Preseason polls = garbage

The end of July is upon us, and that means the magazine racks are filled with preseason football publications. I have no problem with predictions being made, we all like to do it and I will include some on this blog, but I need to declare my clear disdain for the preseason poll. There is no reason whatsoever that a pecking order for the national championship should be determined until at least the first week of October. Please don't tell me that Florida State is going to be a top 5 team just because Bobby Bowden is their coach. I am tired of tradition, mascots, uniforms, stadium capacity, and perception dictating who gets the inside lanes in the race. How can you rank teams when they have not even played a game? Shouldn't we see how Ohio State and Southern California stack up against one another on the field before assigning them numbers in front of their name? How on earth can one undefeated team beat another the first week of the season and still be ranked below the team they beat two days later? The system is absurd. Let's bring a little bit of intelligence to the polls and not let a team "earn" a higher ranking by loading up on the entire Little Debbie cake aisle of opponents. It is less bothersome in basketball, because the polls really have little bearing on the seeding of the NCAA tournament, but the idea that a blue ribbon would be awarded at the church potluck to the store bought fried chicken before anyone samples the homemade brownies is nothing short of insanity.