Stories about Blog Polls
CBSSports.com BlogPoll Ballot - Final edition 1 comment
Last BlogPoll of the season and it's a lot like hitting the reset button. Pay no mind to the delta's in this case. With four weeks elapsed since the last poll, this was really a re-ranking at the end of the season.
What might make for a more interesting comparison is how this poll looks compared to the first poll of the season. It's not pretty.
CBSSports.com Blogpoll #16 5 comments
How high can you rank half a team who has three losses by a total of four points? In Nebraska's case, I went with 17.
The more interesting question might be how high can Nebraska start next season? That will largely depend on how the offense performs in the Holiday Bowl. Remember how much Notre Dame's "big win" over Hawaii helped them last year? (In terms of preseason rank, that is.) A good offensive performance, as unlikely as it seems, might make Nebraska a favorite to win the conference next year.
That's what the next three weeks are about. Building momentum for 2010. But there's plenty of time to get into the questions surrounding this team. For now, let's tackle the last pre-bowl poll.
CBSSports.com BlogPoll #15 1 comment
Hope you enjoyed your commemorative trip to the Top 25, Temple. Seeing as how they're the only team to drop out of my Top 25 you know we're reaching the end of the season. Things are continuing to stabilize and the stakes are getting higher.
It'll be interesting to see how high Nebraska can climb in the polls after they beat Texas by three touchdowns. (Sorry, just channeling a little James Brown, there.)
CBSSports.com BlogPoll #14 1 comment
You know how up to this year Steve Spurrier always cast a vote for Duke in some sort of acknowledgment to the absurdity of preseason polls? I'm doing my version of that this week, not in protest but as an admission to the lack of truly good teams outside the top eight.
The benefactor? Your winners of nine straight games the Temple Owls.
CBSSports.com Blogpoll #13 3 comments
I'm already starting to feel sorry for TCU. Nobody seems to be playing better football than the Horned Frogs right now. They have a truly multiple offense--pro sets, Wild Frog, spread, whatever it takes--the offensive playmakers to make that style work, their usual stout defense and almost no chance at playing for the national title unless one of the top three encounters a major upset in their respective rivalry games to end the season (FSU, Auburn and Ag. & Mech. respectively.)
But here's the great thing about my rekindled love for TCU: Nebraska, if they can get past Kansas State on Saturday, might be the best chance for the Frogs to get their shot. Should that happen, please know TCU fans that you will be more than welcome across town at the Big 12 Championship game. We'll bring extra red shirts, you bring your "Frogs for Nebraska" signs and we'll all have a big ball in cowtown when it's over. Eating Saltine crackers, 10-cents a pound, of course.
CBSSports.com BlogPoll #12 0 comments
It was a Pac-10 uprising this week in the BlogPoll. There might not be a better conference top to bottom in the country right now. Oregon's loss essentially ends any chance of having a national title contender and that will hurt their status overall as a conference. But, in a year where everyone looks average, the Pac-10 has a handful of teams that look to at least be "above average", something neither the SEC or the Big 12 can claim.
The poll after the jump...
CBSSports.com BlogPoll #11 3 comments
This image has nothing to do with this week's BlogPoll, but it's Oklahoma week and that means I'll be using it liberally in the days to come.
It takes a lot of swagger to wear the cowboy hat AND the headband. Herbie's complete disregard for aesthetics should feel familiar to this year's Nebraska squad. Everything since the Huskers started conference play has been ugly and it will have to continue this week, perhaps spectacularly so.
To beat Oklahoma Nebraska might need to go even lower. Run some tricks, maybe quick kick on a third down, score on a fumble or two, try an onside kick in the first half, whatever it takes. This isn't the great heavyweight clashes of yesteryear, it's a street fight.
And if the Huskers ugly it up enough, maybe they can creep back into my ugly, misshapen poll. Looking at some of the other teams I have to include, Nebraska wouldn't feel out of place.
CBSSports.com BlogPoll Ballot #9 0 comments
For the first time this season, I have dropped the Huskers completely from my rankings. That should send a message. These words are going to be like smelling salts on paper for the moribund offense. Put it up on the bulletin board. Please.
OK, that's likely not true, but the latest poll is to follow.
CBSSports.com BlogPoll Ballot #9 0 comments
I give up. You win unpredictability. Uncle.
While it's happening, it's all fun and good watching the current polls disintegrate like that random henchman in RoboCop after his toxic waste bath, but then Monday rolls around and you have to try to piece it all back together. Watch the clip and you'll understand how hard that is.
My own horrifying results are after the jump...
