BLOGPOLL FINAL BALLOT: CORRECTED AND MADE WORSE
Making this blogpoll felt like doing trauma surgery. Nurse! More clamps! Everytime we moved something, something else started bleeding all over the place. It’s a mess, but see the serious problems discussed below, which are endemic and won’t be resolved until bowl sexy time.
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State | — |
| 2 | Michigan | — |
| 3 | Texas | — |
| 4 | California |  1 |
| 5 | Louisville | 1 |
| 6 | Florida | 3 |
| 7 | Arkansas | 9 |
| 8 | Auburn | — |
| 9 | Notre Dame | 2 |
| 10 | Southern Cal | — |
| 11 | LSU | 11 |
| 12 | Oklahoma | 7 |
| 13 | Rutgers | 2 |
| 14 | Wisconsin |  1 |
| 15 | Tennessee | 11 |
| 16 | West Virginia | 9 |
| 17 | Oregon | 4 |
| 18 | Georgia Tech | 4 |
| 19 | Wake Forest | 1 |
| 20 | Maryland | 6 |
| 21 | Virginia Tech | 2 |
| 22 | Nebraska | 4 |
| 23 | Boston College | 11 |
| 24 | Clemson | 6 |
| 25 | Texas A&M | 8 |
Serious problems:
West Virginia has no d. None. Louisville can do that to people, but if the Mountaineers don’t hold serve once, they lose. Almost happened against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl last year, and totally happened in the UL game. They plummet with serious rebound opportunity.
Arkansas’ ranked over USC right now. USC’s not getting better over the course of the season; in fact, they seem to have plateaued. Arkansas, on the other hand, is running eight plays to victory every week and screaming upward. Coming up: Oregon, Cal, Notre Dame. Sweep the three and shininess will return with ease, and we won’t have to do anything silly like this again.
The Wisconsin issue. They’ll finish the season with one loss, but it’s puffery. They’re good, but their schedule’s wahhhhfer-thin, with the next toughest game after their loss to Michigan being a road trip to Iowa, who are not good. Bielema is our man of the year for the 15 Second Kickoff, but his team will roll into a bowl game overrated no matter what they do. And how do we punish two teams like Tennessee and LSU for playing each other to the last bloody seconds of a conference game? And especially LSU, who won a road game in hostile, Special Golden Estrus-scented territory?
The smell of Neyland: bags ‘em every time!
–Nathan in our comments asks: “What on earth is going on with the ACC in your ballots?” Take off the “in your ballots” when discussing your completely facacta megaconference. Sanity forbids us from bumping the best-looking team (Wake Forest) too high, so up goes Tech. But they’ll lose an improbable game along the way, and then we’ll have to dredge up another mediocre ACC team (likely Clemson or Boston College) just to put them in the ballot. Someone figure out parity, get some Bellichickesque football math going, and just start winning the damn conference convincingly before Butch Davis takes over at UNC and does it for you. Because that’s gonna happen.
–As for A&M, Georgia Tech, and Boston College, we don’t trust them. We’re pretty sure Oklahoma’s too high, and that they’ll break our hearts, too. Yet like many other pollsters, we’re haunted by the ghost of championship booty past. Two losses? Ah, but that ass, shorty. Ooh! That ass.
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46
I’m sorry, but if any one loss teams deserves a crack at the NC, it’d be USC, since they’ve played the #1 hardest schedule in all of college football.
They weren’t blown out in their 1 loss. They were playing on the road. They missed a 2 point conversion on the last play of the game.
I am NOT a USC fan. Not by any means. In fact, I’m quite the opposite. However, you gotta give them their props if they can run out.
And I certainly won’t be touting any of these incestuous southern teams. They talk all tough, but I’ve never seen any data to prove they actually are. Check the SOS, any 2 loss SEC team is suspect, and a 1 loss Arkansas has played a schedule easier than 95 of the 119 teams in D1 football. “That’s just not good enough.”
Comment by atepesm — November 10, 2006 @ 4:23 am
45
Well, let’s not discount one poster’s excuses and immediately follow it with your own. That shit ain’t right.
