Not a lot of time to write this morning, but here is my first swipe at this week’s Blogpoll ballot:

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida
2	Alabama	2
3	Texas	1
4	Southern Cal	1
5	Brigham Young	3
6	Penn State
7	California	3
8	Mississippi	1
9	Boise State	2
10	LSU	2
11	TCU	4
12	Georgia Tech	1
13	Ohio State	4
14	Oklahoma
15	Nebraska	1
16	Cincinnati	6
17	Utah
18	Virginia Tech	6
19	Houston
20	Oregon State	1
21	Michigan
22	West Virginia
23	Miami (Florida)
24	North Carolina	4
25	Georgia
Last week’s ballot

Dropped Out: Oklahoma State (#5), Notre Dame (#18), Kansas (#21), Pittsburgh (#25).

I’ve mourned the requisite twenty-four hours, now I can start digesting Saturday night. More will come later.

We skipped the first week of the Blogpoll for a couple reasons. I’d like to say it was about sticking to our principles (that we think preseason polls are dodgy at best) but it was really about not getting it submitted on time.

This year, we’re trying a new way to doing these things. In years past, since we have multiple writers here at the site, we’ve each filled out a ballot that I’ve aggregated together and submitted as a group effort. This year, I’m going to put the ballot together and present it here for everyone to comment and discuss. We’ll make the necessary adjustments and then submit a final ballot each Wednesday.

So I present our first Blogpoll ballot for your derision and correction:

Rank	Team
1	Tebows
2	Texas
3	Southern Cal
4	Alabama
5	Mississippi
6	Oklahoma State
7	Ohio State
8	Penn State
9	Brigham Young
10	California
11	Boise State
12	LSU
13	Georgia Tech
14	Oklahoma
15	TCU
16	Nebraska
17	Utah
18	Notre Dame
19	Oregon State
20	North Carolina
21	Kansas
22	Miami (Florida)
23	Cincinnati
24	Virginia Tech
25	Michigan

1-10, I’m pretty confident in. 11-20, I’m shaky. 21-25 is a crapshoot. Yes, I threw Michigan in there. No, I don’t know why. I also struggle ranking teams that are winless (Oklahoma, Virginia Tech) but I don’t know how to handle teams that I thought would eventually be top-ten teams.

So please, straighten this out. Help me submit the perfect ballot.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Utah	25
2	Florida	24
3	Southern Cal	23
4	Texas	22
5	Oklahoma	21
6	Penn State	20
7	Ohio State	19
8	TCU	18
9	Alabama	17
10	Oregon	16
11	Texas Tech	15
12	Georgia	14
13	Mississippi	13
14	Boise State	12
15	Virginia Tech	11
16	Iowa	10
17	Missouri	9
18	Oklahoma State	8
19	Cincinnati	7
20	Oregon State	6
21	Brigham Young	5
22	Michigan State	4
23	California	3
24	Florida State	2
25	Georgia Tech	1

Dropped Out:

Yes, we went there. Say what you will about Utah’s strength of schedule, but that’s not their fault. They scheduled a perennial powerhouse (albeit one in decline) and handled their business. They took out Oregon State, something USC was unable to do, beat a good BYU team, and beat an Alabama team ranked #1 for a good portion of the season. That was a convincing victory over Alabama, by the way, something that Florida can’t claim.

Other than that, I can’t in good faith rank TCU higher than Ohio State. Call it homerism, call it whatever you want. I’m ranking them up there.

The rest of the poll is the result of the chips falling where they may.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama	—
2	Oklahoma	—
3	Florida	—
4	Texas	—
5	Penn State	—
6	Southern Cal	—
7	Utah	1
8	Texas Tech	1
9	Ohio State	1
10	Boise State	1
11	Ball State	3
12	Oklahoma State	1
13	TCU	2
14	Cincinnati	2
15	Georgia Tech	3
16	Boston College	3
17	Oregon	6
18	Brigham Young	3
19	Michigan State	3
20	Georgia	8
21	Mississippi	4
22	Pittsburgh	4
23	Northwestern	1
24	Missouri	11
25	Tulsa	1

Dropped Out: Oregon State (#17), Florida State (#20).

Utah and Texas Tech flip-flop after a weak Texas Tech showing, where they needed three straight touchdowns to beat Baylor and Ohio State and Boise State flip-flop because I love the Buckeyes and I hate the Smurf Turf. A top-15 that includes Ball State, Cincinnati and TCU feels wrong.

Big thanks to Oregon for making it a lot more realistic for the Buckeyes making a BCS game this season. If it comes down to OSU or Boise or Utah, I’m guessing the bowl committee will make the right decision.

