A new season means a new BlogPoll. The first poll is out, it can be viewed here. You can also see my ballot here, or just scroll down the page a bit. As I mentioned when I filled out my ballot, there are going to be two preseason polls. Consider the first one a rough draft. Once it's been picked apart, evaluated, and adjusted, there'll be a second, final preseason BlogPoll. This roundtable, hosted by mgoblog, serves as the review process for the preseason poll. It's simple and straightforward, so let's get started.

Who is overrated?

Hawaii. They're 23rd, so they aren't exactly way overrated, but I don't think they should be ranked at all. Don't get me wrong, I expect them to go 11-1, at worst. However, as BlogPoll voters, we're supposed to rank teams without regard for future schedule, and once you ignore their squeezably soft schedule, I don't think the Warriors are a top-25 team. Sure, they do have some legit talent on offense, with Colt Brennan at QB and Nebraska transfer Leon Wright-Jackson at running back. And the offense was unstoppable last season, finishing first in total and scoring offense. However, the concept of defense has yet to make it out to the islands. Last season, the Warriors finished 93rd in total defense and 69th in scoring defense. They return eight starters on defense, so those numbers should improve, but I don't see the defensive getting better than "pretty bad."

Boise State showed that non-BCS teams can hang with the big boys, and Hawaii might end up proving me wrong. I just get the feeling, though, that if you took the Warriors off of Hawaii (negating the advantage of playing in a tropical paradise three time zones away from the rest of the country) and dropped them into a BCS conference, you'd end up with Purdue. Anyone comfortable with ranking Purdue? Thought not. So why rank Hawaii?

Hawaii's homefield advantage.

Who is underrated?

Florida State. Historically, "FSU" and "underrated" haven't had much to do with each other, and BlogPoll voters seem to have adjusted accordingly. The Seminoles are ranked 18th currently. Perhaps there is cause for concern, since they finished 7-6 last year. However, let me point out some stats:

Last year's team was a good defense held back by a crappy offense. Accordingly, out went Offensive Coordinator/Beneficiary of Nepotism Jeff Bowden, and in came Jimbo Fisher, who was last seen masterminding an LSU offense that finished 11th in total yards last season and 9th in scoring offense. He might not immediately turn the Seminoles into a scoring machine, but it's reasonable to expect that the offense will at least carry its own weight for a change.

FSU also looks pretty good when you look at the guys that are actually playing the games. They return 14 starters, and there's plenty of talent on the roster. The Rivals rankings for the past five years' recruiting classes:

2003 - 21st
2004 - 3rd
2005 - 2nd
2006 - 3rd
2007 - 21st

That's an odd bit of symmetry, but it's also three outstanding classes bookended by two good ones.

Talented players, experience, competent coaching - the Seminoles should be in the top dozen on all that alone. However, there's one more bit of info that I've held back. A quote:

Who said that? Phil Steele. Again: Phil Steele thinks the Seminoles are title contenders. If Phil's wrong, I don't want to be right. 18 is too low for FSU.