cartman's FOFC/SGS Top 25 poll #6 open for voting
 

WOW! What a great weekend of college football! And the best part is we are only halfway through the season!!!

The voting is now open for poll #6. Submissions are due in by 8pm Central, Wednesday Oct. 19th.

Here is how the previous poll performed this weekend:


edit to change the Lousiville/WVU game to triple OT

1. USC
2. Texas
3. Virginia Tech
4. Georgia
5. Miami
6. Texas Tech
7. Louisiana State
8. Alabama
9. UCLA
10. Florida State
11. Auburn
12. Notre Dame
13. West Virginia
14. Boston College
15. Oregon
16. Penn State
17. Texas Christian
18. Wisconsin
19. Tennessee
20. Ohio State
21. Arizona State
22. Florida
23. Louisville
24. Nebraska
25. California

1. USC
2. Texas
3. Virginia Tech
4. Georgia
5. Alabama
6. UCLA
7. LSU
8. Texas Tech
9. Florida State
10. Miami
11. Auburn
12. Notre Dame
13. West Virginia
14. Penn State
15. Boston College
16. Wisconsin
17. Ohio State
18. Louisville
19. Oregon
20. Tennessee
21. Maryland
22. Rutgers
23. Northwestern
24. Michigan State
25. Virginia

1. USC (1)
2. Texas (2)
3. Virginia Tech (3)
4. Georgia (5)
5. Miami (6)
6. Alabama (8)
7. LSU (9)
8. UCLA (11)
9. Florida State (5)
10. Texas Tech (12)
11. Boston College (13)
12. Auburn (15)
13. Florida (10)
14. Notre Dame (7)
15. Penn State (14)
16. Ohio State (18)
17. Tennessee (19)
18. Oregon (23)
19. West Virginia (24)
20. Wisconsin (25)
21. Michigan State (16)
22. Virginia (--)
23. Nebraska (--)
24. Cal (17)
25. Minnesota (21)

Dropped out: Colorado, Louisville

DOLA

It's hard for me to rank Texas Tech that high as I don't think they're near that good. I also very nearly swapped USC/Texas. USC has just had so many near misses, but the emotional aspect of the Notre Dame game kept me from doing it - kind of a mulligan based on the rivalry. :)

If they have another squeak-by of a mediocre team (Edit: I'm not calling Notre Dame a mediocre team), though, I don't know if I'll be able to justify keeping them there despite their talent.

1. USC
2. VT
3. Texas
4. Georgia
5. Alabama
6. LSU
7. FSU
8. UCLA
9. Auburn
10. Miami
11. Notre Dame
12. West Virginia
13. Penn State
14. BC
15. Texas Tech
16. Wisconsin
17. TCU
18. Oregon
19. Fresno State
20. Wisconsin
21. Ohio State
22. Virginia
23. Florida
24. UTEP
25. Minnesota

1. Texas (2)
2. USC (1)
3. Virginia Tech (3)
4. Georgia (4)
5. Alabama (6)
6. LSU (9)
7. Miami (7)
8. Texas Tech (11)
9. UCLA (12)
10. Boston College (14)
11. Florida State (5)
12. Auburn (17)
13. Penn State (8)
14. Oregon (18)
15. Ohio State (20)
16. West Virginia (22)
17. Notre Dame (10)
18. Wisconsin (--)
19. TCU (--)
20. Florida (13)
21. Fresno State (24)
22. Nebraska (--)
23. Michigan (--)
24. Virginia (--)
25. Tennessee (21)

Dropped:
Louisville, Minnesota, Colorado, California, Michigan State

I made the move....but it's soooo close. I think it's more a #1A. Texas #1B. USC thing but I'll give the edge to Texas...for now. V. Young looks SCAAAARY.

