 | ||
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | USC |  1 |
| 2 | Florida |  1 |
| 3 | Texas | |
| 4 | Alabama | 4 |
| 5 | Brigham Young | 19 |
| 6 | Oklahoma State | 9 |
| 7 | Boise State | 2 |
| 8 | California | 10 |
| 9 | Penn State | 2 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | 6 |
| 11 | LSU | 1 |
| 12 | Ohio State | 7 |
| 13 | TCU | 3 |
| 14 | Mississippi | 2 |
| 15 | Utah | 4 |
| 16 | Virginia Tech | 10 |
| 17 | Miami (Florida) | |
| 18 | Missouri | |
| 19 | Georgia | 5 |
| 20 | Notre Dame | 1 |
| 21 | Georgia Tech | 4 |
| 22 | Cincinnati | |
| 23 | North Carolina | 3 |
| 24 | Pittsburgh | 3 |
| 25 | Oregon State | |
| Last week's ballot | ||
Dropped Out: Oregon (#13), Iowa (#22), West Virginia (#23), Florida State (#25).
As you can see, there is a change at the top and some significant shuffling throughout the ballot. And here's why:
1) Dropping Florida to No. 2 is a symbolic gesture. It's a punishment for playing a I-AA team - and this punishment is meted out evenly throughout the ballot against teams that played a I-AA opponent. The Gators could've played any of the 119 Division I-A teams, and against about 100 of them, they would've had a better than 90 percent chance of winning. There is simply no reason for Florida to schedule Charleston Southern. None.
There are plenty of teams in the Sun Belt or Conference USA, or even bottom feeders in the ACC or Big East, that would've loved to have the chance to visit the Swamp. Taken as a whole, the Gators' nonconference slate of Charleston Southern, Troy, Florida International and Florida State is unbecoming. At the very least, Florida should return to playing Miami every year as it did two decades ago.
2) You may notice that this ballot bears little resemblance to my preseason ballot, and that's exactly the way it should be. The preseason ballot was submitted only as a procedural mandate, and I made it pretty clear that I would have no problem to wipe the slate clean after seeing each team in action this week.
Essentially that's what I did. This ballot was done without prejudice with respect to the preseason ballot. Generally, teams that played tough opponents were rewarded and teams that played weak ones were punished.
As you can see, there is a change at the top and some significant shuffling throughout the ballot. And here's why:
1) Dropping Florida to No. 2 is a symbolic gesture. It's a punishment for playing a I-AA team - and this punishment is meted out evenly throughout the ballot against teams that played a I-AA opponent. The Gators could've played any of the 119 Division I-A teams, and against about 100 of them, they would've had a better than 90 percent chance of winning. There is simply no reason for Florida to schedule Charleston Southern. None.
There are plenty of teams in the Sun Belt or Conference USA, or even bottom feeders in the ACC or Big East, that would've loved to have the chance to visit the Swamp. Taken as a whole, the Gators' nonconference slate of Charleston Southern, Troy, Florida International and Florida State is unbecoming. At the very least, Florida should return to playing Miami every year as it did two decades ago.
2) You may notice that this ballot bears little resemblance to my preseason ballot, and that's exactly the way it should be. The preseason ballot was submitted only as a procedural mandate, and I made it pretty clear that I would have no problem to wipe the slate clean after seeing each team in action this week.
Essentially that's what I did. This ballot was done without prejudice with respect to the preseason ballot. Generally, teams that played tough opponents were rewarded and teams that played weak ones were punished.
No comments:
Post a Comment