Top 25 analysis: Wondering what could have been for Boise State's strength of schedule

We Bronco fans had a weekend off to scoreboard-watch and bandwagon hop last weekend, and we almost had ourselves quite the time. Almost.

Instead of numerous upsets by numerous Boise State opponents, the Broncos' strength of schedule got skunked. Of course, the silly part of strength of schedule is that it really only cares about Ls and Ws and not about how Team A outplayed Team B at the Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio. Close doesn't count, which is a bummer.

• Toledo came within five points of knocking off No. 15 Ohio State
• Georgia came within a field goal of beating No. 12 South Carolina
• Fresno State led at halftime at No. 10 Nebraska and was within two midway through the fourth.
• Nevada, um, er, ... never mind.
• New Mexico State beat Minnesota. ARRGGHH, wrong New Mexico.

Now you and I and Bronco coaches know that the results of these games will tell a lot about the quality of future (and past) opponents. But do the polls see this? Nope. 

Still, Boise State got a boost from TCU (which rose to No. 23 in the rankings) and a few good voters thought the Broncos worthy of jumping cupcake-scheduling Florida State. Maybe times are a-changing. Or maybe I'm delirious from throwing things at my TV all weekend. Who knows?

Official Top 25 polls - AP, USA Today, and last year's BCS Poll

More poll data available at the ESPN website.

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SB Nation poll widgets are down for now. Go ahead and use the ESPN link above.

Official worst voter / person of Week Three

Ira Schoffel, Tallahassee Democrat

Schoffel has the Broncos at No. 10, which is a full three spots lower than anyone else in America put Boise State. What teams does Schoffel think are better than BSU? Better hang on to your goatees:

• No. 5 Nebraska, which needed a big fourth quarter to get past Fresno State last week,
• No. 7 Virginia Tech, whose resume includes a blowout over Appalachian State and a one-score win over East Carolina
• No. 9 Ohio State, which was 17 yards from losing to Toledo

In much saner news, last week's worst voter Andy Staples moved the idle Broncos from No. 12 to No. 7. So there is hope for Schoffel yet.

Official OBNUG Top 25 poll

If you can't see the image below, go to Google Docs to get the full OBNUG Top 25 breakdown.

Others receiving votes: Georgia Tech, Toledo, West Virginia, South Florida, Washington

Explanation: The OBNUG Top 25 poll uses a points-based ranking system to determine its order. Each pollster receives 50 points to distribute to teams as he or she sees fit. The max points that a voter can award a team is 10 points. The minimum is one point. There is no voting for Idaho allowed.

Boise State holds the top spot for the third week in a row, and I have a hard time seeing the Broncos giving it up any time soon. So long as Boise State keeps winning, we have every reason to let our homer flags fly. As is the case in the major polls, the OBNUG poll sees college football as a four-team town with the Broncos, Oklahoma, LSU, and Alabama as the cream of the crop and everyone else as slightly better than Idaho.

Transparency is king

Meet your OBNUG poll voters, and guffaw in delight at how foolishly you think they voted.

Kevan Lee: Boise State (10), LSU (9), Alabama (9), Oklahoma (8), Stanford (6),
Oregon (3), Baylor (2), Auburn (2), Wisconsin (1)

Nick Kroes: Boise State (5), LSU (5), Alabama (4), Oklahoma (4), Oklahoma State (4),
Stanford (3), Wisconsin (3), Florida State (3), Baylor (2), South Carolina (2), Texas A&M (2),
Oregon (1), Auburn (1), Nebraska (1), Virginia Tech (1), Arkansas (1), Michigan State (1),
Ohio State (1), Arizona State (1), Texas (1), Michigan (1), Florida (1), West Virginia (1),
South Florida (1)

MKingery: Boise State (7), LSU (7), Alabama (7), Wisconsin (6), Oklahoma (5), 
Stanford (5), Oklahoma State (4), Florida State (2), South Carolina (1),
Texas A&M (1), Oregon (1), Nebraska (1), Virginia Tech (1), Arkansas (1),
Ohio State (1)

