Podcaster Poll

          The most irregular ballot from the Pod Poll, belonging to Shell-N-Tell, stands as a beacon of Big 10 faith and conference bias. But how exactly can any ballot outdo The Loyal Sons’? Easy: eight Big 10 teams in the top 25.

          The median score on the irregularity index came in at 29.4, Shell-N-Tell came in with the poll high score at 83.4! To clarify, we don’t want to encourage ballots to be outlandish just to be outlandish, quite the opposite. The goal with these articles has been to highlight the reason behind decisions to break the perception of an unserious voting procedure. As we go on, irregularity won’t be the primary factor in deciding what ballot is written about. All voters in the Podcaster Poll are encouraged to put real thought into their picks.

          Shell-N-Tell’s ballot:

1. Alabama
2. Michigan
3. Ohio State
4. USC
5. Georgia
6. Tennessee
7. Penn State
8. TCU
9. Utah
10, K-State
11. Oregon
12. LSU
13.Oregon State
14. Clemson
15. Miami
16. UNC
17. Maryland
18. Louisville
19. Illinois
20. Iowa
21. Minnesota
22. Purdue
23. Notre Dame
24. Texas
25. South Carolina

          Shell-N-Tell notably placed Georgia in fifth. Not a lot of people doubt Georgia going into 2023, but question marks can stand on their quarterback room. There is plenty of raw talent but can Kirby Smart find a suitable replacement for Stetson Bennet? This is what Shell-N-Tell worries about Georgia,”I know the QB was seen as a game manager but all Dynasty die at QB changes might not be this change may be another but it will change with the QB. Think Clemson’s fall after back to back absolute studs Watson and Lawrence fell off after QB change 2. Putting them 5 was hedging my bet I could see them at 1 or 10 depending on how that goes.”

Another interesting prediction by Shell-N-Tell relates to the Big 12. TCU and K-State hold strong positions at eighth and tenth, but Texas stands far back 24th. The Big 12 made it into this ballot with only three teams, far below their final placing. We asked what SNT expects from the Big-12 this year and what Texas was missing,”I hate pre pre season and always hype of 2 football teams we will discuss the other one later. Always hated the hype of Texas top 10 every year and almost always finished unranked or in the 20-25 they live off a historic level of success there ranking is never about now. Manning decomit or however we want to define it could also split that locker room. Anyway I’m a hater I get it. TCU ran into a buzz saw in the playoff but still had a great showing and seems to have been consistent lately without the blue blood name.” SNT has high expectations for TCU, at least compared to their conference opponents, but that doesn’t say much in their mind.

Tied for the single most irregular pick in the entire poll was SNT’s decision to put Minnesota at number 21. PJ Fleck has held down the ship for the Golden Gophers quite successfully bringing in three consecutive nine or more win seasons (with the exception of the COVID season) but despite this expectations are low going into 2023. SNT things that minnesota has a shot to impress and exceed expectations,”I’m a Big10 homer 100% so I’m gonna be a little heavy objectivity has its bounds I’m not a national writer I’m a home town podcaster. Minnesota could have a bounce back year Mohamed Ibrahim was one of the most impressive RB in country before Achilles now 2 years ago. He’s a Baltimore MD Native and cheer for him if he’s not playing us. Give PJ Fleck a weapon like that back and his system will work again like it did in 2019”

          One of the more irregular decisions on any ballot is SNT’s decision on Notre Dame, placing them 23rd. Head coach Marcus Freeman is entering his second season as head coach of the Irish after a season where the Irish started 0-2 but pulled together a 9-2 finish on the year. Shell-N-Tell was unimpressed. Like many, they see Notre Dame as a wandering blue blood riding on past successes,”Here is that second team we were talking about Notre Dame lives off a time where every catholic that was a 4 or 5 star played for them. They may be good they will always be rated higher then they should be because people see them through the filters of the past. The ACC schedule is weak so they will win games and be ranked still won’t belong anywhere near the top.” But with games in 2023 against (4) Ohio State, (5) USC, and (11) Clemson, Notre Dame will have ample opportunity to prove themselves. Notre Dame has the ability to prove their doubters right or wrong, and coach Marcus Freeman seems intent on continuing Notre Dame’s blue blood legacy with another run to the CFP.

