After the torrid posting of the weekend over all things BCS, I decided to slow down for the day and consider my BlogPoll ballot. I'll post the whole thing tomorrow evening, so anyone wanting to come and leave comments that might or might not change my mind should feel welcome to do so then.
But I'm beginning to question my own Top 5, posted here in the early morning hours of Sunday, and particularly the No. 2 ranking. I had, sort of by default and simply following what seemed simple (and CW-conforming) logic, moved Ohio State to the slot behind LSU. The reasoning for this was the fact that Ohio State's one loss, to Illinois, was more respectable than Oklahoma's pair of defeats at the hands of Colorado and Texas Tech.
By that logic, though, as SMQ points out, one would almost have to consider bumping Ohio State ahead of the Bayou Bengals, given that the Buckeyes' sole loss is to a team that would probably beat Kentucky and Arkansas, depending on how Atlas-like Darren McFadden was feeling and how Zookish the Illini were feeling.
But the Mayor also makes a valid point when he calls into question Ohio State's Big Ten schedule, which is not Hawaii-esque or even Kansas-esque, but has to be one of the weakest among the contenders to the throne. (I would also like to point out, to inoculate myself from all spelling-challenged Dawg fans, that I had both LSU and Ohio State ahead of Georgia on my last ballot. Just saying.)
If you'll remember, I did a crude version of the SMQ schedule chart, really more of a Gary Danielson chart, that look something like this when you zero in on Ohio State and Oklahoma.
Again, all games are ranked by impressiveness, as subjectively judged by your faithful scribe.
But I decided to go a bit more toward SMQ -- though he is far more skilled and practiced at this than I -- and I saw the schedule this way.
Some Big Ten fans, notably, will probably quibble with my placement of Wisconsin as an equal to Texas and on down the line. I would also point out that I did take into account the margin of victory, which is why a 62-21 torching of a Tulsa team that played for the C-USA title and a 58-7 demolition of Northwestern rank above a solid but unspectacular 23-7 defeat of Purdue.
If we look at this chart, Oklahoma has by far the best two wins -- both against a team that would end up in the Top 10, was regarded as one of the best of the country both times the Sooners won, and ranked No. 1 going into the Big XII CG. Ohio State matches that in the rest of the upper half, but the fact remains that Oklahoma's top three wins are, again, by my estimation, a good deal better than Ohio State's. The rest is pretty much a wash, though looking at the bottom half of the chart you would have to give a slight edge, again, to Oklahoma.
So by wins alone -- and by the cumulative strength of their schedule -- the Sooners should get the second spot on my ballot. But wait. Close margin or not, injuries aside, Oklahoma lost to a mediocre Colorado team and an above-average Texas Tech team. Ohio State, on the other had, lost to a team currently headed to the Rose Bowl. Yes, commercial considerations played into it, but if Illinois were not regarded as a good team, they wouldn't even be eligible to go to Pasadena.
I'm inclined to switch my ballot, putting Oklahoma at No. 2 and sliding Ohio State either to No. 3 or even No. 4 after comparing their schedule with Georgia.
I will sort this all out tomorrow. But that's where things are now. Your input, as always, is welcome.