Blog Pollin' Hits the Stretch

by SMQ on Nov 29, 2006 10:49 AM EST in News Comment 4 comments

You can't stop real life, you can only hope to contain it. And even beginning to do that today requires SMQ to put the blog on the backburner for a few hours. So, quickly, quickly...

BlogPoll Ballot, Week 14
This is not a power poll...
1. Ohio State
2. Southern Cal
3. Michigan
4. Florida
5. Louisville
6. LSU
7. Wisconsin
8. Arkansas
9. Boise State
10. Rutgers
11. Auburn
12. Oklahoma
13. Notre Dame
14. West Virginia
15. Tennessee
16. Virginia Tech
17. California
18. Texas
19. Wake Forest
20. Boston College
21. BYU
22. Nebraska
23. Texas A&M
24. Georgia Tech
25. Hawaii

Waiting: TCU, Oregon State, Penn State, Georgia

This is not SMQ's proudest rankings work, because there are so many ways to look at spots 8-14 - Notre Dame and Oklahoma are punished for lack of an elite win, Auburn for two blowout home losses, whereas Wisconsin, Boise State and Rutgers are rewarded for a lot of mediocre wins but fewer blemishes - and SMQ isn't sure this is the best result. A regular from-scratch reassessment is probably due next week.

Arguments to this effect, or to affirm SMQ's effort, or to praise or trash any other element of the ballot, or to freak because Georgia Tech remains in over Georgia (and because SMQ does not consider that a difficult decision), or to offer your favorite recipe for a nice holiday bundt cake, belong in the comments below.

0 recs | Comment 4 comments

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Comments

WVA

Only WVA at #14 has me truly baffled.

How their resume is superior to a number of teams below it is something I'm not sure I understand.

by Peter Bean on Nov 29, 2006 1:37 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

UGA

I'm not sure I can really argue UGA not being on there. They have a really weird resume, and four losses are four losses.

by peacedog on Nov 29, 2006 4:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

LSU

Here's my deal with LSU. They are considered the SD Chargers of the CFA by bloggers and "experts". By that I mean, LSU is living off the fact that many people believe their "A" game is better than anyone elses "A" game (including OSU).

Same analogy with the Chargers. If SD/LSU played a "perfect" game, they'd beat any team in the league/country on a neutral field by x amount of points.

If you buy into that "fact", then since LSU failed to bring their "A" game when it mattered most (AU and FLA), should they be punished a bit more? Instead, they seem to gain rank by just "being the team that could beat OSU or USC" if given the opportunity, and IF they bring their "A" game.

by Bry422 on Nov 29, 2006 6:59 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I don't think

I can agree with you more. While a huge supporter of the Plainsmen, I feel as though the SEC was a war of mostly mediocre attrition this year.

Looking at LSU, their two best wins are clearly:
@ Tennessee and
"@" Arkansas (Little Rock)

I do think that Arkansas was a tad underrated by the college football world at large and LSU showed there mettle there. And any win in Knoxville (save for last year) is bound to be impressive.

But the Bengal Tigers' biggest two games @ Auburn and @ Florida were losses.

I guess it's good not to punish a team for losing it's toughest 2 games if they're goint to lose a couple, but (brutal schedule aside) I'd consider LSU a dissapointment.

by TexasTiger on Nov 30, 2006 1:48 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

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