2008 Coaches' Pre-Season Polls

[Dan Wishengrad]

Division I (#1 votes) Total Points

1. Oregon (8') 80
2. Simon Fraser 70
3. Montana 54
4. Oregon State 49
5. Boise State 45
6. Washington 41
7. Gonzaga (1) 35
8. Idaho 19
9. Washington State 12



Division II (#1 Votes) Total Points

1. Western Washington (9) 90
2. Western Oregon 70
3. Pacific Lutheran 61
4. Southern Oregon 59
5. Puget Sound 53
6. Whitman 52
7. Central Washington 48
8. Albertson 28
9. Willamette 20
10. Lewis & Clark 14

[nlyon02]

Why are we in last place? I guess we all expected that.

[ntierney]

Word on the street is Gonzaga voted for themselves to win the conference. Thats rich, after Oregon won the PNCLL championship by like 15 are they serious? I actually want to know if there was some mistake because i don't believe they would do that, its just too dumb!

I would like to leave you with a quote from the wise Jimmy Valmer, "I mean, come...on"

[woulax23]

Well i don't know where they would have been able to vote themselves as the future winners of the conference, since the vote was on which teams are the best pre-season. However even if they did do this, I don't see why it should be seen as a mistake. I think that every coach and team has aspirations to be the best out of all of the competition and that is what they should strive for. Who wants to play a season with the hope of taking third or fourth place? All true competitors should be competing to be number one every time they play. If Oregon was completely unsusceptible to losing then there would be no point in having a season, we could just hand them the title and a ticket to nationals now. If Gonzaga's reps and coaching staff believe that they have the best team then who is anyone to tell them different? As of right now they might have the best team and no one may know it yet. I think you should reserve your judgements for the end of the season, and let the results speak for themselves. Just my two cents though.

[woulax23]

hey dan, where did the tenth first place vote for the Div. II go?

[Steno]

Our coach had to get out of the mtg early for personal reasons, so that's probably where it went.

[Timbalaned]

Word on the street is Gonzaga voted for themselves to win the conference. Thats rich, after Oregon won the PNCLL championship by like 15 are they serious? I actually want to know if there was some mistake because i don't believe they would do that, its just too dumb!

I would like to leave you with a quote from the wise Jimmy Valmer, "I mean, come...on"

My guess is it was probably Coach Tiller from Oregon. I don't think a lot of teams vote themselves #1, but I doubt he would actually vote for one of the rivals (SFU, OSU, or UW), so he just went for another team like Gonzaga. No disrespect intended.

[Car RamRod21]

and i don't really think it matters who voted for who. its a pre-season poll and it means nothing. for example: San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints.... a lot of "experts" picked them both to make it deep into the playoffs... so looking into these polls any deeper is a waste of time

[Scrape Mode]

If Oregon was completely unsusceptible to losing then there would be no point in having a season, we could just hand them the title and a ticket to nationals now.

This should be considered...

[Dan Wishengrad]

The vote for Gonzaga as DI #1 was cast by the Zags themselves. Everyone else voted for the Ducks as the pre-season favorite.

Whitman did not vote, hence only 9 first place votes awarded in the DII poll.

[Sonny]

Are adult (non-playing) head coaches voting on these things? (Or someone else?)

Just curious as it speaks volumes to the credibility of these polls.

[Dan Wishengrad]

Yes, it was the coaches who voted. But every person was free to vote as they saw fit.

[kladis]

I love the first place vote by Ben and the Zags. 2 reasons:

1) A preseason vote is nothing more than a prediction of where you expect to stack up compared to the competition. In the PNCLL, teams vote for themselves, it is a self-prediction. So if a team feels as though they do not have the potential to become the best team, then that is one thing, and they shouldn't vote themselves as #1. However, any team who feels as though they DO have the potential to become the best team, should absolutely vote themselves as #1. Otherwise, they would be setting a goal to be less that first, and basically NOT reach their potential. Thats what you call a bad goal. I believe the Zags DO have the potential to be #1 and obviously Coach "Faust" Stein and his group do as well.

2) With that said, that there is absolutely nothing more pointless in the world of sports than a pre-season poll.

We have..sorry.. "Gonzaga" has voted themselves with a #1 vote for at least the last 3 years...I love it. Every player on the team knows that the goal is to make that a reality each year. I bet this ones it! Any takers?

[Shawn Carman]

With that said, does every team next year vote for themselves as the #1 team preseason?

That will make for quite the poll for #2 on.

[woulax4]

Honestly, this poll is meaningless. It has no effect on the final standings. It has no effect on who goes to playoffs. It is just something for everyone to see how teams will match up this season. What if Gonzaga runs the table this season? Will everyone feel like an idiot for criticizing them for this poll? Probably not. If Oregon loses every game will they be criticized for voting for themselves. Again, probably not. If they feel they are the best team, than they should vote for themselves. But again it comes down to the fact that this poll means nothing at all.