          In the Big 10 in 2023 there sits a trio of playoff contenders who each have the absolute capability to have a breakthrough season. Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State all have the national championship in their sights. So the question looms, who wins the race? In a Big 10 conference dream all three can make it, but more likely, one of them seperates from the pack as the star of the Big 10. So we asked, what do these Big 10 commentators expect,”They all lose to the Terps next question. In all reality OSU will have the top WR in the country super scary that Marvin Harrison Jr wasn’t draft eligible. PSU will finally be out of the shadow of a bad QB so hopefully that won’t go as well as it probably will. Michigan Blake Corum coming back is terrifying and the young QB showed well last year. Due to the unbalanced Big10 they will beat each other up and hurt each others chances for the playoff.” Can the Big 10’s big dogs beat out what might be the top-to-bottom strongest Big 12, Pac-12, AND SEC in recent memory? 

          One very controversial pick from Shell-N-Tell was Alabama at number one. Readers were less than happy to see the crimson tide receiving first place votes. Most don’t believe that Saban can outcompete Smart and questions loom as to whether or not they could feasibly come out of the SEC ahead of LSU and Tennessee. There are question marks at quarterback and some think that the dynasty is ending. Shell-N-Tell disagrees,”Alabama run as king is not dead they have still continued to dominate. Saban is still there they will be great and someone has to be 1 why not the winningest coach in the history of time.

          Illinois came in on SNT’s ballot at 19, we asked what their ceiling was,”Illinois is in the West there is always someone that looks great because the west might as well be the ACC. They could win it it’s always open and will have one game vs the East to make dreams come true.” Is Illinois a dark horse for the Big 10 or more? Coming off a decent season they have the opportunity to make waves.

          As always, we finished off on what the pod’s expectations were for their home team, Maryland. Needless to say, hopes are high,”Stacked RB room stud QB coming back from a injury plagued season with another loaded WR core. Oline starters are solid but we have loss alot of quality depth so the health of this unit is very important. The loss of Mason Lunsford to LSU hurt but got a top level replacement the loss of Dipre to Alabama was a gut punch but still expect big things out of that room. Our D needs help but have heard rumors of a big name on the way still just rumors. Need a LB also out of the portal loss NFL quality CB but again had one of the top scores in the portal from Louisville. Will need one young goon to step up. Safeties return and are crazy athletic. Expect huge step for Barham. We have taken a step each year 7 and 8 wins ended in bowl wins each year if the OLine holds up we will at least match our 8 if D overachieves like they did last season under Brian Williams we could do BIG things.” Maybe their hopes aren’t as high as The Loyal Sons’ as we talked about in our last article, but Shell-N-Tell foresees a strong season in Mike Locksley’s fifth season. Two new offensive coordinators calling plays in Josh Gattis and Kevin Sumlin promise to boost the Terps. We’ll likely be seeing a high level of play from a well dressed team.

          The podcaster left off with a statement about their status as an outlier and the most irregular ballot,”I did it quickly from the hip as a homer by my feelings. My feelings are the ACC SUCKS Texas and ND will be overrated forever (Maryland owns Texas BTW) and West coast football will be dead without USC and UCLA. I was approached by a man with a Possum picture and 69 followers to do this ranking. I was half convinced the google doc was a phishing scam for passwords but the idea was cool so I did it. I have been very impressed by what has been done with the info and the visual presentation, had I known the quality and the fact our ballots would be published I would have consulted my cohost who is less of a homer. He will be assisting in all future polls. Congrats on building something cool.” And I want to use this as an opportunity to thank two groups of people. First, the voters: you guys have been active and responsive to a level I could never have expected. I truly appreciate the time and effort y’all have put in and the fact that you take time out of your days to answer questions for the weird account with a possum profile picture (I promise the logo is on its way). Second is the readers, When I wrote my first article just a few days ago I was surprised to find that I had more readers and clicks than I had followers. That’s crazy and amazing! As much as I’d like it if you followed me on Twitter, I’m so happy that you’re here.