Preseason AP Poll - Bob Asmussen the lone #1 vote for Michigan

[Dan]

1. USC
2. Alabama
3. LSU
4. Oklahoma
5. Oregon

http://bigstory.ap.org/college-football-ap-top-25

[Dan]

Our very own Bob Asmussen was the lone #1 vote for Michigan.

@BobAsmussen You voted Michigan number one? You are also probably a really good writer and smart individual #false you stupid #jackwagon

http://twitter.com/mlubbs03

https://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/BobAsmussen
https://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/Bob%20Asmussen

[Juice]

Originally Posted by Dan

Our very own Bob Asmussen was the lone #1 vote for Michigan.





https://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/BobAsmussen
https://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/Bob%20Asmussen

:laugh:

[IlliniPoke]

My Cowboys are ranked #19 to start the season. Not bad considering we lost our starting qb & 2 time Biletnikoff winner. 8 returning on Defense & a good stable of running backs & an OL with lots of experience to help take some of the pressure of Wes Lunt.

[Dan]

Doyel to the rescue!

Are we really mocking a guy for voting Michigan No. 1 in the PRESEASON? Why not Michigan? Everyone's an expert...

http://twitter.com/GreggDoyelCBS

[GilThorpe]

Originally Posted by IlliniPoke

My Cowboys are ranked #19 to start the season. Not bad considering we lost our starting qb & 2 time Biletnikoff winner. 8 returning on Defense & a good stable of running backs & an OL with lots of experience to help take some of the pressure of Wes Lunt.

Poke, granted we know OU is favored, what is the preseason consensus with the rest of the top 5 in the Big 12 now that you have TCU & WVU in the mix ?

[DanvIllini]

BA is getting trashed on twitter.

[illinicb]

Originally Posted by Dan

Doyel to the rescue!

He's right. Who cares about a pre-season poll. Go back to a lot of prior year polls and see how the chalk finished. Michigan isn't a crazy pick. Maybe a bold pick. It's not like he's picking Illinois or Tulane or Rice or Oregon State.

Either way, no one will remember once the games start for real.

[Groundhogday]

Originally Posted by illinicb

He's right. Who cares about a pre-season poll. Go back to a lot of prior year polls and see how the chalk finished. Michigan isn't a crazy pick. Maybe a bold pick. It's not like he's picking Illinois or Tulane or Rice or Oregon State.

Either way, no one will remember once the games start for real.

I don't know about No. 1, but I do expect Michigan to be very good this year.

[IlliniPoke]

My Big 12 top 5 would be:

1. Oklahoma-Lots of questions with them on the Offensive side of the ball with the loss of several on the OL & not having a lot of depth at WR. Have to wait & see which Landry Jones shows up every Saturday to play. Saw a big dropoff once his best target Broyles went down last year. Defense should be pretty good especially at the dbs. Curious to see how Mike Stoops returning to be DC works out.
2. Oklahoma State-Yes we lost our best QB & 2 time Biletnikoff winner but we have good depth on the OL with 2 great RBs (Randle & Smith). Randle had over 1200 yards & 24 TDs las year. Smith was great in the backup role. Questions at WRs but lots of guys got reps last year. Tracy Moore is a proven receiver with Josh Stewart being reliable also. Of course we are starting a true freshmen at QB but he is not an ordinary freshmen QB. Wes Lunt was a star in high school leading his team to 2 straight state titles while basically having two different sets of skill players both years. The Defense has 8 returning starters. We are set at corners & safety. Broderick Brown & Justin Gilbert are preseaon AAs. We have all of our LBs back from last year. We have guys that got lots of reps at DE last year & we got a JUCO NG to plug the middle of the line.
3. West Virginia-Great O with Geno Smith at QB & good WRs. Not sure what they lost on the OL. My biggest question for them is how will their Defense do against the Big 12 offenses. They weren't that great in the Big East.
4. Kansas State-They had a great run last year. Not sure of they can repeat the feat. Colin Klein is a better runner than he is a passer. Not sure if he can withstand the beatings like he took last year. They have some good WRs & RBs. The Defense will be good.They have Arthur Brown at one LB with some good DBs. Not sure how good their DL will be. I would never sleep on a Bill Synder coached team.
5. Texas-While they will have a very salty defense at almost all positions, I am not sold on their offense. David Ash & Case McCoy were not even serviceable at QB last year. They do not have a lot of depth on the OL but they do have a great stable of young RBs. It will be hard for them to find an alley to run if their OL can't block.
-TCU is losing 12 starters from last years team to suspension due to the big drug bust on the team hence I do not see them playing into th mix this first year. I am also no sold on them due to them playing in the Mountain West the last few years. They truly only had to get up for 1 or 2 games a year. Playing good teams week in & week out with be harder for them. Look at Nebraska last year in the Big 10.

