There’s nothing quite as thrillingly meaningless as a good ol’-fashioned preseason poll, and we aren’t about to disappoint. The USD asked nine other folks who write about the Division to register their predictions for how the teams will rank at season’s end. The 10 ballots were then compiled to produce the greatest (and only) preseason U.S. Division media poll ever.

A first-place vote is worth five points, while a fifth-place vote is worth one point. You should be able to figure out the rest. Here’s how our panel of relative experts sees the U.S. Division playing out (first place votes in parentheses)

1. Portland, 49 points (9)

2. Everett, 31 points (1)

T3. Seattle, 26 points

T3. Tri-City, 26 points

5. Spokane, 18 points

The panel: Dylan Bumbarger (Oregonlive.com), Chris Derrick (Spokane Spokesman-Review), Andy Eide (710sports.com), Annie Fowler (Tri-City Herald), Frank Guill (Spokane Chiefs Fan Page), Tyler Hunnex (Let’s Go Birds), Nick Patterson (Everett Herald), Tim Pigulski (710sports.com), Dave Schultz (I Mean, We Got Guys…), Scott Sepich (The U.S. Division)

photo: Portland Winterhawks