Pin The Teams On The Ballot: Blog Poll Week 5
by Peter Bean on Oct 5, 2009 4:48 PM CDT
in Texas Longhorns Football
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PrintLast week's balloting tilted towards Power Polling; this week, we drift further into the realm of pure "resume" voting. This week's ballot and a few words on the top ten after the jump -- your thoughts welcome in the comments. Who have I got ranked too high/low? And is it the team's resume or your own evaluation of their future value that animates your opinion?
 | ||
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama |  2 |
| 2 | Florida |  1 |
| 3 | Texas | 1 |
| 4 | Southern Cal | 1 |
| 5 | LSU | 6 |
| 6 | Virginia Tech | 2 |
| 7 | Cincinnati | 2 |
| 8 | TCU | 1 |
| 9 | Boise State | 5 |
| 10 | Miami (Florida) | 6 |
| 11 | Iowa | 1 |
| 12 | Ohio State | |
| 13 | Auburn | |
| 14 | Oregon | 6 |
| 15 | Kansas | 2 |
| 16 | Houston | 8 |
| 17 | Georgia Tech | |
| 18 | Penn State | |
| 19 | Missouri | |
| 20 | South Carolina | |
| 21 | Oklahoma State | 6 |
| 22 | Georgia | 1 |
| 23 | Notre Dame | |
| 24 | Brigham Young | |
| 25 | Stanford | |
| Last week's ballot | ||
TOP TEN THOUGHTS
- Alabama -- One big win (VT) and two solid ones (Arkie, KY), give the Tide the resume edge, and they've looked complete doing so. Still haven't been challenged yet.
- Florida -- The Gators first half annihilation of Kentucky was perhaps the most impressive half of football to date; expect voters to remember just how fearsome is UF's defense when they put the clamp down on LSU this coming Saturday.
- Texas -- UTEP managed more points (58) against Houston than they did total yards (53) against Texas. In a pure power poll, I've still got Florida-Texas as my top two.
- Southern Cal -- The offense has its best football in front of it, but Joe McKnight is on the verge of a bigtime breakout. I'd take this squad straight up over any but the three in front of them. The resume's value could drop if Ohio State and/or Washington slump.
- LSU -- If Les Miles can keep Florida close into the fourth quarter in Baton Rouge, look out... but I'm not optimistic.
- Virginia Tech -- Quality wins over Miami and Nebraska have them riding high, nor is their loss to Bama much of a concern. Watching their offense against Nebraska and defense against Duke, I'm less comfortable with them in a power poll
- Cincinnati -- Too high? They're defeating, but not mauling (sorry), mediocre competition.
- TCU -- Uninspiring win over SMU raises questions.
- Boise State -- Uninspiring win over UC-Davis raises questions, but the Oregon win looking better by the minute.
- Miami -- Mr. Shannon, we salute you.
And finally...
- Is there any reason to rank Oklahoma? They've pasted two terrible teams and lost to two quality teams.
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Hell of a bye week for OkState
And they are now behind Georgia? Ouch!
by BoddickerIsClutch on Oct 5, 2009 4:55 PM CDT reply actions
I mean....if Houston's still ranked #16 on your ballot, then the OSU loss to UH can't be THAT bad, can it?
I guess you feel the need to have Houston ahead of OSU because of the head to head, but I’m not so sure.
Oklahoma State has a win over a top 25-ish team in Georgia and a loss to a top 25-ish team in Houston and a couple of cupcake wins. Houston has a win over a top 25-ish team in OSU, a cupcake win, a close win against an increasingly mediocre-looking Texas Tech, plus a staggering loss to a terrible, terrible team.
To me, those are close resumes, but if you’re going to keep UH at #16 after that loss (chalking it up to a brain fart game or whatever), I don’t see why OSU has to drop so much as a result of that same loss.
A fair point
I’m probably being tougher on OSU than Houston — objectively, Houston’s loss is worse, but the Cowpokes’ home choke job just grates me something awful.
I’ll re-consider both for the final ballot.
You ain't hurt.
Totally agree on Bama
I had them on top a week ago. . . I’d still rank OU, but I see your point. I think Tulsa will play well enough that the blowout win will look pretty good in six weeks . . . I guess we were wrong all these years: You CAN LOSE to an open date (OSU Cowboys) . . . Sure looks like a lot of mediocrity when you get below 15.
I'd place Iowa / Auburn / Kansas / Missouri in the same bucket with Boise / TCU / Cincinnatti
Unbeaten is unbeaten right? I don’t know if there’s really anything that seperates those teams for me, though pollsters seem to take the second group pretty heavily over the first.
I’m not sure if I’m for moving up the former, or dropping the latter, but there’s very little reason for me to seperate them in my mind.
I'm glad to see....
…… Nebraska omitted from the blog poll.
