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Obviously there are changes on my ballot this week. That's what happens when the team you had ranked #1 loses a game at home. Well, unless you're a Harris Poll voter, anyway. If you're a Harris Poll voter -- and if you aren't aware, that homeless man you see every morning on the way to work is a Harris Poll voter, and so is your boss, that idiot -- you just go right ahead and keep putting Alabama at #1 because ROLL TIDE.
I bet it was Harvey Updyke.
Anyway, Alabama does not remain first on my ballot, but it doesn't all that far either.
The Champaign Room Ballot - Week 11
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oregon Ducks |
 1 |
| 2 | Kansas St. Wildcats |
1 |
| 3 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
1 |
| 4 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
 -3 |
| 5 | Ohio St. Buckeyes | -- |
| 6 | Georgia Bulldogs | -- |
| 7 | Florida Gators | -- |
| 8 | Clemson Tigers |
1 |
| 9 | Texas A&M Aggies |
5 |
| 10 | Florida St. Seminoles | -- |
| 11 | LSU Tigers |
2 |
| 12 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
-1 |
| 13 | Louisiana Tech Bulldogs |
-1 |
| 14 | Stanford Cardinal |
3 |
| 15 | Northern Illinois Huskies | -- |
| 16 | Texas Longhorns |
6 |
| 17 | Louisville Cardinals |
-9 |
| 18 | UCLA Bruins |
3 |
| 19 | Kent St. Golden Flashes |
4 |
| 20 | Boise St. Broncos |
5 |
| 21 | Rutgers Scarlet Knights |
-3 |
| 22 | Oklahoma Sooners |
2 |
| 23 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | -- |
| 24 | Central Florida Knights | -- |
| 25 | Oregon St. Beavers |
-9 |
| Dropouts: Toledo Rockets, Ohio Bobcats | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
THE TOP FIVE
1. Oregon - Welcome to the top spot, Oregon. You've been hanging out at #2 for a while now and you finally get to move up thanks to Alabama losing. You should be so very proud. Not of the fact that you beat Cal this week, but because you have so many different uniforms and you're really fast and all the potheads and people without attention spans fucking love you. You're the Phish of college football.
2. Kansas State - Personally I think Kansas State and Oregon are pretty much interchangeable up here, as both teams have arguments for why they should be on top. However, after two subpar -- by Kansas State standards -- victories in a row, the formula is not going to bump the Wildcats over the Ducks.
3. Notre Dame - You are only here because you are 10-0, Notre Dame. While it would probably bring the world to an end, if a 1-loss Alabama got into the BCS title game over an undefeated Notre Dame, I'd completely understand it. It's not that the Irish aren't good, it's just that they aren't impressive. A team this good should beat Boston College by 24 just by showing up to the stadium.
4. Alabama - You're still ahead of one undefeated team, Bama. Sorry you fell under the spell of Johnny Manziel, Alabama, but take solace in knowing that you aren't the first.
5. Ohio State - I hope that trip to the Gator Bowl last season was worth it, Buckeyes.
THE REST
-- SEC! SEC! SEC! Yeah, so my formula seems to really enjoy the football in the SEC. It's not just annoying SEC fans. While there is only one SEC team in my top five, there are four in my top 10 and six in the top 12. That's a pretty decent ratio, and if you think the SEC is knocked out of having a title shot this season, well, you obviously haven't met our old friend College Football Chaos. Remember when Alabama was done after losing to LSU last season?
-- Texas shall rise again. You would think that beating the #1 team in the country would give Texas A&M the biggest jump in the rankings this week, but nope. That distinction belongs to Texas, which moved up from 22nd to 16th this week. A&M does jump into the top 10, though, and deservedly so. It's the only 2-loss team to be in my top 10, but those two losses are against Florida and LSU and came by a combined 8 points.
-- Always remember that the Big East isn't good. Louisville was in my top 10 last week because Louisville was 9-0 and my formula rewards teams for winning. But just look what happens to Louisville after it loses. The Cardinals may be 9-1 but it's not as impressive a 9-1 as Northern Illinois' 9-1 according to my formula.
-- Speaking of the MAC.Things regressed to the mean a bit this week. After having four teams ranked last week, the only two teams to drop out of my top 25 this week are MAC teams: Ohio and Toledo. I am not taking any extra joy in seeing Toledo fall out of the rankings because of Tim Beckman because Toledo had to be ranked in the first place, and that's just depressing.
-- Man my formula hates Oklahoma. Oregon State too, apparently. The Beavers always seemed to be ranked lower than I personally felt they should be, but after a loss to Stanford they barely hung on to a spot on the ballot.
OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
Texas Tech, Utah State, San Jose State, Michigan and Tulsa
WHERE IS ILLINOIS?
Despite that impressive 17-3 loss against Minnesota (#55) the Illini weren't able to improve on their #81 ranking from last week. The good news is they didn't fall any further, either. Thanks for continuing to be terrible, Kansas, Kentucky and Colorado.