Congrats to the UCLA men and the USC women, who were named in this week's Golf World as the preseason No. 1 ranked teams in the country. Before Bruins and Trojans fans go off an get a big head, however, consider that since Golf World re-introduced the college coaches' poll at the start of the 2000-01 season, only two men's and two women's schools that were picked for the top spot before the season started won the NCAA title the next spring.
MEN
Year Preseason pick NCAA champ
2000-01 Clemson Florida
2001-02 Florida Minnesota
2002-03 Clemson Clemson
2003-04 Clemson California
2004-05 Georgia Georgia
2005-06 Georgia Oklahoma State
2006-07 Oklahoma State Stanford
2007-08 Stanford UCLA
WOMEN
Year Preseason pick NCAA champ
2000-01 Duke Georgia
2001-02 Duke Duke
2002-03 Duke USC
2003-04 Duke UCLA
2004-05 UCLA Duke
2005-06 UCLA Duke
2006-07 Duke Duke
2007-08 Duke USC
Interesting, too, is where the teams that won the national title were actually ranked in the preseason poll. On the women's side, there have been no "surprises" but on the men's side, twice in the last nine years the eventually NCAA champion was well under the radar (as in not ranked at all) to start the fall.
MEN NCAA champ Preseason ranking
2000-01 Florida 12th
2001-02 Minnesota 16th
2002-03 Clemson 1st
2003-04 California Not ranked
2004-05 Georgia 1st
2005-06 Oklahoma State 2nd
2006-07 Stanford Not ranked
2007-08 UCLA 5th
WOMEN NCAA champ Preseason ranking
2000-01 Georgia 7th
2001-02 Duke 1st
2002-03 USC 8th
2003-04 UCLA 3rd
2004-05 Duke 2nd
2005-06 Duke 2nd
2006-07 Duke 1st
2007-08 USC 4th
What's all this suggest? On the women's side, if you're ranked inside the top eight (USC, UCLA, Duke, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Georgia, Purdue and Florida) you've got a chance in 2008-09. And if you're on the men's side, this could be a year an "unknown" emerges.
As they say, food for thought.
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