Week 7 CBS Sports BlogPoll Ballot (DRAFT)

by FSUncensored on Oct 12, 2008 5:26 AM EDT in Football Comment 10 comments

This is not a power poll. I don't attempt to rank teams based on how good I think they are. I only rank teams based on their resume. The poll is designed to be dynamic. I try to start from scratch every week. I do attempt to reward teams for "quality losses", while punishing them for bad performances. I do not give excessive credit for stomping horrible teams. As always, I want your help. Keep in mind though that I don't want "team X is way better than team Y." I do want "team A has a better resume than team B, you should make the change." Power poll rankings are dumb. The teams ranked 1, 3, 4, 13, 20 all lost to lesser ranked or unranked foes this past weekend. I do not consult major polls when doing this. Their record of futility is clear. Let the teams earn their rankings on the field. I try to remove as much subjectivity as possible. This system is not perfect, but it is the best we have right now.

Rank	Team

1	Alabama
2	Texas
3	Penn State
4	Oklahoma State
5	Florida
6	Southern Cal
7	Utah
8	Boise State
9	Texas Tech
10	Georgia
11	Virginia Tech
12	North Carolina
13	Missouri
14	Wake Forest
15	Vanderbilt
16	California
17	Michigan State
18	Oklahoma
19	South Carolina
20	Georgia Tech
21	Florida State
22	Ohio State
23	Mississippi
24	Minnesota
25	Pittsburgh

Close: Kansas, Oregon

Obviously, the biggest point of controversy will be the omission of LSU. LSU's best win is against a horrible Auburn team. They beat Miss St in a home game at night by ten. They were stomped by a Florida team that looked elite. That is not a top 25 resume.

As always, I can make changes until 10AM Eastern on WED. Let's hear about the changes we should make.

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Fantastic

To see that Minnesota made it in. This is a team that was 1-11 last season and is 6-1 so far this season. I don’t see any reason why the Gophs can’t finish 9-3 at the worst this season.

by Moojenowski on Oct 12, 2008 11:03 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The Gophs fit nicely into the choice spot that Purdue occupied several years ago...

not having to play the top 2 teams in conference (it was Mich and OSU). Minnesota could finish anywhere from 6-6 (doubtful), to 11-1 (also, doubtful). My guess is 8-4, since they don’t have tons of quality depth yet, but this is a definite bowl team.

Tomahawk Nation: No-Holds-Barred Nole Analysis

by FSUncensored on Oct 12, 2008 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

best two teams?

They’ve already lost to Ohio State, so they only avoid Penn State this year.

by andy_wooster on Oct 12, 2008 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

shoot,

thought they lost to Michigan. Good catch.

Tomahawk Nation: No-Holds-Barred Nole Analysis

by FSUncensored on Oct 12, 2008 4:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Looks good

I think Penn State is a very good team. People might look poorly on them because of the conference, but they are just destroying teams.

Two weeks from now they play in Columbus in what should be a great game.

"Your eyes can decieve you. Don't trust them." Obi-Wan Kenobi, the first sabermetrician...

by Curtain Jerker on Oct 12, 2008 12:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

They've crushed everyone,

I’m just waiting for them to play that “epic game.” If they convincingly beat OSU, but Texas beats Missou, TTech, and OK State, I have to give the nod to Texas

Tomahawk Nation: No-Holds-Barred Nole Analysis

by FSUncensored on Oct 12, 2008 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Texas is the new #1 in the Coaches and AP Polls

I don’t get it. Bama has 6 wins over d1 competition. They absolutely crushed a Georgia team that is probably close to or as good as Oklahoma, and did it in Athens.

Texas will get the shot to EARN their #1 slot, but I don’t think they DESERVE it right now.

Tomahawk Nation: No-Holds-Barred Nole Analysis

by FSUncensored on Oct 12, 2008 3:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Texas

I’m obviously biased, but I disagree.

First of all, Texas has six wins over D1 competition as well, so I’m not sure what you’re getting at there.

Second of all, I think Georgia is flawed. They have OL issues, and really haven’t looked great in any game this year. OU, on the other hand, destroyed every opponent prior to Texas. That’s the best win any team has so far this year IMO.

