Blogpoll Draft Ballot: Late Edition
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| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | |
| 2 | Alabama | |
| 3 | Cincinnati |  2 |
| 4 | TCU | |
| 5 | Florida |  2 |
| 6 | Boise State | |
| 7 | Georgia Tech | |
| 8 | Oregon | 1 |
| 9 | Pittsburgh | 1 |
| 10 | Ohio State | |
| 11 | Virginia Tech | 3 |
| 12 | Iowa | 3 |
| 13 | Oklahoma State | 1 |
| 14 | Penn State | 2 |
| 15 | Oregon State | 3 |
| 16 | Stanford | 3 |
| 17 | Southern Cal | |
| 18 | LSU | 7 |
| 19 | Miami (Florida) | 1 |
| 20 | Utah | 1 |
| 21 | Nebraska | 1 |
| 22 | Arizona | 1 |
| 23 | Texas Tech | |
| 24 | California | |
| 25 | Wisconsin | 6 |
| Last week's ballot | ||
Dropped Out: Brigham Young (#24), Clemson (#25).
Apologies for the tardiness and general thrown-together state of this week's ballot. I was unavailable this weekend (yes, that does mean I missed most of The Game), and so am trying to ease my way back in. Let me know if anything's crazy, or should be different for another reason.
Only explanation: Florida has such a weak schedule, further weakened by LSU's loss. They shall not remain near the top on momentum alone, I say!
A couple other changes were probably unintentional, so be sure to comment and straighten me out.
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:15 PM ^
because Texas' Cinci's and TCU's schedule is leaps and bounds above Florida's.... /sarcasm
you just don't like SEC schools.. you should leave it out of your ranking..
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:35 PM ^
LSU is the only team Florida has played with a winning record.
Bunch of giant-slayers, those Gators.
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:41 PM ^
Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Arkansas all have winning records (albeit nothing special). Troy is also 8-3 and FWIW ranked ahead of 5 Texas opponents in Sagarin's ratings: Colorado, Baylor, UL-Monroe, Wyoming, and UTEP.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:12 PM ^
is that a typo? check your facts..
Florida's schedule might be crappy.. but all the teams you ranked above them have even crappier schedules(except Alabama).. look into it..
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:17 PM ^
I've checked a few strength of schedule ratings and they all put Florida's schedule strength ahead of Texas.
According to Sagarin's SOS ratings, Florida also has a tougher schedule than TCU and Cincinnati, and FWIW isn't too far behind Alabama's schedule.
This is obviously all academic at this point, as either Florida or Alabama will be a clear number one after the SEC Championship as long as both win next week.
November 24th, 2009 at 10:11 AM ^
Not because Florida has played a tough schedule, but because the teams Florida is being compared to have had a very merry cupcake time themselves. As adamsojo points out, according to Sagarin, the undefeated teams in order of strength of schedule:
Alabama 41
Florida 51
Texas 56
TCU 60
Cincinnati 65
Boise State 96
As my 17-year-old step-sister likes to say, same difference.
November 24th, 2009 at 11:38 AM ^
Then the original poster shouldn't mention Florida's "weak schedule" as the reason they are being dropped as every team on your list has that issue.
If he thinks Florida isn't playing very well or doesn't believe they'd beat those other 4 teams right now then say so. It's an opinion poll. But arguing Florida's schedule is weak and therefore they are being moved down seems arbitrary and capricious.
November 24th, 2009 at 12:13 PM ^
Thanks for supplying the then to my if.
Hate Florida because Florida = Central America
Hate Florida because Go Jesus!
Hate Florida because Citrus Bowl - Michigan 41 Florida 35 (wait, that one's fine)
But don't hate Florida because it's spinning around the pommel horse at the same degree of difficulty as the Romanians.
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:16 PM ^
If florida drops b/c their schedule is so weak, why is Texas #1?
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:10 PM ^
I like the idea of ranking those 5 schools by schedule strength (which I believe makes Bama a pretty clear #1), I just find it hard to believe anybody would look at Texas' schedule objectively and rank it the first of that group.
If you think Texas is playing the best football and is the best team in the country (which it very well might be) then fine. But let's not talk about schedule strength as Texas has beaten ONE team in Sagarin's top 25 and it's the #25 team at that (Oklahoma State).
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:23 PM ^
How did Cinci leapfrog TCU?
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:13 PM ^
I don't see Florida dropping to five nor do I see Wisconsin belonging in the rankings. Wiscy didn't play Penn State or they would have had another L on the books in all likelihood.
Cincy going up 2? Hmmmm
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:20 PM ^
Of the 6 undefeateds, everyone agrees Boise is 6.
As for the other 5:
- Cinci is in the Big East and almost lost to UConn. I think you gotta put them at 5.
- Mountain West isn't that much worse than the Big East. And TCU has absolutely thrashed people. I think they have to go above Cinci, and I think they go above Texas for that matter, who has gotten it done but hasn't "wow"ed in a year where the Big 12 is down.
