Alabama finished No. 1 in last year’s Las Vegas Rankings, and Nick Saban’s team has been put into the top spot once again.
Kenny White, former Chief Operating Officer of Las Vegas Sports Consultants, not only believes that ‘Bama is the team to beat but the SEC is the deepest conference once again as well. In this year’s preseason rankings, the powerhouse conference has seven of the 30 schools in the 2010 preseason rankings.
The next group that has received respect from White is the ACC, who has six schools listed in the Top 30. However, it should be noted that Miami, Fl. is only ranked 10th. Frank Beamer and Virginia Tech are right behind the Hurricanes in the 11th position.
Southern California won’t be bowling this season, but gamblers can still bet on the Trojans and the folks in the desert still have them on their radar. USC is ranked eighth in the preseason rankings and is one of five Pac 10 schools listed in the poll.
The Big 10 and Big 12 both have four schools in the Top 30, plus the two conferences make up three of the first five. Some pundits could make a case for Oklahoma (3), Ohio State (4) and Texas (5), since they’re only separated by decimal points in terms of White’s power ratings.
Of the six Bowl Championship Series (BCS) conferences, the Big East is the weakest when viewing the preseason rankings. We will get to find out how good Pittsburgh (26) is early when it faces Utah in Week 1 from Salt Lake City before hosting the aforementioned Hurricanes on Sept. 23.
Mid-majors don’t garner a lot of respect as a whole, but TCU (6) and Boise State (7) are legit contenders and the oddsmakers recognize the pair. Despite losing to the Broncos in the Fiesta Bowl last year, some bettors might be surprised that the Horned Frogs still have a superior rating from White. a
Below is a complete breakdown of the LV preseason poll with the preseason ranking from the AP as well.
| 1 |
Alabama |
115.7 |
1 |
| 2 |
Florida |
115.6 |
4 |
| 3 |
Oklahoma |
115.5 |
7 |
| 4 |
Ohio State |
115.3 |
2 |
| 5 |
Texas |
115.0 |
5 |
| 6 |
Texas Christian |
114.5 |
6 |
| 7 |
Boise State |
113.5 |
3 |
| 8 |
Southern Cal |
113.2 |
14 |
| 9 |
Oregon |
112.4 |
11 |
| 10 |
Miami |
112.2 |
13 |
| 11 |
Virginia Tech |
112.1 |
10 |
| 11 |
Nebraska |
112.1 |
8 |
| 13 |
Iowa |
111.7 |
9 |
| 14 |
Wisconsin |
111.6 |
12 |
| 15 |
North Carolina |
111.4 |
18 |
| 16 |
Georgia |
111.1 |
23 |
| 17 |
Penn State |
110.8 |
19 |
| 18 |
Arkansas |
110.1 |
17 |
| 19 |
LSU |
109.8 |
21 |
| 19 |
Florida State |
109.8 |
20 |
| 21 |
Auburn |
109.7 |
22 |
| 22 |
Stanford |
109.5 |
NR |
| 23 |
Missouri |
109.4 |
NR |
| 24 |
Georgia Tech |
109.3 |
16 |
| 25 |
Oregon State |
108.8 |
24 |
| 26 |
Pittsburgh |
108.5 |
15 |
| 27 |
Clemson |
107.9 |
NR |
| 28 |
South Carolina |
107.8 |
NR |
| 29 |
West Virginia |
107.6 |
25 |
| 30 |
Arizona |
107.4 |
NR |
| Next Ten: Notre Dame, Washington, Michigan State, California, Texas Tech Texas A&M, Utah, Houston, Mississippi & Connecticut | |
Chris David can be reached at cdavid@vegasinsider.com
