I'm trying to keep y'all updated on the polls we participate in around here. So, first up is the SEC Power Poll vote, which is a combined ballot from all of us here, but I reserve the right to ignore them. Though I didn't this week.
1 Alabama. They are the class of the country, much less the conference. Right now, the Tide are depressingly good.
2 South Carolina. Impressive win over a non-BCS team? Check. Good looking win over a quality SEC foe? Check.
3 LSU. Someone has got to be #3, and the Tigers have actual wins over actual BCS teams (sort of). It's still better than anything anyone else has done.
4 Florida. Man, you think LSU has looked sloppy? Watch a Florida game.
5 Arkansas. Play a team with a pulse and get back to me. If I could just leave them off the ballot due to lack of data, I would.
6 Kentucky. My fellow ATVS blogmates had Kentucky much higher than this, which is making me question my low rank for them. They have a solid case for #3.
7 Auburn. A good win over Mississippi State, but it's a sign of how good people want them to be by how a 3-point win over State is being held up as a great win. Still, 3 through 7 are a jumble.
8 Georgia. I think they just missed another tackle on Marcus Lattimore.
9 Mississippi State. If only they had a quarterback who could throw or receivers who could catch. That was a winnable game on Thursday.
10 Tennessee. Ouch.
11 Vanderbilt. Never really were any threat to beat LSU, though they held on gamely for three quarters.
12 Ole Miss. I thought it was sad, but Billy informs me I'm wrong. It is still funny.
The BlogPoll after the jump....
And The Valley Shook! Ballot - Week 3
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
 2 |
| 2 | Ohio St. Buckeyes |
2 |
| 3 | TCU Horned Frogs |
 -1 |
| 4 | Oregon Ducks |
5 |
| 5 | Iowa Hawkeyes |
5 |
| 6 | Oklahoma Sooners |
9 |
| 7 | Boise St. Broncos |
-6 |
| 8 | South Carolina Gamecocks | -- |
| 9 | Texas Longhorns |
-4 |
| 10 | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
-2 |
| 11 | Michigan Wolverines |
12 |
| 12 | LSU Tigers |
2 |
| 13 | Stanford Cardinal | -- |
| 14 | Florida Gators |
-8 |
| 15 | Wisconsin Badgers |
-4 |
| 16 | Utah Utes |
-3 |
| 17 | Texas A&M Aggies |
3 |
| 18 | Oregon St. Beavers |
1 |
| 19 | Houston Cougars | -- |
| 20 | Arizona Wildcats |
5 |
| 21 | Arkansas Razorbacks |
1 |
| 22 | California Golden Bears | -- |
| 23 | Miami Hurricanes |
-11 |
| 24 | Penn St. Nittany Lions | -- |
| 25 | Air Force Falcons | -- |
| Dropouts: Virginia Tech Hokies, West Virginia Mountaineers, Georgia Bulldogs, Florida St. Seminoles, USC Trojans, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
OK, as promised, I didn't even look at last week's ballot when putting together this week's ballot. This is almost entirely off of my initial impressions of teams, with still a little preseason belief thrown in.
1-5 The elite schools. Alabama and Ohio St are currently on a different planet than everyone else. I'm willing to believe that TCU might be on their level, but they will run out of chances to prove it. Oregon and Iowa right now aren't even breaking a sweat, just killing their outmatched foes.
6-10 My brief flirtation with Boise is over, given that their quality win just lost a lot of its luster. Yeah, some of it is a hangover, but James Madison? Oklahoma put the Utah St game in their rear view mirror and have a good case to
be top five. Inertia helps Texas and Nebraska, who still haven't played anyone halfway decent. South Carolina rockets into my top ten off of two consecutive impressive wins. Very few teams have their resume.
11-15 Speaking of resumes, Michigan and LSU are the only two teams with two wins over BCS conference teams (if you count Notre Dame, which I do). They have actual accomplishments, though Michigan's are better. Florida has looked awful so far, and I admit that I should have ranked Stanford in my preseason poll, but I was holding off. They passed their first test with flying colors.
16-20 Teams I have no feel for, really. I still like Oregon St, who opened with a tough loss on the road to the #3 team. Then it's just BCS fliers and some mid-majors who have looked pretty good.
21-25 Air Force is a somewhat sentimental vote, but they looked really good against BYU. I'm still waiting for Arkansas to play a real team, so their ranking could be volatile. Miami and Penn St both lost to great teams, but they look like they will be competitive teams. There's no shame in not being as good as the top two teams in the nation.
Dropped out: Most of them are obvious. WVU won, but an overtime escape against Marshall doesn't get you in the top 25. USC barely beat a pretty bad Virginia team in a narrow escape. Not impressed.