1. USC
2. Texas
3. Virginia Tech
4. Alabama
5. Georgia
6. Miami
7. Texas Tech
8. UCLA
9. LSU
10. Florida State
11. Penn State
12. Boston College
13. Notre Dame
14. Ohio State
15. West Virginia
16. Auburn
17. Oregon
18. Texas Christian
19. Wisconsin
20. Florida
21. Virginia
22. Rutgers
23. Tennessee
24. Michigan State
25. Georgia Tech

1. Southern California
2. Texas
3. Virginia Tech
4. Georgia
5. Alabama
6. LSU
7. Florida State
8. Miami
9. Penn State
10. Texas Tech
11. Ohio State
12. Wisconsin
13. Michigan State
14. Notre Dame
15. Florida
16. Oregon
17. Minnesota
18. UCLA
19. Boston College
20. Colorado
21. Auburn
22. Tennessee
23. West Virginia
24. Fresno State
25. Nebraska

1. USC (1)
2. Texas (2)
3. Virginia Tech (3)
4. Georgia (4)
5. LSU (8)
6. Alabama (10)
7. Miami (7)
8. UCLA (12)
9. Penn St. (6)
10. Notre Dame (9)
11. Florida St. (5)
12. Texas Tech (17)
13. Boston College (13)
14. Auburn (20)
15. Ohio St. (15)
16. Tennesee (16)
17. Oregon (21)
18. West Virginia (--)
19. Wisconsin (23)
20. Virginia (--)
21. Florida (11)
22. Michigan (--)
23. Cal (14)
24. Arizona St. (24)
25. Fresno St. (--)


Dropped from poll:
Michigan St. (18)
Louisville (19)
Minnesota (22)
Colorado (25)

Week 8 10/17

1. USC
2. Texas
3. Virginia Tech
4. Georgia
5. Alabama
6. LSU
7. Miami (FL)
8. Texas Tech
9. UCLA
10. Notre Dame
11. Florida State
12. Penn State
13. Boston College
14. Auburn
15. Oregon
16. Ohio State
17. Tennessee
18. Wisconsin
19. Florida
20. West Virginia
21. TCU
22. Virginia
23. Michigan State
24. Fresno State
25. California

1. USC (1)
2. Texas (2)
3. Virginia Tech (3)
4. Georgia (5)
5. Miami (6)
6. LSU (11)
7. Alabama (9)
8. Notre Dame (7)
9. Florida State (4)
10. Boston College (10)
11. Ohio State (12)
12. Texas Tech (13)
13. Florida (8)
14. Tennessee (14)
15. UCLA (16)
16. Auburn (20)
17. Michigan (21)
18. Penn State (17)
19. Oregon (22)
20. Wisconsin (--)
21. West Virginia (--)
22. Louisville (15)
23. TCU (--)
24. Arizona State (24)
25. Michigan State (19)

Dropped out: California (18), Colorado (23), Minnesota (25)

1. Virginia Tech
2. Texas
3. USC
4. Georgia
5. Alabama
6. LSU
7. Miami
8. Texas Tech
9. Florida State
10. Boston College
11. Notre Dame
12. UCLA
13. Auburn
14. Penn State
15. Tennessee
16. Florida
17. Oregon
18. TCU
19. Ohio State
20. West Virginia
21. Virginia
22. Fresno State
23. Colorado
24. Nebraska
25. Michigan State

1. USC (1)
2. Texas (2)
3. Virginia Tech (3)
4. Georgia (4)
5. Miami (Fl) (7)
6. Notre Dame (6)
7. LSU (8)
8. Tennessee (10)
9. UCLA (11)
10. Alabama (13)
11. Texas Tech (12)
12. Florida State (5)
13. Ohio State (15)
14. Boston College (16)
15. Florida (9)
16. Oregon (20)
17. Auburn (22)
18. Penn State (14)
19. Wisconsin (25)
20. Cal (17)
21. West Virginia (-)
22. Louisville (18)
23. Michigan State (19)
24. TCU (-)
25. Virginia (-)



Dropped out: Minnesota (21), Colorado (23), Arizona State (25)

