Week 9 Blogpoll Ballot - Draft

Penn State had a road game this week so I got to watch a bunch of football. Of course I watched PSU-Indiana with bits and pieces of the Pitt-UConn game during commercials. I watched the Buckeyes run out to a 17-0 lead on the Spartans before I shut it off to go mow the grass. Man I wish I had stuck around to see the 24-17 final. Then on Saturday night I watched Illinois hand Michigan another win. Then I flipped over to LSU-Auburn and watched until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. I didn't get to see the controversial ending where Miles almost blew it.

Anyway, on to the ballot.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	LSU	2
3	Oklahoma	2
4	Boston College	1
5	Oregon	3
6	Virginia Tech	3
7	Arizona State	6
8	Florida	4
9	Missouri	6
10	Southern Cal	7
11	South Carolina	5
12	Kentucky	5
13	West Virginia	2
14	Kansas	--
15	Hawaii	1
16	Michigan	8
17	Texas	3
18	South Florida	16
19	Georgia	--
20	Penn State	5
21	Auburn	3
22	California	12
23	Alabama	3
24	Connecticut	2
25	Rutgers	1

Another week where I pretty much threw out the old ballot and started over. Last year this was much easier since most weeks you only had one or two top ten teams lose and most times it was to another top 10 team so all you did was some minor shuffling. Anyway, here is some of my justification.

Ohio State - Yeah I have the Buckeyes #1. A lot of people have heartburn over that because they have not had a challenge on their schedule yet. But in this year of the upset you have to admire a team that takes care of business week in and week out. What matters is the final poll, and after this week we'll have a better idea how good the Buckeyes are.

LSU - Yeah they have one loss, but you just can't ignore all those impressive wins. Then they knocked off Auburn this past week to add another skin to the belt.

Oklahoma - Despite the loss to Colorado, probably the second best resume out there with wins over Miami, Texas, and Missouri.

Boston College - Last week I had Boston College in the #3 spot, so it would make sense to move them up to #2 with South Florida's loss. But after I submitted that ballot I felt like I made a mistake. They haven't played anyone impressive either, but we'll find out how good they are in the next few weeks when they play Virginia Tech, Maryland, Florida State, Clemson, and Miami. Why do I give the Buckeyes a pass for a weak schedule and not the Eagles? I guess because the Buckeyes played in the National Championship game last year. It's my ballot and I'll cry if I want to.

Oregon - They're still riding that impressive win over Michigan but really haven't done anything since. This week they get USC and next week they play Arizona State so we'll find out if they are for real.

Virginia Tech - I can't make heads or tails of this team. And looking at their remaining schedule I don't know if I ever will.

Arizona State - I'm not convinced their good yet. I'll know more after they play Cal, Oregon, UCLA, and USC. Play well and they may shoot up.

Florida - The highest ranked two loss team on my ballot. The four point loss to LSU is looking more impressive while the wins over Tennessee and Kentucky look less impressive.

Missouri - Completely dismantled Nebraska and Texas Tech and own another quality win over Illinois.

Southern Cal - Was anyone impressed with their 38-0 win over Notre Dame? Anyone?

South Carolina - The loss to Vanderbilt was a shocker. Still I can't ignore the wins over Kentucky and Georgia and the close loss to LSU.

Kentucky - No shame in losing to Florida. But the wins over Louisville and South Carolina look less impressive now.

West Virginia - Looking at who they have played and who they are going to play I don't think there is anything that can convince me to put them in the top ten until after their bowl game.

Kansas - Other than the fact they are 7-0 is there really any reason to rank them? Playing in the Big Twelve North they may very well go undefeated and earn the right to get slaughtered by Oklahoma.

Hawaii - Is there a way we can get this team in the Big East where they belong?

Michigan - I know I know. Move them up eight spots after Illinois had to try three times to hand them the game? The Wolverines are moving up through attrition.

Texas - Mack Brown - Vince Young = meh

South Florida - Holy Moses! A 16 point fall for losing to Rutgers? That's what happens when people never really believed in you to begin with. Plus the failure of the coach to adjust the offensive gameplan in the second half gives me serious doubts about them. They're just another Big East pretender.

Georgia - Is there any reason to get excited about this team?

Penn State - Like Michigan, they are moving up through attrition. There are several blogpoll voters who refuse to give Penn State any respect and look for excuses not to rank them. Mark this down: Some of the Notre Dame blogs won't put us on the ballot even if we knock off Ohio State this week. I'm afraid that ranking them at #20 puts me in danger of the Coulter-Krugman Award curse, but I see 50 Yard Lion ranks them number 17. So if we lose blame him.

Auburn - I can't drop them too much for losing to LSU, but giving up that touchdown was dumb. Knock it down, son!

California - They're starting to have the look of a team that has given up on the season.

Alabama - This team has been on again off again all season long on my ballot. After an impressive win over Tennessee they're on again.

Connecticut - Holy smokes look who's 6-1 and on top of the Big East standings! Nice win over Louisville even if they did cheat and the officials looked the other way.

Rutgers - I have to put somebody at #25. But I can't give you tons of credit for beating South Florida at home on a Thursday night.

This is just a draft and open to change. Let me know if I'm missing anything.