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.

So my top 25, after the jump, with explanations.  I want your input.  You have until 1AM Wednesday morning to change my mind.  Please do so within the context of my parameters.  I am not deciding who is the best team.  I am ranking based on current results only.

Rank	Team	Comment
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	I don't see anyone with a more impressive body of work to date.
2	Miami Hurricanes	I don't see anyone with a more impressive body of work to date, outside Alabama.
3	Iowa Hawkeyes	Penn State win is more impressive after Buckeye's thump Illini
4	Cincinnati Bearcats	Oregon State win is more impressive each week.
5	Virginia Tech Hokies	Win over Miami is now much more impressive.  Getting dominated by Alabama seems to be the norm for everyone.
6	Boise St. Broncos	Only team to conquer Orgeon, and did so decisively.
7	LSU Tigers	Finally outplayed an opponent.
8	Oregon Ducks	TD's on 1st 6 drives against Washington State.  Only loss to Boise.  Nice set of wins (Utah, Purdue, crushing Cal)
9	South Carolina Gamecocks	Win over Ole Miss looks better by virtue of Ole Miss drubbing Vandy in Nashville.  Loss at Georgia not diminished much by LSU win.
10	Auburn Tigers	Passed 1st road test against excellent Tennessee defense.  Win over West Virginia looks better.
11	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	Dominated Mississippi State in Starkville
12	USC Trojans	Crushed Cal, and win over Ohio State is more impressive.  Loss to Washington is now more damaging as Huskies lose again.
13	Georgia Bulldogs	Played tough against Okie State, South Carolina, Arkansas, Arizona State, and LSU.
14	TCU Horned Frogs	Marquee win over Clemson not so special anymore.
15	Houston Cougars	58 points allowed to UTEP.  Win over Okie State now less impressive.
16	Wisconsin Badgers	Each subsequent win is more impressive.  The resume grows.
17	Texas Longhorns	Texas Tech win not impressive.
18	South Florida Bulls	Avoided letdown and routed Syracuse in conference opener on road. Enough to make the top 25.  Are they too high?
19	Michigan Wolverines	Win over Notre Dame looks slightly better, but dominated by Michigan State and lucky to push it to overtime.
20	Florida Gators	Wins over... Troy and Tennessee.  Dominated both, but both have lost luster.
21	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Continues to win.
22	Stanford Cardinal	Loss to Wake more acceptable after the Deacons beat NC State.  Two convincing wins in a row now.  3-0 in conference play.  Should probably be higher.
23	Nebraska Cornhuskers	Played VTech to a draw, which now looks better.
24	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	Houston loss looks less impressive, as does Georgia win.  Should they be here?
25	Ohio St. Buckeyes	Really crushed a better than initially thought Indiana team.  Loss to USC not as bad as it appeared 2 weeks ago.
Last week's ballot