Heading out of town for the holiday weekend, but before I blow this joint for a few days, I’m opening up the floor: next week will be the last week of the Absurdly Premature/Reasonably Anticipatory preview series before the serious, on-record predictin’ begins in earnest, and in the venerable SMQ tradition, I’m dedicating the week to the masses.
Previously, all previews have been carefully but randomly selected from slips of paper in the Official Giraffe-Themed Pencilholder of SMQ, which resides next to the Official Mr. T Bobblehead of SMQ. In truly benevolent fashion, however, next week’s Somewhat Obligatory previews will be decided by popular vote -- since there are several dozen teams remaining, a poll would be rather unwieldy, but partisans may leave votes in the comments below for their team (or, maybe more helpfully, an unfamiliar or otherwise mysterious opponent), or they can e-mail at: sundaymorningqb -at- y@h00, etc. Comments are preferred.
The field isn’t wide open. The following teams have been Absurdly/Reasonably previewed since March and are therefore ineligible (formatting from the old server (anything prior to May 9) may be slightly screwy in some places, but only slightly; many apologies for lost paragraph breaks):
March 17: Ball State • March 20: Auburn • March 21: Kansas State • March 25: Washington State • April 3: Duke • April 7: Kentucky • April 9: Southern Cal • April 16: Virginia • April 21: Miami • April 23: Iowa State • May 24: Oregon State • May 27: Maryland • May 29: Colorado • May 30: Tennessee • June 2: San Diego State • June 3: Vanderbilt • June 10: Central Florida • June 11: Oklahoma State • June 14: Wisconsin • June 18: Florida Atlantic • June 20: South Florida • June 23: Army • June 25: Texas Tech • June 25: Virginia Tech • June 27: Arizona • July 1: Utah • July 2: Iowa
These teams have been previewed in various fashions as part of other offseason series and are very highly unlikely to come in for more treatment unless there is an unassailable groundswell of popular support:
Road to Recovery: Nebraska
Road to Recovery: Miami
Road to Recovery: Syracuse
Road to Recovery: Washington
Road to Recovery: Alabama
Up and Up: North Carolina
Up and Up: Pittsburgh
Up and Up: Stanford
The Nouveau Riche: Kansas
The Nouveau Riche: Illinois
The Nouveau Riche: Missouri
The Contenders: Georgia
The Contenders: West Virginia
The Contenders: Oklahoma
The Contenders: Florida
The Contenders: Ohio State
Mandate For Change: Texas A&M
Mandate For Change: UCLA
Mandate For Change: Ole Miss
Mandate For Change: Georgia Tech
Other teams have come in for intermittent looks, albeit far more cursory. Just a handful of the teams I’ve neglected almost entirely:
Air Force • Arizona State • Arkansas • Boise State • Boston College • BYU • California • Central Michigan • Cincinnati • Connecticut • East Carolina • Florida State • Fresno State • Houston • Indiana • Louisville • LSU • Michigan State • Minnesota • NC State • New Mexico • Northwestern • Notre Dame • Oregon • Penn State • Purdue • Rutgers • South Carolina • TCU • Texas • Tulsa • Wake Forest
. . .and many, many others. I know which ones are most interesting to me, but it’s up to you.
Message board campaigns and other shenanigans are highly encouraged, although the same person/user’s vote will only be counted once. Ballot-stuffing requires effort, people.
In the meantime, enjoy the archives, consider questions for CFB Explainer (this feature has not carried over to the new format but is a favorite of mine and ripe to be revived) and have a great Fourth of July.
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