 |
| 1. Alabama. Everything is going to plan so far, and getting Marcell Dareus back is a boost. |
| 2. Arkansas. Finally playing a good opponent this week. |
| 3. South Carolina. The Gamecocks look pretty good so far. |
| 4. Auburn. The Tigers picked up an SEC win, and it's hard to ever fault a team for that. But, the defense wasn't significantly better than last year's. |
| 5. Florida. Things got better in the second half, but I don't know if it was the team hitting its stride or USF simply tiring. |
| 6. LSU. 2-0 is 2-0, but I can't escape the feeling that this team isn't any better than last year while its peers have improved. |
| 7. Georgia. The Bulldogs were a lot closer to winning than it felt while watching. But, this poll is all about feel. |
| 8. Mississippi State. Oh so close to beating Auburn. This team has improved. |
| 9. Kentucky. When do the Wildcats play a real opponent? |
| 10. Tennessee. The first half was nice. |
| 11. Vanderbilt. We saw bad Vanderbilt again after we got feisty Vanderbilt in the first game. |
| 12. Ole Miss. Would have had to beat Tulane by more to move on up. |
This is an awkward time of the year. Everyone only has one or two data points, and they are all of wildly varying quality. Let me know in the comments if I have something seriously wrong.
1. Ohio State
2. Alabama
3. TCU
4. Oregon
5. Boise State
Alabama passes TCU because, while Oregon State is better than Penn State, Bama's win was more emphatic. Everyone else is holding steady. I might have dropped Boise State, but who to move up higher?
6. Iowa
7. Texas
8. Nebraska
9. Oklahoma
10. Florida
No picks through two games is a big deal for Ricky Stanzi. Something is not quite right about this Texas team, but no one has exposed it fully yet. Nebraska may or may not belong here. Oklahoma made it clear that either A) the first game was a look-ahead special or B) Utah State is far better than Florida State. I'm cool with that either way. Florida cleaned up the execution errors and might have found an offensive identity.
11. Arkansas
12. Utah
13. South Carolina
14. Wisconsin
15. Arizona
Arkansas benefits from others losing. Utah's holding steady. I just hope I'm not setting South Carolina up for a fall. Something's not quite right about Wisconsin either. Arizona had another big, easy win but faces a big test against Iowa this weekend.
16. Miami (FL)
17. Auburn
18. LSU
19. Stanford
20. Pitt
Miami doesn't fall too far because it lost to my No. 1 team, but with better punt and kick coverage from the Buckeyes, that's an ugly blowout. Auburn is creeping a little high for my taste right now, but we'll see. Same for LSU. Stanford might have something to say in the Pac-10 after all. Pitt is, well, Pitt.
21. Oregon State
22. Houston
23. Georgia
24. Michigan
25. Air Force
Losing close to TCU looks better than what a lot of teams have done. Houston needs Case Keenum to get healthy quickly. Georgia doesn't get the banhammer for losing closely to a higher ranked team. Michigan is not getting too high because I feel like we've seen this story (win two games including a close one against a defense-less Notre Dame team) before. My grandfather being in the Air Force and a win over BYU gets the Falcons in here.