Based solely on accomplishments to date, is it possible Stanford actually is the best team in the country?
This week, for the first time since I've been doing this, I toyed with the idea of straight résumé balloting. For the first time this season, we have some concrete data on certain teams that have proven more than others.
Had I pursued straight résumé balloting using my personal ranking system, my top 10 would have looked something like this: Stanford, Alabama, Notre Dame, UCLA, Florida, Arizona, Georgia, Oregon, LSU, Florida State.
Obviously, this system would not take into account margin of victory, only quality of opponent and venue. Stanford would have jumped Alabama because USC appears to be a better team than Michigan or Arkansas, for instance.
I say "appears to be" because those determinations are made based on the best information currently available, but that can change drastically week to week as new information is learned on the field. I also lean on the AP poll.
In the end, I chose not to pursue such a radical departure from how I've been voting for 1.25 seasons, but I'm beginning to see the appeal for blogs such as Black Heart Gold Pants. I'll keep experimenting quietly, I think.
So follow the jump to see how I actually did vote in this week's SB Nation BlogPoll.
Bring On The Cats Ballot - Week 3
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -- |
| 2 | LSU Tigers | -- |
| 3 | Oregon Ducks |
 1 |
| 4 | Florida St. Seminoles |
2 |
| 5 | Georgia Bulldogs |
2 |
| 6 | Oklahoma Sooners |
 -1 |
| 7 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
1 |
| 8 | West Virginia Mountaineers |
1 |
| 9 | Stanford Cardinal |
12 |
| 10 | Florida Gators |
7 |
| 11 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
8 |
| 12 | Texas Longhorns |
4 |
| 13 | Kansas St. Wildcats |
-3 |
| 14 | Clemson Tigers | -- |
| 15 | Ohio St. Buckeyes |
-3 |
| 16 | TCU Horned Frogs |
-3 |
| 17 | UCLA Bruins |
5 |
| 18 | Louisville Cardinals | -- |
| 19 | Arizona Wildcats |
4 |
| 20 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | NR |
| 21 | Oregon St. Beavers |
4 |
| 22 | Baylor Bears |
-2 |
| 23 | Northwestern Wildcats | NR |
| 24 | Ohio Bobcats | NR |
| 25 | Iowa St. Cyclones | NR |
| Dropouts: USC Trojans, Michigan St. Spartans, Virginia Tech Hokies, BYU Cougars | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings
Oklahoma drops due to playing Bye State, while K-State, Ohio State, TCU and Baylor all looked rather unimpressive in victories over not-so-good teams (except Sam Houston State, I guess) they should have beaten more easily.
As mentioned above the jump, Stanford and Florida are the big movers due to huge résumé wins.
In some ways, Florida has the most complete résumé in the country. Who else has won two road games already, much less two difficult road games in conference play in front of an average of 90,000 fans with Gameday there?
Dropouts eligible for re-inclusion next week with wins are USC, Michigan State, Virginia Tech and BYU. I'm not sure more than one or two of those will be considered seriously, though. Michigan State is the only one with a good win.
New to the ballot this week are 3-0 Mississippi State (with a road win), Northwestern (with a whopping three BCS wins, the Wildcats are the pride of the Big Ten), Ohio (two road wins) and Iowa State (a rivalry road win).
This week's watch list is Rutgers, Cincinnati, Texas Tech, Louisiana Tech, Minnesota, UTSA, and a whole host of one-loss teams that can move in next week if they improve to 3-1 and enough undefeated teams lose.
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