Notwithstanding the Georgia Bulldogs’ three-game losing streak, life in the college football blogosphere must go on, so I am called upon to fulfill my weekly obligation of assembling my top 25. Using last week’s ballot as a guide, I made appropriate adjustments based on this weekend’s action, and ended up casting the following ballot, which remains open to revision in response to the arguments you make in the comments:
Dawg Sports Ballot - Week 5
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -- |
| 2 | Ohio St. Buckeyes | -- |
| 3 | Florida Gators |
 16 |
| 4 | Oregon Ducks |
 -1 |
| 5 | Boise St. Broncos |
10 |
| 6 | TCU Horned Frogs |
-1 |
| 7 | Stanford Cardinal |
6 |
| 8 | Auburn Tigers |
3 |
| 9 | Utah Utes |
1 |
| 10 | Arizona Wildcats |
-1 |
| 11 | Oklahoma Sooners |
-7 |
| 12 | Nevada Wolf Pack | -- |
| 13 | Arkansas Razorbacks |
3 |
| 14 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
-7 |
| 15 | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
-9 |
| 16 | Wisconsin Badgers |
4 |
| 17 | Michigan St. Spartans | -- |
| 18 | N.C. State Wolfpack | -- |
| 19 | LSU Tigers |
2 |
| 20 | Iowa Hawkeyes |
4 |
| 21 | West Virginia Mountaineers |
-7 |
| 22 | Michigan Wolverines | -- |
| 23 | Missouri Tigers | -- |
| 24 | Miami Hurricanes | -- |
| 25 | Texas Longhorns |
-17 |
| Dropouts: Oklahoma St. Cowboys, Fresno St. Bulldogs, Air Force Falcons, Southern Miss. Golden Eagles | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
A few observations warrant making, by way of explanation of the foregoing:
- Alabama, Ohio State, Nevada, and Michigan State did nothing to lead me to believe I had them ranked incorrectly, so they stayed put.
- Close shaves on the road against overmatched Louisiana Tech and Wyoming outfits, a loss to Ole Miss, and a bye week as a member of a conference that underperformed caused Southern Miss, Air Force, Fresno State, and Oklahoma State to drop out of the rankings.
- The Big 12 did itself no favors. Oklahoma and Nebraska won lackluster victories over teams they ought to have beaten handily, while Texas got embarrassed at home by UCLA. Nevertheless, attrition enabled Missouri to creep into the top 25 with its 4-0 record, although I am suspicious of the Tigers.
- Florida finally looked like the team we all expected the Gators to be, and profited accordingly.
- Oregon, Texas Christian, and Arizona all ought to have won more handily against the opponents they faced this weekend, so each dropped a spot in the rankings. Boise State acquitted itself well enough against Oregon State to move ahead of the Horned Frogs.
- Arkansas moved up after a loss because of the closeness of the contest and the quality of the competition. While Auburn and South Carolina both deserved to move in opposite directions, I regret that there is such a large gap between them, and I might be convinced to narrow it.
As always, questions, feedback, constructive criticisms, and persuasive arguments are welcome and invited. This is a draft ballot, so I have both the time and the inclination to improve it if given adequate justification for doing so.
Go ‘Dawgs!