Rank	Team	PPB	StdDev	Delta
1	Georgia (24)	23.3	1.6	25
2	Ohio State (17)	22.9	2.0	24
3	Southern Cal (15)	22.9	3.0	23
4	Oklahoma (6)	22.0	1.8	22
5	Florida (14)	21.9	2.0	21
6	Missouri	19.0	3.2	20
7	LSU (2)	17.8	3.0	19
8	Clemson	16.8	3.5	18
9	West Virginia	16.1	4.5	17
10	Auburn	14.8	4.4	16
11	Texas	14.8	3.3	15
12	Texas Tech	12.5	4.3	14
13	Wisconsin	11.9	4.2	13
14	Virginia Tech	9.4	4.5	12
15	Kansas	9.0	4.9	11
16	Arizona State	8.6	3.9	10
17	Tennessee	8.2	4.0	9
18	Oregon	8.1	5.0	8
19	South Florida	8.0	5.1	7
20	Brigham Young	7.4	4.4	6
21	Penn State	6.9	4.9	5
22	Illinois	5.1	4.1	4
23	Wake Forest	4.1	3.7	3
24	Alabama	1.6	3.0	2
25	Utah	1.4	2.1	1

Also Receiving Votes: California(1.3), Fresno State(1.0), South Carolina(0.9), Florida State(0.9), Pittsburgh(0.8), Michigan(0.8), Boston College(0.5), Rutgers(0.5), Boise State(0.4), Cincinnati(0.4), North Carolina(0.4), Oregon State(0.4), Miami (Florida)(0.4), Michigan State(0.3), Colorado(0.3), Oklahoma State(0.2), Nebraska(0.2), Notre Dame(0.2), Mississippi(0.2), Tulsa(0.1), Central Michigan(0.1), UCLA(0.1), Hawaii(0.1), TCU(0.1), Mississippi State(0.0), Connecticut(0.0), Duke(0.0), Purdue(0.0), Southern Miss(0.0), Northwestern(0.0), Georgia Tech(0.0), Iowa(0.0),

Total Ballots: 78

Votes by blog here, votes by team here.

Hurray that's the poll hurray. And it's a little meh, with a swap of WVU and Clemson the only difference between the AP and the blogpoll until you reach #14. From there there are some multiple-spot differences. The blogpoll is

• bullish on VT (14 BP, 17 AP), Oregon (18 BP, 21 AP)
• down on BYU (20 BP, 16 AP), and Illinois (22 BP, 20 AP)

I blame myself for not providing more organization in the run-up to the season. Details after the jump.

Wack Ballot Watchdog doesn't exist for preseason polls and will return after Week 1. I will note that the two weirdos who put LSU #1 were Rocky Top Talk and Tomahawk Nation.

<span style="font-style: italic;">Now on to the extracurriculars. First up are the teams which spur the most and least disagreement between voters as measured by standard deviation. Note that the standard deviation charts halt at #25 when looking for the lowest, otherwise teams that everyone agreed were terrible (say, Eastern Michigan) would all be at the top.</span>

Now on to the extracurriculars. First up are the teams which spur the most and least disagreement between voters as measured by standard deviation. Note that the standard deviation charts halt at #25 when looking for the lowest, otherwise teams that everyone agreed were terrible (say, Eastern Michigan) would all be at the top.

The most interesting thing here is West Virginia's extremely high standard deviation, unusual for a top-ten team.

Ballot Math

First up are "Mr. Bold" and "Mr. Numb Existence." The former goes to the voter with the ballot most divergent from the poll at large. The number you see is the average difference between a person's opinion of a team and the poll's opinion.

Normally I come down hard on these folks because when we get deep into the season they're defying poll guidelines, reason, and justice by placing Hawaii in the top ten or something. In the preseason everyone's entitled to their stupid opinion (again: all opinions expressed here are stupid) so, like, whatever.

Saurian Sagacity takes the first Mr. Bold of the year for such oddities as QB-less LSU #2, QB-less and OL-less Michigan #8(!?!?!?!?!?!), Florida State #10(!?), Miami #15, Notre Dame #16... is this poll from 1988?

