This ballot will probably end up being highlighted on the Wack Ballot, but I don't care. Like all polls, the blogpoll means nothing. All of the polls are a joke. We assign arbitrary ranks to teams that haven't played each other based who beat the best level of competition as determined by our own arbitrary rankings. So it got me thinking, why not us? Here's the ballot.
 |
||
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida |
 3 |
| 2 | Penn State |
3 |
| 3 | Southern Cal |
3 |
| 4 | Oklahoma |
 2 |
| 5 | Alabama |
4 |
| 6 | Texas |
3 |
| 7 | Texas Tech | -- |
| 8 | Ohio State |
2 |
| 9 | Utah |
1 |
| 10 | Boise State |
1 |
| 11 | TCU |
1 |
| 12 | Michigan State |
2 |
| 13 | Cincinnati | -- |
| 14 | Oregon |
1 |
| 15 | Georgia Tech |
2 |
| 16 | Pittsburgh |
3 |
| 17 | Oklahoma State |
1 |
| 18 | Brigham Young |
2 |
| 19 | Georgia |
2 |
| 20 | Mississippi |
6 |
| 21 | Virginia Tech |
5 |
| 22 | Northwestern |
1 |
| 23 | Oregon State |
1 |
| 24 | Boston College |
8 |
| 25 | Iowa | -- |
Am I a homer for ranking Penn State in the top two? Sure. But I'm not the only one.
If Mack Brown can rank his team #2 just because Texas beat a top ten team, why not us? We beat Ohio State, who is also a top ten team. And they beat Oklahoma on a neutral field while we beat Ohio State on the road.
Urban Meyer ranked his team #1 despite losing to an unranked team at home. We lost to an unranked team with the same record on the road. Why not us? (Incidently, Meyer ranked Penn State #9 on his ballot.)
USC lost to Oregon State. We destroyed Oregon State. Why not us?
Alabama's out of conference schedule was a joke. They don't have a win over a team currently ranked in the top 10. We beat three teams currently ranked in the top 25. Why not us?
I've seen Florida, Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and USC all play this year. I think Penn State can go toe-to-toe with any of them. Voters forget that defense is half of the game. They're enamored with offense and scoring. The Big XII doesn't play defense. I've seen enough of their games to know this. Florida, Alabama, and USC all play defense just as good as Penn State. But we're paying the price for Ohio State's sins. Is it fair that we don't get a shot at the title? Sure, but then polls by nature aren't fair.
So yeah, this ballot is a statement. It says polls suck and I hate polls. Everyone spins their season to make their argument. So when none of it makes sense we revert to our preconceived notions. Which means the voting is guided by these simple principles:
1. ESSS EEEE SEEE IZ OMG AWSUM FAST
2. The greatest offenses play in the Big XII
3. The Big Ten Sucks
Whatever. Wake me up when there's a playoff.