CBSSports.com BlogPoll Ballot: Week 5
Is anybody any good? That's the question with a wild September in the books and it necessitates a vast restructuring of my current poll. Think of it like a month-end inventory or audit. Or just look at it like many people already do: about the time the first poll should come out anyway.
I wish the coaches and AP voters would do the same. Does anyone possibly think that LSU is the fourth best team in the country? Did Virginia Tech and Nebraska look about equal to you on the field a week ago? What happened to the greatest Miami team to ever take the field, led by the best quarterback in school history?
My answers, and my fresh from scratch poll, are after the jump.
 | ||
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | |
| 2 | Texas | |
| 3 | Alabama | |
| 4 | Boise State |  2 |
| 5 | Houston | |
| 6 | Virginia Tech | 4 |
| 7 | Oklahoma | 1 |
| 8 | Southern Cal | 1 |
| 9 | Ohio State | 3 |
| 10 | Nebraska | 9 |
| 11 | Cincinnati | 6 |
| 12 | TCU | 1 |
| 13 | Oklahoma State | 1 |
| 14 | Miami (Florida) |  3 |
| 15 | Iowa | |
| 16 | Kansas | |
| 17 | LSU | 2 |
| 18 | Mississippi | 11 |
| 19 | Oregon | |
| 20 | California | 15 |
| 21 | Georgia Tech | |
| 22 | Penn State | 18 |
| 23 | Brigham Young | 3 |
| 24 | Georgia | 6 |
| 25 | Missouri | 3 |
| Last week's ballot | ||
OUT
Pitt and North Carolina--pretty much placeholders in my mind anyway--both lost so that's easy enough. Michigan's case isn't helped by Notre Dame's narrow escapes the past two weeks.
IN
So I was way late to the Houston bandwagon, but take away their name and replace it with, say, Texas A&M, and would you have a top five teams after wins over two Big 12 South foes? I think so. I was completely wrong about Penn State, and given Ferentz' recent history against Paterno, I'm not even sure how impressive that win is but the Big 10 has to fit in somewhere and the Hawkeyes look like the second best team in that conference. Finally, Oregon. Still not in love with the Ducks but I was high on Cal so what can you do other than go by the on the field evidence?
BY WAY OF FURTHER EXPLANATION
--Nebraska in the Top 10? I decided this on Saturday night after I returned home from the game and witnessed the carnage in the Top 25. I keep hearing today how if Nebraska had beaten VT they'd be in the top ten. Why not put them there, then? Nobody who watched it came away thinking NU and VT were anything less than equal. The huge jump has nothing to do with the game against Louisiana and a lot to do with the way Tech handled Miami, but here's the other factor: Nebraska hasn't played poorly yet. That's something Oklahoma, USC, Oregon, Cal, Iowa, BYU, LSU, or Oklahoma State--all teams ranked ahead of the Huskers in either the coaches or AP poll--can't say and consistency has to count for something. The Huskers haven't faced a truly explosive offense yet, but they'll see plenty of them in the Big 12.
--Alabama probably had the most impressive month but I still wouldn't take them on a neutral field over Texas or Florida...yet. And while the Big 12's early struggles have been well publicized, what about the vaunted SEC? Right now that conference looks like the Gators and Tide at the top, followed by a big lump of average. Which leads me too...
--LSU. It's hard for me to contain my disbelief at seeing the Tigers climb to #4 by default. LSU has no offense to speak of (105th nationally in total offense) and their normally vaunted defense has been about average (49th in total defense) against a schedule that doesn't have a team ranked higher than 62nd in total offense. What's good about that?
--And what about Georgia? The Bulldogs continue to look like a rebuilding team benefiting from a high initial rank. At least Ole Miss has some reliable weapons but their loss to Sakerlina wasn't all that surprising to me either.
--I wish I could sit down and watch a complete Cincinnati game so I knew what I was dealing with in the Bearcats. On paper it all looks good, however.
--Boise State should start dusting off and sharpening up their usual schedule defense because the Broncos are going undefeated. For what it's worth, BSU is also 4-0 against the spread and it hasn't really been close.
So that's the new, totally revamped poll to start as we head into the heart of conference play for most schools. Feel free to disagree below.
9/28/2009
Brandon, while I agree polls shouldn’t start until October, they do determine pecking order. It’s the system whether we like it or not. Under the system you can lose, but lose early and rebound. When you start at the bottom you must run the table and depend on those ahead of you losing. The polls are the major reason coaches run up the score. I’m sure they’ll introduce a new polling system along with the National Championship Playoff formula.
GBR!
9/28/2009
how awesome would a Fiesta Bowl rematch vs Va Tech be? You cannot discount the possiblity of that occurring with NU either as an at large BCS team or the Big XII champs. I know that’s getting ahead of the game a bit but if this year has proven anything so far its that ANYTHING is possible.
Something tells me that the public at large wouldn’t mind a rematch. I know both schools would liketo prove that the last time wasn’t or in our case was a fluke. Its too bad we probably won’t play them again anytime soon. We’ve got a little bit of a rivalry brewing between the two schools IMO.
Neutral field I give NU a a seven point edge against Va Tech.
9/28/2009
It’s a rare thing to see a rematch in a bowl game. Sorta of a “been there, done that” attitude. If we’re dreaming I’d take a shot at an unbeaten Boise State.
9/28/2009
Thank you for the first poll I’ve seen all year that truly makes sense (though you do have Houston and BSU rated a few spots too high).
9/29/2009
I am not sure why we think we should be ranked higher than Missouri or Kansas? Who have we beaten? 3 Sun Belt teams at home? Give KU credit for winning all of their (albeit, easy) games, and to MU for scheduling two games away from home and winning all four. Plus, I’m also not sure where all of this confidence is coming from for next week’s game: they did lose a lot of players (so did we) and they SPANKED us IN LINCOLN last year, 52-17. Let’s temper our enthusiasm a little so our hopes aren’t crushed again.
Omaha, NE
9/29/2009
Higgs,
I can’t speak for everyone, but MY enthusiasm comes from this assessment of the three schedules: I would rank Nebraska’s close loss at VT ahead of either Missouri’s win over Illinois (on a neutral field) or Kansas’s win over Southern Miss at home. I’m probably in the minority with that thinking but I refuse to punish Nebraska too much for that loss in Blacksburg just because that’s “how the polls work.”
Beyond those three games, I’d call the rest of their non-conference slates a wash in terms of difficulty. So it goes back to my original point: Nebraska hasn’t played poorly yet—neither has KU really—but the Huskers one, one-point loss, came in a game that was by far more difficult than anything KU or MU played.
To your point, I’m still very wary of that trip to Columbia. Missouri has owned us of late—particularly at home—so the onus is entirely on Nebraska.