Rank/Team(Previous Rank)
1) USC (1)
2) Texas (2)
3) Virginia Tech (3)
4) Georgia (5)
5) Alabama (6)
6) Miami (FL) (8)
7) LSU (12)
8) UCLA (11)
9) Texas Tech (14)
10) Florida State (5)
11) Penn State (11)
12) Auburn (15)
13) Boston College (17)
14) Oregon (19)
15) Wisconsin (21)
16) Notre Dame (12)
17) Florida (9)
18) Ohio State (22)
19) West Virginia (25)
20) Michigan State (15)
21) Texas Christian (NR)
22) California (13)
23) Tennessee (23)
24) Virginia (NR)
25) Iowa (NR)
Honorable Mention: Nebraska, Maryland, Northwestern, Minnesota, Fresno State

1. Virginia Tech (1)
2. Texas (2)
3. USC (3)
4. Georgia (4)
5. Alabama (5)
6. Texas Tech (7)
7. UCLA (10)
8. Miami (9)
9. LSU (11)
10. Auburn (12)
11. Florida State (6)
12. Penn State (8)
13. Boston College (14)
14. Ohio State (20)
15. Notre Dame (15)
16. Florida (13)
17. Oregon (23)
18. TCU (22)
19. West Virginia (24)
20. Wisconsin (25)
21. Tennessee (19)
22. Nebraska (--)
23. California (16)
24. Iowa (--)
25. Fresno State (--)

Dropped out- Louisville (17), Colorado (18), Michigan State (21)

Interesting polls...Though I'm still trying to figure out 3-3 Arizona State is still consider worthy of a top 25 team.

I wondered the same thing. I think they're a fairly talented team, and I can somewhat understand ranking them based on that. But it seems at some point you have to vote based on what they've actually done. And while they've played hard against some good teams, they've lost to all of them.

Edit: I suppose beating Northwestern and Oregon State carries some weight, but not enough for me personally to keep them ranked.

Since I've still got 'em at #24 right now, here's a couple of reasons why they're still in my poll, other voters mileage may vary.

1) They were off this weekend, so I don't believe they got any worse during that time. Creates a small advantage simply by being there already.

2) Frankly, you really don't have to be very good or impressive at this point to be in the bottom part of the top 25. I start looking at the other possible candidates for the 24th, 25th spot & I feel like ASU is as good or better than them, and would beat them H2H, so they get to keep their spot for now.

Just FWIW.

All 3 of their losses are to teams that are consensus Top 15 squads according to computer ratings.

They stomped Temple (big deal), absolutely stomped Northwestern (Top 25 caliber), and stomped Oregon State (Top 25 caliber).

I didn't have them ranked but considered them. And probably should have ranked them.

Here's my top 25:

1. Texas
2. Virginia Tech
3. USC
4. Georgia
5. LSU
6. Miami
7. UCLA
8. Boston College
9. Texas Tech
10. Notre Dame
11. Auburn
12. Alabama
13. Florida State
14. Oregon
15. Tennessee
16. Penn State
17. Ohio State
18. Florida
19. TCU
20. West Virginia
21. Wisconsin
22. Michigan State
23. Virginia
24. California
25. Nebraska

Here's the Top 25 from solecismic.com:

1. Louisiana State
2. Southern California
3. Georgia
4. Texas Tech
5. Virginia Tech
6. Oregon
7. Florida State
8. Penn State
9. Georgia Tech
10. Texas
11. Notre Dame
12. Miami, Florida
13. Wisconsin
14. Ohio State
15. Alabama
16. Auburn
17. Florida
18. Tennessee
19. Fresno State
20. Michigan
21. Nebraska
22. UCLA
23. Boston College
24. Minnesota
25. West Virginia

Huh?