Mr. Numb Existence goes to newcomer Michigan Sports Center. There's nothing  interesting to say about this category ever because the ballots in question are pretty much like the poll you see above.

Next we have the Coulter/Krugman Award and the Straight Bangin' Award, which are again different sides of the same coin. The CKA and SBA go to the blogs with the highest and lowest bias rating, respectively. Bias rating is calculated by subtracting the blogger's vote for his own team from the poll-wide average. A high number indicates you are shameless homer. A low number indicates that you suffer from an abusive relationship with your football team.

The CK Award is a dire one; last season only the overwhelming black hole of suck that is Notre Dame could forestall the inevitable humiliating loss suffered by the team supported by the unlucky doof who overrated his team more than anyone else.

So, good news Cal fans: the "Enlightened Spartan" ranks Michigan State #10 and clocks a massive 15.65 bias rating; a total of six other blogs (in 78!) bothered to vote for MSU; this ballot provides well over half of MSU's 27 points. This is a truly egregious violation of poll ethics and will no doubt be severely punished.

Also note that Tennessee blogs are far more enthusiastic about the Vols than the poll at large. Sort of...

College Game Balls is your victor here for placing VT #21. Another Tennessee blog futilely attempts to divert the wrath of the CK Award by slightly underrating the Vols, and Bruce Ciskie's probably right about Wisconsin.

Swing is the total change in each ballot from last week to this week (obviously voters who didn't submit a ballot last week are not included). A high number means you are easily distracted by shiny things. A low number means that you're damn sure you're right no matter what reality says.

Swing doesn't exist in the preseason poll, obviously.

Aw, hell. Rivals has an article titled "Kevin Newsome back on the market" and he's not looking to scoop up foreclosed houses (topical ZING!): the rampant rumors from a month or so ago have come to fruition and he's decommitted. No schools have been mentioned yet; the scuttlebutt before was that Virginia Tech and Penn State were the main suitors. Michigan remains explicitly in the running, but it's extremely rare for a kid to re-commit to the school he decommitted from.

Some comments from on high about the reaction:

• Please check to see if there's already a thread about it on the message board before posting the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th thread.
• Don't be that asshat who posts something misleading in the subject line only to say "ha ha not really" in the text. This is never funny and makes people think you are mildly retarded.
• Criticizing kids who decommit is always tiresome; skip it.
• Not quite as tiresome but nearly so is the sarcastic overreaction post.

I'm bummed because I thought Newsome had enormous upside and the kind of dedication required to reach it. Tate Forcier is visiting for the Utah game, and a consolation prize that completes more than 70% of his passes ain't shabby. We'll see if the rumored Michigan love is for real; Forcier now has a powerful incentive to jump ASAP.

Update 8/19: Linked to articles on AR CB Darius Winston, FL S Angelo Hadley (video, fluff), FL CB Josh Robinson, MA OL Brennan Williams, VA OL Morgan Moses, TX QB Shavodrick Beaver. Did Marcus Hall drop us or not drop us (and does it matter)? (As per usual, some links from VB.)

Removed GA WR Braxton Lane (chose baseball).

Fluff on the Pahokee kids.

Moved TX K Anthony Fera to committed.

Editorial Opinion:

Winston probably to Mississippi, for some reason

This got asked a thousand times in the chat yesterday despite it  getting answered twice: it appears AR CB Darius Winston is staying in the south. He suddenly moved up his announcement date to September 5th and has canceled his scheduled official visits except for one. He wasn’t shy about letting the cat out of the bag in this SuperPrep article:

What stands out about Ole Miss?

"I just love that whole coaching staff. I feel like they are going to turn it around at Ole Miss. I would love to be a part of that. I plan on taking an official visit to Ole Miss on Labor day weekend, when they play Memphis."

Anymore official visits on tap?

"That is it."

Should people read anything into that?

"I guess you could say that, yes sir (laugh)."

Frustratingly, Ole Miss appears to be the destination. Someone in Winston’s camp must be super best friends with Houston Nutt.