Comment by J-skool — November 9, 2006 @ 4:54 pm
44
43
Southern Cal (or ND) winning out still doesn’t deserve them a spot in Glendale. Any top tier and most mid tier SEC teams in the SEC would salivate for either of their schedules. Sure Southern Cal beat Arky, but that was the first game of the season against a team missing it’s star RB. What was Southern Cal’s or ND’s excuse for their one loss?
Salivate over USC’s schedule, Please… Arkansas, CAL, Notre Dame, Oregon, Nebraska, Oregon St. By season’s end USC will have by far the toughest sos of any contender. You want to dismiss USC’s battering of the 1st place team in the SEC by 36 points, becuase D Mac didn’t start, even though he did play. As for our loss, when your -4 in the TO dept. and give up a punt return for a TD on the road, you really can’t expect to win can you?
Comment by Marc Ruffalo — November 9, 2006 @ 3:04 pm
43
Southern Cal (or ND) winning out still doesn’t deserve them a spot in Glendale. Any top tier and most mid tier SEC teams in the SEC would salivate for either of their schedules. Sure Southern Cal beat Arky, but that was the first game of the season against a team missing it’s star RB. What was Southern Cal’s or ND’s excuse for their one loss?
I still say the winner of the Big East and ACC should have to play a play-in-game for a BCS berth against the Pac 10 winner, and the game in Glendale should feature a 1-loss SEC team against the winner of tOSU and Big Blue. Hand out the remaining BCS berths to whomever you want (Tosu./Mich loser, LSU, Auburn, UofF, Cal, Arky etc whoever is remaining by then and not in a higher bowl). And why aren;t the freakin’ Cocks ranked as high as the Badgers. Surely with Wisc’s schedule the Cocks would only have one loss as well.
Comment by Jim — November 9, 2006 @ 2:10 pm
42
I love reading comments on polls like this one. Gives people a chance to show they were actually sober 2 months ago when X played Y, and that they remember the score. Or do they?
Bottom line on all the speculation posted after Mr Sweeen-daal throws out his IMHO poll: it’s all speculation until a few more games have passed. Then any poll probably becomes a mute point unless a playoff system is implemented. You can have #1 play #2 but unless #3 and #4 lose to much lower ranked opponents (watch out Louisville) there will still be speculation about who is best.
So…. Fla just MIGHT be better than Auburn because they improved since 4 wks ago, Arky just MIGHT be better than USC since McFacTruck started running for them, and even ND just MIGHT have a big game left in em, but I kinda doubt it
I must admit a little bias that I imagine Fla or Arky or Tx or ND would probably kick Louisville’s ass so hard they would not shit right for a week. Maybe Petrino has some leprechaun directing his magic offense, but the ogre employed on defense at many major big U’s will eat little leprechauns for lunch. But BYU from many years ago proved that if you just don’t play anyone good you too can join the MNC club.
I will also admit to a little snickering starting to build up in me thinking about Fla beating Arky in the SECCG and jumping over L’ville to play Michigan for the MNC. That will build to complete gales of laughter if somehow Auburn should get there. That would leave so much doubt about how silly a system is that allows a mediocre team to play barely winning ball and make it to the near-top that the BSC might just crumble next year.
I know it will not be over in 3-4 weeks… but I suspect that after the end of bowl season we will know a bit more. My bet is on at least 2 teams will join the “Shoulda Been Us” club initiated by Auburn in ‘04. Maybe when the ranks swell by enough big powers we will finally get a playoff shoved down the throat of intermediate programs. Hopefully before violence in sports is legislated out of existence by President Hillary.
Nuff said. Bring on the violence.
Comment by Futbawl Fan — November 9, 2006 @ 11:53 am
41
The only way Florida makes it to the BCS Championship, in my opinion:
1.) Arkansas loses to both Vols and LSU
2.) Auburn wins SEC West
3.) Florida wins-out, including redemption over Auburn in Atlanta
Florida is the only team with one loss and still in the picture, that I can gather, with a shot at avenging its previous set-back — before bowling season.
Otherwise, it’s Cal. USC will not beat Cal.
Comment by J-skool — November 9, 2006 @ 11:01 am