Draft BlogPoll Ballot
I feel pretty good about my number 1 here. No one has looked better than Alabama thus far.
For the most part I’m pretty pleased with the order I have the unbeaten teams in. It’s the one loss teams that give me pause.
Essentially there isn’t a one loss team with a “good loss”, to my way of thinking. Sure Virginia Tech lost to my number one, but they got totally whipped. There are similar problems with the losses by the other single loss teams. And USC’s loss to Washington continues to look worse.
Here’s my first effort – let’s hear your takes.
(P.S. – When talking about ranking, the term “unjustifiable” is often used – as in it is “unjustifiable that so-and-so is ranked that high”, or “unjustifiable that such-and-such is ranked at all”. What I have seen so far this year that is “unjustifiable” is the preseason polls, in retrospect. The fact that teams continue to cling to being ranked where they are in “conventional” polls in the face of all available evidence is “unjustifiable”. Examples include USC at 7th in both polls despite losing to 2 loss Washington, or the totally mystifying and truly “unjustifiable” ranking of Houston BEHIND Oklahoma State in the Coaches’ Poll, who they thoroughly beat. My utter disdain for tradtional ranking grows with every week.)
 | ||
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | |
| 2 | Houston |  2 |
| 3 | Cincinnati | |
| 4 | Florida | 5 |
| 5 | Texas | 1 |
| 6 | TCU | 17 |
| 7 | Boise State | 1 |
| 8 | Iowa | |
| 9 | South Florida | |
| 10 | LSU |  3 |
| 11 | Michigan | 1 |
| 12 | UCLA | |
| 13 | Virginia Tech | 2 |
| 14 | Oregon | |
| 15 | Georgia | |
| 16 | Auburn | 5 |
| 17 | Oklahoma | 2 |
| 18 | Oklahoma State | 4 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | |
| 20 | Missouri | 7 |
| 21 | Southern Cal | 1 |
| 22 | Ohio State | 1 |
| 23 | Georgia Tech | |
| 24 | Brigham Young | 6 |
| 25 | Miami (Florida) | 23 |
| Last week's ballot | ||
Mentioned in Austin Murphy's book 
4 comments:
I like Boise State higher in the poll. The win over Oregon looks better after last weekend. Otherwise I think for how you come up with the ballot, it's pretty solid.
Other than Oklahoma State below Georgia (who has Georgia beaten to this point that is a better win than OSU's over UGA), I think this is pretty good.
I disagree with your comment about Virginia Tech's loss not being a good loss, iirc the game was close until the 4th quarter, when Alabama was finally able to pull away. This isn't to say I think they should be ranked higher, I think the undefeateds continue to get the nod over them, and I definitely think they're the best of the one-loss teams, so really as far as your rankings, I completely agree.
I gotta agree that Oklahoma State > Georgia until records say otherwise. If the Cowboys lose again, then I'm fine with them dropping behind the Dawgs.
Michigan 11? who have they beaten and it has taken two last drive efforts to beat really bad opponents. Top 25 sure, but 11? have they really looked better than a 20 Missouri or Auburn?
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