Consensus Poll No. 1: LSU Or USC?

Only just a few more days and it will all be good again.

Defending national champion Alabama, LSU and USC are all considered title contenders for 2012

The start of the college football season is just 11 days away with a host of Division I games set for the evening of Thurs., Aug. 30. Plenty more games will be played over the five-day Labor Day weekend as the 2012 college football season gets under way.

Each year, it is my mission in life to produce an ongoing consensus preseason top 25 for college football. The premise is simple: We use the published polls on web sites and in magazines as “votes” in our own consensus poll. Teams ranked No. 1 get 25 points and so on down to one point for those ranked 25th.

Today, we present the 2012 edition of the poll. We have 21 different polls for this edition of the Preseason Consensus Poll. We have included polls from Blue Ribbon Yearbook, CollegeFootballNews.com, SI.com (Andy Staples), CBSSports.com, the Austin American-Statesman (Kirk Bohls), CollegeFootballUniverseBlog.com, Athlon’s, Lindy’s, the USA Today coaches poll, Phil Steele’s College Football, the Orlando Sentinel, SportingNews.com, BleacherReport.com, NBCSports.com, USA Today’s College Football magazine, the ESPN.com power rankings, NationalChamps.net, YahooSports.com (Mike Huguenin), Sports Illustrated magazine, the Associated Press media poll and our own poll on 247Sports.com.

A year ago, the final edition of the Preseason Consensus Poll was somewhat helpful in predicting the two participants for the BCS national championship game. Alabama, which won the national championship, was No. 2 in the poll. LSU, which went undefeated until losing in the title game, was No. 4.

In terms of BCS bowl participants, here is where the rest of the BCS bowl teams were ranked in the preseason: Fiesta, Oklahoma State (No. 8) vs. Stanford (No. 7); Rose, Oregon (No. 3) vs. Wisconsin (No. 13); Orange, West Virginia (No. 22) vs. Clemson (No. 40); and Sugar, Virginia Tech (No. 15) vs. Michigan (No. 33).

Top-10 preseason poll teams that did not make BCS bowls included Oklahoma (No. 1), Florida State (No. 5), Boise State (No. 6), Texas A&M (No. 9) and Nebraska (No. 10).

So, although your favorite team may not be in the top 10 to start the year, that shows there is some hope that they will still play in a major bowl.

It is pretty clear that five teams have separated themselves from the rest of the pack in this poll. LSU, with nine first-place votes, has the top spot. USC (eight first-place votes) is second, followed by Alabama (three first-place votes), Oklahoma and Oregon in the top five. The next five are Georgia, Florida State (one first place – from Phil Steele), South Carolina, Michigan and Arkansas.

In terms of conference strength, it is clear that pollsters are bullish on the SEC – and why shouldn’t they be since that conference has won the last six national championships with four different teams. There are six SEC teams in the top 25 with five of them in the top 10. The Big 12 also has six top-25 teams, although just one team in the top 10.

The Big Ten has five top-25 teams, followed by the ACC and Pac-12 with three each. One Mountain West team (Boise State) and one independent (Notre Dame) round out the top 25.

If you try and project the various conference title games with this poll, you’d see: ACC, Florida State-Virginia Tech; Big Ten, Michigan-Wisconsin; SEC, LSU-Georgia; Pac-12, USC-Oregon.

This will mark the 15th season of the BCS postseason format. This year’s national championship game will be played on Mon., Jan. 7, at Sun Life Stadium outside of Miami. This is the third year of the current four-year BCS rotation, which will be retired in favor of a four-team tournament beginning with the 2014 season. Once again, all five of the BCS bowls will be on ESPN this winter. (In fact, 28 of the 33 scheduled bowl games this year will be on ESPN with one each on ESPN2, ESPNU, ABC, CBS and FOX.)

If you had to project the various BCS bowls off of these predictions, you would be looking at:

* Rose: Tues., Jan. 1, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN) – Oregon (BCS at-large) vs. Michigan (Big Ten champion).

* Orange: Tues., Jan. 1, 8 p.m. (ESPN) – Florida State (ACC champion) vs. Louisville (Big East champion).

* Sugar: Wed., Jan. 2, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN) – Alabama (BCS at-large) vs. West Virginia (BCS at-large).

* Fiesta: Thurs., Jan. 3, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN) – Oklahoma (Big 12 champion) vs. Wisconsin (BCS at-large).

* BCS National Championship Game (at Miami Gardens, Fla.): Mon., Jan. 7, 8 p.m. (ESPN) – LSU (SEC champion) vs. USC (Pac-12 champion).

