The 2017 preseason coaches’ poll has been out a few days, and fans across the SEC are already debating and grumbling about what it means. The short answer: Not much.
Preseason polls don’t mean anything – unless you’re Alabama. The formula has been simple: Voters always pick the Tide to finish high in the rankings, and it always does. That makes a high preseason ranking for Alabama about the closest thing to a lock in today’s college football, up there with predicting New Mexico State not to reach the College Football Playoff.
Otherwise, though, the recent record of preseason polls regarding SEC teams includes projected national contenders that ended up as busts and near-ignored teams that later earned high rankings — even, in Auburn’s case, a national championship.