The Blogpoll! Which makes more sense this week than it did last week thanks to the undeniable stink of losing permeating the defenestrated top ten. Apologies and explanations follow below.

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

Dropped Out: Wake Forest (#9), TCU (#21), Fresno State (#22), Nebraska (#23), Georgia Tech (#25).

Initial proviso: Alabama could just as easily be number one. They might very well be the best team playing the best football in the country, but we’ll happily admit that the reason Oklahoma is up there despite blowing the doors off the flimsiest of opponent prior to this weekend is that they’ve been better with the established Stoops Performance Machine longer than Alabama. That is the only thing keeping Alabama from that spot in our minds: the established performance of the Sooners over time. In terms of 2008 resume, Alabama’s performance is the strongest in the nation, and a brutal, brawny kind of strong, not a bronzered-up Mr. Olympia-kind of strong. (See: USC.)

Top ten notes: Penn State might really be that good, and we’ll ride that like the MARTA until it breaks. LSU sleptwalk a bit against Mississippi State, but given the MSU offense, it’s hard not to put up your feet and watch them shriek as they tase themselves over and over again; therefore don’t take a one spot drop too seriously–especially when they have the best shot at Alabama down the road. (Tennessee? Auburn? Have you seen Chris Todd’s fungo game? It’s unstoppable.)

Still weak on Missouri, whose defense brings the butt every other game, but Texas’ defense and the newly efficient Colt McCoy bull Texas up a few notches. BYU and South Florida because who the hell else goes there who’s actually played someone? And Georgia over Southern Cal because the Bulldogs actually lost to a really good team who did not lose to Stanford. (For contrast, see Oregon State’s pissypants performance against Penn State and then reprocess in light of their play against USC, and the continual bullishness for Penn State makes at least a bit more sense.)

As for what Auburn is doing there….the minute someone has a good day against that defense, they get served their eviction notice from the top ten, because their offense set next to Tennessee’s killed the ghost of Bill Walsh yesterday. You didn’t think ghosts could die? They couldn’t until…whatever that was happened. Chris Todd: 14/23, 93 yards, 1 TD/1 INT. Gack.

There is no safe word for this take your whipping. Florida and Wisconsin’s losses were both shameful in nature, and they eat hot ranking death for it. Wisconsin’s may have been the worst in nature–a collapse with a 19-7 lead–but losing at home in a ridiculously error-prone and fitful effort has its own unique and foul odor, too.

The rest is a weeping mess. Oklahoma State/Texas Tech are the same team, and haven’t played anyone, and just sit there like a stubborn bolus in the middle of the poll. Vanderbilt is up there, meaning they’ll lose when Gameday curses them and forces all of us to drop our monocles and flashy canes in shock. Ball State gets a shoutout at 25 because we want to get Jeff George’s autograph via Jason Whitlock, because he is our hero (for stealing good money from a successful corporate entity for years without being caught.)