Here’s my ballot for this week’s CBS Sports College Football BlogPoll which is now—surprise, surprise—hosted by CBS Sports.

Week 7

Through 12 October 2008

Man, oh man, what a weekend of craziness this was!  After all the shake-ups this weekend in the world of college football, there are major changes at the top in my BlogPoll ballot for this week.  Most of these should be fairly obvious.  Either way, here’s my ballot:

My Ballot for the Week

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama	1
2	Texas	4
3	Penn State	2
4	Oklahoma	3
5	Southern Cal	2
6	Texas Tech	2
7	Georgia	2
8	Florida	3
9	Missouri	6
10	Ohio State	–
11	LSU	7
12	Utah	1
13	Oklahoma State	4
14	Kansas	1
15	Brigham Young	1
16	Boise State	–
17	Wake Forest	1
18	North Carolina	2
19	California	–
20	Vanderbilt	8
21	Michigan State	4
22	Virginia Tech	1
23	Ball State	3
24	Minnesota	2
25	Oregon	1

Dropped Out: Northwestern (#21), Auburn (#22), Wisconsin (#24).

Explanations after the jump…

Comments, Explanations, and Excuses

Here are the high-points of the week’s changes:

Oklahoma (4) & Southern Cal (5) :

I imagine some will think I’m a bit mad for only dropping the Oklahoma Sooners three spots to fourth—leaving them on notch above the Southern Cal Trojans.  Well the reason for this is simple.  Southern Cal’s loss came to a very mediocre Oregon State (NR) team who simply out-played them.  Before that loss, I had written about how I felt the Trojans were beatable because they only seemed to play full-tilt for games that got a lot of national attention.  Furthermore, though the Trojans blanked the Arizona State Sun Devils (NR) this past weekend, it was a very sloppy game on offense for USC.

The Sooners on the other hand played lights-out against a tough Texas (2) team in an absolutely fabulous football game.  Both teams left everything on the field and if you play that game ten times, I bet each team wins it at least 4-5 times.  In short, I applaud Oklahoma for playing a tough schedule and facing top-notch opponents (something to which SEC schools have long been accustomed) poll rankings should not be a disincentive to facing the best you can find.  Though they lost, Oklahoma lost valiantly, and thus they stay in my Top 5.

Ohio State (10):

Despite the fact that my dear wife is a Buckeye, I simply cannot move the Buckeyes up this week allowing them to be jumped by Florida (8).  I realize that Ohio State defeated Purdue.  I realize that they lost their only game to Southern Cal.  I also realize they were—effectively—beaten by Wisconsin (NR) last week, by Ohio U (NR) several weeks ago, and they continue to beat other teams by the narrowest of margins.  Given the fact that they were absolutely back-handed by a Trojans team I continue to feel is a bit overrated, the Buckeyes are going to have show me that they have improved before I give them freebie jumps in my ballot.  That is not to say I don’t think they are good—because I do.  I simply don’t think they are “great.”

Brigham Young (15):

Yes, I realize that I dropped BYU after they defeated New Mexico (NR) and slid both Oklahoma State (13) and Kansas (14) above them.  As was the case above, I simply do not believe that beating New Mexico is nearly as significant as defeating Kansas beating Colorado (NR) and Oklahoma State beating Missouri (9).  There are only so many spaces in the poll each week and I try to rank on who I think is the best team.  That necessarily includes looking at a team’s record and who they play (i.e. simply winning is not always enough).  I’m sorry, Cougars, but the teams around you simply played better against better opponents.

Returners & First Timers:

The Oregon Ducks (25) just keep coming back.  I really think they are a solid team, but they could use a little lesson in consistency.

Meanwhile, both Ball State (23) and Minnesota (24) make their debut in my poll ballot for the first time.  Whether they can keep up their winning ways down the stretch is an unanswered question, but for now they are in.

“Now Departing at Gate 21…”:

One week after their debut along with Michigan State (21), Northwestern (NR) lost to Michigan State and thus got their ticket out of the poll.  That said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them back if they can keep their focus and stay healthy.

That is much more than I can say for both Auburn (NR) and Wisconsin (NR)—both of whom were in my Top 10 earlier in the season.  Auburn now appears to have an even less productive offense than my Tennessee Volunteers, and Wisconsin—now with 3 straight losses—is a candidate for my 2008 Self-Destruction award.

The Rest of the BlogPoll

Having taken the time to consider my feeble attempt at ranking the powers in college football, feel free to try and convince me that I am out-to-lunch—which is part of the way the BlogPoll is supposed to work.  I promise that I will consider all comments.  After all, I’m hardly unaccustomed to being wrong.

As for the rest of the BlogPoll, well, you can check out how other bloggers voted and how your team fared across the blogosphere over at MGOBlog, and view the BlogPoll Top 25 results each week over at CBS Sports.

– Go Figure …

About the Author:  "Lawvol" -- I'm just a guy living in North Carolina who has an unnatural fascination with the color orange. Just because I'm a Tennessee alum and die-hard Volunteer fan doesn't mean that I can't poke a little fun at the Big Orange and anybody else for that matter. Feel free to complain all you want. >> Read more from this author

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