By Kirk Bohls (AMERICAN-STATESMAN) —
We’ve got good news and bad news and, in this man-bite-dog, who’s-Lance-dating world, no new news.

If my initial Top 25 Associated Press ballot is correct — and it probably isn’t — old standby Ohio State will be playing in its third straight national championship game come January. That’s the bad news for all you Buckeyes-haters.

However, the sunshine consolation for that group is that Jim Tressel’s club might lose to a non-SEC team for a change, because my vote has the Oklahoma Sooners in the second spot.

Sorry, SEC. But your league is too strong, too balanced, too everything to have either Florida or Georgia advance to the ultimate game. Remember, even LSU had two losses before miraculously reaching the title game after a barrage of upsets and knocking off the Buckeyes in the Superdome.

OU has only five true road games, with none tougher than a short trip to Oklahoma State, and misses out on Missouri in this year’s rotation. Ohio State visits Southern Cal, Illinois and Wisconsin, but hosts Michigan and Penn State.

In truth, these August polls are rarely pinpoint-accurate, as my good friend Mack Brown said Friday. He’s right. My 2007 preseason ballot had LSU ranked No. 2. My 2006 preseason vote listed eventual champion Florida at No. 7.

Of course, the coaches don’t like to reveal their ballots at all and do so only under duress at the end of the season, while our AP votes are transparent for all to criticize on a weekly basis.

“I told you for 11 years I don’t reveal my vote,” Brown said, keeping his ballot in the coaches poll private. “So I’m going to excite you at the end. We do not discuss preseason polls with our players or coaches. Preseason polls are tough.”

Are they ever. But if you hadn’t seen the last two national title games and known that Ohio State had given up 38 and 41 points in them, the Buckeyes, in my opinion, would be a consensus No. 1. They’re that loaded.

They can score, and they might have the best defense in the nation. That comes in handy because 20 of last season’s 32 bowl winners have put up 30 points or more. A whopping eight bowl teams scored 30 or more and lost.

Of the Buckeyes’ 19 returning starters, five are potential No. 1 NFL draft picks. Tressel has the Big Ten’s best cornerback (Malcolm Jenkins), linebacker (James Laurinaitis), running back (Beanie Wells) and offensive tackle (Alex Boone). According to Sporting News, the Buckeyes have five All-America candidates. The rest of the Big Ten has a total of nine.

Here’s another two reasons why I’m picking Ohio State.

They’re hungry. And embarrassed. Jenkins and Laurinaitis came back as seniors to complete unfinished business. That’s pretty good leadership.

The argument also could be made that the Buckeyes lost to Florida because they already felt as if they’d beaten the second-best team in the country in Michigan (and their Heisman quarterback got fat) and they lost to a hungry LSU because the Tigers were playing a virtual home game in their backyard in New Orleans (and their team was just better).

Following Ohio State on my ballot are Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia and Southern Cal, all of whom are talent-rich but have their flaws.

The Sooners have questions at linebacker, secondary and kicker and have forgotten how to win a bowl game themselves. The Gators had a Longhorns-like pass defense last season (98th), have concerns about the ground game, and wideout Percy Harvin is coming back from offseason foot surgery.

The Bulldogs don’t have Hawaii on their schedule, but do have trips to South Carolina, Arizona State, LSU and Auburn. USC’s quarterback is unproven, the Trojans return one starter from their offensive line and the defensive line had some major defections to the NFL. Pete Carroll can’t start eight tailbacks, and his bunch catch Ohio State on Sept. 13 before they can gel.

By my count, maybe 20 teams could qualify for one of the two final BCS spots. Utah comes in at No. 20 on my list — the same program that drubbed Big East rep Pittsburgh 35-7 in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl.

That list includes Texas — No. 12 on my vote because of questions about pass defense and running game. The Longhorns are one of five Big 12 teams among my top 14 that could barge into the championship game.

But any list should start with the Buckeyes, who could rival USC and LSU for honors as the team of the decade if they could ever finish a season as well as they start it. Ohio State has the best collection of talent in America, and it adds the top prospect in Terrelle Pryor, who will be given a chance to become the Tim Tebow of 2008.

It has seven games at home, where the Buckeyes are 44-5 under Tressel. Its last three losses in the Shoe were by seven to Rose Bowl-bound Illinois last season, by three to 2005 national champion Texas and by 11 to a 9-3 Wisconsin team in 2004.

The Buckeyes have won the last three Big Ten titles in a row with a 22-2 record and are flirting with becoming the first team to claim four since Michigan won or shared five straight from 1988 to 1992. No one really knows if they are hung over from their last two bowl debacles or smarting and itching for a fight. We’re betting on the latter.

Kirk Bohls’ preseason Top 25 ballot

How American-Statesman columnist Kirk Bohls voted in this year’s Associated Press preseason Top 25 college football poll, which will be released Aug. 16.

1. Ohio State Buckeyes have turned the page on 2007, added Pryor to nation’s most seasoned bunch

2. Oklahoma Best offensive and defensive lines in college football, and Stoops can coach a little

3. Florida Mr. Heisman Tebow and Harvin may hang half a hundred every Saturday

4. Georgia Rugged schedule and off-field issues could derail justifiable national title hopes

5. USC Rebuilding year or OL and QB may mean another Pac-10 title, but a non-title BCS game

6. Missouri A pair of Heisman candidates in Daniel and Maclin and no OU on the schedule has Tigers rejoicing

7. Clemson Breakout year in store for Bowden’s uber-talented Tigers, or will they just break down again?

8. West Virginia Four players kicked off, a QB in racial controversy: Welcome to the big time, Bill Stewart

9. Texas Tech OK, Leach, the whole country’s watching now. Whatcha got?

10. Wisconsin Quietest pseudo-powerhouse in the nation, but QB issues and tough, early schedule will tell the tale

11. South Florida Proven, all-star cast led by DE George Selvie may not shock anyone anymore, but could awe plenty

12. Texas Could surprise, assuming Will Muschamp can intercept about a dozen passes and that RB committee holds

13. LSU The Tigers are loaded everywhere but under center, but tough slate and complacency could spell so-so year

14. Kansas Mangino’s one of the best coaches in America that few outside of Lawrence can name

15. Auburn Two new coordinators set off alarms, and new spread offense could require some time

16. Arizona State Unless Rudy Carpenter becomes gun-shy and sees DEs in his sleep, Sun Devils could vie for Pac-10 supremacy

17. Virginia Tech With top RB Brandon Ore dismissed and QB up for grabs, Hokies’ rule in the ACC could end

18. Brigham Young If refashioned defense accompanies high-throttle offense, Cougars will be this year’s BCS party-crashers

19. Penn State Seventeen starters return as does their head coach. Just don’t ask JoePa how long he’ll stay

20. Utah The Utes open with Michigan and boast a tough pass defense in a spread-happy league

21. Pittsburgh Panthers riding momentum of top recruiting classes and upset of Mountaineers for hopeful, breakthrough year

22. Tennessee Run-challenged Vols trying to ratchet up ground game for SEC run behind new offensive coordinator

23. Illinois A salty defense and an athletic QB could grease the skids for a return to the Rose Bowl

24. Fresno State The team no one wants to play may mature into the team that could play in a BCS game

25. Oregon Playmakers under and behind center needed to fuel surge after promising 2007 start fizzled

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