1. USC
2. Texas
3. Georgia
4. Virginia Tech
5. Alabama
6. LSU
7. Miami
8. UCLA
9. Florida State
10. Texas Tech
11. Boston College
12. Notre Dame
13. Penn State
14. Ohio State
15. Auburn
16. Oregon
17. Wisconsin
18. Tennessee
19. West Virginia
20. Florida
21. TCU
22. Minnesota
23. California
24. Nebraska
25. Michigan State

1 USC (1)
2 Texas (2)
3 Virginia Tech (5)
4 UCLA (8)
5 Georgia (7)
6 Alabama (6)
7 Penn St (3)
8 Florida St (4)
9 LSU (17)
10 W Virginia (16)
11 Oregon (13)
12 Miami (9)
13 Texas Tech (19)
14 Boston Col (23)
15 Wisconsin (20)
16 Notre Dame (11)
17 Ohio St (21)
18 Virginia (--)
19 Michigan St (10)
20 Florida (12)
21 California (14)
22 Tennessee (22)
23 Minnesota (15)
24 Fresno St (25)
25 Auburn (24)

Just missed: TCU (--), Nebraska (--), Colorado (18)
Knocked out: Colorado (18)

SI

1. USC
2. Texas
3. Virginia Tech
4. Georgia
5. LSU
6. Miami
7. UCLA
8. Boston College
9. Notre Dame
10. Texas Tech
11. Auburn
12. Alabama
13. Florida State
14. Penn State
15. Tennessee
16. Oregon
17. Ohio State
18. Florida
19. TCU
20. West Virginia
21. Wisconsin
22. Michigan State
23. Virginia
24. California
25. Nebraska

Good points...But should teams be ranked on what they are capable of, or what they've done?

Eh, I'm not sure about Northwestern and Oregon State. They are good teams, but they need to do a little more. I just have a hard time seeing a team with a non-winning record in the top 25. Just my two cents.

That's been the eternal debate about the Top 25 and there's no set answer. I've heard a lot of pollsters on each side. Tho I think a larger portion vote towards what they are capable of.

Ultimately, in the end, most pollsters are really lazy and start with the preseason poll and only move teams if they loss or some sort of huge win (huge by ranking, not score).

Personally, I like to think my poll is more "results"-based. That's why there's more movement in it from week to week. Teams can win and still move down if the people they have played lost. And ultimately you still have to make a decision on what's a good win and what isn't.

SI

To elucidate on the previous point, here's the spreadsheet I use with this week's data:

http://www.sunflower.com/~sterlingice/poll.htm

I try to split teams into "big", "quality", and everyone else ("fluff" are teams that have been in "quality" at one point or another). Then, for each team, i record their wins against big teams, wins against quality teams, losses against non-quality teams, losses against quality teams, and other wins. It's certainly not a flawless system as I have to "eyeball" quite a few calls and teams like Notre Dame, Auburn, and Wisconsin are considered quality teams just as Clemson, Louisville, and Oregon State are. And ultimately, I still have to make a judgement of things like "is Oklahoma a quality team" and "is West Virginia a big team".

But, using a system like this can have one game have a significant ripple effect. For instance, Oregon State wasn't even on the spreadsheet but they go up and beat Cal this weekend. Suddenly, UCLA's win over Cal doesn't look so great but Louisville and Arizona State gain "quality wins" where they had none the week before. This and Northwestern looking better significatly helps out 3-loss Arizona State who was probably going to fall from the quality team list but now has 2 quality wins and gives USC, Oregon, and LSU all another quality win. Same thing happens with a loss as a bunch of teams can go tumbling down from one loss a couple of iterations away.

SI

1 USC
2 Virginia Tech
3 Texas
4 Georgia
5 Alabama
6 LSU
7 UCLA
8 Miami, Fl
9 Oregon
10 Texas Tech
11 Penn St.
12 Florida St.
13 Wisconsin
14 Boston College
15 Notre Dame
16 West Virginia
17 Auburn
18 Florida
19 Ohio St.
20 California
21 TCU
22 Nebraska
23 Fresno St,
24 Toledo
25 UTEP

Bump...

Submissions are due in a little less than 6 hours, so get them in!

