Finally, a return to normalcy in these parts. And by normalcy, I mean that only two teams in the top ten suffered defeats while the 2nd ten completely crashed and burned. These things grow more and more difficult to do every week.
The Buckeyes hold on the to top spot, while Oregon jumps LSU into the 2nd position. That's a function of LSU having the week off and a combination of the LSU loss at Kentucky looking worse, with the Oregon win over Michigan looking better and better. With Oregon welcoming Arizona State this weekend, the top come to focus even further next week.
We feel great about picks 1-9, but picks 10 and on, not so much.
As always, you can check the ballots of every voter and the final version is due Wednesday morning, so get your thoughts in by Tuesday night if you think we got it wrong.
| 1 |  |
The doubters are thinning. Always tough Wisky comes to Columbus this weekend. | -- |
| 2 |  |
Dennis Dixon and the Ducks took care of USC and welcome ASU to town this weekend. |  1 |
| 3 |  |
The Tigers had a bye before going to Alabama this weekend. |  1 |
| 4 |  |
Earned some respect with that comeback in Blacksburg. The Eagles take on Florida State this weekend. | 1 |
| 5 |  |
Say what you will about the guy -- cough -- penalties -- cough -- program out of control -- cough, but Dennis Erickson can coach. HUGE matchup in Autzen this weekend. | 2 |
| 6 |  |
The Sooners had a bye before playing Texas A&M this weekend. | 2 |
| 7 |  |
White, Slaton and crew demolished Rutgers. There's an outside shot the Mountaineers can get to New Orleans, but a few teams will have to lose. | 1 |
| 8 |  |
The Mangino express will be the latest team to destroy Nebraska this weekend. | 1 |
| 9 |  |
Took care of Iowa state handily. Travel to Colorado for a tricky road game this weekend. | 2 |
| 10 |  |
Georgia neutralized Tebow and frosh Knowshon Moreno got 188 on the ground. Georgia fan already dreaming of 2nd coming of Walker.. but smaller. | 6 |
| 11 |  |
This is about as high as you'll find a 3-loss team. The Gators get Vandy this weekend. That used to be considered a breather. | 3 |
| 12 |  |
It was another close game until late -- this team loves living on the edge, but Charles and the Horns put it on Nebraska late. | 2 |
| 13 |  |
Look who's all the way back up at #13. Minny gave Michigan a scare early, but it wasn't close at the end. | 6 |
| 14 |  |
Injuries have ravaged this team. I do take back what I said about Joe McKnight looking slow a few weeks ago, though. | 2 |
| 15 |  |
Depending on what side you're on, the Hokies either gave one away, or Matt Ryan looked the Heisman part late. Probably a little of both. | 5 |
| 16 |  |
So, Northern teams can play some ball with Southern teams. Imagine that. Huskies get Rutgers at home next. | NR |
| 17 |  |
Will this team even be ranked at the end of the season? They welcome the Bearcats next. | 4 |
| 18 |  |
Yawn. Beat Mississippi and welcome Tennessee Tech this weekend. | 7 |
| 19 |  |
Karma shoves its foot up the OBC's ass once again as the Buckeyes roll, while he goes down to a guy he used to collect rent from. | 4 |
| 20 |  |
The Deacons beat UNC and square off against Virginia in Charlottesville this weekend. | NR |
| 21 |  |
Hawaii beat the hell out of New Mexico State, but they won't move up much further until they beat a BCS team - which won't happen this year. | 1 |
| 22 |  |
20 minutes away from moving into #1 a few weeks back, the Bears have suddenly lost 3 straight. The hippies protesting the new stadium have already won. | 5 |
| 23 |  |
Bear Saban's boys had a bye before they welcome LSU to town this weekend. | -- |
| 24 |  |
The Badgers got back on track by throttling Indiana 33-3. Hoosier receiver James Hardy was held to 17 yards receving a week after torching Penn State. | NR |
| 25 |  |
Why not? Troy can prove this ranking worthy by knocking off Georgia this weekend. Unlikely, but.. | NR |
DROPPED OUT: Virginia (#18), Kentucky (#20), Penn State (#21), Rutgers (#24).
Comments
florida at 11 is waaaaaaaay to high in my opinion. you drinking that sec kool-aid?
I agree. I mean come on guys. Florida takes its 3rd loss to Georgia and drops 3, while Va Tech takes its 2nd loss to BC and drops 5? Va Tech should be ahead of Florida……and for that matter Georgia moved up way to much for handing a defenseless Florida team its 3rd loss. Please tell me you guys aren’t slipping into the SEC hype that they have parity and are just beating each other up. There seems to be a thin line between parity and mediocrity in college football these days.
You guys are too smart to have Florida where they are.
I don't like Florida any more than I like Mark May, but the simple truth is that they would beat most if not all of the teams ranked below them and probably some in front of them...if Tebow is healthy. That team has one good player and then a whole herd of really fast guys. If Tebow is not 100% they are beatable. Period.
Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda Harold. Rankings aren't based on what you are good enought to do, they're based on what you have done......and Florida already has lost to 2 of those teams ahead of them and 1 team below them.......and they've had serious trouble with 2 teams that are no longer ranked! Since when did we start ranking on potential......3 losses=out of the top 15. Especially when your defense is giving up 25.6 points per game! Come on now guys.....Florida still isn't bowl eligible yet. Avoid the media hype about the SEC...other than LSU kicking the crap out of Va Tech (who has since changed quarterbacks) they haven't done squat in their out of conference schedules.
This is why we put out the rough draft on Monday, to let the readers help us. I love the passion Wil, it is nice to be able to kick Florid(i)a while they are down. I'm sure the Gators will move down when the final ballot goes in on Wednesday.
Wil, who do you think the best team is; Michigan, Florida, Texas or USC?
Definitely USC.....injuries have played a big part in they're problems (watch out for them in the bowl season when they’re healthy)....Michigan and Florida (even though both have tremendous offenses each led by a heismanesque player) are both extremely lacking in defense and I haven’t been impressed with anything Texas has done other than not get blown out by Oklahoma.
Here is some more food for thought. These are the Big Ten Rankings:
TEAM CONF OVERALL
Ohio State 5-0 9-0
Michigan 5-0 7-2
Wisconsin 3-2 7-2
Purdue 3-2 7-2
Illinois 3-2 6-3
Penn State 3-3 6-3
Northwestern 2-3 5-4
Indiana 2-4 5-4
Iowa 2-4 4-5
Michigan State 1-4 5-4
Minnesota 0-5 1-8
Thats 6 Bowl bound teams so far......and here is how the rest shape up:
*Northwestern has Iowa(W) and Indiana(L) at home and Illinois(L) away which should make them bowl eligible.
*Indiana has Ball State(W) and Purdue(L) at home and Northwestern(W) away which should make them bowl eligible.
*Iowa has Minnesota(W) and Western Michigan(W) at home and Northwestern(L) away which should make them bowl eligible.
*Michigan State has Michigan(?) and Penn State(?) at home and Purdue(?) away.....if they can win 1 of those 3 they will be bowl bound.
*Minnesota......well at least they can't set another record worst come from behind loss in a bowl game this year.
Anyway, what I'm saying is if all the teams win the games they should, and Michigan State can win 1 of its final 3 (which is possible) then the Big Ten could have 10 out of its 11 teams in bowl games.....how's that for parity (if you're playing that angle SEC fans)?
Sorry, I have a general distaste for SEC fans.
We are nothing if not reader-responsive. Thanks for the feedback everyone -- even nice to see the Son of Wilford making another appearance.
I adjusted the ballot based on your feedback, but that creates a situation where USC moved up a spot, despite losing on Saturday. Not sure how I feel about that.
Take a look and let me know what you think now.
That 2nd ten is a jumble. I said as much in the intro to this ballot.
Wil, in my opinion, you are contradicting yourself. You argue that Florida shouldn't be ranked high based on their potential, but you argue that USC should? You say USC's problems are injury-based....isn't that "Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda" as well?
I would rank it this way:
11 VTech
12 USC
13 Florida
14 Texas
15 UM
"Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda" ? I think the "media" polls are based on worse criteria than that. Since the entire idea of ranking teams without being able to see them play head to head and the fact that their initial preseason ranking (which is completely based on "coulda, shoulda, woulda") has a lot to do with where they sit now - I think it is ok to base my rankings on what I think the team will be at the end of the year based on who they have left, their overall talent level, their win/loss record, their history in big games, their coaching staff, and little dab of personal hatred or love. It is just my opinion that a teams record doesn't always acurately portray their actual ability. (i.e. OSU 2005). I respect your opinions, they are always well thought out - please try and do the same for me. Go Bucks.
Mark, I would probably flip Va Tech and Georgia (assuming you are keeping them 10th) and flip Florida and Texas....I do believe UM is playing better ball than Florida right now, but UM has big problems with dual-threat quarterbacks so I can't imagine them being able to stop Tebow at all. But in general I have no real problems with your rankings of 11-15.I also don't believe USC is a top ten team.....but I wasn't ranking them on what they could do, more what they have not done in comparison with the others.....and they have not gotten blown out (UM to Oregon and Texas to Kansas State) or lost three games (Florida).
Harold, I meant no disrespect as I do respect your opinions which also appear very well thought out. I also agree that records don't always show how good a team is......but that’s life....we are rewarding on performance, and 1 mistake can change others perspective of you. I also agree that preseason rankings are based on "coulda, shoulda, woulda" and thus I am one of those people that believe the Associated Press and Coaches Polls should not come out until after week 4. They can let the preseason magazines handle the preseason hype.
Jason, you could swap Va Tech and USC, that would have Va Tech dropping 1 after a close loss to BC and USC staying the same after a close loss to Oregon. Maybe that will make you feel better than USC moving up after a loss.
It just occured to me that USC has not beat a team with a winning record. As far I can tell, the best team they beat is Nebraska. Uhm, yikes.
Wow! Thats a good point Harold, they just lost a lot of respect in my book!