Top 25 analysis: When does Boise State make its next jump?

On the heels of their Georgia-whupping on Saturday, Boise State climbed in both the AP and Coaches polls to spots No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. At this rate and if my math is correct, the Broncos will be No. 1 by October. Hooray!

Of course, stuff will have to happen ahead of the Broncos for BSU to make its next move upward, specifically "stuff" in the form of losses to some BCS elite. When can we expect those losses to come? Join me after the jump for a taste of what to expect in the coming weeks and months.

Below, I've listed the four teams ahead of Boise State in the polls as well as when we can expect some downward mobility in the form of the Big L from each school. Let's start scoreboard watching.

• Oklahoma - The Sooners face No. 5 Florida State a week from Saturday, which should serve to bump one of the two teams back behind the Broncos. The week after, Oklahoma faces No. 21 Missouri. That eight-day stretch could show whether the Sooners are No. 1-worthy or not.
• Alabama - The Crimson Tide have a date in Happy Valley on Saturday to face No. 23 Penn State, and considering how the 'Bama offense looked on Saturday against the Fighting Kent Staters, the Tide will have its work cut out. If Alabama survives Joe Paterno's crew, the Tide face Arkansas and Florida in back-to-back weeks at the end of the month.
• LSU - The Tigers' next test comes a week from Thursday when they visit No. 16 Mississippi State in primetime. The following week, LSU travels to West Virginia for a matchup with the No. 19 Mountaineers. Of course, should Alabama and LSU both make it through the first half of the season unscathed, there will be that Game of the Century of the Year when the two teams face off on November 5.
• Florida State - The game against Oklahoma in two weeks should help voters accurately place the Seminoles, and if a loss doesn't happen there, FSU won't see a ranked opponent again until the last week of the season against Florida.

Of the teams behind BSU, the one with the best shot of passing the Broncos is Stanford. The Cardinal dropped below BSU this week thanks to a blowout win over frosted cupcake San Jose State. Stanford has Duke this week (for some reason), so I wouldn't expect things to change just yet.

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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Official worst voter / person of Week Two

Andy Staples, Sports Illustrated

One of college football's leading writers and analysts, Andy Staples turned in a turd of a Week Two poll when it came to ranking the Broncos.

Boise State is No. 12, according to Andy Staples, and No. 4, according to most everyone else. What could Staples possibly have been thinking? He took to Twitter to explain himself.

 

To recap, Wisconsin beat UNLV by 34 points, failing to cover the spread. Virginia Tech stomped Appalachian State, whose claim to fame is being an FCS school and beating Michigan half-a-decade ago. 

The worst part is that Andy Staples was at the Georgia Dome on Saturday night, watching Boise State in person. If he liked what he saw from Wisconsin and VaTech on the TV, then he sure should have enjoyed a complete evisceration of an SEC school in front of his stark naked eyes. Do people visit the Mona Lisa and go away wanting to hang framed Garfield cartoons on their walls? I highly doubt it. Staples saw football perfection on Saturday night and thought it was slightly better than Nebraska beating Chattanooga by 33.

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: Michigan, Georgia Tech, Georgia, Clemson, Penn State, Arizona State

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.

This week's poll pretty much went as expected with the Broncos maintaining their first-place spot, Baylor joining the party at No. 13, and those plucky Utah State Aggies tying for 25th with two points for their efforts against Auburn. Who says winning is everything? Not OBNUG poll voters, obviously.

Transparency is king

Meet your voters for this week, and guffaw in delight at how foolishly you think they voted.

Kevan Lee: LSU (10), Boise State (10), Oklahoma (8), Alabama (8), 
Stanford (7), Oregon (3), Baylor (2), Wisconsin (1), Auburn (1)

Nick Kroes: Boise State (5), LSU (5), Oklahoma (4), Alabama (4), 
Stanford (4), Wisconsin (3), Florida State (3), Nebraska (3), Oklahoma
State (3), Virginia Tech (3), Baylor (1), Texas A&M (1), South Carolina (1),
Ohio State (1), Arkansas (1), Michigan State (1), Missouri (1), Florida (1), 
BYU (1), Mississippi State (1), Georgia Tech (1), Clemson (1)

MKingery: Boise State (7), LSU (7), Alabama (6), Oklahoma (5), Stanford
(5), Wisconsin (5), Florida State (3), Virginia Tech (3), Ohio State (3), 
Nebraska (2), Texas A&M (2), Oklahoma State (1), Arkansas (1)

Loque: LSU (6), Boise State (5), Oklahoma (5), Baylor (5), Alabama (4),
Stanford (4), Florida State (4), Nevada (3), Hawaii (3), Wisconsin (2), 
Oklahoma State (2), Missouri (2), Northern Illinois (2), Virginia Tech (1), 
Arkansas (1), Auburn (1)

Nate Peters: Boise State (7), LSU (7), Oklahoma (6), Alabama (5), 
Stanford (5), Baylor (4), Virginia Tech (4), Nebraska (4), South 
Carolin (4), TCU (3), Utah State (1)

D_summit: LSU (10), Boise State (10), Alabama (10), Oklahoma (9),
Stanford (7), Wisconsin (4)

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

reflectivity: Alabama (10), Boise State (9), LSU (8), Oklahoma (7), 
Stanford (5), Wisconsin (4), Nebraska (3), Oklahoma State (2), 
Florida State (1), South Carolina (1)

Noel.Diggity: Boise State (7), Oklahoma (7), Alabama (6), Stanford (5), 
Florida State (5), Oklahoma State (4), Wisconsin (3), Nebraska (3), 
Texas A&M (3), Virginia Tech (2), Arkansas (1), Oregon (1), LSU (1), 
Texas (1), Michigan (1)

masinmud: LSU (6), Auburn (5), Boise State (4), Oklahoma (4), Alabama (4),
Stanford (4), Florida State (4), Wisconsin (4), Nebraska (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), Virginia Tech (1), Arkansas (1), 
Oregon (1), Texas (1), South Carolina (1), Houston (1), Baylor (1), Missouri (1), 
Northern Illinois (1), Florida (1), Mississippi State (1), Penn State (1), Arizona State (1)

Jrig: Boise State (9), Oklahoma (8), Stanford (6), Alabama (5), LSU (5), 
Wisconsin (5), Nebraska (4), Oregon (3), Florida State (2), Virginia 
Tech (2), Oklahoma State (1)

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

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

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

Mikrino: Oklahoma (10), Boise State (9), LSU (8), Alabama (7), 
Stanford (6), Florida State (1), Oklahoma State (1), Nebraska (1), 
Virginia Tech (1), South Carolina (1)

 

Abstained from voting due to washing their hair: no one.

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, and I'll update the final BlogPoll version before it hits the Internet presses on Wednesday. Make your voice heard. Share your thoughts in the comments.