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Poll Position: The Dawgs Stay At #6, SEC Makes Its Move. The Big Ten, Um, Doesn't.

Scott Cunningham

The second week of substantive polls are now out and the SEC remains well-represented in the top 10. Below you'll find the Coaches and AP polls as well as the Sagarin rankings aggregated in one handy chart, followed by our armchair take on them:

AP Coaches Sagarin
1 Florida State (38) Florida State (51) Oregon
2 Oregon (16) Alabama (1) Georgia
3 Alabama (1) Oklahoma (3) Oklahoma
4 Oklahoma (2) Oregon (6) Texas A&M
5 Auburn Auburn Auburn
6 Georgia (1) Georgia (1) LSU
7 Texas A&M (2) Baylor Florida
8 Baylor Texas A&M Alabama
9 USC LSU Notre Dame
10 LSU USC UCLA
11 Notre Dame Notre Dame Michigan State
12 UCLA UCLA Ohio State
13 Michigan State Michigan State USC
14 Ole Miss Arizona State Wisconsin
15 Stanford Ole Miss Virginia Tech
16 Arizona State Stanford BYU
17 Virginia Tech Wisconsin Florida State
18 Wisconsin Ohio State Ole Miss
19 Kansas State Virginia Tech Arizona
20 Missouri Kansas State Baylor
21 Louisville Nebraska TCU
22 Ohio State Missouri UCF
23 Clemson South Carolina Stanford
24 South Carolina Clemson Kansas State
25 BYU North Carolina Louisville

Florida State remains handily in control of the two major polls. But Sagarin, as is often the case seems to have a soft spot for the point-producing Oregon Ducks. I'm a little surprised with how enamored AP voters are with the Ducks, who got 16 first place votes in the writers' poll. Interestingly the Sagarin computers also have a marked fondness for the Georgia Bulldogs who check in at #2. A solid win over South Carolina this week would likely not hurt that. You'll note that the Bulldogs are also among those receiving first place votes in the AP and Coaches, though remaining firmly in sixth in both of those.

The SEC appears to be benefitting from the fact that conference play hasn't really started yet, as five conference schools sit in the top 10. That's likely to change as four of the five are in the SEC West and will soon begin the process of cannibalizing each other. So don't get too cocky about that if you're one of those who roots for the Southeastern Conference as a whole.

Speaking of cocky, South Carolina remains tenuously inside the polls following a thrashing by Texas A&M and a win over East Carolina that was not in the bag until relatively late. Ole Miss slides on into the top 15, again, subject to getting their faces smashed in by Texas A&M, LSU, Alabama, and Auburn. But hey, Hotty Toddy early pollen' gosh almighty!

Ohio State takes a major step back after falling behind to Virginia Tech, tiring it up late, then letting it ultimately slip away. You heard it here first: this Ohio State team has the look of one that could come off the rails with one or two back breaks injury or otherwise.

What strikes you as interesting in this latest poll iteration? Until later  . . .

Go 'Dawgs!!!