Blogpoll Week Two: Final Ballot
MGoBlog Ballot - Week 3
Rank | Team | Delta |
---|---|---|
1 | Ohio St. Buckeyes | 1 |
2 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 1 |
3 | Oregon Ducks | 2 |
4 | Oklahoma Sooners | 6 |
5 | Boise St. Broncos | -4 |
6 | TCU Horned Frogs | -2 |
7 | Iowa Hawkeyes | 1 |
8 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 3 |
9 | Texas Longhorns | -3 |
10 | Wisconsin Badgers | -1 |
11 | Florida Gators | 2 |
12 | Utah Utes | 2 |
13 | Auburn Tigers | -- |
14 | South Carolina Gamecocks | -- |
15 | Stanford Cardinal | -- |
16 | Michigan Wolverines | 9 |
17 | Arkansas Razorbacks | -- |
18 | LSU Tigers | -2 |
19 | Arizona Wildcats | -- |
20 | West Virginia Mountaineers | 3 |
21 | Miami Hurricanes | -14 |
22 | Penn St. Nittany Lions | -4 |
23 | Florida St. Seminoles | -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.
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.
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).
September 15th, 2010 at 11:16 AM ^
the Nate Montana thing is part of how they played - you could argue that it is canceled out by the fact that we missed 2 FG's. The point is, a loss is a loss, backup QB or not (especially at home), and ND hasn't done anything so far this year to earn a top 25 ranking.
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.
September 15th, 2010 at 11:35 AM ^
I'm pretty sure the game was at Marshall. Same state, but not a home game.
September 15th, 2010 at 11:37 AM ^
You're right, it was at Marshall. I should have remembered since they totally ripped off our banner thing. My only excuse is that I was drunk.
September 15th, 2010 at 11:53 AM ^
I see your point.
Losing to Michigan > Losing to Marshall
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.
September 15th, 2010 at 10:42 AM ^
I get why you put Arky at #17, Tim, but I'm pretty sure Arkansas would Boom Mallett'd our defense for 77 points.
September 15th, 2010 at 10:43 AM ^
i know you dont pay much attention to the deltas much this early on, but moving up 3 spots after their performance doesnt seem right
September 15th, 2010 at 11:01 AM ^
I'm not sure if they're kinda crap or if they're just really, really good at playing down to their competition.
(insert HOW DO I TIMEOUT picture here).
September 15th, 2010 at 10:45 AM ^
I guess I have no reason to argue that they should be higher. They probably should have beat UNC by more. However, I think they wil be a top 10 team by the end of the year.
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.
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.
September 15th, 2010 at 11:04 AM ^
I don't understand why you punished Miami worse than Florida State. FSU should be the ones dropping 14 spots after that embarrassing showing against Oklahoma. Miami sorta kinda held their own.
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?!?!?!
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.
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.
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.
September 15th, 2010 at 12:53 PM ^
We want state feeling down and unsure. Best case scenario is that get trounced and Cousins throws a few picks.
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.
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.
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."
September 15th, 2010 at 12:15 PM ^
Who gave the #1 vote to Michigan?
http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/rankings/college-football-blogpol…
September 15th, 2010 at 12:24 PM ^
Michigan got #1 votes from The Purple Whimple and Doc Sat.
September 15th, 2010 at 1:18 PM ^
Thank you, +1 for you ;-)
September 15th, 2010 at 12:31 PM ^
#16 eh? A ubiquitous number this year. Though we're used to seeing it with some sonic-boom blur.
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