Forgive my brief absence - I needed to recharge my battery and had an appointment with the Twilight series and Dreyer's ice cream. You ladies know what I'm talking about!
Here's how the collective BlogWisdom sees it, broken down by Andy Hutchins:
Results for Week 9
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Rankings 2011
My comments:
- The Aggies are a little underrated, right? Look at the resume. It's pretty compelling for a two loss team. The Tech win looks a hell of a lot better and the OSU and Arkansas losses aren't exactly indictments.
- Cincy gets ranked by virtue of their 6-1 record, but they don't have a win over anyone of merit and their sole loss is a blowout at the hands of a Tennessee Vol team praying to finish north of .500. I grant that good ideas run out quickly at the bottom of the Top 25, but I can't rank Oscar Robertson's alma mater in good conscience yet.
My take:
Barking Carnival Ballot - Week 9
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -- |
| 2 | LSU Tigers | -- |
| 3 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys |
 3 |
| 4 | Stanford Cardinal |
3 |
| 5 | Boise St. Broncos | -- |
| 6 | Clemson Tigers |
3 |
| 7 | Oregon Ducks |
1 |
| 8 | Arkansas Razorbacks |
2 |
| 9 | Oklahoma Sooners |
 -6 |
| 10 | Kansas St. Wildcats |
2 |
| 11 | Michigan St. Spartans |
2 |
| 12 | Wisconsin Badgers |
-8 |
| 13 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
3 |
| 14 | Texas A&M Aggies |
1 |
| 15 | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
-1 |
| 16 | Virginia Tech Hokies |
4 |
| 17 | Arizona St. Sun Devils |
8 |
| 18 | USC Trojans | -- |
| 19 | Michigan Wolverines |
-1 |
| 20 | Texas Tech Red Raiders | -- |
| 21 | Houston Cougars |
1 |
| 22 | Georgia Bulldogs |
-1 |
| 23 | Penn St. Nittany Lions | -- |
| 24 | West Virginia Mountaineers |
-13 |
| 25 | Southern Miss. Golden Eagles | -- |
| Dropouts: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Washington Huskies, Illinois Fighting Illini, Notre Dame Fighting Irish | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
- Losses by OU and Wiscy have greatly clarified that which was opaque. Oklahoma State, Stanford, Boise and Clemson all made their collective pitch to be the sacrificial lamb opponent for a SEC champion, but they all have treacherous roads to still navigate. Anyone think how I have them rated should be switched up?
- Clemson has an interesting contrarian challenge this week in Georgia Tech. The Yellowjackets were destroyed by Miami's defense on the heels of a loss to Virginia, but irrespective of their swoon, they're a junkball pitcher and you never know if the opponent's D knows when to lay off or flail away in the dirt.
- Southern Miss is quietly piling up wins after a slow start and their last five games have evidenced a steady building of confidence. They have a decent shot at running the table in Conference USA. Yes, they were the best idea I could come up with.
- KSU-OU will one of the more compelling matchups of the weekend. Will OU drop back-to-back games or will KSU get the first of many late season reality checks? My money is on the latter, but my heart hopes for the former. This is what I've been reduced to as a Texas fan - hoping that others will prevent Stoops from being in a position of winning his 8th Big 12 title in Bedlam because my team can't affect that outcome.
Thoughts?