It had been my intention to wait until after this evening’s game to cast my BlogPoll ballot, but then I figured, hey, it’s the national game of disinterest, so why tarry? I freely admit that I didn’t watch a lot of football this weekend; I saw the crummy exhibitions airing on the ESPN family of networks on Thursday and Friday nights, but my day Saturday was spent preparing for, going to, at, and coming from my son’s local youth association game at noon and the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at 8:00, after the latter of which I didn’t have to heart to watch much more than a few minutes of the Marshall-West Virginia game yesterday.
Consequently, this week’s ballot represents primarily a tweaking of my preseason ballot, with more changes to come once every team has faced legitimate competition. Here is my top 25:
Dawg Sports Ballot - Week 2
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -- |
| 2 | LSU Tigers |
 1 |
| 3 | Boise St. Broncos |
1 |
| 4 | Oklahoma Sooners |
1 |
| 5 | Stanford Cardinal |
1 |
| 6 | Texas A&M Aggies |
6 |
| 7 | Wisconsin Badgers |
4 |
| 8 | Virginia Tech Hokies |
1 |
| 9 | Florida St. Seminoles |
4 |
| 10 | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
4 |
| 11 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys |
 -4 |
| 12 | Oregon Ducks |
-10 |
| 13 | Arkansas Razorbacks |
3 |
| 14 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs |
4 |
| 15 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
-5 |
| 16 | Ohio St. Buckeyes |
3 |
| 17 | Michigan St. Spartans |
-9 |
| 18 | Houston Cougars |
2 |
| 19 | Baylor Bears | -- |
| 20 | Penn St. Nittany Lions |
1 |
| 21 | South Florida Bulls | -- |
| 22 | West Virginia Mountaineers | -- |
| 23 | Florida Gators |
1 |
| 24 | Nevada Wolf Pack |
-1 |
| 25 | California Golden Bears | -- |
| Dropouts: TCU Horned Frogs, Pittsburgh Panthers, Southern Miss. Golden Eagles | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
For what they are worth, here are a few words of explanation:
- Teams moved primarily through attrition, unless I was given a genuine incentive to raise or drop a given club. Alabama did what the Tide were expected to do against Kent State, so my No. 1 team did not change; Oregon underperformed expectations against Louisiana State, so the Ducks plummeted; my third- through sixth-ranked teams did well enough to inch upward to fill the void; Oklahoma State (which allowed 34 points to Louisiana-Lafayette), Michigan State (which scored only 28 points against Youngstown State), and South Carolina (which allowed 37 points to East Carolina) all lost ground, while big wins by Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, Florida State, and Nebraska enabled those teams to earn or solidify top ten poll positions.
- When casting my preseason ballot, I expressed my doubts about Auburn, Georgia, Missouri, Notre Dame, and Southern Cal. Every shred of evidence we were offered this weekend served to confirm that I was 100 per cent right to have those doubts.
- Speaking of the Fighting Irish, USF entered the poll at No. 21, thanks to the Bulls’ win in South Bend, while Baylor vaulted into the 19th spot after upending the Horned Frogs. Cal crept in at No. 25, thanks to the Golden Bears’ win over Fresno State and poor performances by Pitt and Southern Miss.
- The only team I considered ranking but did not include in the top 25 was Cincinnati, and I have absolutely no qualms about omitting the Bearcats.
Due to the Labor Day holiday and the five-day weekend of college football, the deadline for the submission of final ballots has been extended, so, by all means, offer any constructive criticisms you may have in the comments below.
Go ‘Dawgs!