Florida as 10th
For the 4th consecutive week I have been awarded the “Straight Banging” award for my vote in regard to Florida in the BlogPoll.
The “award” is given for the blogger that gives his team the least favorable rating in the BlogPoll. In this week’s case I rank Florida 10th, 4.04 spots worse than the Gator’s averaging ranking.
As a die-hard Gator fan, I think my vote is far more justifiable than that of the consensus.
Let’s review Florida’s resume –
Wins over
4-4 Hawaii
5-3 Miami
3-5 Tennessee
3-5 Arkansas
5-2 LSU
5-3 Kentucky
Loss to
4-4 Mississippi
Cumulative record of teams played: 29-24
With Florida ranked 4th in the BlogPoll, what exactly about this resume and Florida’s 6-1 record puts us ahead of several of the teams that follow us? Take Georgia for instance, who is one win better at 7-1. Their loss was to 2nd ranked Alabama (as opposed to unranked Ole Miss), and they beat LSU every bit as badly as we did. Yet they rank 8th in the BlogPoll.
Or Oklahoma State which comes in 9th in the BlogPoll. Their sole loss (at 7-1) was to top ranked Texas who they took to the wire.
The computers agree with me, as they rank Florida an average of 10th, with a top ranking of 6th, and a low ranking of 16th. Our Gators are 8th in the BCS.
I’m excited as anyone about the remaining prospects of our team, but I really cannot comprehend what makes us 4th in the BlogPoll rankings in light of a schedule that currently ranks 51st nationally, and with a loss to one of the most average teams on our schedule (at home no less).
That 51st schedule rank compares to –
Ohio State – 3rd
Georgia – 7th
Texas – 8th
Missouri – 9th
Oklahoma – 16th
Oklahoma State – 30th
USC – 32nd
All of whom, I submit, have faced a more challenging group of opponents than Florida so far. And none of them (with the exception perhaps of USC) who have lost to an opponent as questionable as we have.
If we beat UGA this weekend you can count on Florida moving up in my poll. But how about we earn it first?
Mentioned in Austin Murphy's book 
2 comments:
I don't see how you can say Georgia beat LSU nearly as bad as UF beat LSU. Granted, Georgia won in Death Valley, but at one point in the UF-LSU game the score was 41-14. The game was effectively over after UF went up 27-14 with 4 minutes left to go in the 3rd Quarter. Further, UF held LSU to 80 yards rushing.
Meanwhile, LSU had 497 total yards and 188 yards rushing! If not for Lee's 3 INTs, the game is FAR closer. Georgia's D looked very susceptible against a sub-par offense.
I was going to say the exact same thing as Upchurch: Florida absolutely hammered LSU, while Georgia went back and forth the whole game and couldn't stop the Tiger offense at all. Florida essentially allowed only 14 points, with the final LSU TD coming late in the fourth quarter off a Tebow fumble in Gator territory.
I also get irritated when the media call the USC loss to Oregon State a "better loss" than Florida's to Ole Miss, as it disregards the fact that USC got dominated by OSU and Florida lost on a late-game missed PAT. Quality of losses, and wins, seem like they should matter; in the case of ranking Florida and Georgia, where there have been few common opponents, the recent LSU games should be decent comparisons.
Here's something to think about, by the way: why is it that the BlogPoll is so ridiculously like every other poll on the planet??? I can see Mergz' point about ranking teams, and his reasons are valid; Florida doesn't, right now, deserve to be in the top 10 (I think we're a top 10 squad, but we have several games left to prove it). I find it embarrassing that all these bloggers, who actually tend to WATCH games (unlike AP voters), come to the same consensus.
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