Thoughts On The Coaches Poll | Oklahoma Highest Ranked Big 12 Team But That’s Not The Crazy Part

Oklahoma wasn’t the preseason favorite, by the media, to win the Big 12 but according to the NCAA coaches the Sooners will start the season as the best football team the conference has to offer. Placing just inside the Top 10, OU earned the #9 spot in the initial Coaches Poll, followed by Baylor at #10 and Oklahoma State at #11.

Last month Baylor edged out Oklahoma in the Big 12 Football Media Preseason Poll. The Bears received 17 first-place votes to Oklahoma’s 12. Once again, Oklahoma State was third, receiving 9 first-place votes, and then Texas came in at #4. That’ll bring us to the crazy part of this initial Coaches Poll. If you invert Oklahoma and Baylor the four Big 12 schools are in the same order in both the Coaches and Big 12 Media Preseason Poll – Baylor/Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and then Texas. The Longhorns traditionally are one of the programs to receive more preseason love than is deserved but this is a little too wacked out for even that. Texas, the team voted to finish fourth in the conference preseason poll, was the only Big 12 team to receive a first-place vote in the Coaches Poll.

Yes, you read that correctly. Neither of the two Big 12 teams that placed inside the Top 10, nor the one that is just on the fringe, received first-place votes. It’s the team that placed #18 in the poll that received a top vote. The same team that produced a 5-7 record last season. The team that ended the year losing six of it’s final seven games received a first-place vote. This is a great example of what throwing a vote away looks like. It’s also a great example of how a poll can lose its credibility.

AFCA Coaches Poll

RKTEAMRECPTSTREND
1Alabama(54)0-01634NR
2Ohio State(5)0-01564NR
3Georgia(6)0-01542NR
4Clemson0-01356NR
5Notre Dame0-01284NR
6Michigan0-01232NR
7Texas A&M0-01219NR
8Utah0-01134NR
9Oklahoma0-01027NR
10Baylor0-0891NR
11Oklahoma State0-0859NR
12Oregon0-0734NR
13NC State0-0726NR
14Michigan State0-0711NR
15USC0-0602NR
16Pittsburgh0-0450NR
17Miami0-0433NR
18Texas(1)0-0383NR
19Wake Forest0-0381NR
20Wisconsin0-0369NR
21Kentucky0-0353NR
22Cincinnati0-0339NR
23Arkansas0-0334NR
24Ole Miss0-0327NR
25Houston0-0257NR

Which Big 12 Team Has The Most To Lose?

It has to be Baylor, right? For the first time ever the Bears were the preseason favorites to win the conference. While I truly am a believer in Dave Aranda, Baylor has never entered into a season with expectations this high. The Baylor two-deep also isn’t as experienced, some might also say as talented, as last season’s Big 12 championship squad. This could be a major setup for disappointment.

Which Non-Big 12 Team Has The Most To Lose?

I’m looking at you Texas A&M. This may be a now or never moment for the Aggies. Jimbo Fisher was brought in to finally get the Aggies over the hump in the S.E.C.. A&M hasn’t won a conference title since 1998 when they were members of the Big 12. Seven different teams have made appearances in the S.E.C. championship game since the Aggies joined the conference and A&M isn’t one of them. Even Missouri has made it twice!

There are two S.E.C. teams ranked ahead of Texas A&M. The Aggies will dodge Georgia in the regular season but must travel to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama on October 8th. That game will be the key to A&M finally meeting preseason expectations.

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