[Groundhogday]

Originally Posted by IlliniPoke

3. West Virginia-Great O with Geno Smith at QB & good WRs. Not sure what they lost on the OL. My biggest question for them is how will their Defense do against the Big 12 offenses. They weren't that great in the Big East.

I've learned not to underestimate Holgorsen, but I do wonder if they will have as much success in a league full of Air Raid offenses. And they lost a very good defensive coordinator when Casteel joined RichRod in Arizona.

[IlliniPoke]

Yeah we lost our special teams (special teams play had not been special under him the last few years) coach to WVU to be one of the DCs. Just like TCU, I do not think that playing Big 12 teams week in & week out will work out well for WVU.

So how does everyone see the Big 10 playing out this year?

[Dan]

Asmussen: Top 25 explainer

So I'm out on my own limb, a real skinny one, with the Michigan pick. Based on some early emails that have in today, the choice is not real popular. Actually, they question the voter more than the school. Wrote Kevin: "I have a question. Do you even watch college football? Michigan #1?? Really??? You should have your voting privileges revoked." And from Mike: "Hard to believe that there is one guy in the AP in the U.S. that thinks that U-M is the #1 team in the nation. Apparently you think they are going to beat 'Bama in Dallas." We'll find out if Michigan was the right pick on Sept. 1.

Asmussen

[illinicb]

Actually we won't find out on September 1 if Michigan was the right pick. Either Alabama or Michigan could still end up as #1 with a loss in the opener.

[256ILLINI]

Originally Posted by illinicb

Actually we won't find out on September 1 if Michigan was the right pick. Either Alabama or Michigan could still end up as #1 with a loss in the opener.

We won't, but do you really think Michigan has a chance?

[illinicb]

Originally Posted by 256ILLINI

We won't, but do you really think Michigan has a chance?

I understand your point and if I were a wagering man, I doubt I'd put money on Michigan. I don't know what Michigan has (I'm still trying to figure out what the Illini have), so I have no idea how good they are let alone how good they are relative to other teams around the country. If they beat Alabama, I'm assuming they'll be a decent team. If they lose close, we might be able to say the same. If they get killed, the #1 vote would likely look misplaced.

[DanvIllini]

Bob just bought 12 days of silence...

[Dan]

I've been fighting bronchitis. Nasty stuff. Next time, I listen to my wife and go to the doctor sooner. Anything going on with the AP poll?

All joking aside, I know picking Michigan No. 1 seems wrong to some. But I think we should wait to see what happens.

And to all my new friends in Alabama, thanks for writing. It's great to know that folks can disagree in a nice way.

http://twitter.com/BobAsmussen

[Dan]

Read where Illinois scribe @bobasmussen voted Michigan No. 1 in AP. Could anyone tell me whether ESPN is blacked out in Champaign?

http://twitter.com/finebaum

[Dan]

bob asmussen thinks Facebook stock was a good buy.

http://twitter.com/RickMuscles

[jackman404]

My surprise pick for the season is West Virginia winning the Big 12. I do think they lose @OSU, but I think they will rebound the next week to beat OU at home and win the conference with one loss (with OSU losses to OU and KSU).

West Virginia is going to be a unique situation for a few years in the Big 12 with their home field advantage. They have to travel much further for all road games, but teams have to do the exact same thing when playing @WVU. I think you could see a lot of seasons where West Virginia runs the table at home and has some really bad losses on the road.

[Dan]

Bob Asmussen defends picking Michigan No. 1 in preseason AP poll

"I don't think I'm famous -- infamous, maybe," Asmussen told AnnArbor.com by phone, noting he received several emails and tweets within a couple hours of the poll's release and "not of the favorable variety."

"I decided late spring on Michigan, and said, "OK, I'll take the hits.' Up (in Ann Arbor), I'll be fine, but elsewhere, you can imagine the fan reaction to this. Even the Illinois reaction, they don't like Michigan, so they're like, 'Why are you doing this?'"

http://annarbor.com/sports/um-footba.../#.UDEPEKPXj4Y

[IlliniSon]

Michigan is going to get crushed by Bama. It starts in the trenches where Bama will overwhelm them. Asmussen will look foolish.

[Ander1345]

Probably, but in the unlikely event that Michigan wins... oh man.

[256ILLINI]

Originally Posted by IlliniSon

Michigan is going to get crushed by Bama. It starts in the trenches where Bama will overwhelm them. Asmussen will look foolish.

And those are all Richrod's lineman that Hoke is using. Those guys were recruited to run a spread..

I truly believe Michigan would have a hard time moving the ball on Alabama's 2nd team defense. That's how much depth Alabama has on defense, and they're also the best coached players in the NCAA