Week 8? Is that right? Let's go with it. This week I watched Penn State get back on the winning streak against Iowa. I caught highlights of most of the games and managed to catch a good portion of Ohio State and Purdue. On to the ballot.
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LSU | -- |
| 2 | California |
 2 |
| 3 | Ohio State | -- |
| 4 | Boston College |
3 |
| 5 | South Florida |
4 |
| 6 | Missouri |
10 |
| 7 | South Carolina |
 1 |
| 8 | Oklahoma |
2 |
| 9 | Oregon |
3 |
| 10 | Virginia Tech |
3 |
| 11 | Illinois |
13 |
| 12 | West Virginia |
8 |
| 13 | Florida |
2 |
| 14 | Kentucky |
6 |
| 15 | Arizona State |
7 |
| 16 | Southern Cal |
14 |
| 17 | Wisconsin |
12 |
| 18 | Cincinnati |
7 |
| 19 | Hawaii | -- |
| 20 | Florida State |
6 |
| 21 | Kansas |
5 |
| 22 | Texas |
4 |
| 23 | Auburn |
3 |
| 24 | Purdue |
9 |
| 25 | Tennessee |
1 |
This week I think you're starting to see a more fundamental shift in my ballot toward resume ranking. We've seen enough of every team it's getting easier to rank them.
The Unbeatens
You can see the top six teams are all undefeated. I think I've ranked them pretty well in order of strongest to weakest. I don't consider teams like Cincinnati and Hawaii part of this group because they haven't played anyone yet. That's right. Rutgers doesn't count.
The One Loss Teams
I think South Carolina is the best of the one loss teams. Their loss was to LSU and it was a pretty close game. They have also beaten a few ranked teams in Georgia and Kentucky. Oklahoma looks really good despite the loss to Colorado. Should be interesting to see them play Missouri this week.
Listen up, voters. Start giving Illinois some cred. These guys have beaten Wisconsin and Penn State in the last two weeks. They are for real. If not for a Juice Williams concussion in the first game against Missouri they are probably undefeated right now. This team is going to make some noise.
Yeah Florida got lumped in with the one loss teams. That's because their two losses are against Auburn and LSU. I still think they are a good team. We'll find out in the next few weeks as they play Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida State.
Everyone Else
After Wisconsin at #17 I have no idea how to rank the teams. There is a huge mush of about 20 teams with one or two losses. You could pick any eight of them to round out the top 25 and I wouldn't give you a hard time about it.
Anyway, there's the ballot. Discuss. Final ballot is due on Wednesday.