ATQ Blogpoll
ATQ Blogpoll: Where does Oregon stand in the national picture?
by jtlight on Oct 30, 2011 4:50 PM PDT
in ATQ Blogpoll
I was talking to ntrebon yesterday about where the Ducks stand in the national picture. While I think Oregon's a legitimate top 10 team this season, he expressed doubt that Oregon is at that level. I think that there are a lot of Duck fans that share that sentiment. With Oregon losing to both LSU and Auburn in the past year and on the biggest stages possible, the Ducks have faltered.
But the way things are breaking in college football, there is a large drop-off between the top 7 and the rest of the country. I think that teams like Stanford, Oregon, and Oklahoma have their flaws, but they are all far superior to teams like Arkansas, Clemson, and South Carolina.
In this week's poll, I have the Ducks at #6, just like the other polls. Watching this team, it doesn't necessarily feel like a team that should be ranked that high, until you start comparing the Ducks to the rest of the semi-contenders. There are a lot of flawed teams near the top of the rankings, and the Ducks are one of them.
As far as the BCS picture goes, the Ducks have a shot at getting back to the title game, but my bet is that it will come down to the LSU/Alabama and Oklahoma/Oklahoma State winners. We're in for a fun next few weeks as these teams fight for the conference championships.
The full poll is after the jump. Leave your comments on the poll, as well as your thoughts on where the Ducks sit nationally. GO DUCKS!
116 commentsATQ Blogpoll: Top 10 remains mostly unchanged
by jtlight on Oct 9, 2011 7:20 PM PDT
in ATQ Blogpoll
With another week in the books, we didn't see a whole lot of movement in this week's blogpoll. Oklahoma jumped Wisconsin on the strength of their drubbing of Texas, while Wisconsin drops as we learn that Nebraska isn't quite as strong as people thought.
But, that's about it. A few teams dropped out of the rankings, a few rose, but there just wasn't a lot going on this weekend.
Full poll after the jump. If anyone can give me teams to rank ahead of Texas, I'd love to hear your suggestions.
ATQ Blogpoll: Wisconsin and Clemson make their move
by jtlight on Oct 3, 2011 8:16 PM PDT
in ATQ Blogpoll
We're a few weeks into the season, and the national picture is getting even more complicated. The top 10 is full of some very good teams, and all all legitimate national contenders. Two teams joined the ranks over the weekend. Wisconsin layed an absolute beatdown on Nebraska, solidifying their spot as the only real national title contender in the Big 10.
Meanwhile, Clemson has done the exact opposite of what we've come to expect from the Tigers. After some early struggles, they have won 3 games in a row against quality competition, including Saturday's 23-3 beating of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
Outside of these two changes, I'm bumping Alabama to the top spot. It's tough dropping LSU, but Alabama has arguably a tougher schedule, and has been more impressive in margin of victory and yard differential. Luckily, we'll get to see this settled on the field, just as we will with Oklahoma/Oklahoma State and Oregon/Stanford. With the top level quality, it's shaping up to be another great year of college football.
The full poll is after the jump, leave your comments and let me know where I screwed up.
ATQ Blogpoll: LSU and Alabama headline a great weekend of college football
by jtlight on Sep 26, 2011 11:30 AM PDT
in ATQ Blogpoll
This is what college football is supposed to be about. After the usual early season cupcakes, it's conference schedule time, and that means a lot of quality games.
First, let's give credit to LSU. I don't know how any resume ballot could not have LSU as the top team in the country. They've beaten two top-25 teams by significant margins, one of those on the road. At this point, no other team comes close, though as games continue, that could change.
The battle for the second and third spot is a close call between Oklahoma and Alabama, but at this point I'll give the slight edge to Alabama due to how they demolished Arkansas. Oklahoma has a good resume, but right now their best two wins are over two-loss teams.
Oklahoma State came away the victor in one of the top games of the day. What really impressed me was how their defense shut down Texas A&M in the second half, after looking totally incompetent in the first half. This is likely the Cowboys' second-toughest game of the season and should be favored up until their final regular-season game against Oklahoma.
There was a lot of other movement in the poll this week, with Clemson, Georgia Tech, and ASU picking up big conference wins. The full poll is after the jump. Leave your thoughts in the comments.
