The Guru will be joining the prestigious BlogPoll this season, after receiving confirmation from Brian Cook, the founder and operator of the BlogPoll, as well as MGoBlog.com, one of the most read/respected college sports blogs anywhere.
So what is the BlogPoll? Well, it's like the AP poll and the coaches poll, only better. Typically, the journalists and the coaches get to watch one game a week before catching a few SportsCenter highlights and turning in their ballots (or have some minions do it for them - believe me, Steve Spurrier is hardly the only one). Bloggers like the Guru, on the other hand, consume so much college football throughout the week that they'd get up sick Sunday morning - before starting all over again Tuesday for the all-important MAC matchup.
In essence, we're the true college football experts, though the level of expertise varies wildly. And as is the intention of the BlogPoll, it's also prone to a little bias. But whereas the coaches hide behind secret ballots, we have to reveal (and if necessary, defend) how we voted each week.
The BlogPoll is now sponsored by CBSSports.com (see the final 2008 season poll) as its credibility and stature continue to grow. This season's first poll will be posted on Aug. 24, and then on Wednesday every week after the season begins.
The Guru will fill out the ballot each week and post it on this site - and then I'll take on all comers to explain how I voted. Keep in mind that what's on my BlogPoll ballot might be mildly (or wildly) different from what's in the "Guru's Rankings," which is generated by a computer algorithm that seeks to identify the most likely participants in the BCS national championship game.
The Guru's BlogPoll, meanwhile, is entirely subjective because the purpose of the BlogPoll is to rank the teams based on their performance irrespective of their place in the BCS standings. The best teams may not get to the BCS title game, but they deserve to be recognized for what they did on the field. So if the Guru's Rankings are predictive, the Guru's BlogPoll is descriptive.
One final note: Because the BlogPoll demands an affiliation with a football-playing college, the Guru has chosen to represent UCLA. Why? Because the Guru went to grad school there and my real alma mater, Cal State Fullerton, dropped football after 1992. But rest assured, the Guru's vaunted neutrality will continue to prevail on my BlogPoll ballots.
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