CBSSports.com BlogPoll Ballot #8 2 comments
There were some close calls this week, particularly in the Big 12, that really could've shaken things up. Iowa State was literally inches away from taking a lead with less than a minute left against KU and Ag. & Mech. hung with Oklahoma State for much of the game. Both of the favorites pulled it out, however, and the result is a poll that's pretty static.
One place we are seeing movement is at the top. After thinking Alabama has looked like the best team in the country for the past few weeks, I finally just put them there. No disrespect to Florida or Texas but the on field results have been pretty clear.
On to the poll...
CBSSports.com BlogPoll Ballot #7 5 comments
Who's ready for that Florida-Alabama SEC title game? It might be the first game this season where we see two legitimately "great" teams face off.
For the past four weeks, I've come out of Saturday asking myself the same question: Is anybody any good? The Big 12 has fallen on its face in non-conference play, take out Ohio State and Virginia Tech (as usual) and the Big 10 and ACC are as ugly as always, what looks like the worst USC team in years still looks like the best Pac-10 team, and, while they'll never admit it, the LSU-Georgia game only confirmed for me that there's a pretty sizable gap between the Gators/Tide and the rest of the vaunted SEC. Again, is anybody any good?
For now, carry the flag high Florida, Texas and Alabama.
CBSSports.com BlogPoll Ballot: Week 5 6 comments
Is anybody any good? That's the question with a wild September in the books and it necessitates a vast restructuring of my current poll. Think of it like a month-end inventory or audit. Or just look at it like many people already do: about the time the first poll should come out anyway.
I wish the coaches and AP voters would do the same. Does anyone possibly think that LSU is the fourth best team in the country? Did Virginia Tech and Nebraska look about equal to you on the field a week ago? What happened to the greatest Miami team to ever take the field, led by the best quarterback in school history?
My answers, and my fresh from scratch poll, are after the jump.
CBSSports.com BlogPoll Ballot: Week 4 0 comments
Conventional poll wisdom dictates that, following even a heartbreaking loss in a game you controlled for long stretches of time, a team that loses has to drop and that's what happened with Nebraska yesterday. Personally, my opinion of Nebraska rose after Saturday. I think they're better now than I did before the VT game on Saturday morning so I can't drop them but I won't elevate them either for fear of setting off the homer alarms more than I already may have by just leaving them where I had them at #19.
Beyond that, there were no departures or new arrivals in my top 25, just a great reshuffling following losses by BYU, USC and GT. What we have is three clear cut top teams, though Florida and Texas weren't quite as dominant this week as many thought they'd be, and then "the pack." I won't claim to have it sorted out myself. There are a couple of teams that I just don't like where they're at but can't really find a reason to move them down either so, after the preliminary poll, I'll tackle some of those squads individually--as well as a few I quite like--rather than taking the in/out/methodology approach I've used the past three weeks.
Blogpoll Roundtable Week 2 2 comments
This week's BlogPoll roundtable is being hosted by collegegameballs.com.
Since that site is written by a Hokie grad and this is Hokie week, figured I'd better jump in this time around.
CBSSports.com BlogPoll Ballot: Week 3 3 comments
Not a lot of major moving and shaking going on this week other than Oklahoma State's fall from grace.
Let's get to the poll:
CBSSports.com Preliminary BlogPoll Ballot: Week 2 6 comments
My week two BlogPoll ballot is below for your perusal. Final edition is due Wednesday so you've got two days to sway/berate me.
You'll see some folks go with a strict resume ranking now that we've got a game under our belts and I understand the reasoning behind that. Personally, however, I don't see the value in making BYU the number one team in the country because they had the best opening week win when no one likely thinks they're better than Florida. That sort of approach generally sorts itself out but I feel a little more duty bound to my preseason poll (i.e. my ego).
CBSSports.com BlogPoll Top 25: Final Preseason Edition 9 comments
After considering your arguments with my preliminary poll, I'm back with a few changes for the official CBSSports.com BlogPoll preseason ballot due today.
Once the season starts, we'll get on the usual Monday prelims, Wednesday final schedule. As for now, on to the poll:
CBSSports.com BlogPoll Top 25: Preliminary Preseason Edition 13 comments
The first CBSSports.com BlopPoll ballots are due on Monday so here's your chance to critique and comment on my initial ballot before it gets shipped off to Brian at MGoBlog.
Blogpoll Ballot – Final for 2008 2 comments
Here we present the last Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll for 2008 at M Go Blog. Utah is our national champion, largely on principal but it's not an enormous stretch either as the Utes dispatched with Alabama more easily than Florida. Let me also restate that I don't believe you rate teams based on the odds they'd get in Vegas, rather they get the spot they earn. “We won thirteen and that's all we played� is what Tom Osborne had to say after the 1997 season when both Nebraska and Michigan went undefeated. Only Utah can make that statement this year.
