Roll Tide! On the strength of their big win over Virginia Tech, Alabam storms into my top 5.  Check out the rest of my blogpoll ballot after the jump.

Dropped Out: Rutgers (in a purely reactionary week 1 ballot, I got nothing to go on), Florida State (see Rutgers), Illinois (thanks for making me look like an idiot), Iowa (yeah, you looked like a top 25 team in squeaking by powerhouse Northern Iowa), and Oregon (looked as awful as a team could look against Boise State)

New Kids on the Block: You’ll see that just about my entire ballot, from UNC at #19 on, is newcomers to the ballot.  Now, part of that is because I tried to go off-chalk with my preseason predictions and it didn’t work out, but the other part is that I’m trying to make this ballot a meritocracy.  Off the strength of impressive wins, UNC, Nebraska, Michigan, MSU, and Tennessee certainly looked like top 25 teams.  Michigan, in particular, really surprised me.  With all the controversy swirling around that program, I wasn’t going to be surprised if Western Michigan won.  Instead, Tate Forcier worked the spread offense like a seasoned vet, and the UM defense held a good QB in Tim Hiller in check.  I don’t know if it’s a one-week wonder, but honestly, Michigan probably had the most impressive performance of any team in the conference last week.

Big Ups!: It wasn’t just Alabama that made a giant leap in my blogpoll bracket.  BYU, with their huge upset of Oklahoma, also find themselves in the top 10.  BYU has three more ranked teams on their schedule, including a big showdown against Florida State in two weeks, so if they can run the table they absolutely deserve their shot at the title.  As a major proponent of a playoff, or at least giving some respect to non-BCS Conference schools (you should read my twitter arguments about this with Charlie), I’d love to see the Stormin’ Mormons break the glass ceiling and become the first team from a non-BCS Conference to play in the Title Game.  Cal dismantled a not-so-great Maryland team, but it was just how impressive they looked in doing it that jumps them into my top 10.  If Kevin Riley can play half that well the rest of the season, they could be a contender for the Rose Bowl coming out of the Pac 10.

Come on Down: The biggest hits in this ballot come for Oklahoma, who drop down 9 spots to 13.  I honestly struggled with what to do with this Oklahoma team.  On one hand, I like BYU a lot, and didn’t think this was a major upset scenario.  On the other hand, without Sam Bradford, that offense was straight up ugly.  And then what to do with the whole Bradford issue.  Do I penalize them more because he’s out for a few more weeks?  Do I hold them steady because they probably would’ve won if he doesn’t get hurt?  In the end, I settled on 13.  Fortunately for the Sooners, they don’t have a real opponent until October 3rd, when they face Miami, and by all indications Bradford should be ready by then.  They’re not eliminated from title contention just yet.  Also dropping down more than a few spots was Virginia Tech, who falls 7 spots to #22.  It was a solid defensive performance from the Hokies, but the more I watch Tyrod Taylor the more I wonder how he’s starting for a major, D-1 football program.  He’s not a very good passer, and his running skills can easily be shut down by a good defense.  Simply, he’s by far the weakest point of that team.

Who I probably should’ve ranked, but didn’t because I’m an idiot: Florida State, Rutgers, Kansas, Oregon, Missouri

Releated Posts:

1. Devon’s Week 7 Blogpoll Rankings
2. Devon’s Week Four Blogpoll Rankings
3. NittanyWhiteOut Week 1 Blogpoll Top 25
4. NittanyWhiteOut Week 4 Blogpoll Top 25
5. NittanyWhiteOut Week 3 BlogPoll Top 25

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