BlogPollin' Week One Ballot - Rough Draft
by CW on Sep 2, 2008 5:00 AM EDT
in Notre Dame Football
5 comments
The first few weeks of the season are some of my favorite to do BlogPoll rankings. There's confusion and chaos reigning over the entire nation and the favorites usually haven't played anyone's that an actual challenge. While the end of the season usually ends up transitioning into the same old oligarchy as years past, early September is the time for new faces to taste the exclusive flavor of single digit rankings before tumbling in the crispness of autumn.
I am a firm believer in resume ranking - basing the ordering off of accomplishments instead of guesstimating a power poll - but there's obviously some difficulty in making judgments based on one game. The one rule I'm putting into full, iron-clad effect this year is you get absolutely zero credit for playing Division I-AA teams (even Appalachian State), meaning teams like Ohio State, Georgia and Oklahoma will have to wait a little longer to get into the poll. Their schedules will obviously increase with difficulty and they'll assume their (probably) rightful place at the top of the polls as the season goes on, but for now, let's hear it for the Pirates.
Other factors considered included a bump for neutral site or road games, as well as style points for incinerating the spread against teams that should have been at least somewhat competent.
Think anyone deserves to go way up or way down? Hit up the comments, as ballots are not final until Wednesday and adjustments can be made.
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern Cal | -- |
| 2 | Alabama |  24 |
| 3 | Missouri | 1 |
| 4 | Texas | 8 |
| 5 | Florida | 1 |
| 6 | East Carolina | 20 |
| 7 | Utah | 13 |
| 8 | Oklahoma State | 18 |
| 9 | California | 17 |
| 10 | Stanford | 16 |
| 11 | Oregon | 12 |
| 12 | Mississippi | 14 |
| 13 | Auburn | -- |
| 14 | Wisconsin | -- |
| 15 | Wake Forest | 11 |
| 16 | South Carolina | 8 |
| 17 | Fresno State | 9 |
| 18 | Colorado | 8 |
| 19 | Bowling Green | 7 |
| 20 | Northwestern | 6 |
| 21 | Nebraska | 5 |
| 22 | Tulsa | 4 |
| 23 | Vanderbilt | 3 |
| 24 | Kentucky | 2 |
| 25 | Buffalo | 1 |
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It's nice to know I won't be Mr. Bold this week!
Although I have tried to temper my approach this year (by phasing in resume ranking gradually in the early weeks, when the evidence of the respective teams’ strength is scant and fewer concrete judgments can be made), I respect the intellectual integrity of your method, which will produce considerable chaos early on before settling into a purely fact-based top 25. Well done!
I have a question, though. Shouldn’t Alabama, Missouri, and U.C.L.A. all be ranked ahead of U.S.C.? Clemson, Illinois, and Tennessee all ought to prove to be better than Virginia.
Go 'Dawgs!
Agreed
I originally had Southern Cal in the fifth range and then moved them up because I kept reading about how awesome they were/remembering how they kill us. UCLA will also be added before the final draft, with USC probably being knocked back.
http://www.rakesofmallow.com
by CW on Sep 2, 2008 11:44 AM EDT up reply actions
After watching last night’s performance I think it is clear that UCLA belongs at least somewhere on the list. I’m not sure whether the Bruins improved that much from last year or if Tennessee has just fallen off, but either way you slice it the Bruins performed well under pressure last night and got the job done. Craft had one of the most amazing turnarounds I’ve ever seen in a game.
I’m wondering why you chose Buffalo to round out the top 25. Temple dominated Army (not that it is that difficult to do) and Rice put up some big numbers against SMU. Fredo beat up on Kent State and Kansas State destroyed North Texas. Arizona didn’t play so nice against Idaho (70-0). They’re all FBS teams.
In the long run of the poll it obviously won’t matter, but it’s just some food for thought.
End of the poll
Arizona was there, BC was there, TCU was in there, just sort of settled on Buffalo because I doubt I’ll be voting for them again (although they are playing Pitt. . . ). I think you can make a legitimate case for them all, but UCLA will be knocking Turner Gill out anyway.
http://www.rakesofmallow.com
by CW on Sep 2, 2008 2:47 PM EDT up reply actions
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