Blogpoll Ballot – Week 15 3 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog. This ballot would put Utah against Boise State for the national title. If that sounds absurd, remember that these teams each won their last bowl game appearance. Oklahoma? Not so much.
Blogpoll Ballot – Week 14 10 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog. Staying the course on the undefeated teams, but for once I don't grimace at how this ballot compares to the USA Today or BCS poll.
Blogpoll Ballot – Week 13 8 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog. No one can take out Utah who finished 12-0. The Utes won their last BCS bowl (as did Boise State) which gives me at least some comfort given my stubborn “earned� rankings system. Hopefully Western Michigan can take out Ball State to restore some sanity here and give Nebraska a boost in strength of schedule.
Blogpoll Ballot - Week 12 4 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog. I continue to produce the only list with the likes of Utah, Boise State, and Ball State in the top ten. Next week that could change as Utah takes on BYU and Ball State faces a Central Michigan team that is unbeaten in conference play.
Blogpoll Ballot - Week 11 5 comments
I'm pinch hitting for Steve this week and I debated for quite a while about the best way to tackle taking over our BlogPoll ballot. Should I adjust my ballot for this week relative to his last week? That was probably the best for continuity's sake but I'm not ready to slot Ball State in the Top 10 like Steve was. So then, should I just start from scratch? That didn't quite sit right either so I did a little of both, starting with last week's ballot as a guideline but not fearing a large delta up or down if that's the way I saw it.
That's a long-winded way of saying, if our Week 11 ballot differs wildly, or stupidly, from our Week 10 ballot it is solely my fault, but here's how I see 'em:
Blogpoll Ballot - Week 10 0 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog. Texas Tech beat the top team in the country, but needed a near miracle to do it. So Penn State and Alabama occupy the top two spots for now. Tulsa goes down to a sub-.500 Arkansas team, and thus drops out of the poll completely.
Blogpoll Ballot - Week 9 2 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog. Avoiding upsets seems to be the greatest trick in the book. That said, I find myself rooting against teams like Utah, Boise State, Ball State, and Tulsa.
Blogpoll Ballot - Week 8 0 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog. These rankings continue to be out of step with the mainstream, but I continue to revere teams that can avoid defeat in this day and age.
Blogpoll Ballot - Week 7 6 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog. These rankings continue to be out of step with the mainstream, but I continue to revere teams that can avoid defeat in this day and age.
Blogpoll Ballot - Week 6 0 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog. The Sooners hold the top spot heading into the Red River Shootout.
Blogpoll Ballot - Week 5 2 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog. With a slew of losses to undefeated teams, the to 25 changes dramatically. The Sooners are now the top team with defending champion LSU right behind.
Blogpoll Roundtable - Week 5 Chaos Edition 16 comments
Starting next week, the BlogPoll Top 25 is getting MSM support as a major media outlet will be publishing the poll right alongside the AP and Coaches Polls.
Here's hoping those pollsters' week in and week out insanity doesn't sully the impeccable reputation we've worked so hard to cultivate.
On to the roundtable...
Blogpoll Ballot - Week 4 0 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog. USC holds the top spot after a bye.
Blogpoll Ballot - Week 3 5 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog. USC continues to look like the best team in the country and no one seems all that close.
Blogpoll Ballot – Week 2 1 comment
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog. The Bulldogs made a statement after dropping a spot in victory, but they still sit behind USC for the time being.
Blogpoll Ballot – Week 1 3 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog. Like the AP and coaches, I pushed USC ahead of Georgia on the strength of the performance against Virginia and the bland performance against Georgia Southern, respectively.
Blogpoll Ballot – Preseason 10 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog. No longer does Hawaii or any other non-BCS program get the benefit of the doubt as they did a year ago in the aftermath of Boise State's upset of Oklahoma. We need to see another big upset by a non-BCS conference preferably over a team that fares a little better in bowl games than OU has recently.
Blogpoll Ballot – Final 6 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog. Though I wasn't able to enter it, so maybe they are forgoing a final ballot or else just don't want our vote.
Blogpoll Ballot – Week 14 15 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog.
I consider it a moral victory that Hawaii got paired up with Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Not a small number of people thought that Georgia deserved to play for a national title so it's conceivable that if Hawaii just trounced the Bulldogs, the AP could vote Hawaii #1. The odds of that are on par with the odds of Northwestern winning the national title next year. But the door is open. Not unlike USC getting a share of the title in 2003. Once Georgia beats them, this poll will look a lot more like everyone else's.