Comments, suggestions and poo-flinging are welcome in the comments, as this is preliminary ballot.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama	25
2	Oklahoma	24
3	Florida	23
4	Texas	22
5	Penn State	21
6	Southern Cal	20
7	Texas Tech	19
8	Utah	18
9	Boise State	17
10	Ohio State	16
11	Oklahoma State	15
12	Georgia	14
13	Missouri	13
14	Ball State	12
15	TCU	11
16	Cincinnati	10
17	Oregon State	9
18	Georgia Tech	8
19	Boston College	7
20	Florida State	6
21	Brigham Young	5
22	Michigan State	4
23	Oregon	3
24	Northwestern	2
25	Mississippi	1

Dropped Out:

We missed last week’s Blogpoll due to my being out of town, but here is our submission for this week’s Blogpoll. It was very satisfying dropping LSU from the ranks. Also, making an appearance as the only 4-loss team, Ole Miss gets a nod for beating the current #3 team and LSU in the same season. The rest is here for your perusal and advice.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Texas Tech	2
2	Alabama	1
3	Florida	1
4	Texas	1
5	Oklahoma	1
6	Penn State	4
7	Southern Cal	1
8	Boise State	2
9	Utah	2
10	Oklahoma State	3
11	Ohio State	1
12	Georgia	1
13	Ball State	2
14	Missouri	3
15	Brigham Young	1
16	Michigan State	2
17	TCU	8
18	North Carolina	1
19	Florida State	4
20	LSU	6
21	Cincinnati	5
22	Pittsburgh	2
23	Tulsa	3
24	South Carolina	2
25	Oregon State	1

Dropped Out: West Virginia (#20), California (#21), Georgia Tech (#22), Maryland (#25).

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama	2
2	Penn State	—
3	Texas Tech	3
4	Florida	1
5	Texas	4
6	Oklahoma	2
7	Oklahoma State	2
8	Southern Cal	—
9	TCU	5
10	Boise State	1
11	Utah	1
12	Ohio State	—
13	Georgia	6
14	LSU	1
15	Ball State	1
16	Brigham Young	1
17	Missouri	2
18	Michigan State	3
19	North Carolina	3
20	West Virginia	6
21	California	5
22	Georgia Tech	1
23	Florida State	5
24	Pittsburgh	2
25	Maryland	1

Dropped Out: Minnesota (#19), Tulsa (#20), Oregon (#24), Cincinnati (#25).

The bunch at the top is messy. I think Texas Tech deserves #1, Zeke thinks ‘Bama does. The only other problem I have with our poll is how high Utah is. They barely beat a 4-6 New Mexico team, which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

Not sure how Cincinnati won, and dropped out. We may have to rethink the last 5 spots.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Texas	—
2	Penn State	—
3	Alabama	—
4	Oklahoma	—
5	Florida	1
6	Texas Tech	2
7	Georgia	2
8	Southern Cal	1
9	Oklahoma State	4
10	Utah	2
11	Boise State	2
12	Ohio State	2
13	LSU	2
14	TCU	2
15	Missouri	4
16	Ball State	2
17	Brigham Young	—
18	Florida State	3
19	Minnesota	5
20	Tulsa	2
21	Michigan State	5
22	North Carolina	4
23	Georgia Tech	3
24	Oregon	2
25	Cincinnati	1

Dropped Out: South Florida (#14), Pittsburgh (#15), Northwestern (#23), Boston College (#25).

Presented without comment because I’m late for work.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Texas	—
2	Penn State	1
3	Alabama	1
4	Oklahoma	—
5	Oklahoma State	2
6	Florida	1
7	Southern Cal	1
8	Texas Tech	—
9	Georgia	—
10	Ohio State	3
11	LSU	1
12	Utah	3
13	Boise State	6
14	South Florida	8
15	Pittsburgh	5
16	TCU	10
17	Brigham Young	7
18	Ball State	6
19	Missouri	8
20	Georgia Tech	6
21	Florida State	5
22	Tulsa	4
23	Northwestern	3
24	Minnesota	2
25	Boston College	1

Dropped Out: Michigan State (#14), North Carolina (#16), Kansas (#17), Virginia Tech (#18), California (#21), Wake Forest (#23), Vanderbilt (#25).

I only got votes from Zeke this week, so I’m treating this as our “preliminary” ballot, and if the rest of our lazy bloggers are able to get their votes in before Wednesday, then maybe I’ll adjust this. For now, it stands as-is.

I’m still uncomfortable with BYU so high, after the bare-bottom spanking they received from TCU. I think Oklahoma State deserves to be ranked higher than Oklahoma, Zeke does not. Oklahoma always seems to lay an egg against OkieState when it’s important and I’m predicting that to happen again this year. I also think Penn State’s whomping of lowly Michigan was more impressive than Alabama’s squeaker against lowly Ole Miss. But that’s just me. Past Utah, I’m still not sure. Is Missouri ranked too high? (Yes). Does Ball State deserve it’s ranking? (Maybe? I haven’t seen them play, save an occasional highlight).

Confusion reigns supreme. Show us how smart you are in the comments.

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

Dropped Out: Georgia Tech (#20), Northwestern (#22), Florida State (#23).

We’re Bullish on: Texas, Oklahoma State, and Florida.

We’re Bearish on: Vandy, LSU, and Missouri.

We can’t make up our mind on: BYU (seriously, SYR who have they beat?), Ohio State (SO FRUSTRATING to be a fan right now), and Cal (one week there off our radar, all of a sudden they’re #21?)

Let us know what you think. Even though we do our own little mini-poll before we submit our ballot, we are always open to constructive criticism. (Just note that I’m never wrong)

Oh, and I wanted Minnesota. If you think they belong, let everyone know how right you and I are!