The ES went back and looked at his preseason composite poll published June 7, which looked at eight different magazines or other national polls, these polls are prominent across the web and have been prominent for years -- prior to the 21st century of advanced internet technology. FYI - you can always look at Stassen's review and accuracy of magazine preseason polls dating back to 1993 (Phil Steele is the most accurate the past 10 years; hope he is wrong and the Spartans do much better than his #28 ranking of MSU for 2011).
Well, below I compared the ES composite to the coaches' poll... and the similarities are remarkable. Matter of fact, 24 of the 25 teams in the ES composite are in the coaches' poll - the lone exception being Texas at #24 (ES composite had the Longhorns at #26). The standard deviation comparing the rankings of each team in the Top 25 was only 2.94 -- meaning, on average, the teams in the coaches' poll were within less than 3 spots of the ES poll. The argument can be made the ES composite poll fairly well resembles what the coaches are reading and thinking. So, why wait until August for the USA Today coaches' poll?? Read the ES composite poll in June. That said... here is the newest poll and comparing it to the ES composite poll.
* = "also receiving votes," not in top 25. Big Ten teams in bold.
| USA | ES | ||
| 8/3/2011 | 6/7/2011 | ES pts | |
| 1 | 1 | Oklahoma | 1.50 |
| 2 | 2 | Alabama | 2.13 |
| 3 | 3 | Oregon | 3.38 |
| 4 | 4 | LSU | 4.38 |
| 5 | 8 | Florida St. | 9.75 |
| 6 | 6 | Stanford | 7.88 |
| 7 | 5 | Boise St. | 6.25 |
| 8 | 9 | Oklahoma St. | 10.25 |
| 9 | 7 | Texas A&M | 9.63 |
| 10 | 17 | Wisconsin | 16.75 |
| 11 | 13 | Nebraska | 14.13 |
| 12 | 15 | South Carolina | 14.88 |
| 13 | 16 | Virginia Tech | 15.00 |
| 14 | 14 | Arkansas | 14.13 |
| 15 | 11 | TCU | 13.63 |
| 16 | 10 | Ohio St. | 10.75 |
| 17 | 18 | Michigan St. | 17.25 |
| 18 | 12 | Notre Dame | 13.88 |
| 19 | 21 | Auburn | 21.50 |
| 20 | 20 | Mississippi St. | 21.00 |
| 21 | 25 | Missouri | 22.88 |
| 22 | 19 | Georgia | 19.13 |
| 23 | 22 | Florida | 22.50 |
| 24 | 26 | Texas | 23.63 |
| 25 | 23 | Penn St. | 22.63 |
| 26* | 27 | Arizona St. | 24.38 |
| 27* | 24 | W. Virginia | 22.63 |
| 28* | 34 | Utah | 25.50 |
| 29* | 30 | Miami-Florida | 25.00 |
| 30* | Iowa | ||
| 31* | 29 | Northwestern | 24.75 |
| 32* | Arizona | ||
| 33* | 37 | Central Florida | 25.88 |
| 34* | 32 | Michigan | 25.25 |
| 35* | Air Force | ||
| 36* | North Carolina | ||
| 37* | 33 | Houston | 25.38 |
| 38* | 35 | South Florida | 25.88 |
| 39* | Hawaii | ||
| 40* | Clemson | ||
| 41* | Tennessee | ||
| 42* | 31 | Southern Miss. | 25.25 |
| 43* | BYU | ||
| 44* | N. Carolina St. | ||
| 45* | Northern Illinois | ||
| 46* | Oregon St. | ||
| 47* | Pittsburgh | ||
| 48* | Washington | ||
| 49* | Nevada | ||
| 50* | Georgia Tech | ||
| 27 | USC | 24.13 | |
| 36 | Tulsa | 25.88 | |