Fera Commits

So that’s lame. Not lame: the commitment of Texas kicker Anthony Fera. If you remember the zen peace you achieved watching Zoltan the Inconceivable sky punts on youtube, you will want to watch this practice video of Fera:

I am the world’s greatest expert on these matters and declare him a future first-round pick. Others agree: Fera is one of only a few kickers to pick up a third star from Rivals and is their #2 rated kicker overall. ESPN gives him an 80—a better score than Will Campbell received—and says thusly:

Good leg extension and follow through on kickoffs. Consistent field goal kicker that demonstrates the ability to make field goals well into the 40's distance wise; longest is 58 yards.

Also there is this from their ticker:

"Fera gets all 230 pounds into his kicks. He has an extremely strong leg and powers his kickoffs into the endzone and has made several field goals of forty plus yards including a 58 yarder in competition. The Under Armor All-American kicker also is a decent punter and can be used as a back-up if needed at the collegiate level."
The 230-pound kicker was 15 for 16 on field goal attempts as a junior and had a long of 58 yards.

That guy said Rodriguez would “get a kick” out of Fera, though, so you might want to ignore him. Or kick him in the giblets. Either way.

Specialist offers are relatively rare, so Fera’s collection of Michigan, Penn State, Kansas State, and Ohio State (grayshirt) is impressive, especially because Ohio State just took a kicker last year. He’s one of the top kicking prospects out there this year and has to be the favorite to start when Kicking Competency Lopata’s graduates. Bryan Wright appears to have washed out; Michigan will probably carry two kickers in 2009 and not extend him a fifth year.

Beaver enrolling early

This Free Press article on TX QB commit Shavodrick Beaver has quotes like this…

“It’s not about getting a shot as soon as I get there, it’s about going in there, lifting weights and getting stronger and faster with the team,” Beaver said. “Then my shot will come with the competition and everything. I’m just going to be competing everyday, working hard and going in to lead the team.”

…and one piece of what I believe is new information: Beaver will join Kevin Newsome and enroll early.

Guy who’s probably not coming here prolongs the tease

Conflicting information on OH OL Marcus Hall. TSN says we got dropped:

Hall, rated the No. 7 offensive tackle prospect in the nation by Rivals.com, has whittled it down to Ohio State, Illinois and Southern Cal, he revealed to Sporting News Today.

Bucknuts says we didn’t get dropped and that USC never even offered:

"I want to say it's down to three (schools). It's somewhat down to three. It's Illinois, Ohio State and Michigan. But I still have my eyes open."
Hall added that LSU and Miami-FL sit behind his three favorites. Additionally, the Trojans now seem out on contention, after not extending an offer.

The ESPN article is from two days later so it’s likely to be the accurate one. Probably moot given Hall’s presence at OSU feeder Glenville.

Guy who doesn’t know what conference UCF is in has Michigan offer

Keep an eye on FL CB Josh Robinson from inappropriately-named powerhouse Plantation. He’s moving up the Rivals rankings and reports a Michigan offer. I don’t think this report of a Florida offer…

Robinson’s top two schools are UCF and USF right now, but he could generate more interest during his senior season. Florida and Michigan have also offered Robinson.

… is accurate but he’s at least got serious interest. Oh, and apparently favors USF and a CUSA school over, like, Michigan. Hopefully that changes if/when Michigan can get him on campus.

Etc.: MA OL Brennan Williams has dropped Maryland; Pahokee kids run up a dike.

Expert spelunking by the Daily resolves the bizarre George Morales story:

About two weeks ago, Rodriguez said Morales signed in February. But Morales said he hasn’t signed yet and plans to after fall camp wraps up in a couple weeks.

Carr offered him a one-year scholarship with the possibility it will be renewed. Morales hasn’t decided what he will do if he’s not offered a scholarship next year. For now, he’s just enjoying his experience in Ann Arbor.

“I love it,” Morales said. “It’s tough and everything. Practice is fast-tempo, but I love it out here.”

This still seems weird given my interpretation of a LOI; I think what Morales means is he'll sign scholarship papers in a couple weeks. There's no point to a LOI once you've enrolled in school.

In any case, the upshot: Morales is explicitly not guaranteed a scholarship slot in future years and knows that there's a possibility it won't get renewed, sort of like Reed Baker minus the peanut allergy. I'm not adjusting the scholarship count.

Is this sad? Eh... maybe.