Blogpoll Ballot – Week 13 9 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog.
I don't even buy Hawaii at number 1. I was really hoping that Boise State would get me off the hook. Now I'll have to wait for a bad Washington team or a good bowl opponent to knock of the Rainbows. But I'm doing this mainly for teams like Boise State last year and Utah in 2004. I don't like to see teams run the table and get locked out, especially when every other team is saddled with a loss (or two). As for MU-WV-OSU, you could argue for just about any order there. I give the edge to MU for their win over Kansas but West Virginia is looking tough. Only OSU seems to play championship defense but their offense is pretty ordinary.
Blogpoll Ballot – Week 12 8 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog.
Once again, Kansas and Hawaii are #1 and #2. For those would complain about those rankings, I submit the 1983 Huskers. Only one team from Nebraska's regular season schedule that year finished in the AP top 20. Both Kansas and Hawaii will face one team in the regular season that will finish in the top 25 (Missouri and Boise State). To suggest that these teams don't deserve a title shot after a perfect regular season, is tantamount to saying the 1983 Huskers should not have been playing for a national championship. Boise State's win over Oklahoma should be all the proof we need that schools from small conferences can play with the big boys. That said, if Kansas or Hawaii lose either (or both) of their next two games they go to the back of the line for one-loss teams.
Blogpoll Ballot – Week 11 3 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog.
Kansas is #1! NORAD put on full alert as this could spell the end of days. For those who think Hawaii at #2 is absurd, two words – Boise State. Somebody beat these guys and I'll drop them faster than an 8 am French class held on Saturdays. But if nobody beats these guys, I want to see them get a title shot.
Blogpoll Ballot – Week 10 6 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog.
This one has their bells and whistles about slot changes. The upsets at the top shook things up again. Only OSU, KU, and Hawaii have perfect records now. This one I actually submitted and since I forgot to submit a week ago. Everyone's gone up!
Blogpoll Ballot – Week 9 0 comments
Here again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog.
To be honest, I'm not even sure I remembered to submit the ballot the last couple of weeks. For all I know, I'll be banned for life from M Go Blog. But hey, I'm a Nebraska fan, I've got my own problems! The upsets just keep coming which is what's making the few unbeaten teams all the more impressive. Maybe it will be Nebraska's turn for an upset this week.
Blogpoll Ballot - Week 4 1 comment
Once again we present the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog.
We finally see some teams with a loss creep in (only two at this point) and that's sure to grow as the season goes along. Ohio State looks to be rolling and Texas may have figured out their issues too. Connecticut seems like a stretch but their win over Pitt was better than Michigan State's so at least for now they sneak in. By mid-October these will look like most of the others. For now, it's about who's 4-0 and in a couple of cases who you've played.
Blogpoll Ballot - Week 3 1 comment
Here is the Big Red Network ballot for the college football top 25 poll at M Go Blog.
This will probably be the final week that we can keep out teams with a loss. More and more undefeated teams will fall. For those who think it's unfair to Nebraska, just look at some of the teams left in the rankings. The Huskers will play Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas, and if all goes well Oklahoma. So they have every chance to finish at the top if they run the table. But if you require other teams to earn their spot then you have to do the same with Nebraska. So for at least one week, they don't make the cut.
Blogpoll Ballot Week 2 4 comments
As you may recall, we at the Big Red Network have been invited to vote in a weekly college football top 25 poll at http://mgoblog.blogspot.com/
These rankings are again heavily influenced by last weekend's action. I'm requiring teams to earn their place which means no one with a loss remains. By October I'd expect ours to converge with the other major polls.
Blogpoll Ballot Week 1 6 comments
As you may recall, we at the Big Red Network have been invited to vote in a weekly college football top 25 poll at http://mgoblog.blogspot.com/
These rankings are heavily influenced by this weekend's action (the only action of the 2007 season). Do I think Tennessee and Michigan might climb back into the rankings? Of course. Are Georgia Tech and Nebraska really top ten teams? Probably not, but they looked like one of the ten best on Saturday. So consider this part ballot, part protest of polls that come out before October.
Blogpoll revisited 0 comments
As you may recall, we at the Big Red Network have been invited to vote in a weekly college football top 25 poll at http://mgoblog.blogspot.com/
While I'm tempted to leave my second preseason ballot unchanged from last week (the 2004 presidential election taught us that Americans don't like “flip-floppers�), we were encouraged to solicit feedback and seek to improve our rankings. So here are the revised rankings: