Monday, September 11

Blogpoll ballot #3: B-b-b-b-banned in the U.S.A.

Hey, did you know that this site is inaccessible from the Birmingham Public Library's WiFi connection because it contains material that may be inappropriate? Sorry, library patrons. But surely you're downloading porn from somewhere, aren't you? Well, just go to that computer and read it there.

Anyway, Blogpoll ballot #3 has been finalized, and it involves one team that got schooled by the #1 team in the country, one team that was way better than they looked in their season opener, and one team that I think I overestimated from the jump. Other than that, pretty minor movement overall.

Games watched: First half of Boise State-Oregon State; Auburn-Mississippi State; bits and pieces of Missouri-Ole Miss; most of Boston College-Clemson; Georgia-South Carolina; most of Ohio State-Texas; Atlanta-Carolina . . . wait, that doesn't count. Sorry.

1. Ohio State (last week: 1)
Unless you have any better ideas.

2. Auburn (3)

3. LSU (4)

4. Southern Cal (6)

5. Notre Dame (14)
After a one-week drop down to #14, they jump back up to #5 after eviscerating Penn State. Consider this my apology.

6. Texas (2)

7. Florida (10)

8. Louisville (7)

9. West Virginia (9)

10. Iowa (5)
KInd of a big drop considering that they did manage to pull off the win at Syracuse, but I originally had them at #13, pulling them back up only after I decided to give them the benfit of the doubt for having to put their backup QB in against Syracuse. Still, it's starting to look like I had the Hawkeyes a wee bit overranked to begin with.

11. Oregon (11)

12. Tennessee (8)
What the crap was Fisher DeBerry thinking, going for 2 at the very end instead of trying to force OT? I hope Phil Fulmer at least sends him a basket of mini-muffins or something.

13. Virginia Tech (12)
I agree with Kyle that Frank Beamer's team once again looks like the best in the ACC, though that speaks more to the quality (or lack of same) of the ACC than anything the Hokies have actually done so far. Holy crap, what a bunch of stiffs this conference is.

14. Michigan (13)

15. Georgia (17)
I'm optimistic, though cautiously so, after an Attilla-the-Hun-quality defensive beatdown (and a flawed but promising showing by Matt Stafford) against the Ol' Ballcoach.

16. Oklahoma (19)

17. Florida State (15)
They're lucky they only lost two spots after nearly getting klonged by Troy on their own field. I seriously considered putting Boise State above them.

18. Miami (16)

19. Boise State (22)

20. California (25)
Good bounce-back against Minnesota, but let's not kid ourselves into thinking that the Gophers actually have a defense. It probably didn't help that Air Force was able to hang for sixty minutes at the same stadium where Cal was basically taken out of it by halftime.

21. Nebraska (20)

22. Texas Tech (18)
Shouldn't have needed OT to beat UTEP, and if UTEP hadn't botched an extra point and two subsequent 2-point conversion tries, there wouldn't have been an OT in the first place. Mike Leach's offense is fun to watch, but one way or another it's going to have to dawn on him that he's never going to win the Big 12 South without a defense.

23. Boston College (NR/30)

24. UCLA (23)

25. Georgia Tech (NR/26)
Watch out for Troy, bitches.

The next five: Penn State, Clemson, Texas Christian, Utah, Wisconsin.

Dropped out: Clemson (21), Penn State (24).

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Going for 2 on the road in the last moments makes sense, especially if OT requires playing in front of 106,000 (ask NC State about the wisdom of this.) Air Force did show the weakness of the Vols though in the option. Fulmer has never prepared a team well for it. And Air Force convinced me they are underrated as well. It is hard for me to not to like a service acadamy team in that they have tiny student bodies compared to the schools they play against, and they have the moral fiber to serve their country and give up alot to do so. The Vols also seem to be weak at the end of every half as well. With a couple of minutes to go thier minds wander to what's going on on Cumberland Ave that night, whereas AF works out about a mile above sea level and never seems to tire.

The Vols played sloppy on D, but give AF credit, they were damn good.

Anonymous said...

Its a whole lot easier for Tennessee to throw a jump ball into the endzone during OT than it is for AF to option their way in. I may not respect Fisher's opinions on Afro-Americans, but I do respect his decision to go all-in.

Tony said...

Ohio State beat Texas worse than they beat Northern Illinois State.

Oh - Aich!

Eye - Oh!
Tony.

Anonymous said...

O - hi - 0