BlogPollin' and SEC Power Pollin'

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida
2	Alabama	2
3	Texas
4	California	2
5	Cincinnati	12
6	LSU	2
7	Miami (Florida)	12
8	Virginia Tech	3
9	Washington
10	Southern Cal	8
11	Ohio State	1
12	Mississippi	5
13	Penn State	4
14	TCU
15	Missouri	3
16	Boise State	1
17	Auburn	8
18	Houston	3
19	Kansas	1
20	Oklahoma	4
21	Michigan
22	Oregon State	2
23	Florida State
24	UCLA
25	Nebraska
Last week's ballot

I'm changing the groupings of review a little bit. 

THE ELITE
1 Florida
2 Bama
3 Texas
4 Cal

I'm not going to panic about Florida for only beating UT by 10.  They dominated that game and every way and were never in danger of losing.  Bama, though, is looking more and more like the #1 team.  I am tempted to flip the teams.  Cal sleepwalked through Minnesota and still won by 14.  Texas struggled a bit in their statement game as well, but we have no reason to doubt them.  Yet.

TEAMS WHO HAVE AT LEAST BEATEN SOMEONE
5 Cincinnati
6 LSU
7 Miami

That's right, Cincy.  The Bearcats are the defending Big East champs, they have an excellent coach, the big question was the defense and that doesn't seem to be a concern, and they went to Oregon St and won.  They've also blown out bad teams.  That's a better resume than just about anyone.  Miami is a chic team for blowing out GT, but let's not forget their struggles against FSU. 

TEAMS WITH A GOOD WIN AND A GOOD LOSS
8 Virginia Tech
9 Washington
10 USC
11 Ohio St

OK, Ohio St doesn't have a good win, but I think they played with USC and I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.  VT played Bama tough for 3 1/2 quarters, and beat a good Nebraska team.  USC beat tOSU on the road and lost to UW.  And... Washington?  Why not?  They beat USC, my #2 team last week, and played LSU, a top ten team, very tough.  Take the name off the jersey... how is that not a better resume than most teams out there?

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLAY SOMEONE
12 Ole Miss
13 Penn St
14 TCU

Totally punitive.  It's been three weeks.  Play a team with a pulse.  You can get into the top ten once you've beaten a decent team.  These teams essentially have earned an "Incomplete" so far.

SOME MORE UNDEFEATEDS
15 Mizzou
16 Boise St
17 Auburn
18 Houston
19 Kansas

I'm not sold on any of these guys, really, but they are all unbeaten and all have had their moments.  I think I'm underselling Auburn though.  This is a volatile group which could go in any direction, but tey all merit watching. 

STILL POLLING
20 OU
21 Michigan
22 Oregon St
23 FSU
24 UCLA
25 Nebraska

Hey, if you believe in Miami, Cincy, and VT, you rank the teams they beat.  Those aren't bad losses and FSU, especially, has looked good in its other games.  I'm giving some love to the Pac-10 and punishing BYU for making them pay attention to them.  They got bushwhacked. 

And... my SEC Power Poll ballot:

1 Florida - OK, they didn't lay down an epic smackdown that will be talked about for generations, but there was absolutely no point during the Tennessee that I felt the Vols had a chance.  The Gators slowly and methodically took an inferior team apart.  No style points, but this ain't figure skating.

2 Alabama - They are living off the VT win a little bit, but is there a team that has looked better than the Tide?  I'm running out of reasons not to rank Alabama #1.

3 LSU - The Tiger faithful are in meltdown because the team is not winning by big enough margins and they don't look impressive enough.  While I admit there are some concerns (particularly on the o-line), but if a team is 3-0 and ranked 7^th in the country, perhaps our standards are a tad high?

4 Auburn - We don't know how good WVU is or isn't, but has there been a more impressive off-the-radar team than Auburn?  The offense seems to be working out ok, but not as well as the pass to the defensive tackle.

5 Ole Miss - Can I give them an incomplete?  They finally play a team with a pulse this week and we get our first chance to form a real opinion on Ole Miss.

6 Georgia - Cox just went off against Arkansas.  I bet they want a do over against Okie State.  That offense is beginning to find its legs.

7 South Carolina - Of the SEC teams who have lost to Georgia, I'm slightly more impressed with the Gamecocks.  I'm about the only person outside of his immediate family who believes in Garcia, and I'm viewing the Georgia game as an aberration for the defense.

8 Arkansas - I still don't know what to make of them.  The game against Georgia sure was fun, though.  UGa seems to specialize in shootouts, so maybe it's not me, it's you.

9 Tennessee - Never has team been more excited about not losing by 30.

10 Mississippi St - WOO HOO!  A conference win!!!

11 Kentucky - The Louisville game was a blast to watch, but it also made me feel that the Cats aren't very good.

12 Vanderbilt - Reminds me of the Patton Oswalt joke: little known fact, if you lose a fight to a midget, you become one.