BlogPoll – Week 2

A couple of notes before we get started –

At Boys of Old Florida we are resume rankers, meaning we give little credence to a team’s previous position in the polls, especially in the early part of the season. You are what your record says you are, not some “guesstimation” of how good you are or are not.

Early season polls are crap – all of ‘em. In the early season, traditional polls have shown time and time again that they have no idea of who is really “best”, or that they are predictive of future success. From the resume ranker’s standpoint the ability to be highly adaptable is far more equitable by allowing teams not ranked in inflexible preseason polls a chance to prove their worth.

With that said, my top 10 with a brief note on the thought process are –

1. Oregon – a very tenuous number 1, the Ducks won big in hostile Neyland. They have the nation’s best winning margin of 53.5 points per game.

2. Ohio State – 25.5 ppg margin, and a dominating win over Miami puts them here.

3. Alabama – 33 ppg margin and a home win over Penn State.

4. Michigan – 2 best wins of the early season, over U Conn and at Notre Dame. 12 ppg margin.

5. South Carolina – two solid wins (Southern Miss and Georgia). 19.5 ppg margin.

6. Oklahoma – lights up FSU at home, 18.5 ppg margin

7. LSU – wins over UNC and Vandy (who are at least FBS teams…). 15 ppg margin.

8. TCU – 32.5 ppg margin, wins over Oregon State and Tenn. Tech.

9. Utah – wins over Pitt and UNLV, 15.5 ppg margin

10. Stanford – takes out UCLA, impressive 35 ppg margin.

Now some notes on who isn’t present in my top 25 –

Boise State – Let’s look at this realistically – they have a 3 point win at a neutral site over Virginia Tech, who then lost to James Madison by 5 at Blacksburg this week. Objectively, James Madison has a better resume than Boise State at this point. We’ll check in with Boise next week after they play their second game.

Miami – a win over an FCS team, then a blowout loss to the sole FBS team played. That’s the equivalent of an 0-1 start to my thinking.

Penn State – see Miami.

West Virginia – win over Coastal Carolina, narrow escape over Marshall. There’s simply better resume 2 win teams.

The entire poll follows – remember, I want blog reader input!

Boys of Old Florida Ballot - Week 3

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Oregon Ducks	7
2	Ohio St. Buckeyes	16
3	Alabama Crimson Tide	8
4	Michigan Wolverines	8
5	South Carolina Gamecocks	12
6	Oklahoma Sooners	--
7	LSU Tigers	-3
8	TCU Horned Frogs	-6
9	Utah Utes	-6
10	Stanford Cardinal	--
11	Auburn Tigers	8
12	Missouri Tigers	13
13	California Golden Bears	--
14	Florida Gators	--
15	Nebraska Cornhuskers	1
16	Arizona Wildcats	-1
17	Iowa Hawkeyes	--
18	Texas Longhorns	4
19	Houston Cougars	--
20	Wisconsin Badgers	-7
21	Arkansas Razorbacks	--
22	Texas A&M Aggies	--
23	Arizona St. Sun Devils	--
24	Air Force Falcons	--
25	N.C. State Wolfpack	--
Dropouts: Boise St. Broncos, BYU Cougars, North Carolina Tar Heels, Virginia Tech Hokies, Georgia Bulldogs, Oklahoma St. Cowboys, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Mississippi St. Bulldogs, Oregon St. Beavers, Colorado Buffaloes, Kentucky Wildcats

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