With three of the top teams idle this weekend, I could have pretty much mailed in this week's BlogPoll and nobody would have been the wiser. And don't think the thought didn't cross my mind.
Responsibility won out, and the Week 13 BlogPoll draft is after the jump. I'm filling in for MKingery this week, so don't expect any poll revelations. But you can expect my pointing out what a moron Craig James is. Because if there's one thing I know, it is morons.
But first, a note about Craig James
I value my well-being, sanity, and physical health, which is why I've largely stayed away from the whole poll scene this year. As such, I have been largely oblivious to just how bad some of the pollsters have been. Like Craig James. Perhaps his polls are atrocious every week (I have no reason to believe otherwise), for for some reason, this week's ballot - and James' justifications - caught my attention.
Here is his Top Ten as grabbed from PollSpeak (red = most extreme rankings among all voters):
- Stanford at No. 3: No other voter has the Cardinal at No. 3 or even at No. 4.
- Wisconsin at No. 4: Many have the Badgers at No. 5, many more have them at No. 6 or below.
- Boise State at No. 5: Several voters have the Broncos at No. 4, typically with TCU, Auburn, and Oregon ahead of BSU.
- TCU at No. 6: The nearest vote for the Horned Frogs are three guys who have TCU at No. 5 with each putting LSU into the Top Four.
Craig James's ballot stands alone in its ignorance. And so do his explanations.
I did not watch the BCS standings show on ESPN (again with the well-being thing), but many of the Idaho media did. Here are their Tweets.
Craig James plays the "better athletes" card to rank Stanford and Wisconsin ahead of TCU, BSU. On field performance? Who cares?
Dave Southorn
BSUDave
Craig James using television contracts to judge which teams should be ranked higher. Unreal.
Brian Murphy
murphsturph
Craig James: "Best coaching staffs out there" are in the bigger conferences.
Bronco Beat
IDS_BroncoBeat
Whaaa?
Craig James is the worst.
BlogPoll Draft Week Thirteen
OBNUG Ballot - Week 13
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boise St. Broncos | -- |
| 2 | TCU Horned Frogs | -- |
| 3 | Auburn Tigers | -- |
| 4 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
| 5 | LSU Tigers | -- |
| 6 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys |
 1 |
| 7 | Stanford Cardinal |
1 |
| 8 | Michigan St. Spartans |
1 |
| 9 | Wisconsin Badgers |
1 |
| 10 | Ohio St. Buckeyes |
1 |
| 11 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
1 |
| 12 | Arkansas Razorbacks |
1 |
| 13 | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
 -7 |
| 14 | Missouri Tigers | -- |
| 15 | Oklahoma Sooners | -- |
| 16 | Virginia Tech Hokies | -- |
| 17 | South Carolina Gamecocks | -- |
| 18 | Texas A&M Aggies | -- |
| 19 | Nevada Wolf Pack | -- |
| 20 | Arizona Wildcats |
3 |
| 21 | Hawaii Warriors |
3 |
| 22 | N.C. State Wolfpack | -- |
| 23 | Florida St. Seminoles | -- |
| 24 | Northern Illinois Huskies | -- |
| 25 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | -- |
| Dropouts: USC Trojans, Miami Hurricanes, Iowa Hawkeyes | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
Your usual BlogPoller, Mike Kingery, makes his poll choices based on a flawless formula followed up with rational human reasoning. I have neither of those things, so I pretty much just stuck with what he did last week and adjusted based on Nebraska pooping the bed.
Feel free to disagree constructively in the comments, and I'll adjust accordingly for the final BlogPoll draft.
Moving up
- A bunch of teams behind Nebraska. I shied away from screwing majorly with Kingery's BlogPoll from last week, which is why most of the movement is Nebraska-loss-related. There is one move that I considered making but thought better of. Should Wisconsin be above Michigan State based on how those teams are playing right now?
- Hawaii. For no good reason, really.
-
Northern Illinois. The Huskies are new to this week's poll, mostly because I am partial to their SB Nation blog.
Moving down
- Nebraska. Could that have been the worst 9-6 loss in the history of football? Nebraska was whistled for 16 penalties. Coaches were screaming at players on the sidelines. And now starting QB Taylor Martinez - an early season Heisman contender - may have left the team.
- Iowa. The Hawkeyes are either the best 7-4 team in the country or they are a 7-4 team and therefore don't deserve to be ranked. I went with the latter.
Your turn
Did you watch Craig James on ESPN's BCS show? Was it as bad as it sounds? What do you think I should do with Wisconsin? Any other changes to the BlogPoll? Share your thoughts in the comments.
[Note by Kevan Lee, 11/23/10 8:55 AM MST ]
Final BlogPoll
Thanks to the comments, Stanford and Wisconsin are up, the Big XII is down, and Virginia Tech is probably higher than they should be.
OBNUG Ballot - Week 13
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boise St. Broncos | -- |
| 2 | TCU Horned Frogs | -- |
| 3 | Auburn Tigers | -- |
| 4 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
| 5 | Stanford Cardinal |
3 |
| 6 | LSU Tigers |
-1 |
| 7 | Wisconsin Badgers |
3 |
| 8 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys |
-1 |
| 9 | Michigan St. Spartans | -- |
| 10 | Ohio St. Buckeyes |
1 |
| 11 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
1 |
| 12 | Arkansas Razorbacks |
1 |
| 13 | Virginia Tech Hokies |
3 |
| 14 | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
-8 |
| 15 | Missouri Tigers |
-1 |
| 16 | Oklahoma Sooners |
-1 |
| 17 | South Carolina Gamecocks | -- |
| 18 | Texas A&M Aggies | -- |
| 19 | Nevada Wolf Pack | -- |
| 20 | Arizona Wildcats |
3 |
| 21 | Hawaii Warriors |
3 |
| 22 | N.C. State Wolfpack | -- |
| 23 | Florida St. Seminoles | -- |
| 24 | Northern Illinois Huskies | -- |
| 25 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | -- |
| Dropouts: USC Trojans, Miami Hurricanes, Iowa Hawkeyes | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
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