Week 1 Blog Poll (The Ballot of The Smoking Musket)

Well, boys and girls, we're (nearly) a full week into the college football season, and quite a few things have changed. Oklahoma's probably done, BYU looked good, Oklahoma State and Alabama are for real, and despite the loss, I was impressed with Virginia Tech.

My first week ballot follows, with assorted comments after the jump.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida
2	Alabama	2
3	Texas
4	Southern Cal	1
5	Oklahoma State	8
6	Penn State	2
7	Mississippi	1
8	Ohio State	1
9	California	3
10	Georgia Tech	1
11	LSU	1
12	Brigham Young	13
13	Michigan State	3
14	Oklahoma	12
15	Notre Dame
16	Oregon State	5
17	Missouri
18	North Carolina	1
19	Georgia	8
20	Virginia Tech	5
21	Pittsburgh	1
22	Utah	4
23	Nebraska	3
24	West Virginia	7
25	Boise State
Last week's ballot

 

Dropped Out: Oregon (#14), TCU (#23), South Florida (#24).

• The ballot is always going to be very fluid in the opening weeks.  The last thing I want to do is become beholden to a pre-season ballot that really doesn't mean anything.  If you're playing well against good competition, you move up.  If you play badly against lower competition, you move down.  It's as easy as that.
• Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, BYU, and Missouri are the biggest winners from this week.  I was skeptical Oklahoma State, and while I don't think Georgia is nearly as good as in years past, that's still a very good win.  They look like they'll be able to challenge Texas for the Big 12 South.
• I think I underrated Notre Dame.  Do they make the national championship game?  No.  BCS?  Maybe.
• Who saw Missouri coming?  Certainly not me.  They move into the top 20, but we're not fully on the bandwagon quite yet.
• Alabama, on the basis of their stronger win over Virginia Tech, leapfrop Texas into the coveted TSM Blog Poll #2 ranking.  Partying in Tuscaloosa, commence now.
• These rankings will always be posted on Monday, and I wanted to get on with that schedule this week.  Of course, we have two games left, both with rankings implications.  The winner of Rutgers vs. Cincinnati will most likely be ranked, and if Florida State rolls over Miami, they could receive consideration, too.  But they'll both just have to wait until next week.
• I realize Nebraska drops three after winning by 46.  Sometimes, that will have to happen, especially early on.  Also, it's a product of Missouri looking better in the Big 12 North.  Keep winning and it will all sort itself out.
• And last, but not least, West Virginia remains ranked, yet drops seven positions.  A higly underwhelming effort, I am taking a wait-and-see approach to my own squad.  If you're ranked and you win, you remain ranked.  But if you win by 13 over an FCS opponent, you may slide.  WVU did just that.

OK, everybody, what are your thoughts, complaints, comments? Would you still have WVU ranked? Did I make any horrifying errors in your mind? Do tell...