- Florida and Alabama are 1-2 until 1 of them loses. I give Fl. the edge just because they are proven champions. I think they'll beat Alabama. That's subjective and a judgment call, but, I think Fl and Alabama have to be 1-2 because they are 2 undefeated teams in one of the 2 best conferences in college football (the Pac 10 being the other this year.)
In light of all that,
1) Florida
2) Alabama
3) TCU
4) Texas
5) Cinci
At this point I would move Pitt above Oregon just based on record. I think Oregon would beat them head to head and is in a better conference, but Pitt, as of now, has the better record.... Eh, on second thought I don't have a huge problem w/ this. The Pac 10 is head and shoulders above the Big East.
I would put LSU above SC. I won't deny there's a shedenfreude factor in ranking SC as low as is reasonable. =)
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:33 PM ^
and state once again that Texas is not the number one team in the country.
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:36 PM ^
Moving Cincy ahead of TCU was mostly a matter of the haste with which I assembled the ballot. The Frogs should be on top in the final ballot.
Alabama will probably be #1 on the final ballot, as well. I don't think Texas is the best team in the country either, but once you get to the top, it's basically splitting hairs.
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:21 PM ^
Oklahoma over Penn State: explain?
I'm of a mind that a team that completes its regular season schedule gets a bit of a bump-up above the incompletes, since we have a full season's worth of games to judge them at. Otherwise, you end up giving the teams who finish later kind of an advantage, since they'll spring up with later wins.
I bolded teams ranked in your poll.
They're close. Both played two ranked teams -- OK St.'s were on extreme ends of your poll, while Penn State's ranked teams were just past the centerline. Really, this one comes down to the meat of the conferences. Penn State pretty much cruised through Minnesota, MSU, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana (who was close at one point, but, like, that's their M.O.) The Big XII wasn't much stronger than the meat of the Big Ten, but Oklahoma State made it closer.
Plus Penn State has one more win. If the Cowboys finish the season by trouncing Oklahoma, they could probably move up. But for now, I think the resume tilts, just barely, toward the Nittany Lions.
| Oklahoma St | Penn St | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loss 1 | 14-41 to Texas (1) | 7-24 to Ohio St (10) | Tie |
| Loss 2 | 35-45 to Houston (9-2) | 10-21 to Iowa (12) | Penn St |
| Best Win | 24-17 over Texas Tech (23) | 34-13 over Northwestern (8-4) | Ok. St. |
| Conference Scrag | Texas A&M, Missou, Colorado, Baylor, ISU | MSU, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana | Penn St |
| Non-Conf Scrag | Rice, Georgia | Syracuse, Akron, Temple | Ok. St. |
| Ignore This | Grambling State | E. Illinois | -- |
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:44 PM ^
I definitely see where you're coming from, but an important consideration is that Penn State was really not that competitive in either game (though they led into the fourth quarter, they folded up the minute the Hawkeyes showed signs of life).
Houston (who really isn't that far from being ranked, as you point out) had to mount a semi-furious 4th quarter in order to upset Oklahoma State.
November 24th, 2009 at 8:35 AM ^
sense made. Okay.
November 24th, 2009 at 7:06 AM ^
Arizona instead of Clemson? Especially since you're going to move TCU into third place on the strength of their schedule?
I also recommend a look at UNC.
November 24th, 2009 at 8:27 AM ^
Why drop out Clemson? They looked really good this week and beat a Miami team that struggled mightily against Duke.
November 24th, 2009 at 8:39 AM ^
Clemson is gone just because I had to put the ballot together hastily. They'll make the final ballot.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:21 AM ^
I do a rankings called the BC-ACE at the blog linked in my signature every Tuesday. Only the top 9 or 10 teams...only nine this week because I can't bring myself to put in anOSU.
ACE'S BOTTOM BITCH: Alabama. I don't really have to explain myself at this point.
2. Florida. They let FIU score. If they would have shut them out I would have moved them up. Go 'Noles!
3. TCU. You know how I feel about TCU, I fucking love them. I could go on and on, but somebody already did that for me.
4. Texas. Can you believe that pussy Colt McCoy has won more games than any other college QB? As a college football fan, that is embarrassing.
5. Cincinnati. Cincy had a week off and gets two full weeks to prepare for an awful Illini squad...I don't really care and you probably don't either.
6. Georgia Tech. Same old story for Georgia Tech. I love this team. Only Georgia left on the regular season schedule for them. If they beat Georgia by more than 24 I might move them in front of Florida.
7. Boise St. Boise, you are officially on upset alert. You heard it here first, Nevada is going to take down the mighty Broncos Saturday night.
8. Oregon. Arizona is a tough team when playing at home. Oregon went in there and took Arizona's best shot and still walked out with a victory. Now they just have to pound some Beaver to get to the Rose Bowl.
Last but not least...This really pains me, but I've got to give credit where credit is due. As much as I have tried to deny this team its rightful place in the BC-ACE, I can't do it anymore.
9. Pittsburgh!!!
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