Blogpoll Week Two: Final Ballot Comment Count

Tim

SB Nation BlogPoll Top 25 College Football Rankings

MGoBlog Ballot - Week 3

Rank Team Delta
1 Ohio St. Buckeyes Arrow_up 1
2 Alabama Crimson Tide Arrow_up 1
3 Oregon Ducks Arrow_up 2
4 Oklahoma Sooners Arrow_up 6
5 Boise St. Broncos Arrow_down -4
6 TCU Horned Frogs Arrow_down -2
7 Iowa Hawkeyes Arrow_up 1
8 Nebraska Cornhuskers Arrow_up 3
9 Texas Longhorns Arrow_down -3
10 Wisconsin Badgers Arrow_down -1
11 Florida Gators Arrow_up 2
12 Utah Utes Arrow_up 2
13 Auburn Tigers --
14 South Carolina Gamecocks --
15 Stanford Cardinal --
16 Michigan Wolverines Arrow_up 9
17 Arkansas Razorbacks --
18 LSU Tigers Arrow_down -2
19 Arizona Wildcats --
20 West Virginia Mountaineers Arrow_up 3
21 Miami Hurricanes Arrow_down -14
22 Penn St. Nittany Lions Arrow_down -4
23 Florida St. Seminoles Arrow_down -8
24 USC Trojans --
25 Michigan St. Spartans --
Dropouts: Virginia Tech Hokies, Oregon St. Beavers, North Carolina Tar Heels, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Pittsburgh Panthers, Clemson Tigers

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

Just a couple changes from the draft:

I moved Oregon ahead of Oklahoma, because they also blasted a BCS-level opponent off the field (albeit probably a worse one than Oklahoma beat), and their week 1 win was much, much more impressive. That offense is going to murder some fools this year.

In the quest to find teams to move ahead of Michigan, I was convinced by commenters that South Carolina and Stanford fit the bill. The Cocks' win over Georgia was impressive (even if the scoreboard wasn't), and I hadn't realized the degree to which the Cardinal destroyed UCLA. I didn't move Arkansas up because, although the scores are impressive, their opponents in the first couple weeks aren't exactly going to turn heads this year.

Elsewhere in quests to find teams to move up, I wasn't convinced by any of the suggestions for the last couple spots in the poll. Hopefully a third week of results will give us a bit more clarity there.

Comments

rlouisgar

September 15th, 2010 at 10:34 AM ^

Currently, there are seven teams in this Top 25 from the Big Ten -- the most of any conference in the country. I wonder if this will hold up. To me, the Big Ten has improved over the past year and is slowly but surely approaching the talent level of the SEC. The only way to truly determine which conference is deeper and more talented is to look at head-to-head matchups, so perhaps we'll be able to answer this more accurately in January. One thing's for sure: Whether the Big Ten is up or down, voters respect the conference highly. If teams are 2-0, 3-0, 4-0 early in the season, they will get votes. The same can't be said about teams in the far East and West.

CRex

September 15th, 2010 at 10:37 AM ^

Dropping out Notre Dame seems harsh.  Last week you were convinced Notre Dame deserved to be ranked.  Since last week Notre Dame's action has been losing to a Michigan squad you have ranked at #16 and just barely losing despite the fact they ended up relying on Nate Montana for a half.  

Not that I mind seeing the Irish unranked, but I'd consider them a better team than WVU, USC and possibly little brother (although that one gets answered this weekend).

CRex

September 15th, 2010 at 11:22 AM ^

indeed but IMHO barely losing to Michigan with your backup QB is a heck of lot more impressive than almost letting Marshall punk you in your own house.  In some causes a close loss has more value than pulling one out in OT against Marshall.  

jrt336

September 15th, 2010 at 10:39 AM ^

I don't see anything wrong with Arkansas being 17 since they haven't played anybody, but I still think they're a top 10-15 team. I can't imagine us beating them. I don't think WVU deserves to be ranked. They should have lost to Marshall.

