If this was the entire ballot and not just half it, I might win the Mr. Numb Existence award. Not many things went drastically against the way I thought they would, so the only in/out movement was dropping Air Force for Michigan. Internally, Houston and Oklahoma State were the only teams that moved dramatically.
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. USC
5. Penn State
The defending champs won by 50 and put Troy away in the second quarter. If Alabama didn't struggle so much in the first half against FIU, I would have vaulted the Tide over Texas, who struggled for a half against Wyoming. USC was not the better team for 55 of the 60 minutes against Ohio State, so they don't move up on my ballot. Penn State slides up a spot because the Buckeyes lost.
6. BYU
7. Ohio State
8. Ole Miss
9. Oklahoma
10. Boise State
I thought BYU might struggle in Week 2 against Tulane after a big win like Alabama did last year, but that didn't happen. As I said, Ohio State was the better team for most of the game against USC, so I don't penalize them much for the loss. Ole Miss hangs around, assuming they can beat the swine flu. Oklahoma and Boise State blew out their overmatched opponents just as you'd want them to.
11. Virginia Tech
12. Cal
13. LSU
14. TCU
15. Houston
VT and Cal also dominated their body bag games. LSU had a Vandy game but still won nicely. TCU didn't beat Virginia as comfortably as I would have liked. Houston only moves up to the mid-teens because, unlike the mainstream polls, I had Oklahoma State only at 13 last week.
16. Nebraska
17. Georgia Tech
18. Texas Tech
19. Oklahoma State
20. Utah
Nebraska keeps rolling against bad teams. Georgia Tech slips some for a rough game against Clemson. Texas Tech pillaged Rice by about what I'd expect. Oklahoma State is better than they played against Houston, and I did have Houston ranked last week. Utah stays here because of a lackluster win over San Jose State.
21. Cincinnati
22. Georgia
23. Michigan
24. Arkansas
25. North Carolina
Cincinnati has impressed me. I know yesterday's game was against a cupcake, but Rutgers probably isn't one and only Florida (54.5) has a higher average margin of victory than UC does (49.5). Georgia hangs tight for hanging on against South Carolina. Call me crazy, but Michigan looks like the third best team in the Big Ten. Arkansas remains at 24 despite not playing. UNC is on thin ice with me; I think they're better than they played against UConn, but I had to drop them for it anyway.
Questions, comments, and hate mail go in the comments. Let me have it.