Liveblog/chat event! The Big Ten Network is going to cover a Michigan practice tonight at 9PM EST, with a replay of last year's "Little Brother" game preceding the festivities at 7.  MGoBlog will take the opportunity to spin out the Cover It Live software as a test run for a new feature this season. The tentative plan: have members of the Wolverine Liberation Army and some select others moderate CIL chats that will replace the chaotic free-for-all of the haloscan open threads. (If you've got a Michigan blog and will be available for home games there might be a spot or two open; drop me an email.) I won't be around since I'm going to 8 to 10 games this year and prefer my Ohio State games to be consumed in an atmosphere of solitary panic, but the WLA guys are pretty all right.

As far as tonight goes, we tried this once before when Sam McGuffie had his national TV debut and discussion quickly shifted from McGuffie to any and all things, which is fine. There will probably be some trenchant commentary on the event itself, but this will end up being more of a Q&A session with some good jokes/answers from the peanut gallery sprinkled in. A reminder: these are moderated chats so I have to approve anything that gets posted before it'll show up.

ESPN’s helmet clash was a stupid exercise designed to garner cheap hits and was unworthy of anyone’s attention. But this is pretty cool:

I think we know who the true winner is.

Cut like a razor blade so fast other DJs go damn. The Morgan Trent 4.13 forty is sadly, dead. Varsity Blue got some pictures from Media Day:

You can clearly see that "40" has no winners and the 413 was put up in the pro agility drill. You can also see that the fastest quarterback in that drill was... aww... goddammit... David Cone.

Moooooooo. Yeah, you know those enormous metal girders? You can’t walk through them. As a result, moooooving (ha! I kill me!) around Michigan Stadium this fall is going to be even more of a fiasco than it usually is:

Officials thought about opening the gates more than two hours before kickoff, but a review of scanned tickets shows the majority of fans wait until the last hour to enter anyway.

"Nobody likes to miss kick-off," Rademacher said. "If they don't get here early, there's a good chance they'll miss it."

Get to the stadium early and use the gate closest to your seat and avoid Main Street. If you show up late-ish things will be even more difficult than they've been in the past:

To help funnel fans who approach the stadium from the south around to the northern side of the stadium, one of the northbound lanes of South Main Street, from Stadium Boulevard to Keech Avenue, will be closed to vehicular traffic and open only to pedestrians.

A barrier closing off that lane to vehicular traffic will be installed before game day, said Ann Arbor Police Sgt. Brad Hill. "Officers there will be encouraging people to use that," Hill said.

Rademacher says it'll be quicker to walk around the stadium to the correct gate than to enter the stadium and fight the crowds through the concourses.

The traffic issues should be resolved by 2010, when a second concourse will be added for the plebes in the nosebleeds.

Sad? Funny? Both! Details of Kevin Grady's DUI arrest have been released. Going over them is sad and horrible and all that, but also... well... kind of funny. I'm sorry if this makes me a horrible person, but:

Thompson said he asked for a number between 12 and 14, and Grady answered "15." And when asked whether Mickey Mouse is a dog or a cat, he answered "dog."

That's comedy. Not comedy: the officer finding Grady passed out with the car running but his foot miraculously pressing the brake. Grady, BTW, has been seeing scanty first-team snaps even in the absence of Minor and Brown.

Sidenote: during my brief dalliance with college-level quiz bowl I attended a "trash tournament," in which the questions are all pop culture blah blah. At one point one of the bonus questions asked a player on the other team to execute a number of sobriety tests, one of which he failed. It was not "is Mickey Mouse a dog or a cat?"

Fun with names. Everyone loves a funny names roundup, and Grateful Blue has a good one focusing on the SEC. Some of them verge on child abuse:

Best Porn Name - For a Woman
Foxy Foxworth, South Carolina TE
This is strictly a soft-core porn name, since hardcore would be something like "Honey Titsworth."

Also, there is a man named "T-Bob" who is the son of a former NFL quarterback. If you guessed "Louisiana," give yourself a nickel.

Etc.: Carty relates Fred Jackson's insane ravings about the two freshman backs; Adam Rittenberg takes a look at Rodriguez's history with two quarterbacks. The first Blogpoll Roundtable is up and kicking at Hey Jenny Slater.