Other than our own "upset" of Baylor, the two most earth-shaking things to happen in the college football universe this week were Wisconsin's demolition of Nebraska and Clemson's stunning victory in the land of Beamerball.
As you'll see after the jump, not only did those events add fuel to an ascendant Heisman campaign and a beloved EDSBS meme, but they also set off a chain reaction that left my SB Nation BlogPoll ballot nearly unrecognizable.
With the beginning of conference play finally giving us some concrete evidence as to where teams stand vis a vis each other, I was wholly unafraid to shake things up dramatically. Brace yourself for some fairly radical changes.
Ballot - Week 6
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LSU Tigers | -- |
| 2 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
 1 |
| 3 | Oklahoma Sooners |
 -1 |
| 4 | Wisconsin Badgers |
1 |
| 5 | Clemson Tigers |
10 |
| 6 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys | -- |
| 7 | Boise St. Broncos |
-3 |
| 8 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
| 9 | Stanford Cardinal |
-2 |
| 10 | Arkansas Razorbacks |
9 |
| 11 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets |
6 |
| 12 | West Virginia Mountaineers |
8 |
| 13 | Illinois Fighting Illini |
11 |
| 14 | Florida Gators |
-2 |
| 15 | Kansas St. Wildcats |
7 |
| 16 | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
-3 |
| 17 | Texas Longhorns |
1 |
| 18 | Auburn Tigers | -- |
| 19 | Michigan Wolverines | -- |
| 20 | Virginia Tech Hokies |
-9 |
| 21 | Baylor Bears |
-7 |
| 22 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
-13 |
| 23 | Arizona St. Sun Devils |
2 |
| 24 | Houston Cougars | -- |
| 25 | Texas Tech Red Raiders | -- |
| Dropouts: Texas A&M Aggies, South Florida Bulls, TCU Horned Frogs, Florida St. Seminoles | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
Odds are something in the above list made you shake your head, but bear with me. There is method to my madness.
The Alabama-Oklahoma swap should come as a surprise to no one. I almost moved Wisconsin over Oklahoma, too, but that seemed premature. Let's see how the Sooners fare in the Red River Shootout Rivalry first.
OK, Clemson. I know what you're thinking. But did you know Clemson is one of only three teams with wins over three teams that were ranked at the time they played? (The other two are LSU and Alabama. Pretty good company.)
Furthermore, unlike the Tigers and Tide, Clemson's opponents are all still ranked (although Florida State is hanging on by a thread). Surely that's worth not holding their lack of preseason expectations against them, right?
Boise State suffers from lackluster performance by its quarterback against a mediocre team, while Stanford slips because the Cardinal just ain't beating anybody of substance while other top-10 teams are collecting highborn scalps.
Then it gets crazy. And not just regular crazy, but the Charlie Sheen meltdown variety.
Clearly, I had Baylor, South Carolina and Virginia Tech all overrated last week, although I don't think the Bears are as bad as "mainstream" voters seem now to do.
Nebraska didn't slip as far in my ballot as they did in the "real" polls because I was ahead of the curve in realizing how overrated the Huskers were. I already had them down in the teens two weeks ago.
Those declines opened a gaping void just outside the top 10, so someone has to be No. 11 — but who? As you can see, I elevated four teams who posted victories Saturday, but I'm not particularly sold on any of them to stay there.
The mainstream pollsters preferred to choose Georgia Tech, Michigan and Texas for those spots, but none of those three have beat anything close to a ranked team yet.
I buy Georgia Tech because they pass the eye test and my eyes don't lie, but the other two still have some things to prove before they approach the top 10.
In that context, and given their statistical standing and the caliber of wins they have logged, why shouldn't our Cats round out the top 15? The only reason they're lower in the polls is because they started the season outside them.
Florida State and Texas A&M dropped out because there are just too many good zero- and one-loss teams right now for me to include two-loss teams. I almost dropped FSU out last week for that reason, and I now wish that I had.
I don't care that all the losses were to top-10 teams. You have to do more than beat Charleston Southern, Idaho and SMU to deserve inclusion among the 25 best teams in America. Go beat a BCS team and then get back with me.
In their place, I decided Week 6 was an decent time to throw a bone to the last two unranked and undefeated teams, Houston and Texas Tech, even though both have defenses that would make Ron Prince blush.
Given how shaky Texas Tech has looked in victory against a very weak schedule, one reasonably could expect them to fall out shortly, but I wouldn't have included them if I didn't think they were going to beat Texas A&M on Saturday.
For the first time all season, I was able to somewhat rank the one-loss teams in terms of who the loss was to, while also taking into account quality wins.
That ranking took preeminence over the sort of politics that drive conventional polling, so if something seems screwy to you, compare the resumes and you will begin to see the method to my madness.