ATQ Blogpoll: Oklahoma and Stanford make their case, a surprise teams make the top 25
by jtlight on Sep 19, 2011 9:05 PM PDT
in ATQ Blogpoll
It was another great weekend for football. As we get into the season, we get to see more and more real games. And Oklahoma and Stanford did what they needed to do to solidify their place amoung the elite teams.
Oklahoma did what they needed to do. They went on the road to a hostile environment, and beat a very tough and motivated Florida State team. Though the offense sputtered, the defense, which is why I wasn't sold on Oklahoma at the beginning of the year, came through and held FSU to less than 300 yards and 13 points.
Stanford dominated Arizona. Now, Arizona might actually be a pretty terrible football team. But Stanford's defense was more than good enough, and Andrew Luck is just incredible. Add in a strong running game, and Stanford will be a very, very tough team to beat this season. Unfortunately for the Cardinal, they lose star LB Shane Skov for the season
Outside of the top, we saw some movement throughout the poll. One thing that's great about this time of the season is the unexpected teams that make 3-0, like Iowa State. They have pulled out some exciting wins, including two wins against BCS conference foes, and I'm ranking them 25th. Will they end up here? Almost definitely not, but hopefully they can do better than the last team ranked 25th. They replace WSU after the Cougars fell apart late against SDSU. Clemson also makes an appearance after a big win over Auburn. I'm looking forward to seeing how the Tigers can fall apart.
The full poll is after the jump. Leave your comments. The poll goes final tomorrow morning, so get your thoughts in now, and I can make changes before the 9:30AM EST deadline.
ATQ Blogpoll: Week 2 is in the books, but the landscape doesn't change
by jtlight on Sep 11, 2011 8:40 PM PDT
in ATQ Blogpoll
Not a lot of change this week in the Blogpoll. LSU holds off Alabama this week. LSU is going to struggle offensively this season, but so far they have easily the top win of the season. Outside of that, a few teams moved a few spots with good wins or poor play. Oklahoma State moved up a few spots after demolishing Arizona. tOSU dropped after almost losing to Toledo.
And the big addition to this week's poll, Washington State comes in at #25! This may be the first time we've ever ranked them in our Blogpoll. Hopefully they'll deserve ranking again next week. Full poll after the jump.
ATQ Blogpoll: LSU vaults to the top, Boise State moves to second
by jtlight on Sep 6, 2011 12:45 PM PDT
in ATQ Blogpoll
With only two decent games on this weekend, there wasn't a lot to differentiate teams outside the top two, so LSU and Boise State benefit greatly from winning the two high profile games of the weekend.
Outside of that, I didn't drop Oregon as far as the other pollsters. I think the Ducks showed a lot against LSU, even if the score wasn't as close the game actually was.
These first few weeks are always a little tough. On one hand, we want to rank by resume, so that leads to some wild swings, but on the other hands, we have a lot of assumptions to make about quality of wins and losses. I don't think Baylor or South Florida will end up in the top 20, but they have decent wins on their resume, so they are ranked for the moment.
Full poll after the jump, leave your thoughts in the comments.
ATQ Preseason Blogpoll: It will be fun to point and laugh at this later
by jtlight on Aug 25, 2011 12:08 PM PDT
in ATQ Blogpoll
You know the season is fast approaching when the preseason BlogPoll's come out. For those of you new to the site this season, SBNation has a rundown for the goals of the poll, and why it is the best poll around:
One: By virtue of their tendency to sit around and watch 12 hours of college football every weekend, BlogPoll voters are often better informed than mainstream media members, most of whom spend their Saturday obsessively covering one particular game, or coaches, who all obsessively cover one game.
Two: All votes are totally transparent. The poll makes a point of calculating various poll statistics so it can examine outlying ballots (especially those that are biased in favor of the home team), and asks voters to justify their stranger picks.
Three: The BlogPoll has an explicitly declared poll philosophy that voters are directed to follow. Not every voter and every ballot manages to do so, but the philosophy effects the poll as a whole. This usually manifests itself in a skepticism of teams that play very weak schedules. The 2007 Hawaii team, which cruised through its regular season and was crushed by Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, is the most obvious example.
The BlogPoll focuses on resume ballots. We don't focus on recruiting rankings or putting Texas simply because they're Texas. We look at the resumes that each team has compiled, and rank accordingly.
Now, the preseason ballot is the one exception. Because we have nothing to go off, this is pure conjecture on the parts of the voters. After the jump, my guesses for how things will shake out this year. As always, all comments are appreciated and will affect my ballot, which can be changed before the Monday deadline.
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