Wins over Florida Atlantic, Arkansas State, La-Lafayette and a loss gets you (Nebraska) ranked in both human polls.
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
Have to disagree with you there...
If you watched Arkansas State against Iowa on Saturday they showed up big time… not to mention that they lost by one point to VA Tech which he has ranked 6th. Forgetting the fact that they should have won that game I think they have the most impressive loss of nearly any one loss team…
More of an indictment of Iowa....
…. than a compliment to Arkansas State!
Arkansas State is 1-3. When playing at home against Troy….. they lost.
Kicking 3 tomato cans and losing your fourth game should not get you ranked in both polls.
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
But who has Cal beaten to show they are good?
Maryland? From a resume standpoint, Cal is not a good team.
Not too many good teams yet
from a resume standpoint. Even Texas has only really looked good in 1 game. This is pretty early to talk resume too much. Thus the OSU/UH conundrum BZ mentioned above. Need a little more resume to work with I think.
"A lot of people look for the easy way to do anything, in swimming there is no easy way." - Eddie Reese
Who has Texas beaten to show they are good?
by goingforthecorner on Oct 5, 2009 8:21 PM CDT up reply actions
No one
But I usually rank undefeated teams that haven’t beaten anyone ahead of one loss teams that haven’t beaten anyone.
by Texas Wahoo on Oct 5, 2009 8:54 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
4-0 says we are good
At this point in the season its about who you have played, not who you havent.
Our schedule may not be impressive, but then again, we havent lost yet either.
By that logic on pure resume youd have to rank all the undefeateds at the top. Something I would be OK with actually.
by BoddickerIsClutch on Oct 6, 2009 8:31 AM CDT up reply actions
On Oregon
It’s not so much a Vote For Oregon as it is a Oregon’s Resume Appears A Smidge Better Than The Teams Below Them.
With that said, I’m open to arguments for preferred resumes of teams below them. Still plenty of fluidity in these rankings.
You ain't hurt.
I would put undefeated teams like KU and Mizzou ahead of them
As well as one loss teams who have beaten someone more impressive, like UH or OSU.
by Texas Wahoo on Oct 5, 2009 9:03 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Fair enough
I can’t say my choice is absolutely the better one, and at this point there’s room for disagreement of this kind. I’ll consider your take for the final ballot, though I think I prefer Oregon’s resume. Most importantly, though, it’s week five, and we’ll know more soon. Nebraska and Mizzou get to show us something this Thursday night. Oklahoma State needs to look good at College Station on Saturday. And Oregon will get a good test at UCLA. Should be fun.
You ain't hurt.
+1 Peter...
…. I find Oregon to be Top-10 material. Kansas and Missouri…. not so much.
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
I agree Peter.
VaTech and USC are the only 1-loss teams I would rank above Oregon.
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
Bama over Florida devil's advocate
Not that it matters at all, but…
Florida beat Kentucky on the road by 34, score after one: 31-0
Bama beat Kentucky at home by 14, score after one: 7-6
Florida D holds Kentucky to under 200, Alabama D gives up 300...
Florida’s victory was much more impressive. I think some voters are setting the stage to drop Florida if they lose, either without Tebow or with a physically compromised version (due to stigmata or concussion). Alabama may have a more impressive victory on their resume, but their victory over Kentucky just one week after Florida played them to me carries more comparison value that a game played at the beginning of September.
I think those first game wins and losses are a bit overplayed, especially in comparing resumes as the season progresses. I know its all we have to go on, but did the VT team that Alabama beat really have the same quality as the one that barely beat Nebraska or stomped Miami? Obviously its not a given that a team is greatly improved from September to October (and perhaps Alabama improved more than VT did over that month), but I certainly think if Boise State faced Oregon now the results would likely be quite different and acting like Boise State beat the version of Oregon playing now is going too far in building either team’s resume. That said, pure resume voting is largely impossible and those power poll elements and biases will have to creep in or how do you reconcile UTEP over Houston over Tech/OSU or the even more convoluted likelihood of Notre Dame over Washington over USC over Notre Dame?
Correction
Both games were played at Kentucky.
Also, I would submit that Bama and Florida play different styles, and in each team’s style, each exhibited a dominating win. I say Bama’s resume is stonger as of yet, but if Florida wins in Baton Rouge, I’ll reconsider.
Wisconsin?
They aren’t a very impressive undefeated, but they’re undefeated. I assume they’ll start appearing if they manage to beat tOSU this weekend.
Off topic
but Jermichael Finley scored a TD for the Packers on MNF
by goingforthecorner on Oct 5, 2009 8:20 PM CDT reply actions
He's looking good!
"Football's so important in Texas. On the West Coast, it's a social. On the East Coast, it's a culture. Here, it's a religion."
-- Major Applewhite
Wait a minute....
…. most everyone, sans me, on this board claimed that J-Mike wasn’t ready for the NFL.
