Over The Pylon

It’s Humpday, and time to toss out our ballots for the two things we vote in. First up is the CBSSports/MGoBlog Ballot. We solicited commentary on this thing on Monday, got nothing major, so went as is. Some random thoughts:

Alabama earns the musical chair #1 this week since they beat a high caliber conference opponent in LSU. Unfortunately, with Texas, Bama, and Florida, their body of work is so similar, there’s really nothing that can be done other than the “What Have You Done For Me Lately?” sort of way we’ve been handling #1. It’s not ideal, it’s not scientific, and it will likely cost Texas the final season #1, since they don’t play either Alabama or Florida like those two will.

Iowa drops down considerably, but not only for their single loss this weekend. If that were the case, a loss against Northwestern when your QB is dinged up and out isn’t something to warrant the fairly large drop for them. However, their season long body of work is far from impressive. For the first time this season, the payment is due for way too close wins over the likes of Northern Iowa, Indiana, and Arkansas State.

Past the first seven it is a virtual shitstorm of mediocrity and an attempt to somewhat rationalize which team has sucked the least or at bare minimum which team sucked the most the longest ago. Pittsburgh at number 8? Christ almighty. But who else should go there? And that sort of blank stare and lack of a definitive answer defines my attempt at this poll.

The bottom part of the poll, from about 18 on down is a virtual wasteland of teams that have fallen on hard times early and have turned it on late or teams that turned it on early and proceeded to shat the bed. Take your pick, really, as to whom shouldn’t be included or rewarded since neither group is really deserving of any sort of celebration.

This ballot, certainly like most all of the ballots this season for us has been a microcosm of the larger picture of NCAA football. Hell, even the teams at the top have had performances that have made people question whether or not they are truly worthy of such a lofty ranking. It’s been the theme of football all season long that no one has reached up and demanded the respect and attention of the top spot. 3 teams have landed there, none of whom impressed once situated, none of whom are without some questions about their ability to rise to the challenge. They all have talent. None of them make me want to wager my kid’s college fund on their ability to even remotely cover a spread against any opponent.

We here at OverThePylon were asked to be a voting member in the SEC Power Poll this season hosted by Team Speed Kills. It’s a collection of the best and brightest SEC blogs throughout the college football landscape. Each week we’ll be posting our ballot, and an expansion of the little blurbs we have to put forward with our votes.

General Power Poll Philosophy
In general, it wouldn’t really make sense for us not to start off with the teams already ranked on our CBSSports Blogpoll. So that’s the starting point. From there it’s an exercise in resume evaluation, accomplishments, and expectation. