Personal and professional obligations today prevented, and tomorrow will prevent, me from going into excessive detail about my BlogPoll ballot, so I am posting below the top 25 I intend to submit, accompanied by bare bones commentary for now. Please feel free to share your questions and constructive criticisms in the comments below and I will give these my full attention prior to the Wednesday morning deadline.
Here is what the revised version of last week’s top 25 looks like after yesterday’s outcomes:
- Oklahoma
- Texas
- Florida
- Texas Tech
- Penn State
- Southern California
- Alabama
- Utah
- Ohio State
- Boise State
- Georgia Tech
- Cincinnati
- Michigan State
- Oregon
- Pittsburgh
- Virginia Tech
- Mississippi
- Texas Christian
- Oklahoma State
- Boston College
- Georgia
- North Carolina
- Oregon State
- Northwestern
- Iowa
On Thursday night, I watched as much of the Louisville-Rutgers game as I could upon returning home from the live nativity scene our church hosted that evening. (I played a wise man, which has as much to do with my being bearded as with anything else; as evidenced by last week’s picks and the fact that I agreed to stand outside for two and a half hours at night in December, wisdom may not be among my virtues.)
On Friday night, I watched the Ball State-Buffalo game. On Saturday, I watched essentially all of the Boston College-Virginia Tech, Alabama-Florida, and Missouri-Oklahoma games, as well as more of the Cincinnati-Hawaii game than I would really care to admit.
Obviously, the A.C.C. championship game brought the league back down in my estimation---had the Bearcats beaten the Warriors by a more convincing margin, I would have moved Cincy ahead of Georgia Tech---and the loss to the Gators caused me to drop the Crimson Tide behind Penn State and Southern California, as the best wins carded by the Nittany Lions (over Ohio State, Michigan State, and Oregon State) and by the Trojans (over Ohio State, Oregon, and Cal) were superior to the best wins carded by the Red Elephants (over Ole Miss, Georgia, and Louisiana State).
Ere I offer any answers beyond that, permit me to put forth a few questions from championship Saturday:
- Why wasn’t the crystal football in Atlanta instead of Kansas City? Oh, wait . . . the Big 12 championship game was on Disney-owned ABC and the Southeastern Conference championship game was on CBS. That explains it, but it doesn’t make it right.
- I like the fact that Sonic now offers a chicken-fried steak toaster with onion rings, and I’m sure I could get that covered in chili and/or cheese, but could I get them to top it off with bacon? If so, why couldn’t that have been made available to me as a culinary option for supper last September 27, when a fatal heart attack would have done me some good?
- If it’s not appropriate for the Red River Shootout to be called by its proper name, why is it all right for the Big 12 to have a commissioner named Dan Beebe, whose surname is, after all, a type of gun with which you can shoot out your eye?
- How out of line would it be for the N.C.A.A. to request a urine sample from Tim Tebow? I’m kidding, I’m kidding . . . but the kid does seem to walk that fine line between intensity and Lyle Alzado, doesn’t he?
- Now that Dr. Pepper has just about worn out those commercials with Frasier and Dr. J, isn’t it time they made a new one starring Dr. Saturday?
Should you feel so inclined, you may take me to task in the comments below. I’ll be back Monday evening to answer all charges. In the meantime, I have to share with you the fact that my son, Thomas, who is five, asked during one of the many asinine throwing-footballs-into-Dr.-Pepper-cans halftime exhibitions why they weren’t throwing small Dr. Pepper cans into large Dr. Pepper cans. It’s a fair question, when you think about it.
Go ‘Dawgs!