2008 College Football Team Draft

On this Thursday night’s edition of THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER (special three-hour edition, 7-10 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com), we will bring you our third annual college football team draft. It’s a fun way to mix traditional fantasy sports with straight college football, as we will each compile a stable of teams that will be competing for us. Here’s our suggested league guidelines, which we will be following for the show.

Take 6 owners and conduct a 7-round standard draft. Points will be assigned at four intervals: when the September 28 Associated Press poll is released, when the October 26 Associated Press poll is released, when the December 7 Associated Press poll is released and when the final BCS poll is released after the national championship game. The September 28 poll accounts for 20% of the total score (with the exception of the bonus points, which are mentioned below), the October 26 poll accounts for 20% of the total score, the December 7 poll accounts for 20% of the total score and the final BCS poll accounts for 40% of the total score.

For the first three polls, scoring is as follows: 1st place (50 points), 2nd place (45 points), 3rd place (43 points), 4th place (42 points), 5th place (41 points), 6th place (38 points), 7th place (37 points), 8th place (36 points), 9th place (35 points), 10th place (34 points), 11th place (30 points), 12th place (29 points), 13th place (28 points), 14th place (27 points), 15th place (26 points), 16th place (22 points), 17th place (21 points), 18th place (20 points), 19th place (19 points), 20th place (18 points), 21st place (13 points), 22nd place (12 points), 23rd place (11 points), 24th place (10 points), 25th place (9 points). Points are doubled in the final poll, since it accounts for twice the point total of each of the three previous ones.

Additional bonuses are awarded for the following accomplishments: 25 points for winning the BCS Title Game, 10 points for earning a spot in the BCS Title Game, 12 points for winning a BCS Bowl Game, 6 points for earning a spot in a BCS Bowl Game, 5 points for winning a non-BCS bowl game, 10 points for having the Heisman Trophy winner on one of your teams.

With the guidelines having now been established, here is the FDH draft board for this event and one that could help any of you who are reading this in your own college football team drafts. The number in parentheses represents the rank that each team earned on our “Experts Draft Board,” which was compiled from an average of several prominent preseason polls. Please note, however, that the pollsters were weighing in on their present perceptions of where these teams rank and our draft board is based on a series of predictions in terms of where these teams will end up at the close of the season. For example, a team like Georgia, who plays the toughest schedule in the country by present means of measure, will be penalized for that on a draft board like this. For that matter, our perception that top teams in what is perennially the nation’s toughest conference, the SEC, will chew each other up even more than usual is factored into the draft board as well.

TOP TIER

1. Ohio State (2)

2. Missouri (7)

3. Georgia (1)

4. West Virginia (6)

5. USC (3)

6. Florida (5)

7. Oklahoma (4)

8. Texas (8)

SECOND TIER

9. LSU (9)

10. Clemson (10)

11. BYU (13)

12. Virginia Tech (17)

13. Illinois (21)

14. Wisconsin (12)

15. Kansas (11)

THIRD TIER

16. Auburn (14)

17. Wake Forest (16)

18. Arizona State (18)

19. Texas Tech (19)

20. Oregon (15)

21. Tennessee (20)

22. South Florida (23)

23. Fresno State (24T)

FOURTH TIER

24. Boise State (26)

25. Cincinnati (27T)

26. Utah (24T)

27. Tulsa (29)

28. Michigan (not in the Top 35)

29. Alabama (not in the Top 35)

30. Pittsburgh (35T)

31. Connecticut (not in the Top 35)

32. Florida State (not in the Top 35)

33. Miami (not in the Top 35)

34. Boston College (22)

35. UCLA (not in the Top 35)

36. TCU (not in the Top 35)

37. Notre Dame (not in the Top 35)

38. Michigan State (not in the Top 35)

39. Purdue (not in the Top 35)

40. Nevada (not in the Top 35)

41. Oklahoma State (not in the Top 35)

42. Penn State (27T)