All right, I’ve put it off long enough; now is the time to share the first draft of my BlogPoll ballot:

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama
2	Florida
3	Virginia Tech	1
4	Texas	1
5	Miami (Florida)	1
6	Iowa	4
7	Boise State
8	Southern Cal	3
9	Oregon
10	Cincinnati	1
11	Ohio State	6
12	LSU	4
13	South Carolina	6
14	TCU	1
15	Georgia Tech	3
16	South Florida	1
17	Brigham Young	1
18	Wisconsin	4
19	Auburn	7
20	Houston	4
21	Oklahoma State
22	Kansas
23	Pittsburgh
24	Penn State	4
25	Nebraska
Last week's ballot

Dropped Out: Notre Dame (#21), Boston College (#22), Michigan (#23), Stanford (#25).

Ere I take up the task of attempting to explain my top 25, I should pause to mention that I am reliably informed that it is considered by many to be gauche to describe teams better than yours in unflattering terms, even if this description is offered only as a mere prelude to a rundown of all the ways in which your own team is woefully lacking. Accordingly, after hitting the highlights of my BlogPoll ballot, I had this posting reviewed by a certified sensitivity training instructor, who made certain edits before it hit the internet. Here goes:

• The Alabama Crimson Tide are my clear-cut No. 1 because they have been consistently dominant against a schedule mostly made up of teams that do not suck are not still up-and-coming programs waiting for their big breakthrough. Nick Saban’s squad has Division I-A’s most impressive scalp in the form of the Red Elephants’ opening win over the Virginia Tech Hokies, who check in at No. 3 after another dominant performance. That, plus wins over the Miami Hurricanes and the Nebraska Cornhuskers, allowed VPI to edge the Texas Longhorns, who appear to be very good but who have played a slate composed almost entirely of teams that suck have struggled to find their identity while playing hard and displaying an aptitude for some but not all phases of the game.


• Because of the large margin of victory by which the Gobblers throttled the ‘Canes, I couldn’t very well rank Miami right behind Virginia Tech, but a quality win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and a victory over the Oklahoma Sooners that still holds some value put Randy Shannon’s bunch in the top five. I give the Hurricanes no credit for their narrow triumph over the Florida St. Seminoles, because FSU sucks continues to struggle in the fourth quarter while remaining competitive and coming up just short in the end despite still recruiting at a very high level.


• In a related item, the South Florida Bulls lost ground because their 5-0 record contains nothing more impressive than a win over Florida State, which sucks is a program in transition that will weather the storm because Jimbo Fisher’s presence as the coach-in-waiting brings stability in a time of crisis. The BYU Cougars likewise dropped because they lost to the ‘Noles, who suck still field a potent offense and are just waiting for the game when the defense starts to "click."


• The Pittsburgh Panthers slipped past the rival Penn St. Nittany Lions, even though Pitt hasn’t done much this season, because the teams Joe Paterno’s squad has beaten (Akron, Eastern Illinois, Illinois, Syracuse, and Temple) all suck are in rebuilding mode but are generating excitement for their fans and are hoping to turn losses to marquee teams into positive steps forward for their programs.


• The Notre Dame Fighting Irish dropped out of the top 25 during a bye week because their loss to the Michigan Wolverines lost a lot of its luster and the rest of the Golden Domers’ wins over BCS conference opponents all consisted of narrow escapes over teams that suck have struggled in recent years but now are in the process of being turned around by bold recent hires of coaches who are confident in the direction they have set and are sticking with the plan to restore the languishing former power just waiting to be revived.


• I hated ranking the Kansas Jayhawks at all, because Mark Mangino’s bunch has done nothing but beat Northern Colorado, UTEP, Duke, Southern Miss, and Iowa State, all of whom pretty much suck suck.

As always, feel free to offer your remarks, observations, constructive criticisms, and questions in the comments below. For those of you who might have happened by without bringing your sense of humor with you, don’t bother telling me that my team sucks needs to be more patient with Willie Martinez while he corrects the issues with tackling and scheming; I know that already, thanks.

Go ‘Dawgs!