Sunday, November 18, 2012

The Guru's BlogPoll Ballot (Week 12)

This week's BlogPoll ballot, with notes below:
* Well, there's no way of getting around this, Notre Dame is the No. 1-ranked team in the land, even if it's not the BEST team. There is a difference, and we'll see what that difference is in the BCS title game - if, Notre Dame gets by USC.

* I don't understand why Alabama is ranked No. 2 in the AP and coaches polls. Is it because the Tide are the defending national champion? And why does that have to do with anything? Florida won at Texas A&M and lost a close game at a neutral site to Georgia and somehow it's ranked several spots behind Alabama, which lost at home to A&M?

* There are several quality if unheralded non-AQ teams quietly putting together an impressive resume. I'll just mention San Jose State, a beleaguered program that's having its best year in decades. The Spartans nearly knocked off Stanford in the season opener (which turned out to be no fluke) and also handed San Diego State one of its only two losses. They should get a decent bowl, but they won't.

* On the flipside, there's USC, my (and my others') preseason No. 1, which is going out with a whimper. The Trojans likely will finish 7-5 with Matt Barkley sitting out the regular-season finale against Notre Dame. SC's demise starts and ends with coaching, but Lane Kiffin will be back next season, even if he's forced to fire his own dad.

* Conference-by-conference tally: SEC (6), Pac-12 (4), Big 12 (4), Big Ten (3), ACC (2), Big East (2), MAC (1), MWC (1), WAC (1), Independent (1).

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So how is it that you left 10-1 Northern Illinois off your ballot?

The Guru said...

Because Northern Illinois hasn't beaten anybody, other than a borderline Toledo team. It also lost to Iowa, an atrociously bad Big Ten team.

Anonymous said...

As a Gators fan I appreciate your ranking over Alabama. However, I think the sentiment amongst voters is that A&M wasn't quite the same in the beginning of the season when they lost to Florida as they are now. Also, objectively, I think Alabama has looked more impressive in its wins than Florida in its wins.

Alex said...

"I don't understand why Alabama is ranked No. 2 in the AP and coaches polls. Is it because the Tide are the defending national champion? And why does that have to do with anything? Florida won at Texas A&M and lost a close game at a neutral site to Georgia and somehow it's ranked several spots behind Alabama, which lost at home to A&M?"

How can you possibly say this while simultaneously ranking Oregon at #3. Newsflash, Oregon also lost at home to a team with similar talent to A&M and until yesterday Oregon hadn't beaten another good team all season. Yet somehow that didn't stop you from ranking them ahead of Florida, while simultaneously complaining that other voters would rank a team with a better resume ahead of Florida. Biased much?

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