October 25, 2005
Fanblogs XIV Poll: Week 9
Poll of the Fanblogs.com authors & contributors for games played through October 24, 2005:
First place votes in parenthesis. Weighted ballot points appear beside team name. Teams are ranked on likelihood to beat lower ranked teams on a neutral field, rather than a forecast of final season rankings.
1. Texas (7) 176
2. Southern California (6) 175
3. Virginia Tech 155
4. Georgia 133
5. Alabama 126
6. Miami (Fla.) 113
7. LSU 97
8. Florida St. 80
8. Notre Dame 80
10. UCLA 69
11. Penn St. 55
12. Ohio St. 30
13. Boston College 22
14. Wisconsin 13
Others Receiving Votes:
Oregon 12, Florida 10, California 5, Tennessee 5, Texas Tech 4, West Virginia 4, Northwestern 1
How they voted:
Kevin Donahue:1) Texas, 2) Southern California, 3) Virginia Tech, 4) Georgia, 5) Alabama, 6) Miami (Fla.), 7) LSU, 8) Notre Dame, 9) Ohio St., 10) Penn St., 11) Florida St., 12) UCLA, 13) Boston College, 14) Oregon
Pete Holiday:1) Texas, 2) Southern California, 3) Virginia Tech, 4) Notre Dame, 5) Georgia, 6) Miami (Fla.), 7) Alabama, 8) Florida, 9) Penn St., 10) LSU, 11) Florida St., 12) Ohio St., 13) UCLA, 14) Tennessee
Dave Frey:1) Texas, 2) Southern California, 3) Virginia Tech, 4) Miami (Fla.), 5) LSU, 6) Georgia, 7) Alabama, 8) UCLA, 9) Notre Dame, 10) Florida St., 11) Penn St., 12) Ohio St., 13) Boston College, 14) Wisconsin
Jeff Quinton:1) Texas, 2) Southern California, 3) Virginia Tech, 4) Miami (Fla.), 5) Georgia, 6) Florida St., 7) Alabama, 8) LSU, 9) UCLA, 10) Penn St., 11) Ohio St., 12) Tennessee, 13) Notre Dame, 14) Boston College
John Ludwig:1) Texas, 2) Southern California, 3) Virginia Tech, 4) LSU, 5) Georgia, 6) Alabama, 7) Miami (Fla.), 8) Florida St., 9) Penn St., 10) Notre Dame, 11) Ohio St., 12) Wisconsin, 13) UCLA, 14) Florida
Mike Boone:1) Southern California, 2) Texas, 3) Virginia Tech, 4) UCLA, 5) Alabama, 6) LSU, 7) Georgia, 8) Florida St., 9) Miami (Fla.), 10) Notre Dame, 11) Oregon, 12) Ohio St., 13) Boston College, 14) Wisconsin
Josh McClain:1) Southern California, 2) Texas, 3) Virginia Tech, 4) Georgia, 5) Alabama, 6) UCLA, 7) Miami (Fla.), 8) Florida St., 9) Boston College, 10) Wisconsin, 11) LSU, 12) Notre Dame, 13) West Virginia, 14) Penn St.
Dave:1) Southern California, 2) Texas, 3) Georgia, 4) Virginia Tech, 5) Alabama, 6) Notre Dame, 7) Miami (Fla.), 8) LSU, 9) Florida St., 10) Penn St., 11) UCLA, 12) Boston College, 13) Florida, 14) Tennessee
Robert Knodell:1) Texas, 2) Southern California, 3) Virginia Tech, 4) Alabama, 5) Georgia, 6) Florida St., 7) Miami (Fla.), 8) LSU, 9) UCLA, 10) Penn St., 11) Notre Dame, 12) Boston College, 13) West Virginia, 14) Oregon
Michael Hickerson:1) Texas, 2) Southern California, 3) Virginia Tech, 4) Alabama, 5) Georgia, 6) Florida St., 7) Miami (Fla.), 8) Notre Dame, 9) LSU, 10) California, 11) Penn St., 12) Texas Tech, 13) Wisconsin, 14) Ohio St.
Matt Shobe:1) Southern California, 2) Texas, 3) Virginia Tech, 4) Alabama, 5) Georgia, 6) Miami (Fla.), 7) LSU, 8) Notre Dame, 9) UCLA, 10) Florida St., 11) Penn St., 12) Ohio St., 13) Oregon, 14) Northwestern
Aaron White:1) Southern California, 2) Texas, 3) Virginia Tech, 4) Georgia, 5) Alabama, 6) Miami (Fla.), 7) LSU, 8) UCLA, 9) Notre Dame, 10) Penn St., 11) Florida St., 12) Boston College, 13) Oregon, 14) Texas Tech
MisterIrrelevant.com:1) Southern California, 2) Texas, 3) Virginia Tech, 4) Georgia, 5) Alabama, 6) Miami (Fla.), 7) Notre Dame, 8) LSU, 9) UCLA, 10) Penn St., 11) Florida St., 12) Ohio St., 13) Oregon, 14) Wisconsin
Hmmmm:
Texas is the fourth team to ever be ranked #1 by the Fanblogs contributors. The others are Southern Cal, Auburn, and Oklahoma.
Comments:
Aaron said:
posted on October 25, 2005 4:50 PM — 67.183.232.99 — link — abuse?
I've watched several UCLA games and outscoring your opponent doesn't usually work when you play great competition... just ask Texas Tech. UCLA is lucky to not have two losses or more right now.
Georgia struggled because Shockley was out. Trust me, as an Arkansas fan I can tell you that our defense was playing way over their heads in that game. Georgia also already had several injuries and lost a few more defensive starters to injury during that game.
As for Texas being ranked #1, I thought that might happen. I struggled with whether to put them there or not, but in the end I decided that they really didn't show anything special by blowing out a team with no defense at home. I'm still not convinced that they could beat USC in Southern California, so I'm staying put behind the defending champs.
posted on October 25, 2005 4:57 PM — 156.56.82.1 — link — abuse?Pete Holiday said:
You mean this UCLA team:
Sagarin Ranking: 9th
Sagarin Schedule Strength (SS) Rank: 83rdMassey Ranking: 13th
Massey SS Rank: 79thNCAA SS Rank: 74th.
AP Ranking: 8th
Coaches Ranking: 8th
MCS Ranking: 9th (Tied with Texas Tech)Doesn't look like 10th is out of step with those at all.
posted on October 25, 2005 5:00 PM — 156.56.82.1 — link — abuse?
Of course, whether Texas can beat USC in Southern California is not really the proper methodology for the poll. ;)
Gerald said:
posted on October 25, 2005 5:32 PM — 216.113.128.239 — link — abuse?
Pete Holiday:
Notre Dame is #1 in the country based on one victory against a team with a winning record (Michigan, who is playing a lot better now than they were when they played Notre Dame)? And Tennessee is #14 despite being 3 - 3, with only one victory against a winning team (and that due only to a horrible coaching job by Les Miles)? I suppose the showdown between ND and UT is going to be the all - fraud bowl, especially with Gerald Riggs, Jr, UT's best (only) offensive threat, out for the season.
PACMan said:
posted on October 25, 2005 5:49 PM — 68.10.109.29 — link — abuse?
Do the computers affect your votes,..I thought it was who would beat who in a neutral environ. Would you really put your money on many teams over UCLA this weekend...Silly question..Of course most of the voters here would..judging by the above polls..but frankly, UCLA would, more often than not, with the current teams, beat all the teams above them, except for SC, Texas, VA Tech, and maybe ND.
Question..How many of the voters have seen a UCLA game in full this season?Aaron said:
posted on October 25, 2005 6:08 PM — 67.183.232.99 — link — abuse?
I've watched UCLA play Washington, Washington State and Oklahoma. They barely got out of the Washington game with a win, almost losing to a team with only two wins in the last two seasons. They would have lost to Washington State if the Cougs had even a mediocre defense. They almost lost to a California team that I think is over-rated as well. Their other victories are against scrubs (San Diego State and Rice), an Oklahoma team that lost to TCU in Norman, and an Oregon State team that gave up 60+ to Louisville.
This UCLA team gives up an average of over 430 yards per game and is 98th (out of only 117 teams) in the nation in total defense. Pete has already showed how poor UCLA's SOS is. That is plenty of reason to keep them at #10 overall and I even personally voted them #8. But they certainly wouldn't be scoring 40+ on teams that have great defenses, in my opinion.
Pete.. I know, I know. But we all know that USC and Texas are head and shoulders above everyone else right now. The only thing that worries me about USC is their health on defense. If even some of those injuries heal by the time the Rose Bowl rolls around, I still think they are the best in the country. So until they lose, I have to keep them there. (Plus, I hate the Shorthorns more than any other sports teams, college OR pro. And voters are biased, so nah nah nah. :) )
Aaron said:
posted on October 26, 2005 3:03 AM — 67.183.232.99 — link — abuse?
Instead of spouting off that UCLA should be this or should be that, why don't you provide some evidence to back up your claims? We showed you why they don't deserve to be any higher than they are. Try and prove your point.
Bry422 said:
posted on October 26, 2005 7:56 AM — 152.50.0.194 — link — abuse?
I'm wondering where Arizona St. is at?!? I think they set a record this year for being the "best 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3 team in the world." So, are they not the best 3-4 team in the world, too? lol
Good to still see UT on a few ballots. They must have claimed the spot as "best 3-3 team ever" from ASU.
Hickerson.... a two loss Cal team 10th, yet no UCLA anywhere? (scratching head)
Jeremy Collins said:
posted on October 26, 2005 8:53 AM — 167.239.198.195 — link — abuse?
How come Texas wasn't ranked number one till the BCS had them number one?
I have preached Oregon this year for the most part at Pete, but with Kellen Clemons out there is no need to have them on any ballot this team is done, it is sad because I think they would have been a one loss team looking at a BCS at large bid.
posted on October 26, 2005 11:15 AM — link — abuse?
I switched my vote and put Texas #1 because I finally saw their offense perform despite Vince Young's sometimes spotty performance. There's no question that the defense is really good, but I had wondered what they would do if VY struggled. Against TT, he made some plays & missed some plays, but the running game held up & the option was really working for them.
If you look at a lot of USC's drives, they seem to benefit from the "home run" play - one big pass or one big run. When you make USC grind, they tend to slow down substantially. Line them up against the Texas D, and I think you get a lot more ground ball singles than homeruns. I suspect Texas would control the clock and the pace of the game - and win.
I've always believed Texas was for real. Now I think they are the best team in the country.
Ranjit said:
posted on October 26, 2005 11:29 AM — 151.193.220.29 — link — abuse?
Perhaps barely squeaking by Ole Miss and an overrated Tennessee team is impressive to some, but other than a few columnists , no one seems to talk about the SEC offenses being so bad. Like I said before, if you want to say UCLA's defense is bad, I'm not going to disagree. But I would pick UCLA over Georgia or Alabama any day, with their terrible offenses. These teams might be able to hold UCLA to 28 points, but they certainly won't score that many.
Also, injuries are part of the game. Prothro and Shockley are out, but that doesn't mean that pollsters should say, "IF these players were there..." The point is that they are not.
That right there is my case for ranking UCLA above Georgia and Alabama. I definitely wouldn't put them above the top 3, and I don't think they should be below Notre Dame, FSU, and Miami.
Everyone seems to point out that UCLA "should have lost" or "almost lost," but the point is that they didn't. USC almost lost to Notre Dame, Alabama could have lost to Ole Miss, and Georgia could have lost to Arkansas. But they didn't.
I think the most ridiculous ranking is to have UCLA below Notre Dame. Notre Dame has beaten whom? Pittsburgh, Washington, Purdue, BYU, and Michigan. And more importantly, they lost to Michigan St, which is now being exposed as thoroughly overrated. They played well against USC (or did USC play badly, passing for 0 TDs and 2 INTs by Leinart), but that doesn't mean they should be ranked so highly. People can complain about UCLA's strength of schedule, but you can only play who you are scheduled to play. Apparently, that argument doesn't hold for Notre Dame, or even Texas. Texas, other than playing Ohio St, has not faced a good team (TTU is wildly overrated), but they are clearly one of the top 3 teams in the country. Finally, even the BCS has them in the top 6, and 4 of the 6 computers have them ranked in the top 7. All I'm saying is that UCLA deserves a ranking somewhere between 4 and 8, not below all of these 1-loss teams, and certainly not below a 2-loss team.
posted on October 26, 2005 12:37 PM — 156.56.114.160 — link — abuse?
Ranjit: If UCLA plays USC as well as Notre Dame did (hint: they won't) then UCLA can move ahead of ND. UCLA has played exactly one team of any consequence, and we still have no idea how good Cal is (or isn't).
As for the UCLA/Bama debate... there's no way to predict that game. Why? Because 'Bama's offense looks horrible... against excellent defenses. UCLA's offense looks good... against horrible defenses. The opposite is true as well.
I would suggest that 'Bama could score on UCLA's defense fairly easily with or without Prothro, and as good as UCLA's offense may be, they would not score 28 points on the Alabama defense.
In the last four games, 'Bama has allowed 12 Red Zone attempts which have resulted in zero touchdowns and only 15 points. For the season, opponent red-zone scoring is only 56% on 16 attempts (Alabama's RZ Scoring is 80% on 25 attempts).
UCLA will have a good test this weekend. If they put on a good show, they'll move up on my ballot. If they get trounced (likely) they'll slip a little.
JoJo said:
posted on October 30, 2005 11:32 AM — 205.188.116.199 — link — abuse?
First off the SEC has the toughest conference. second off Texas could beat USC anywhere anytime. thirdly how VA Tech is still unbeaten is beyond me. Georgia lost with out DJ Shockley, Alabama has won with out Tyrone Prothro. so what if alabama has struggled they have beat everybody they have played and to be unbeaten in the sec is amazing.they still have LSwho and Alabama Usualy Beats Us Round November(Auburn) along with Miss State. somebody in the top 3 is going to loose, alabama will play georgia in the sec title game and win they are gonna go to the rose bowl and if they play USC they have it won, if they play texas im nervouse. if they play VA Tech its gonna be a good game.
Tim said:
posted on October 31, 2005 9:26 PM — 64.80.234.195 — link — abuse?
SEC and Big Ten conferences are pretty equal. When it comes down to it, you've got Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Florida, and Auburn and then a bunch of mediocre teams...
Big Ten has Penn State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Northwestern, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan St. and then another bunch of mediocre teams. Honestly, I like the Big10's chances if you line up the top 7 teams from the Big10 vs. the top 7 teams from the SEC...
Here's your matchups:
Alabama vs Penn State - advantage: PSU (Two great defenses but PSU has more offense this year) Big Ten 1, SEC 0Wisconsin vs. LSU - advantage LSU (Wisconsin has good offense but no defense and LSU would probably carve them up) Big Ten 1, SEC 1
Ohio State vs Georgia - advantage Ohio State (Georgia no Shockley and OSU has too many playmakers) Big Ten 2, SEC 1
Florida vs Michigan - advantage Michigan (no matter the records, Michigan is back from the dead and their defense is good enough to stop Leak and their offensive line would pummel the Florida D) Big Ten 3, SEC 1
Northwestern vs Auburn - advantage Auburn (although NW could surprise, I think Auburn is just too athletic) Big Ten 3, SEC 2
Minnesota vs Tennessee - advantage Minny (could Tennessee stop Maroney? Doubtful. Could Minny stop Tennessee? They wouldn't have to, Tn would stop themselves) Big Ten 4, SEC 2
Iowa vs South Carolina (or Vandy) - advantage Iowa (do I need to explain?) Big Ten 5, SEC 2
David Alexander said:
posted on December 2, 2005 12:19 PM — 68.50.151.216 — link — abuse?
TEXAS and i'm an ACC guy. Look at USC's schedule, please! Fresno State is a joke. And did anyone watch that game? Bush was running around while the Fresno defense was standing around. People compare him to Gale Sayers? Look up Bobby Mitchell, He rushed for over 200 yards for Cleveland PLAYING IN THE SAME BACKFIELD WITH JIM BROWN! For real, he was better than Sayers. And everyone forgets about a guy named BARRY SANDERS, who was more elusive than him?
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Ranjit said:
posted on October 25, 2005 4:27 PM — 151.193.220.27 — link — abuse?Wow. I am shocked by the fact that an undefeated team could be placed at #10 when it has 2 of the top 10 players in the country. I'm sure everyone will say how weak their defense is, or how their conference is weak, but having watched a great deal of college football this year, I can honestly say that the level of UCLA's offense is above that of the level of UGA and Bama's defense, and UCLA's defense is just as bad as each of those school's offenses. Having said that, I think UCLA could easily outscore either of those teams, and considering that Bama has had to struggle to beat Ole Miss and Georgia was lucky to beat Arkansas, I find it pretty ridiculous that UCLA would be placed so low.