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10/13/08
AP Top 25 Poll College Football Rankings Week 8 [Picking On The Pollsters]
Texas Is No. 1, But That Won't Last Long
Our weekly college football feature where we take a look at each of the Associated Press ballots. Our mission is to hold these "experts" accountable, in hopes of improving the AP Poll in some small way. We'll be calling out all those writers who show far too much homerism to the team they cover. We'll point out those we don't think watched a single game, and those ballots that simply don't make any sense. And, occasionally we might even give someone a pat on the back when credit is due.

After a shakeup Saturday, voters were left with one major decision in their ballots: Alabama or Texas at No. 1? Naturally, they went with team coming off the most recent big victory and now the Longhorns have vaulted over four teams into the top spot.

Hard not to be impressed with what you saw at the Cotton Bowl in beating a very good Oklahoma team and matching all of their early strikes. But don't confuse the victory with a road win. Oklahoma wore the home jerseys, but that's merely an every other year deal when these two Big XII rivals meet. Alabama still can claim the best overall win in my opinion, and thus they remain my No. 1 team.

Not a lot to complain about this week in balloting, but a few issues continue to arise. Texas Tech remains vastly overrated, nearly losing to Nebraska at home. Utah remains highly ranked, and even in the top 10 on several rankings. And what surprised me most this week was how many pollsters left Oklahoma State outside of the Top 10.

Worst Ballot: Robbie Andreu [Gainesville Sun]

Robbie must've had a pretty good time in Gainesville on Saturday night and justifiably so. With that said, it was pretty obvious he missed the Missouri-Oklahoma State game. The Cowboys were very, very impressive in forcing Chase Daniel to make a few game changing mistakes and Kendall Hunter is very much worthy of the hype that should follow this week. Beating the previously No. 3 team on the road deserves more than a No. 12 ranking from Mr. Andreu. He follow Oklahoma State with Missouri at 13th. The team ahead of them? Utah. It's rather obvious who the better team is, don't you think?

No Dante Love = Too much love? Ray Ratto [San Francisco Chronicle]

I like to pick on Ray every now and then, as he's one of the pollsters who's actually emailed me to defend his rankings. I like that. But there's no defending Ball State being ranked 16th in the country. It's a great story going on in Muncie, Indiana, but the most impressive win for the Cardinals was a victor over an Indiana team now 0-3 in the Big Ten. Ray has Ball State four spots ahead of LSU, who despite getting worked over by Florida, is still a solid football team. That's a little harsh, Ray.

More Mid-Major Love Tom Hart [CBS College Sports Network]

Tulsa is fun to watch. David Johnson slings the ball around the field pretty well, and the Hurricanes are 6-0 as a result. That's great and all, but being the best team in Conference USA is not a huge resume booster. Saturday night, Tulsa needed a come-from-behind effort to get past SMU 37-31. The Mustangs rank DEAD LAST in total defense. 119th. But Tom Hart remains aboard the Golden Hurricanes bandwagon, ranking them 18th in his latest ballot ahead of Virginia Tech and Wake Forest to name a few much better teams.

What's wrong with Kansas? Doug Lesmerises [Cleveland Plain Dealer]

I know the Jayhawks played a close one last week versus Iowa State and lost to South Florida, but Kansas is still 5-1 and plays in the most competitive and maybe best conference this season. I don't think they'll finish in the top four, but ranking Kansas 25th is incredibly harsh. What gives?

And last, but not least Molly Yanity [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

I gave Molly credit last week for her continued support of Kentucky Football, because the Wildcats looked solid in a close loss to Alabama. But after a loss to South Carolina, it's back to bashing. Fortunately, she at least dropped UK to 25th, but I have no idea how you can keep them ranked... particularly if you're not going to rank South Carolina who just beat them at their own place.

It's this type of balloting that will forever keep this post going. Create your own top 25 below and share your own gripes.
3 comments
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10/13/08
2
rankings dont count until the last week. stop stressing it.

10/13/08
0
I say Penn State will be ranked #1 or #2 for the BCS game and lose to a SEC team

10/13/08
0
i rilly love foot ball but the most best sport is volleyball and basketball

 
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