From Old Virginia Ballot - Week 5
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide |  1 |
| 2 | Auburn Tigers | 13 |
| 3 | LSU Tigers | 9 |
| 4 | Stanford Cardinal | 3 |
| 5 | Florida Gators | -- |
| 6 | Oklahoma Sooners |  -2 |
| 7 | Ohio St. Buckeyes | -6 |
| 8 | Oregon Ducks | 5 |
| 9 | Boise St. Broncos | 8 |
| 10 | TCU Horned Frogs | -- |
| 11 | Michigan Wolverines | 3 |
| 12 | Arizona Wildcats | -6 |
| 13 | Nevada Wolf Pack | 6 |
| 14 | Utah Utes | 8 |
| 15 | Wisconsin Badgers | 1 |
| 16 | N.C. State Wolfpack | -- |
| 17 | UCLA Bruins | -- |
| 18 | USC Trojans | -- |
| 19 | Miami Hurricanes | 6 |
| 20 | Michigan St. Spartans | 1 |
| 21 | Missouri Tigers | -- |
| 22 | South Carolina Gamecocks | -14 |
| 23 | Arkansas Razorbacks | -14 |
| 24 | Florida St. Seminoles | -- |
| 25 | Kansas St. Wildcats | -- |
| Dropouts: Texas Longhorns, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Iowa Hawkeyes, Oklahoma St. Cowboys, Penn St. Nittany Lions, Air Force Falcons | ||
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So, what the hell?
The deal this week is that it's put up or shut up time. Time's up on preseasonal notions - now you have to have done something worth doing in order to get my vote. From here on out we look only at a team's resume, and I have a semi-scientific method for that which I broke out this week for the first time this season. Usually after I do that I shuffle a bit based on things that look a bit right or wrong, but only one of that this week: I nosed Wisconsin ahead of NC State. So - some explanations:
Auburn? Well, they've done pretty well for themselves. South Carolina and Clemson are good-looking skins for the wall and Mississippi State doesn't suck either. At least not yet.
Boise State? One of the reasons I like being able to finally get to use the science is that it put teams like Boise back to where they look a little more like they belong. Beating Oregon State didn't hurt either.
Ohio State? Little bit of a drop there, based mainly on a softer schedule so far than, say, Stanford and LSU. I do think they'll end up being one of the top two or three teams in the country when all's said and done, but these are what-has-happened rankings, not what-will-happen.
And some surprises that drop completely off the ballot. Surprised even me. Like:
Texas? Well, really, they didn't look too good against Texas Tech and they looked awful against UCLA. Really awful. UCLA gets into the poll based on the thinking that Texas is still actually pretty good, but Texas gets booted for not yet having done anything impressive.
Nebraska? Quite a drop. But when did these Dakota schools turn into world beaters? 17-3, really? Maybe the Big 12 should stay the Big 12 by putting the four Dakota schools into a cage match and inviting the two winners. Nebraska hasn't done much yet, other than maybe a shellacking of a not-real-good Washington team. Again, I'm sure we'll see them return to where they belong, but only after they do something worth doing. Next two games: Kansas State and Texas, so they're set up to get it done.
Penn State? It's becoming painfully obvious that the Nittany Lion offense can only score under threat of torture. Vastly improved though Temple may be, Penn State should not trail them at any point in that game.
So, there you have it. You're invited, as always, to point out why I'm being dumb.
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