 |
| 1. Alabama. Only scored 7 more on Duke than Wake Forest did. Not that they couldn't have gotten more if they wanted, but Duke is awful on D. |
| 2. Arkansas. I'm still waiting to see this team put in a complete game. |
| 3. LSU. Being held to five field goal attempts by MSU's defense is a little worrisome, but Josh Jasper nailed them all. |
| 4. South Carolina. You can disregard any game this team plays against an in-state I-AA opponent. They're always ugly regardless. |
| 5. Florida. So many problems, yet they keep winning by two scores or more. If this team ever pulls it together, watch out. |
| 6. Auburn. You needed overtime? To beat an ACC team? For shame. |
| 7. Georgia. Tis better to have played real teams and lost close than to have played no one at all. |
| 8. Kentucky. Yes, that comment above was aimed at you, Wildcats. |
| 9. Mississippi State. So maybe the optimism has been a bit much so far. This is the problem: even if the team's better, the schedule is brutal. |
| 10. Tennessee. The first string can play with anyone. It just takes more than 22 players to win games. |
| 11. Vanderbilt. On the board with an SEC win for the first time since 2008. |
| 12. Ole Miss. Forget renting the basement of the league. It's time to take advantage of low interest rates and buy. |
The season is still young, which means that there are teams that still haven't played anyone of consequence. Complicating matters is the fact that some teams have already taken bye weeks, leaving them with only two games played.
This is the worst time of the year for polls, in my opinion. In the preseason they're all guesswork, but at least everyone knows they're all guesswork. But now, they're guesswork combined with a vanishingly small sample size of games. As we all know, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
So here's my guesswork combined with a really small sample size of games for this week. Keep in mind it's a draft and could change based on your comments.
1. Ohio State
2. Alabama
3. TCU
4. Oregon
5. Nebraska
No movement among the top four, but Nebraska pops up for having an offense this year. Probably.
6. Arizona
7. Boise State
8. Oklahoma
9. Florida
10. Texas
Arizona's win over Iowa is about as good a win as anyone has. Boise State is just hanging around but will probably keep dropping. Oklahoma has two near misses and one great game. I can't really figure them out yet. Florida and Texas are just waiting for a better team to come along and finally expose them.
11. South Carolina
12. Arkansas
13. Stanford
14. Utah
15. Iowa
South Carolina and Arkansas have passed their initial tests and seem pretty good. Stanford only needs some better opponents to get into my top ten. Utah's hanging loose, and I can't hammer Iowa too hard for falling to my now-No. 6 team.
16. Auburn
17. LSU
18. Wisconsin
19. Miami (FL)
20. Nevada
The only thing keeping LSU behind Auburn is the fact that I've seen a lot less of LSU. Wisconsin is also waiting for a good opponent to expose it. Miami is probably okay. Nevada made a big statement. Not that Cal was a juggernaut, but to date, Nevada has always gotten blown out by BCS conference opponents of any sort. To win like it did means something might finally be different.
21. Pitt
22. Oregon State
23. Georgia
24. Michigan
25. Air Force
This is mostly the realm of teams I'm unwilling to drop simply because they lost to higher-ranked teams. I mean, seriously: if they were supposed to lose and they did lose close, why drop them much? As for Michigan, it was way too close a game with UMass to reward them with rising.