1.Texas
2.Virginia Tech
3.USC
4.Georgia
5.Miami(FL)
6.Alabama
7.LSU
8.Texas Tech
9.Florida State
10.Boston College
11.UCLA
12.Notre Dame
13.Auburn
14.Penn State
15.Ohio State
16.Oregon
17.Tennessee
18.West Virginia
19.TCU
20.Florida
21.Wisconsin
22.Fresno State
23.California
24.Michigan State
25.Iowa

1. USC
2. Texas
3. Virginia Tech
4. Georgia
5. Alabama
6. Miami
7. LSU
8. UCLA
9. Texas Tech
10. Auburn
11. Penn St
12. Florida St
13. Ohio St
14. Boston College
15. Notre Dame
16. Wisconsin
17. Florida
18. West Virginia
19. Oregon
20. Michigan St
21. Tennesee
22. California
23. Iowa
24. Nebraska
25. TCU

1. USC
2. Texas
3. Virginia Tech
4. Georgia
5. Alabama
6. UCLA
7. Miami (FL)
8. Texas Tech
9. Notre Dame
10. LSU
11. Boston College
12. Ohio State
13. Oregon
14. Penn State
15. West Virginia
16. Wisconsin
17. Northwestern
18. California
19. Fresno State
20. Auburn
21. Nebraska
22. UTEP
23. Oregon State
24. Arizona State
25. Baylor

1. Southern California
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. Virginia Tech
5. Georgia
6. Miami
7. Texas Tech
8. Florida
9. UCLA
10. Florida Stae
11. Oregon
12. Penn State
13. Auburn
14. Minnesota
15. LSU
16. Notre Dame
17. Northwestern
18. West Virginia
19. Wisconsin
20. Ohio State
21. Texas Christian
22. Boston College
23. Tennessee
24. Nebraska
25. Arizona State

1. USC
2. Georgia
3. Texas
4. Virginia Tech
5. Alabama
6. Penn State
7. Florida State
8. Miami
9. LSU
10. UCLA
11. Notre Dame
12. Texas Tech
13. Boston College
14. Auburn
15. Oregon
16. Florida
17. Michigan State
18. California
19. Ohio State
20. Wisconsin
21. Louisville
22. Minnesota
24. Colorado
25. Virginia

1. Texas
2. USC
3. Virginia Tech
4. Georgia
5. Alabama
6. Texas Tech
7. Miami
8. UCLA
9. LSU
10. Florida State
11. Auburn
12. Notre Dame
13. Penn State
14. Ohio State
15. Boston College
16. Wisconsin
17. Oregon
18. Tennessee
19. Florida
20. West Virginia
21. Michigan State
22. Northwestern
23. Colorado
24. Minnesota
25. TCU

1. Virginia Tech (1)
2. Georgia (3)
3. Texas (4)
4. USC (2)
5. Miami (6)
6. Alabama (7)
7. LSU (8)
8. Texas Tech (12)
9. Florida State (5)
10. Boston College (10)
11. Tennessee (13)
12. UCLA (16)
13. Ohio State (17)
14. Penn State (11)
15. Florida (9)
16. West Virginia (--)
17. Auburn (19)
18. Michigan State (14)
19. Texas A&M (23)
20. Notre Dame (15)
21. Oregon (20)
22. Minnesota (22)
23. California (18)
24. Wisconsin (24)
25. Louisville (21)

Dropped: Colorado (25)

1. USC
2. Virginia Tech
3. Texas
4. Georgia
5. Alabama
6. UCLA
7. Florida State
8. Miami
9. LSU
10. Boston College
11. Penn State
12. Notre Dame
13. Oregon
14. Auburn
15. Texas Tech
16. Ohio State
17. Florida
18. Tennessee
19. West Virginia
20. Wisconsin
21. Fresno State
22. Virginia
23. Iowa
24. Michigan State
25. California

Hi all. Sorry for the delay. I hope to have the results posted sometime in the next couple of hours, and definitely before the game tonight.