In sports we have a bad habit of ranking teams, plays, players, leagues, anything that is quantifiable really.

So with that mindset I ranked the top 12 television shows starting in the fall. Each week I will update the rankings based on the weeks shows. I will give the episode grade, how I though the episode helped or hurt the show overall and how the show is trending on the rankings.

I guess I did this to somewhat justify the amount of television I watch to the amount of homework I do. Or it might be my sports mentality of wanting to rank everything (is it bad I have a mental list of my top ten favorite shirts?).

With that being said here are the preseason rankings:

1. The Office (NBC)

Who will be the new boss? Exactly what role will James Spader play? Will Dwight and Jim go back to their old ways? Has the office jumped the shark?

All questions that will (hopefully) be answered Sept. 22.

Despite having the No. 1 spot going into week one, the office is a show very much on the brink of falling way down the charts. No Michael Scott may spell disaster.

Trending: Steady -> 

2. Parks & Recreation (NBC)

Whenever Ron Swanson is involved with a Tammy things get interesting, and funny, this season we meet Tammy 1 and Tammy 0. What more could we ask for?

Trending: Up ^

3. Community (NBC)

Love the show especially attending a community college, but the show has started to run its course. They haven’t developed the characters outside the major plot lines through the seasons. Remember when Troy played football? Remember why Jeff is at the community college? What is the rest of the study group wanting to achieve. Where is the show going? Are they just going for laughs, because they have forgotten that after a few years people do leave community college.

Trending: Steady ->

4. Modern Family (ABC)

The Tampa Bay Rays of the group, will be in the top five every week of the season and will have a great run in the playoffs. The show was a major hit and there wasn’t a week where you wondered where the writers went. It is a really funny show that keeps getting better each week.

Trending: Up ^

5. NCIS (CBS)

The writers have crafted the characters brilliantly, we know each characters role, and what they will do through the episode but the fun is seeing how they fill that role in different situations. How many times will Tony get smacked by Gibbs, will Ziva have to bail out Timothy out of a fight and what wisdom will ‘Ducky’ impart on the team.

Trending: Steady ->

6. NCIS: LA (CBS)

It is the younger brother to NCIS. It is set in the cooler city with a younger cast, they are the new school to Gibbs old school. They do everything the NCIS crew wouldn’t do for fear of a Gibbs head slap.

Trending: Steady ->

7. The Amazing Race (CBS)

If you are a fan of the show (and there are a lot) then you will watch no matter what. Everybody knows the point of the show, the differences between a okay season and a great season are the teams. Will they get a good cast of characters is the big question.

Trending: Steady ->

8. Dancing with the Stars (ABC)

Two words. Hope. Solo.

Other then that the other “stars” are more like pulsars.

Trending: Down v

9. New Girl (FOX)

Zooey Deschanel is the only reason I watched the Pilot. And unless the story gets a little more interesting or the other characters improve it will fall in the rankings. It will all depend on future shows, the Pilot was good enough to warrant a second look.

Episode Grade: C-

Trending: Steady ->

10. The Playboy Club (NBC)

Amber Heard, heard of her?

The way to keep viewers watching an average show is to feature an actress who has been named to Maxim’s Hot 100 women for the past three years (No. 21 last year, not that I would know…).

Who cares if the plot sucks, at least your eyes are happy.

Trending: Up ^ (If only for all the attention it has gotten for ‘racy’ content)

11. Up All Night (NBC)

Great cast in Will Arnett, Christina Applegate and Maya Rudolph. Like the concept, but if they have to resort to cursing in front of their child it is going to get old fast. It will be interesting to see as the season goes along what they will have Arnett (the stay at home dad) do.

Episode Grade: B-

Trending: Up ^

12. The X Factor

After watching the eight minute world premier I immediately forgot the phrase “American Idol.” The X Factor is everything Idol isn’t, any age, any genre, with all the sob stories.

The question now is, does the show have the “X” factor to take away viewers from Idol.  

Trending: Up ^

Missed the cut: Charlies Angels (ABC), Terra Nova (FOX), Survivor (CBS), Hawaii Five-O (CBS), Free Agents (NBC)