Most of the variability in this week's ballot can be explained by not having all of the usual voters, but at this point I have to turn in something, and so here is our Top 25 for Week 8.
Voodoo Five Ballot - Week 8
Rank | Team | Delta |
---|---|---|
1 | Florida Gators | 4 |
2 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 1 |
3 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -2 |
4 | Kansas St. Wildcats | -- |
5 | Oregon Ducks | -3 |
6 | LSU Tigers | -- |
7 | Oregon St. Beavers | 2 |
8 | Oklahoma Sooners | -- |
9 | Ohio St. Buckeyes | 3 |
10 | USC Trojans | -- |
11 | Florida St. Seminoles | -- |
12 | Clemson Tigers | 2 |
13 | South Carolina Gamecocks | -6 |
14 | Rutgers Scarlet Knights | 6 |
15 | Texas Tech Red Raiders | 1 |
16 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | -1 |
17 | Georgia Bulldogs | -4 |
18 | Stanford Cardinal | -1 |
19 | Louisville Cardinals | -1 |
20 | Michigan Wolverines | 3 |
21 | Texas A&M Aggies | 1 |
22 | Ohio Bobcats | -- |
23 | Boise St. Broncos | -- |
24 | TCU Horned Frogs | 1 |
25 | West Virginia Mountaineers | -6 |
Dropouts: Cincinnati Bearcats, Iowa St. Cyclones |
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
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Now for the part where we all show our work. Here's my spreadsheet. I deviated a little bit from my plan on teams like Notre Dame, who don't ever win with any style points while teams around them (like Florida and Kansas State) blow good teams off the field. I also switched K-State and Alabama because the Wildcats have the best road win of the season, and the best one-two punch of road wins after they dusted West Virginia 55-14. Rutgers is pretty clearly the best team in the Big East now, so they got a nice boost, plus they completely handled Temple in the second half. Also, once you get past Louisville and Texas A&M, you can pretty much draw teams out of a hat.
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Here is Gary's ballot and explanation:
1 Alabama
2 Oregon
3 Notre Dame
4 Florida
5 Kansas St
6 Ohio State
7 LSU
8 Oregon St
9 Oklahoma
10 Florida State
11 Clemson
12 Stanford
13 USC
14 South Carolina
15 Michigan
16 Georgia
17 Mississippi State
18 Rutgers
19 TCU
20 Texas Tech
21 West Virginia
22 Texas
23 Texas A&M
24 Ohio
25 Louisville
Not many changes from last week, as I didn't see much reason to make changes. I had to move South Carolina down the way they were crushed by Florida. It seems fitting that they are next to Michigan, which also has two losses to very good teams. Texas A&M is in that class too; maybe I should move them up. I'm mostly waiting for next week's games, like Oklahoma-Notre Dame, to help sort things out.
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Finally, Andrew's ballot and explanation:
1 Florida
2 Kansas State
3 Notre Dame
4 Oregon
5 Alabama
6 Oregon State
7 Louisiana State
8 Oklahoma
9 Southern California
10 Rutgers
11 Ohio State
12 Texas Tech
13 Florida State
14 Louisville
15 Clemson
16 Mississippi State
17 South Carolina
18 Texas A&M
19 Stanford
20 Michigan
21 Georgia
22 Boise State
23 Louisiana Tech
24 Toledo
25 Ohio
So this week I'm looking more at resumes. Florida Notre Dame and Kansas State have done the most so far this season. They have more good wins and better win then Oregon and Alabama.
Rutgers looks like the class of the Big East. Ohio State's defense looks pretty bad. They're ranked because they're undefeated. Most other teams with good records but bad defense I haven't ranked, such as Texas or West Virginia.
South Carolina, Texas A&M, Stanford, and Michigan all have really good losses. Ohio is pegged at 25 until they lose. Toledo got 24 over UCLA and NC State.