BHGPoll Week 13: Irish Eyes Are Still Smiling

Black Heart Gold Pants Ballot - Week 13

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	--
2	Florida Gators	1
3	Alabama Crimson Tide	-1
4	Oregon Ducks	--
5	Stanford Cardinal	--
6	Texas A&M Aggies	1
7	Ohio St. Buckeyes	2
8	LSU Tigers	-2
9	South Carolina Gamecocks	7
10	Kansas St. Wildcats	-2
11	Nebraska Cornhuskers	1
12	Georgia Bulldogs	2
13	Oklahoma Sooners	-2
14	Florida St. Seminoles	-4
15	San Jose St. Spartans	4
16	Oregon St. Beavers	-3
17	Michigan Wolverines	3
18	Penn St. Nittany Lions	3
19	Clemson Tigers	-2
20	Utah State Aggies	2
21	UCLA Bruins	-3
22	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	-7
23	Cincinnati Bearcats	2
24	Boise St. Broncos	--
25	Fresno St. Bulldogs	--
Dropouts: Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Louisville Cardinals

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Yeah...that's Florida at number 2.

The Gators have a significantly better schedule than Alabama; the Crimson Tide didn't play South Carolina, and they haven't played Georgia yet, and their best non-conference win (FSU) is better than Alabama's (Michigan). Alabama has been more impressive, yes, but not enough to overcome a lackluster slate and a loss to a team that Florida beat (something Alabama can't claim until Saturday). They've played three serious teams and lost to one of them. Florida's resume is better, at least for the moment.

The rest is just shuffling. Stanford's played the nation's toughest schedule to 10 wins. A&M is right behind them. Both are better than Ohio State's .500 slate and similar margin of victory. It's not OSU's fault that the Big Ten is historically bad or that Cal flamed out, but the fact remains that their schedule just isn't there. LSU has an identical net margin of victory as Stanford against half the slate. South Carolina rises on the Clemson win and continued success by the SEC East. Kansas State's opponents did them few favors this weekend.

One word on Georgia: If they win the SEC Championship Game this weekend, the Bulldogs will play Notre Dame for the BCS National Championship. In doing so, they would be the first team to lose a regular season game by 28 or more points and make the big game. Oklahoma lost by 28 in the Big 12 Championship Game in 2003 and still made the BCS National Championship, but that was because the computers vaulted the third-ranked Sooners into the game over #1 USC. I'm just saying, I don't like Georgia's chances.

NOTE: We had a small data error in this week's poll that wasn't resolved until after the Blogpoll proper went to press. No huge changes at the top, though Nebraska moves into the top 10. But Fresno moves up a couple spots from the bottom and PSU falls to 25th.