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| Rank | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Mexico | |
| 2 | Alabama | |
| 3 | Texas | |
| 4 | Florida | |
| 5 | Cincinnati | |
| 6 | Iowa | |
| 7 | TCU | |
| 8 | Boise State | |
| 9 | LSU | |
| 10 | Miami (Florida) | |
| 11 | Southern Cal | |
| 12 | Georgia Tech | |
| 13 | Penn State | |
| 14 | Oregon | |
| 15 | Virginia Tech | |
| 16 | Houston | |
| 17 | Oklahoma State | |
| 18 | Utah | |
| 19 | Pittsburgh | |
| 20 | West Virginia | |
| 21 | Texas Tech | |
| 22 | Arizona | |
| 23 | South Florida | |
| 24 | Idaho | |
| 25 | Kansas | |
Okay, so the obvious thing is I ranked New Mexico #1. This was a protest vote, as I initially tried to make my ballot with the #1 slot empty. It kicked it back to me so I had to remake the ballot all over again. I watched all three of the “top three” teams last weekend — Texas, Florida, and Alabama — and am not impressed by any of them. Well that’s not totally fair. All three defenses look solid overall, with Florida’s putting in the weakest performance by far (I think Arkansas runningback Dennis Johnson is somewhere still breaking tackles), and Mark Ingram is a difference maker for the Crimson Tide. Yet none has distinguished themselves — and the next batch of undefeateds have serious questions about their strength of competition — so I picked a hopeless team to be a placeholder, Mike Locksley’s inept New Mexico squad. Again, were the software to let me leave it blank, I would have.
From there, much of the debate recently was about USC’s low spot with the computers when the BCS poll came out. Well count me with them. They lost to Washington, which means they have no right to complain about anything, and they haven’t exactly looked dominant in their other wins. (And it doesn’t help that Ohio State looked awful against Purdue, Washington lost to Arizona State, and USC nearly let Notre Dame fight back.) They have time to recover — I’m looking forward to the USC-Oregon game — but for right now, they are where they are. If nothing else, both Miami and LSU have “better” losses than does USC.
From there, the biggest difference is I probably have Houston higher than many. For the moment I’m willing to forgive their fluke loss to UTEP, though I reserve the right to penalize them again later. They’ve looked quite good otherwise, and their offense will keep them competitive in any game they play.
Finally, I felt dirty leaving Kansas in the poll after they lost to Colorado, but felt I didn’t have much choice. I did let Idaho sneak in there — the Vandals are 6-1 and deserve it as much as any of the other teams in the 20-30 range.