* More Bowl Possibilities: Capital One (Jan. 1, Orlando), Georgia-Michigan State; Outback (Jan. 1, Tampa), South Carolina-Nebraska; Cotton (Jan. 4, Arlington, Texas), Arkansas-Texas.

Here is a look at the final edition of the Preseason Consensus Poll for 2012:

Preseason Consensus Poll
(First-Place votes; last year’s record in parentheses)

1. LSU (13-1 last year; 9 first-place votes), 506 voting points
2. USC (10-2; 8 first-place votes), 503
3. Alabama (12-1; 3 first-place votes), 469
4. Oklahoma (10-3), 453
5. Oregon (12-2), 445
6. Georgia (10-4), 384
7. Florida State (9-4; 1 first-place vote), 374
8. South Carolina (11-2), 349
9. Michigan (11-2), 338
10. Arkansas (11-2), 301
11. Wisconsin (11-3), 282
12. West Virginia (10-3), 279
13. Michigan State (11-3), 251
14. Clemson (10-4), 220
15. Texas (8-5), 206
16. Ohio State (6-7), 199
17. Virginia Tech (11-3), 185
18. TCU (11-2), 159
19. Nebraska (9-4), 148
20. Stanford (11-2), 137
21. Kansas State (10-3), 135
22. Oklahoma State (12-1), 130
23. Florida (7-6), 67
24. Boise State (12-1), 59
25. Notre Dame (8-5), 40
26. Auburn (8-5), 37
27. Utah (8-5), 27
28. Louisville (7-6), 25
29. North Carolina (7-6), 21
30. Georgia Tech (8-5), 15
31. Washington (7-6), 13
32. Central Florida (5-7), 11
33. South Florida (5-7), 6
34. (tie) BYU (10-3), 4
34. (tie) Texas A&M (7-6), 4
36. (tie) Cincinnati (10-3), 3
36. (tie) N.C. State (8-5), 3
38. (tie) Iowa (7-6), 2
38. (tie) Baylor (10-3), 2
40. (tie) Virginia (8-5), 1
40. (tie) Rutgers (9-4), 1

Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook

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

Lindy’s

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

Athlon’s

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

USA Today College Football magazine

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

Phil Steele’s College Football Preview

1. Florida State
2. Oklahoma
3. LSU
4. USC
5. Alabama
6. Oregon
7. Texas
8. Georgia
9. Wisconsin
10. Florida
11. Ohio State
12. Oklahoma State
13. North Carolina
14. Clemson
15. Central Florida
16. Arkansas
17. Nebraska
18. Stanford
19. Michigan State
20. South Florida
21. Notre Dame
22. Michigan
23. South Carolina
24. Virginia Tech
25. West Virginia

ESPN.com Power Rankings

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

NationalChamps.net

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

SI.com (Andy Staples)

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

CBSSports.com

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

247Sports.com (Steve Helwagen)
1. LSU
2. USC
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma
5. Oregon
6. Georgia
7. South Carolina
8. West Virginia
9. Michigan
10. Michigan State
11. Florida State
12. Ohio State
13. Wisconsin
14. Stanford
15. Arkansas
16. Kansas State
17. Clemson
18. TCU
19. Virginia Tech
20. Nebraska
21. Texas
22. Oklahoma State
23. Notre Dame
24. Iowa
25. Florida

BleacherReport.com

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

Austin American Statesman (Kirk Bohls)

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

Orlando Sentinel (Matt Murschel)

1. USC
2. LSU
3. Oregon
4. Alabama
5. Oklahoma
6. Georgia
7. Florida State
8. Michigan
9. South Carolina
10. Ohio State
11. Kansas State
12. Michigan State
13. Arkansas
14. Nebraska
15. Clemson
16. Auburn
17. Virginia Tech
18. West Virginia
19. Texas
20. TCU
21. Wisconsin
22. Texas A&M
23. Oklahoma State
24. Washington
25. Baylor

YahooSports.com (Mike Huguenin)

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

CollegeFootballNews.com

1. LSU
2. Oklahoma
3. Oregon
4. Alabama
5. Texas
6. USC
7. South Carolina
8. Georgia
9. Florida State
10. Wisconsin
11. Ohio State
12. Michigan
13. Utah
14. Louisville
15. Virginia Tech
16. Michigan State
17. Boise State
18. Arkansas
19. West Virginia
20. Oklahoma State
21. Auburn
22. Nebraska
23. Florida
24. N.C. State
25. Rutgers

The Sporting News

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

CollegeFootballUniverseBlog.com

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

NBCSports.com

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

USA Today Coaches Poll

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

Sports Illustrated magazine

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

Associated Press media poll

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

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