the death knell for some teams harboring hopes of winning a national championship.

How?

In any initial top 25 poll, some teams have to fill the bottom slots. And those teams will spend an entire season trying, usually fruitlessly, to climb back into consideration for top bowl bids.

That’s fair enough when teams land at the bottom because of a poor record or a big loss, even an opening-game loss.

But in the preseason polls, teams are placed on the bottom, or out of the poll altogether before they have given up a point, before they have even played a down.

Before they have even decided on their final roster, in some cases.

So why is there a preseason poll?

Because everybody wants to know how the season shapes up. Because the NCAA in general and colleges in particular love the national publicity.

At least those colleges ranked at or near the top.

What is the poll based on?

Speculation. Pure speculation.

It’s a combination of last season’s record, the number of returning starters, the strength of the schedule, injuries in the preseason and, possibly, the arrival of a new coach.

In other words, it’s literally how these teams look on paper. Or on a computer screen.

But, don’t they still have to play the game?

How would baseball teams like it if Bud Selig announced tomorrow he was stopping the regular season and that managers, coaches and the media would vote on who should play in the World Series. Just do away with the dog days of summer and move right on to the Fall Classic.

How do you think that would that go over?

CBSSports.com has already come out with its preseason poll. Florida, Texas, Oklahoma and USC have to be happy. They are the top four teams in that order.

The poll is not so good for Cal (16th), Florida State (18th), Kansas (20th) or Pittsburgh (22nd).

It’s worse for Arizona, Michigan State, Nebraska and Notre Dame. They didn’t even make the cut.

In a sport where the total number of games played before the bowl season barely gets into double figures, many top teams wind up with the same record, suffering one or two losses, or perhaps none at all.

You might have two 10-1 teams, one ranked fourth, the other seventh. The lower-rated team, despite having the same record, is at a huge disadvantage.

Why? Not because of anything it has or hasn’t done on the field, but because of a lower ranking it received before the players ever took the field at the beginning of the season, a ranking they were never able to overcome.

Exhibit A: The Auburn Tigers of 2004. Coming off an 8-5 season, they were ranked 17th by the AP and 18th by the coaches in the preseason polls. It was like moving a horse two furlongs behind the starting gate before beginning a race.

The Tigers climbed steadily as they put together an undefeated season, going 13-0. They wound up second in both major polls, but were left at the door as Oklahoma and USC played for the national championship.

Auburn’s weak nonconference schedule hurt its chances as well, but being in the mix at the top of the rankings from the beginning might have made a huge difference. Instead, a 13-0 team was penalized for being 8-5 the season before.

No inspirational last-to-first comeback stories in college football.

Yes, there are preseason polls in college basketball as well, but their influence isn’t the same. A team need only be in the top 65 to prove itself in the postseason tournament.

Preseason polls ought to be labeled for what they are: Pure fantasy. Voters should tear them up and start over again once teams have actually played a game.

Teams should be judged on this season, not last year. Forget what the voters think. Pay attention to what the players do.