Now for a couple of questions about the blogpoll.
1. What to do with Stanford and Southern Cal?
After losing so much talent from a year ago and struggling in week one, I really didn't think that Stanford would have much a team this year. Yet here we are, and the Cardinal have done the world a favor and have knocked Lane Kiffin out of the title race. They certainly looked like a competent team this weekend; what really struck me was that they were so much more physical than the Trojans. Are they really good, or were we fooled by Southern Cal? I'll have to admit, based on their late-season performance last year, I thought SoCal was going to be a force this year. If anything, I thought depth would be their downfall, but that it wouldn't come into play too much until late in the season. They've now got a loss to Stanford to go along with a close game against Syracuse, though. How do we sort this one out? Should Stanford rise high and SoCal fall just a little, or should Stanford only rise a little while SoCal falls a lot?
2. What about Michigan St. and Notre Dame?
Color me unimpressed with a 20-17 victory over Purdue, but a 20-3 victory at Michigan St. is something a little different. The Spartans looked like a fairly solid team after their season-opening win over Boise St., and for Notre Dame to beat them that convincingly is impressive. What was particularly strong was that Notre Dame shut down Michigan St.'s offense, including vaunted tailback Leveon Bell. The Irish are, believe it or not, eighth in the nation in scoring defense. I'm not saying they're back, but I am wondering if they're a legitimately top 15 or even top 10 team this year. They've got a tough schedule, so they'll have their opportunities to prove themselves.