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BlogPoll Week 3 Ballot

A word before we begin.

I realize I haven't really discussed what my "ranking method" is for the BlogPoll, and the best I can say is "a meld."

I don't go by the straight resume ranking method, at least as practiced by Sunday Morning QB. I cannot quibble with his choices as a straight resume ranking, but I don't believe that Georgia is the best team in the country (which would be my criteria for ranking them No. 1), nor do I think Cal is the No. 2 school in the nation.

This isn't to say that SMQ's method is wrong, per se. Rather, it's not the way I vote.

But I also think who you play and how well you play them is significant. It has to be factored into the equation. A team that plays 12 cupcakes has not done anything to prove how good a team it is.

So my voting method, in short, is a meld of power poll and resume ranking. I will push a team up or down from time to time based on who they play.

That said, the Week 3 ballot currently looks thusly:

Rank Team Delta
1 LSU 2
2 Texas 1
3 Southern Cal 1
4 Oklahoma 8
5 West Virginia 1
6 California 1
7 Florida 1
8 Rutgers 2
9 Nebraska 2
10 Wisconsin 3
11 Penn State 10
12 South Carolina 4
13 UCLA 4
14 Boston College 9
15 Louisville 2
16 Ohio State 2
17 Georgia Tech 8
18 Oregon 8
19 Arkansas --
20 Georgia 5
21 Hawaii 1
22 Tennessee 4
23 Texas A&M 3
24 Clemson 2
25 South Florida 1

Dropped Out: Virginia Tech (#8), Auburn (#9), Southern Miss (#18), Brigham Young (#22), Oregon State (#24).

Justifications, clarifications, explanations:
--LSU at No. 1. Screw Les Miles; this is a ferocious team that has rolled over two teams from BCS league, thanking Michael Henig for his help in their first game before thrashing VT so soundly I dropped the Hokies out of the poll.
--USC, back at 3. They beat up on Idaho and then took a week off, while Texas rebounded nicely from a near disaster against Arkansas State. So I'm back to my belief that the Longhorns are better. The Nebraska game could change that.
--Oklahoma. I'm a skeptic no more.
--Wisconsin. The close game against UNLV scares me.
--Penn State. Looking better every day.
--Louisville. I dropped them because of the atrocious defensive performance against Middle Tennessee State. Even in the Big East, you have to be able to play some defense.