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This week's BlogPoll, brought to you by mascot sizes

SB Nation BlogPoll Top 25 College Football Rankings

OBNUG Ballot - Week 4

Rank Team Delta
1 Alabama Crimson Tide --
2 Florida Gators Arrow_up 9
3 LSU Tigers Arrow_up 3
4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish --
5 Georgia Bulldogs Arrow_up 7
6 South Carolina Gamecocks Arrow_up 3
7 Ohio St. Buckeyes --
8 Stanford Cardinal Arrow_down -6
9 Texas Longhorns Arrow_down -6
10 UCLA Bruins --
11 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Arrow_up 5
12 USC Trojans Arrow_up 5
13 Michigan St. Spartans --
14 Northwestern Wildcats Arrow_down -6
15 Ohio Bobcats Arrow_down -10
16 Mississippi St. Bulldogs Arrow_down -3
17 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Arrow_up 1
18 Minnesota Golden Gophers --
19 Oregon Ducks --
20 Louisville Cardinals --
21 Ball St. Cardinals --
22 Iowa St. Cyclones --
23 Miami Hurricanes --
24 Tulsa Golden Hurricane --
25 Toledo Rockets Arrow_down -11
Dropouts: Clemson Tigers, N.C. State Wolfpack, Central Florida Knights, Arizona Wildcats, Kansas St. Wildcats, Middle Tenn. St. Blue Raiders, Texas Tech Red Raiders

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Four weeks into the season and with a BlogPoll mindset bordering on nutso, I am surprised to see how relatively normal the poll looks. Since voting Ohio State No. 1 a couple weeks back (there's the nutso part), things have been far saner and I've looked like far less a fool. See? Polls aren't that hard when you give them as little thought as possible. As a reminder, here is exactly how little thought I give them:

My Top 25 operates under the assumption that all FBS football teams are equal because, if they weren't, the NCAA obviously wouldn't group them all into the same classification. That would just make no sense.

Therefore, to choose the best from the FBS, I am building my BlogPoll based on one very big factor: Wins over fellow FBS teams. When ties happen within my standings (and they happen A LOT early in the season), I will do the tie-breaking based on a new stat every week, like, say, points allowed or Dairy Queens per capita. You know, real scientific stuff.

Courtesy of a suggestion from reader flyfisherg, this week's tie-breaking method was size of team mascot/nickname. Let me know in the comments if a Gator is bigger than a Tiger. I don't know my animals very well.

Notable:

  • I wasn't really sure what to do with Alabama. The Crimson Tide mascot is an elephant. The name itself refers to a color. Tide is an ocean word. Tide is a detergent. A crimson tide is an algae or a cocktail (seriously, vodka with pomegranate juice). For the purposes of this BlogPoll, I went with Tide = Elephant. Let me know how vehemently you disagree.
  • Ohio State might have the smallest mascot/nickname in all of college football.
  • The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers are team No. 26, but I'll hear arguments for their being No. 25. The Hilltopper name came from the school being on a hill. So, I guess a Hilltopper is a school? Sounds sketch to me. I like my mascots clear and obvious, like a Rocket.
  • Boise State was not far behind the lower Top 25 teams. A Broncos is good enough for the Top 30.

The complete Top 25 table is below.

Team Wins FCS Wins Real Wins Mascot
1 Alabama 4 4 Crimson Tide
2 Florida 4 4 Gators
3 LSU 4 4 Tigers
4 Notre Dame 4 4 Fighting Irish
5 Georgia 4 4 Bulldogs
6 South Carolina 4 4 Gamecocks
7 Ohio State 4 4 Buckeyes
8 Stanford 3 3 Cardinal
9 Texas 3 3 Longhorns
10 UCLA 3 3 Bruins
11 Rutgers 4 1 3 Scarlet Knights
12 USC 3 3 Trojans
13 Michigan State 3 3 Spartans
14 Northwestern 4 1 3 Wildcats
15 Ohio 4 1 3 Bobcats
16 Mississippi St 4 1 3 Bulldogs
17 Louisiana Tech 3 3 Bulldogs
18 Minnesota 4 1 3 Gophers
19 Oregon 4 1 3 Ducks
20 Louisville 4 1 3 Cardinals
21 Ball State 3 3 Cardinals
22 Iowa State 3 1 2 Cyclones
23 Miami 3 1 2 Hurricane
24 Tulsa 3 1 2 Golden Hurricane
25 Toledo 3 1 2 Rockets

Got a suggestion for a tie-breaking procedure? I'm all ears.

Got a beef with the way I do my polling? Beef away in the comments.

Got some ways to make this Top 25 better? Please help. I'm easily swayed.