This is some really good stuff.

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. What have they done? Not how talented are their payers or how other polls project them to do, but what have they done?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 poor performances. I do not give excessive credit for stomping horrible teams. I reward quality play, win or lose, particularly against other good teams. I am not bumping team A 10 spots and docking team B 10 spots when team A beats team B by a field goal in what was essentially an equally played game.I like to reward playing well against good teams, win or lose, and punish losing to poor teams more harshly than I reward defeating poor teams. To that end, Cincinnati and Boise will probably not climb much higher in my poll for the rest of the year.

I Reward Grinders. I reward those who play difficult schedules. Teams that play a tough team every week don't get to spend extra time preparing for their tough games, and they also don't face the attrition other teams face because they are able to pull their starters in blowouts. Fewer plays for important players reduces the chance those players will get injured.

Rank	Team
1	Alabama
2	Iowa
3	TCU
4	Florida
5	Georgia Tech
6	Cincinnati
7	Boise State
8	Texas
9	Virginia Tech
10	Southern Cal
11	Miami (Florida)
12	Oregon
13	LSU
14	Arizona
15	Penn State
16	Notre Dame
17	Pittsburgh
18	Clemson
19	Oklahoma
20	Ohio State
21	Houston
22	Oregon State
23	Central Michigan
24	Wisconsin
25	Michigan State

• Bama has the more impressive resume than Iowa, and Iowa must start blowing out some teams if they want to get to # 1.  
• TCU has been impressive in every contest and this week they are above Florida who has also been very impressive overall, particularly in destroying Kentucky and Tennessee.
• Georgia Tech moves up because of FSU's win, the Jackets beat down of UVA, and their stomping of Mississippi State, a team more respectable with each passing performance.  
• Cincinatti's win over USF is now less impressive.
• Boise's schedule is light, but they handled Oregon, and they continue to crush everyone.
• Texas, um, still not impressed with what they've done.
• VTech still has a top-10 resume.
• Southern Cal's loss to a below average Washington team hurts them here.  I think Texas, VT,and USC all have similar resumes.
• People will start to realize that Clemson is very good, but Miami still must drop.  
• Penn State seems to be improving.  

Comments are always welcome.  

ACC Blogger's Roundtable

This week's roundtable is hosted by Joe Ovies, a contributor to AM 850 The Buzz Sports Radio Blog in the North Carolina Triangle Area. ACC Roundup will be posted sometime Thursday. So what do you have for us this week Joe?

1.) Now that we're in the home-stretch of college football, we have enough material to begin campaigns for ACC coach of the year and player of the year. Who ya got and why?

Spaziani.  What a horrible off-season for Boston College.  But he has managed to only lose to significantly better teams, while winning all the toss-ups.  

2.) Would your 2009 ACC coach of the year stand a chance in the SEC battlefields of recruiting and gameday management against the likes of Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, and Lane Kiffin?

No, he lacks the flash.  But it is hard to tell, because his program isn't like any SEC program.

3.) Getting away from the breathless week-to-week win/loss reactions such as "OMGZ!1!JUAN! WE WON, BCS NEXT!" or "WTF, WE'RE DA SUX. FIRE COACH!", where is your head coach in 5 years. If no longer with your school, how does the exit go down?

With no disrespect intended, actuarial scientists say that an 80-year old won't live to see 85.  Despite his diabetes and shingles, Bowden is loaded and I'll assume he has some great doctors.  Let's hope he's enjoying his retirement, forced or not, in 5 years.

4.) Coffee is for closers only. Which means plenty of ACC teams are walking around with empty cups after failing to finish off opponents or lock up divisions. As the worst offender, who gets the steak
knives?

It's either Clemson or UNC.  Carolina blew the largest 2nd half in college football this season, 18 points, on a Thursday night.  They also lost at home to UVA.  But Clemson mismanaged their game against Miami, lost at Maryland when they had a nice lead, blew their game against TCU, and allowed some ridiculous special teams TD's.  It goes to the Clemson Tar Heels.

5.) Bob Griese wants to take you and Juan Pablo Montoya out for tacos.  Where's the best joint in town

Can I give you where it is not?  I'm stuck in Tuscaloosa for law school and there is this horrible place the locals rave about- Taco Casa.  It's trash.  They have horrible commercials and worse food.  In fact, please don't eat Mexican in Tuscaloosa.  

Updated Rankings!

As you know, I'm a big fan of the more advanced measures.  They take out plays like kneel-downs and end of the game heaves when a team is down 4 scores, etc.  They could pick-6's not against the defense, but against the offense.  They remove all garbage time stuff.  And most importantly, they adjust for opponent based on what everyone else has done against that opponent.  

This week, Brian of has a special blurb about Florida State.  Please check it out.  

As a refresher, last week FSU was 27th overall.  They are now 21st
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People seem to be realizing just how good Georgia Tech is.  Their defense, now getting healthier, seems to be improving.  Is FSU the 5th best team in the ACC?  I can agree with that.  They lost at Boston College by a score back when Ponder's knee was still bum.  And I agree that GTech, VTech, Miami, and Clemson are a notch above FSU.  Is NC State really the 2nd worst ACC team?  I guess at this point they have played like that.

Florida State's Offense

This is the one that always interests me.  Last week, FSU had the 8th best offense in the country.  After drubbing an excellent UNC defense, they jumped to 4th:

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That's a truly elite offense.  Can you imagine how much praise they'd be getting if the 'Noles scheduled something like Penn State's non-conference slate?  Luckily, this system adjusts for opponent.   Oh yeah, NC State's offense is 26th.  Expect them to put up at least 35 on FSU's defense.  

Florida State's Defense

Ugh.  These guys are so horribly coached.  If I am a parent of one of these players, I am uber-pissed I sent my kid to play defense for this sorry collection of "coaches".  Thankfully, that'll change this year.  As I told everyone last week, FSU's defense did not play well against UNC.  They played worse than they usually play, and it was only UNC's offense looking like crap that even made FSU's defense appear a bit improved.  Don't buy any of the sunshine pumpers rhetoric that the defense is improving.  Last week, they were 101st.  This week, 104th!  

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Yeah, that's right.  Only 16 teams have played worse defense than FSU.  It is 25 spots behind the next worst ACC defense, DUKE!  NC State's defense?  52nd, exactly 52 spots ahead of FSU's defense.