Things are getting interesting in the college football blogosphere . . . or, wait, actually, maybe they’re getting the exact opposite of interesting. I’ll report, you decide:
We have been made privy to the new BlogPoll, in which Texas Tech retained the No. 1 ranking while idle by pulling down 48 of 70 possible first-place votes. Although 16 of the remaining 22 such votes went to No. 2 Alabama, hard-charging Florida gathered in the other six to stake a claim to the No. 3 ranking. The coming showdowns in Norman and Atlanta loom large.
The teams ranked fifth through 13th stood pat, the last of which happened to be Georgia. To the list of things for which to be grateful as we head into the Thanksgiving season may be added the fact that Dawg Sports did not appear among the top five contenders for any of the extracurricular honors . . . although, to Brian’s credit, the move to CBSSports.com has had a mellowing effect on the BlogPoll inventor and administrator, as his doling out of dubious distinctions now is done with a tone more avuncular than excoriating. As someone still carrying the emotional scars from previous assaults upon my earlier ballots, I understand exactly how much this is a plus.
In this week’s S.E.C. Power Poll, everything remained the same, only more so: Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana State made up the top four, in that order, but we are starting to see some separation as the Gators routinely outplay the Crimson Tide down the stretch and the results of Alabama’s trip to Athens and Georgia’s trip to Baton Rouge continue to be confirmed as representative rather than aberrational.
In short, the stars are starting to separate themselves from the also-rans, both locally and nationally. The mists are parting and all is becoming clear . . . except, of course, for the A.C.C., where there is a logjam of indistinguishable 7-3 squads and (I haven’t checked the math on this, so it’s just a hunch) each division may yet end up snarled in a six-way tie for last (or, I guess, first) place among half a dozen teams that are 4-4 in conference play.
Go ‘Dawgs!