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
Come on now
The consensus was that Finley could have benefited from an additional year in college in which he could have been one of the primary focal points of the offense and developed into potential first round pick. If you look back on last season, we had key successes with Irby at TE before his injury and with Shipley running plays out of the slot—two places where Finley could have excelled. Instead, Finley was drafted in the third round (solid, but not spectacular) and spent much of season one sitting on the bench doing nothing.
It’s completely possible that first season in the league helped develop him into a solid contributor for his second season. But it’s also completely possible that another year at Texas would have propelled him to a first round pick and a starting role, a la Brandon Pettigrew.
As it stands, it looks like Finley will thrive as in Green Bay, and I think Longhorn fans everywhere are wishing him nothing but success.
J-Mike Finley went #91....
…. in the 2008 draft. The number of TEs drafted higher than #91 in the 2009 draft? How about 3 – Brankdon Pettigrew at #20, Richard Quinn at #64 and Jared Cook at #89.
Pettigrew is a starter in Detroit, Quinn has played in all 4 games at Denver and Cook has played in 3 games at Tennessee. J-Mike wasn’t going to be drafted ahead of the first two. He might, perhaps have gone in front of Jared Cook. Maybe. So, gee willy willikers how about going #89, rather than #91, a full year later?
He made the right decision.
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
Opinion masquerading as fact
You’ll notice my post used the words “could” and “possible.” I’m not saying Finley definitely would’ve been a first rounder, only that he had the potential to be. A year of college development may have been a huge financial benefit had he been drafted in round one, a la Brandon Pettigrew.
To say that Finley absolutely wasn’t going to be the first (or second) TE drafted in last year’s draft is entirely opinion, although we all know that your opinion is always the truth, and nothing but the truth.
I never said he made the wrong decision; he’s obviously doing well for himself, and I wish I had picked him up in one of my fantasy leagues yesterday instead of Sean Ryan.
When faced with reality...
… you know the facts of the situation, some people feel the need to resort to spin, conjecture and the crystal ball.
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
Umm - you know that this is his second year
Perhaps people meant he wasn’t ready when he left. I’m not sure anyone said he wouldn’t be ready in a year.
J Mike
I don’t know if JMike is ready for the NFL or not,
I do know he & JC cost themselves MILLIONS of $$$$$‘s they’ll never make up and (far moreso JC) cost TEXAS a national title.
Look at the difference between a 3rd round contract and a low 1 high 2, $$$$$$ are staggering.
I do know he & JC cost themselves MILLIONS of $$$$$‘s they’ll never make up and (far moreso JC) cost TEXAS a national title.
Do you have a crystal ball? How can I get one so I can see alternate realities like you can? Why did Colt bother checking with NFL scouts about his draft status last year when he could have just called you and you would have told him how much money he would make if he came out then or came back for his senior year? Since you can see alternate realities, can you give us a play-by-play recap of how badly we would have beaten Tech last year with Jermichael and Jamaal?
Or would it be easier to just stop pretending you have any idea what would have happened had they come back and admit that none of us know anything about what was best for them or the team, either or both of them could have gotten hurt like Gresham and Bradford did, and blaming either of them for the decisions they chose to make that you happened to not like is completely futile and childish?
Neither of them cost themselves any money.
Please point to the players they would have jumped in the 2009 draft.
Do you know the story of Jamaal’s brother who lost it ALL due to injury?
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
Why is UH ranked over Georgia Tech
when it’s insanely obvious that GTech and their triple option would completely destroy UH’s defense? OU completely left out? Yikes (speaking of teams that could kill UH with their running game)
by goingforthecorner on Oct 5, 2009 8:24 PM CDT reply actions
In a similar vein...
Why isn’t UTEP ranked when it’s completely obvious that they would destroy Houston with their rushing attack?
Not sold on Bama...
But can’t fault you for putting them there. Bama’s biggest win was against Vatech.
Vatech almost got beat by Duke. Just sayin’.
As far as pure resume’s go. LSU looks really stout right now. Beat UW ON THE ROAD who beat mighty USC. They’ve also beaten 3 other SEC teams including a good Georgia team. They just haven’t LOOKED all that impressive while doing it.
Also from a pure resume standpoint… i think Florida is too high. The only team of value they’ve played is a 3loss Tennessee team that kept it close.
We’ll know a lot more after the LSU v Florida game this weekend.
I also would lean to having more of the 0 loss teams in the top 10 over say a vtech type team. Yeah, thats probably too high for them. But Kansas and Missou will all be exposed when they lose.
For me it should be where they actually are instead of where we THINK they’ll end up. So if you are 5-0… you should be ahead of other 4-1 teams. Now when you lose sure then be at the bottom of the 1-loss heap.
Just my opinion of course. Pin the teams on the ballot is a very apt description this early in the process for sure. :)
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