My Halves of the Week 14 Ballots

First, the BlogPoll.

1. Auburn

2. Oregon

3. TCU

We're good through here, right? Right.

4. Wisconsin

5. Arkansas

6. Michigan State

7. Ohio State

8. Stanford

This is going to need some explaining. Wisconsin is 1-1 against ranked teams, but the loss was respectable (to Michigan State). It also has looked dominant after its loss, which gets brownie points. Arkansas has played six teams currently ranked by everyone, which is the most out of any team. It doesn't have a bad loss like Michigan State does (hammered by 7-5 Iowa), and its four wins over ranked teams are four more than Ohio State has. Stanford only has three wins over teams above .500, and those three opponents are all a fearsome 7-5.

I put Wisconsin over Arkansas because its best win is better than the Razorbacks' best win, it only has one loss, and it passes the eye test with flying colors. I put Arkansas over MSU and OSU because it has by far a better resume in terms of its losses (versus MSU's) and wins (versus OSU's). Michigan State edges out Ohio State because its big win cancels out the big loss to me and it has more wins over .500+ teams than the Buckeyes do. The only thing keeping Stanford above Boise State (who has two wins over ranked teams) is that it has the much better loss of the two.

9. Boise State

10. LSU

LSU's win-that-should-be-a-loss against Tennessee keeps it behind the Broncos, who otherwise would be behind the Tigers.

11. Oklahoma

12. Nebraska

13. Missouri

14. Oklahoma State

15. Nevada

It's Big 12-apalooza! These four teams are fairly same-y in their resumes. Oklahoma has two wins over ranked teams and no bad losses, so it goes first. Nebraska edges Missouri, despite its bad loss to Texas and having three fewer wins over .500+ teams, because of head-to-head (though I could be persuaded otherwise). Missouri's two wins over ranked teams edges it above Oklahoma State, who only has one. Nevada's big win over Boise helps the cause, but its decent but not great loss to Hawai'i (and relative lack of good wins) keeps it here.

16. Alabama

17. Texas A&M

18. South Carolina

19. Virginia Tech

20. FSU

I was very tempted to put Bama above Nevada because had the Crimson Tide knocked off Auburn, it definitely would have been. Does one point really make that big a difference? Also, I can't see how anyone can put Virginia Tech above any above two-loss team given that its Boise loss has lost some luster, it lost to a I-AA team, and hasn't beaten a single ranked team. I even put VT below a few three-loss teams because all of them have defeated ranked teams and don't have such a heinous loss.

21. Mississippi State

22. Utah

23. West Virginia

24. Hawai'i

25. NIU

I wish I could do something different with these teams, but I don't think I can.

1. Auburn

If you leave this team any opening at all, you're going down. You have to put this team away both early and late.

2. Arkansas

Even if Ryan Mallett leaves, this team should be right back up near the top next year. And just imagine if the defense could get out of the bottom half of the league!

3. LSU

I guess they finally ran out of fourth quarter magic.

4. Alabama

You don't normally see Nick Saban lose games like that.

5. South Carolina

Let's find out if South Carolina learned anything since last time around. The Gamecocks had the Tigers on the ropes on the Plains and just lost it.

6. Mississippi State

Great season, but can you keep Dan Mullen around for an encore?

7. Florida

One assistant coach is gone, but it's not the one all the fans wanted to see go. Sure Steve Addazio watched the team while Urban Meyer was out, but can you really say at this point that he did well at it? He stepped in at a difficult time, but a bad job is a bad job.

8. Georgia

I'm not sure if Georgia is one of the best bad teams in the country or one of the worst good teams in the country.

9. Tennessee

This team scored 50 or more points three times. That's more than any other SEC team save Auburn. No, really. Look it up.

10. Kentucky

So what exactly will it take for this team to finally beat Tennessee or Florida? Those two comined for 11 losses, but none of them were to Big Blue.

11. Ole Miss

So now that we know the defense is thoroughly broken and Jeremiah Masoli is gone, where do the Rebels go from here?

12. Vanderbilt

Farewell, Robbie Caldwell. We hardly knew ye, but I'm glad we got to know, uh, ye at all.