Loque: Boise State (10), LSU (10), South Carolina (8), Alabama (7), Baylor (6),
Auburn (4), Oklahoma (1), Oklahoma State (1), Arizona State (1), Texas (1),
Houston (1)

Nate Peters: Boise State (7), LSU (7), Alabama (5), Oklahoma (5), Oklahoma
State (4), Wisconsin (4), Florida State (4), South Carolina (3), Oregon (3), 
Stanford (2), Nebraska (2), TCU (2), Texas (1), Michigan (1)

D_summit: Boise State (6), LSU (6), Alabama (5), Oklahoma (5), Florida State (5),
Oklahoma State (4), Wisconsin (4), Stanford (3), South Carolina (2), Oregon (2),
Nebraska (2), Texas A&M (2), Virginia Tech (2), Arizona State (1), Arkansas (1)

OBNUG Intern: Boise State (5), LSU (5), Alabama (5), Oklahoma (5), 
Stanford (5), Florida State (4), Oklahoma State (4), Wisconsin (4), Texas
A&M (3), Nebraska (2), South Carolina (1), Oregon (1), Arizona State (1),
Arkansas (1), TCU (1), Houston (1), Utah State (1), Toledo (1)

Noel.Diggity: Boise State (7), Alabama (7), Oklahoma (7), Stanford (4),
Florida State (4), Oklahoma State (4), Wisconsin (4), Texas A&M (3),
Nebraska (3), Oregon (2), Michigan (2), LSU (1), Arkansas (1), Virginia Tech (1)

masinmud: LSU (6), Alabama (5), Boise State (4), Oklahoma (4), Stanford (4),
Florida State (4), Wisconsin (4), Nebraska (4), Auburn (4), Ohio State (4),
Michigan State (4), USC (3)

greekpadre: Oklahoma (8), Alabama (6), LSU (4), Boise State (4), Stanford (4),
Florida State (2), Wisconsin (2), Nebraska (2), Oklahoma State (2), Auburn (1),
Ohio State (1), Michigan State (1), Texas A&M (1), Oregon (1), Arkansas (1), 
Virginia Tech (1), South Carolina (1), Arizona State (1), TCU (1), Houston (1),
Texas (1), Baylor (1), Florida (1), Georgia Tech (1), Washington (1)

Jrig: Boise State (9), Oklahoma (8), Stanford (6), Alabama (5), LSU (5), Wisconsin (5),
Nebraska (3), Oregon (3), Florida State (2), Virginia Tech (2),
Oklahoma State (1), South Carolina (1)

statguy: Oklahoma (6), Boise State (5), Oklahoma (5), LSU (5), Stanford (4),
Oregon (4), Florida State (4), Wisconsin (3), Nebraska (3), Oklahoma State (3),
South Carolina (3), Texas A&M (3), Virginia Tech (2)

Rand McNalley: Boise State (8), Alabama (5), Oklahoma (5), LSU (5), Wisconsin (5),
Texas A&M (5), Stanford (4), Oregon (3), Oklahoma State (3), Florida State (2),
TCU (2), Virginia Tech (1), Arkansas (1), Baylor (1)

KMD1: LSU (8), Boise State (7), Oklahoma (6), Alabama (5), Wisconsin (3),
Texas A&M (3), Oklahoma State (3), Florida State (3), Stanford (2),
Arkansas (2), Nebraska (2), South Carolina (2), Michigan State (2),
Oregon (1), Virginia Tech (1)

Mikrino: Boise State (10), Oklahoma (10), Alabama (9), LSU (8), Florida
State (5), Wisconsin (4), Stanford (4)

 

Abstained from voting due to washing their hair: reflectivity.

Your turn - Help shape our BlogPoll and right our wrongs

OBNUG is proud to be part of the BlogPoll and humble enough to admit that our poll probably could use some fine-tuning. Do the fine-tuning in the comments, correct our obvious biases, make your voice heard. Share your thoughts in the comments.