Posting a ballot for comments on Election Day seems a bit odd, doesn't it?
Oh, well.
Death to the infidels!
[Games I Took In This Week]
Given that this was the first Saturday in about two months that I could completely dedicate to college football, I indulged myself to a ridiculous degree. In whole or significant part, I watched the following games:
Connecticut v. West Virginia
Toledo v. Ohio
Minnesota v. Indiana
Iowa v. Northwestern
South Florida v. Rutgers
Michigan State v. Purdue
Tennessee v. Notre Dame
Wisconsin v. Penn State
Illinois v. Ohio State
Vanderbilt v. Florida
Miami v. Virginia Tech
Stanford v. Southern California
Brown v. Yale
[Ballot]
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six
Week Seven
Week Eight
Week Nine
Week Ten
BlogPoll Central
[Notes About This Week's Ballot]
The way I see things at this point is as follows:
1. Southern California and Texas are clearly the best two teams in the country at this point. No other squad out there is playing the game as balanced as these two teams are right now.
2. The next tier of teams rolls from 3 to 9 in my ballot. I am willing to listen to arguments for clubs swapping positions within that tier, although I am not real certain that anyone other than Penn State may be getting a "raw deal."
3. Tier 3 stretches from 10 to 14. All these clubs appear flawed in one way or another, but if they are able to gain any consistency, could move into the second tier. The only questions I really have about this tier is whether Oregon should be at the doorstep of this group and whether UCLA should even have membership at this level.
4. Texas Tech and Fresno State sit lively in the fifth tier. Should these teams even be here? Is there any reason to believe that the clubs behind them are more worthy of slots 15 and 16? Does this even matter?
5. Slots 17-25 round out the sixth and final tier. This tier seems dominated with teams having a lot of potential, but have not yet found a way to maximize it. Any suggestions on slotting in this group would be beneficial as I haven't a) seen TCU play; b) seen Colorado play since they were hammered by Miami; c) vested any faith in Florida State since they failed to blowout Syracuse; and d) decided whether I should grow some stones and slide Northwestern past Georgia Tech (gasp!).
Oh, well.
Death to the infidels!
[Games I Took In This Week]
Given that this was the first Saturday in about two months that I could completely dedicate to college football, I indulged myself to a ridiculous degree. In whole or significant part, I watched the following games:
Connecticut v. West Virginia
Toledo v. Ohio
Minnesota v. Indiana
Iowa v. Northwestern
South Florida v. Rutgers
Michigan State v. Purdue
Tennessee v. Notre Dame
Wisconsin v. Penn State
Illinois v. Ohio State
Vanderbilt v. Florida
Miami v. Virginia Tech
Stanford v. Southern California
Brown v. Yale
[Ballot]
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six
Week Seven
Week Eight
Week Nine
Week Ten
BlogPoll Central
[Notes About This Week's Ballot]
The way I see things at this point is as follows:
1. Southern California and Texas are clearly the best two teams in the country at this point. No other squad out there is playing the game as balanced as these two teams are right now.
2. The next tier of teams rolls from 3 to 9 in my ballot. I am willing to listen to arguments for clubs swapping positions within that tier, although I am not real certain that anyone other than Penn State may be getting a "raw deal."
3. Tier 3 stretches from 10 to 14. All these clubs appear flawed in one way or another, but if they are able to gain any consistency, could move into the second tier. The only questions I really have about this tier is whether Oregon should be at the doorstep of this group and whether UCLA should even have membership at this level.
4. Texas Tech and Fresno State sit lively in the fifth tier. Should these teams even be here? Is there any reason to believe that the clubs behind them are more worthy of slots 15 and 16? Does this even matter?
5. Slots 17-25 round out the sixth and final tier. This tier seems dominated with teams having a lot of potential, but have not yet found a way to maximize it. Any suggestions on slotting in this group would be beneficial as I haven't a) seen TCU play; b) seen Colorado play since they were hammered by Miami; c) vested any faith in Florida State since they failed to blowout Syracuse; and d) decided whether I should grow some stones and slide Northwestern past Georgia Tech (gasp!).
| FootBlogPoll: Week Eleven | ||||
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous | Value |
| 1. | Southern California | 9-0 | 1 | |
| 2. | Texas | 9-0 | 2 | |
| 3. | Miami (FL) | 7-1 | 6 | |
| 4. | Lousiana State | 7-1 | 4 | |
| 5. | Notre Dame | 6-2 | 5 | |
| 6. | Alabama | 9-0 | 7 | |
| 7. | Penn State | 7-1 | 10 | |
| 8. | Georgia | 7-1 | 9 | |
| 9. | Virginia Tech | 8-1 | 3 | |
| 10. | Ohio State | 7-2 | 11 | |
| 11. | Florida | 7-2 | 12 | |
| 12. | Oregon | 8-1 | 14 | |
| 13. | Auburn | 7-2 | 16 | |
| 14. | UCLA | 8-1 | 8 | |
| 15. | Fresno State | 7-1 | 17 | |
| 16. | Texas Tech | 8-1 | 18 | |
| 17. | West Virginia | 7-1 | 19 | |
| 18. | Florida State | 7-2 | 13 | |
| 19. | Michigan | 6-3 | 22 | |
| 20. | Georgia Tech | 6-2 | 23 | |
| 21. | Wisconsin | 8-2 | 15 | |
| 22. | Colorado | 7-2 | 25 | |
| 23. | Northwestern | 6-3 | NR | |
| 24. | Louisville | 6-2 | NR | |
| 25. | Texas Christian | 9-1 | NR | |
I strenously object to the placement of LSU and PSU. LSU is lucky not to be 6-3; PSU is unlucky not to be undefeated. Penn State has also crushed LSU in terms of style points by blowing out a number of good teams and never seriously trailing any game in the fourth quarter save Michigan. The schedule seems to be a slight edge to PSU to date as well.
I invite you to compare the resumes of UCLA and LSU to see if they are indeed, very different. I think you have UCLA pegged about right... LSU not so much.
Minor changes from original ballot:
- Miami moves into the 3 hole.
- LSU slides to the 4 hole.
- Penn State goes to 7th.
- Georgia to 8.
- And Virginia Tech drops a spot to 9.
As I mentioned in the comments above, 3-9 is a pretty muddled tier to try and work with. Finding a definitive slotting for these teams is fairly difficult, given that each has such heavy pro's and con's.
The reason I'm keeping LSU in the top 4 despite their poor schedule and unimpressive resume is that the Tigers are still loaded with talent, and as such, should not be punished for playing a concededly poor schedule up to this point in the season. When LSU faces off against the big guns, their mettle will be tested and will probably prevail.
To fault them for failing to play the difficult part of the schedule early in the year doesn't seem like a proper reason to punish them.
If LSU and State were to face off on the same field tomorrow, I do believe that LSU would be victorious. And that, whether right or not, is why the Tigers stay in the top 4.