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Black Heart Gold Pants Ballot - Week 7
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | -- |
| 2 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
 1 |
| 3 | Florida Gators |
 -1 |
| 4 | Kansas St. Wildcats |
3 |
| 5 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
| 6 | Oregon St. Beavers |
5 |
| 7 | Oklahoma Sooners |
6 |
| 8 | Texas Tech Red Raiders |
6 |
| 9 | Ohio St. Buckeyes |
-3 |
| 10 | Texas A&M Aggies |
6 |
| 11 | LSU Tigers |
8 |
| 12 | Florida St. Seminoles | -- |
| 13 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
-9 |
| 14 | Iowa St. Cyclones |
1 |
| 15 | Cincinnati Bearcats |
-5 |
| 16 | Stanford Cardinal |
-7 |
| 17 | Boise St. Broncos |
6 |
| 18 | Michigan Wolverines | -- |
| 19 | Rutgers Scarlet Knights |
3 |
| 20 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | -- |
| 21 | TCU Horned Frogs | -- |
| 22 | Arizona St. Sun Devils |
-1 |
| 23 | West Virginia Mountaineers |
-15 |
| 24 | Georgia Bulldogs |
-6 |
| 25 | USC Trojans | -- |
| Dropouts: Texas Longhorns, Ohio Bobcats | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
I'm not too sure there's anything particularly controversial about our current top 10. I know Alabama is the consensus #1, and the margin between the Tide and Notre Dame continues to narrow in the poll, but the Irish schedule is simply so much better than Alabama's that we can't swap them. We're a little low on Oregon because of defense (of the undefeateds, only Ohio State and Ohio have allowed more points) and schedule (a modest 16-17 and an FCS game), but they're a phenomenal team in a difficult conference and will have plenty of opportunities to prove themselves.
On pure stats, Texas Tech is a top five team in the wake of their win over West Virginia. The Red Raiders have the same net margin of victory as Kansas State against a schedule that is 19-5 against other opposition with wins over the Mountaineers and Iowa State. However, because of the Oklahoma loss, they move down slightly. I'm going to guess they're still ranked higher here than pretty much anywhere else. And yes, we still love Iowa State, whose schedule is an absurd 26-5 overall (that's 23-2 in games not against the Cyclones).
The bigger issues might be who we don't have in the top 25. Louisville's schedule is a complete joke: 9-24 overall plus an FCS game. Their best win is North Carolina, who is a respectable 5-2. That means their other four FBS wins are 4-20, and they are (Kentucky, Southern Miss, Florida Atlantic, and Pitt), and Louisville hasn't been particularly impressive against them (net +72; won by 7 over FIU, 4 over Southern Miss). Same goes for Clemson, which is 5-1 against a schedule that is 14-18 and with an FCS opponent to boot. Pass on both for now.
BHGPoll Games of the Week:
#13 South Carolina at #3 Florida: Am I the only non-Florida fan who loves watching games in The Swamp? Uncle Verne on the call, that CBS picture quality that accentuates all the green and blue so that it looks like football paradise despite the fact that it's actually just a sweaty disgusting mass of Floridians? Florida's got to watch out for Cocktail Party look-ahead here.
#4 Kansas State at #23 West Virginia: We don't really like West Virginia, at least in a polling sense, because their defense is horrendous (as was shown by Texas Tech last week). With that said, they're a blast to watch, and seeing Holgo's offense and Steampunk Tebow go head to head is the clash of styles that is what college football is truly about. It's a shame it's at the same time as Iowa-Penn State.
#5 Oregon at #22 Arizona State: AWESOME THURSDAY NIGHT GAME PEOPLE
#10 LSU at #11 Texas A&M: I don't really know what to think about either of these teams anymore. LSU validated itself last week against South Carolina. Texas A&M lost to Florida, but has rolled the cupcakes and played an insane game against Louisiana Tech last week that wasn't as close as the final score indicated. Something has to give here.
BHGPoll Game of the Weak:
#113 Army at #121 Eastern Michigan: Army leads the nation in rushing offense and has one win to show for it. Eastern Michigan almost got bowl eligible last year and is now 0-6. This thing is going to be a mess. Army wins, eventually.
Iowa in the Poll:
The Hawkeyes' schedule is bordering on ridiculous. Northern Illinois hasn't lost since their week 1 run-in with Iowa. Iowa State is a top 15 team, even with two losses. Michigan State is over .500, as is Minnesota. So Iowa's #32 in the poll, with room to grow against #31 Penn State this weekend.