That’s not to say that I can’t see an argument for Alabama. Regardless, things will sort themselves out in the coming weeks.

As for the rest of your poll: Kudos to you for dropping LSU out of the poll. I posted last week at Burnt Orange Nation that LSU was undeserving of a lofty ranking, as it was largely based on beating Auburn, who we now know isn’t very good.

tOSU seems a bit low to me. Their one loss was to your number six team, and they’ve beaten a top 25 team.

I think Vandy is too high. What have they done? I’d flip Vandy and tOSU, and then probably drop Vandy a bit more.

Are you forgetting BYU or did they lose and I didn’t hear about it?

Skeptical about BSU and Utah in the top 10.

by andy_wooster on Oct 12, 2008 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good points

I guess FAU and UTEP are about equal to the Tulane and WKU duo that Bama played so far.

I agree that Georgia is a flawed team. I’ve called them overrated for most of the year. Their lines aren’t special. That said, they did beat SCe in Columbia, and ASU in the desert (before ASU has major injury issues).

Oklahoma did beat their opponents by a huge margin, but their wins came over UTC, CINCI, WASHINGTON, TCU, AND BAYLOR. I put UGA above them because while the Bulldog’s loss to Bama was obviously worse (being dominated at home), they have 3 wins that are better than any of OU’s wins, based on quality of opponent.

Things will shake out, for sure. If Texas beats Missou, and Bama beats Ole Miss, I think the scales tip in The Horns’ favor. I still put the Bama win over UGA (domination), on top of the UT win over OU at a neutral site.

LSU has a very real shot to not be ranked for the rest of the year. They have to go to SCe and host Georgia in back to back weeks. If they are 8-4, with wins over app state, troy, north texas, auburn, miss st, tulane, ole miss, and Arkansas… is that worth of ranking?. We will see.

I might bump tOSU a little, but their best win is a 3 point squeaker at Wisky. To me, they have a bunch of average or very below average wins, and an embarrassing blowout loss.

I’m still skeptical about Vandy as well, and they could drop a few slots.

I am continuing to not rank BYU. Their wins are
Date Opponent Time/Result Audio/Video
Sat, Aug 30 Northern Iowa W 41-17 —
Sat, Sep 6 at Washington W 28-27 —
Sat, Sep 13 UCLA W 59-0 —
Sat, Sep 20 Wyoming W 44-0 —
Fri, Oct 3 at Utah State W 34-14 —
Sat, Oct 11 New Mexico W 21-3 —

They’ve looked unimpressive the last 2 weeks, and downright blah yesterday. They haven’t defeated any team that i would call “below average”. If they are impressive at TCU Saturday, I’ll rank them. If not, they aren’t getting in until they play UTAH in the final week. Mid Majors don’t have to face the difficult grind of a schedule that major conference teams do, and they should be docked for that.

Utah beat an improving Oregon State team, crushed Wyoming in Wyoming, went to Air Force and won, and also beat Michigan (which doesn’t look quite so good yet). I think I’ll drop them 2-3 spots after devaluing the Michigan win.

Boise took care of business in every game, beat Oregon in Eugene (a good win), and handled SoMiss in Hattiesburg with ease.

Godo thoughts.

Tomahawk Nation: No-Holds-Barred Nole Analysis

by FSUncensored on Oct 12, 2008 4:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

See your points on Ohio State

I’m probably overvaluing them based on the talent on their roster.

I can see why you’d have Utah and Boise State above BYU, but I don’t see enough there to justify such a huge gap. I’d give Utah credit for one decent win (Oregon St.) and BSU one as well (Oregon). I don’t think those are top ten resumes. I’d probably rank all three teams somewhere in the 15-25 range.

I’m a bit more skeptical of the SEC than you are, which is why I don’t think UGA’s resume is terribly impressive. I think S. Carolina is average, and Tennessee is worse than that. That’s also why I’m down on Vandy. I don’t think the USCe win is anything special.

by andy_wooster on Oct 12, 2008 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs