Not long ago, I submitted my most recent BlogPoll ballot, in which I had Colorado ranked eighth. An attentive reader reasonably asked, "Didn't they actually lose 33-14 to Arizona State?"
Unlike some A.P. voters I could name, I figured out a way to double-check the score and, sure enough, he was right. Obviously, this required both a correction and an explanation.
The explanation is this: I got home late last night from Athens and, as often is the case after a Georgia game, I couldn't sleep, so I went ahead and got to work on my BlogPoll ballot. I was checking scores on Sports Illustrated's website until the wee hours and I kept track of the Arizona State-Colorado game until it the score was final.
It's not impossible that, because it was late and I was tired, I misread the score, but I'm almost positive that the real-time game tracker had the score reversed, showing Colorado was winning by a 33-14 margin, rather than Arizona State. When I double-checked it earlier this evening, though, I saw that rmcleave was right, for which I am most apologetic.
Regardless of the reason for this error, whether it was Sports Illustrated's mistake or mine, a correction was in order, so I went back in and recast my BlogPoll ballot, which now looks like this:
Rank | Team | Delta |
---|---|---|
1 | LSU | 4 |
2 | Oklahoma | 6 |
3 | UCLA | 4 |
4 | Washington | 21 |
5 | Missouri | 21 |
6 | Boston College | 20 |
7 | South Carolina | 19 |
8 | Iowa | 18 |
9 | South Florida | 17 |
10 | Clemson | 12 |
11 | Texas | 1 |
12 | Rutgers | 7 |
13 | Oregon | 3 |
14 | Arizona State | 12 |
15 | Wisconsin | 11 |
16 | Southern Cal | 15 |
17 | Cincinnati | 9 |
18 | Penn State | 1 |
19 | Alabama | 7 |
20 | West Virginia | 18 |
21 | California | 18 |
22 | Michigan State | 4 |
23 | Florida | 8 |
24 | Georgia | 13 |
25 | Georgia Tech | 5 |
The lone change involved removing the Buffaloes and inserting the Sun Devils, who beat San Jose State and Colorado convincingly to earn a No. 14 ranking. Every intervening team moved up one notch.
Once again, I apologize for the error and I appreciate the correction. Next time, I'll know better than to check scores when I'm sleepy.
Go 'Dawgs!