UMaD

September 15th, 2010 at 1:00 PM ^

They're beaten 2 BCS teams as well.  Vanderbilt more convincingly than we beat UConn and UNC more convincingly than we beat Notre Dame (both of the latter had some key players missing time, though UNC's was far more dramatic.)

If you're going to argue "resume", no one between UConn, UNC, ND, Vanderbilt have beaten anyone that makes you think they deserve any more respect than Arkansas opponents.

I don't see anything from these performances that warrants Michigan leaping LSU.

WolvinLA2

September 15th, 2010 at 11:01 AM ^

Not that having Stanford ahead of us is a terrible thing, but it shouldn't be because of the UCLA game.  UCLA is BAD.  I watched that game, and although Stanford has a solid squad, they won mostly because of how bad UCLA is.  UCLA might win 2 games this year. 

jamiemac

September 15th, 2010 at 11:10 AM ^

Interesting final ballot Tim

I was a pretty mean person this week with my vote. I purged the entire ACC of my ballot. I couldnt justify a spot for any of them.

I have mid-majors Houston and Air Force in the final 2 spots

And, I kept 1-loss Oregon State and Pitt teams in. Trust me, you'll be swapping Pitt out for Miami anyway after they play on 9/23, so I felt I might as well go ahead and do it now, lol.

Other than various teams placements on the ballot, that is the difference in 2 michigan boosters ballots. Oh wait, oops. I am representing Indiana......which means I could have put MICH #1 and not risked that Coulter/Krugman curse, amirite?!?!?!

Blazefire

September 15th, 2010 at 11:10 AM ^

if we want ND to beat State or not. I detest seeing State in the top 25, but seeing ND beat them would lessen the fun of destroying their season in a few weeks. I suppose it won't matter in the end.

DetroitBlue

September 15th, 2010 at 11:31 AM ^

I've been thinking about this too.  I tend to think that ND will have a better record than State at the end of the year, but they still play Stanford, Pitt, and USC (all of which they could lose).  I think that State will lose to Wisconsin anyways, so they won't be undefeated going into the game against us.  I think State will also lose to us, Iowa, and Penn State at the very least. 

Since ND has a better chance of looking like a quality win at the end of the year, I want them to win.

MH20

September 15th, 2010 at 12:21 PM ^

I'd rather see ND win (and subsequently have a decently successful season) so that our first win in South Bend since BRADY QUINN FOR HEISMAN looks that much more impressive.  IMO, ND has a better team than MSU and a better chance at a successful season, so I'd rather see the Irish win and make our victory look better.



This does not mean I would not love to see us take down an undefeated MSU squad.

EDIT: Hey, maybe next time I should look at the other replies to the post I'm replying to, and see that they've already written basically the same thing, and have done a better job on conveying the same point I was trying to make.

this guy0531

September 15th, 2010 at 11:15 AM ^

There was only a matter of time before the big ten moved back to the top of the pack… People in other conferences seem to want to bash the big ten all the time, but if you look at the conference as a whole for a long period of time, the big ten does quite well.

Seriously

September 15th, 2010 at 11:19 AM ^

Alabama looks more solid than Ohio State to me.  Sorry if that's uselessly impressionistic.

Pryor has improved immensely, but he still takes a lot of time to make decisions.  What's impressed me most about Denard Robinson isn't his speed, but how quickly/decisively he exploits openings. 

wiscwood

September 15th, 2010 at 12:28 PM ^

I'm glad to see Michigan ascending up in the polls. Fans must temper expectations because this team is so young. I expect to see back to back champions soon. Those are my tempered expectations.

I told fans on this sight that they need to give RR a chance, and he will produce a juggernaut. This team is in the early birth pangs bringing forth something special. I now understand why people don't want the Michigan/RR joining to occur. It is based on fear of another Michigan dynasty in CFB. I think it is coming, and may be here now.

I want fans to be patient, even now, because this product is not complete yet. Imagine a shifty, fast, pass catching Dee Hart on the read option.

It will be nice to see Michigan surprise some teams this year too. It will happen. 

With Molk, Martin, DRob, Schilling, etc., Michigan's team leadership is outstanding. This team will go far! "It is a diamond in the rough."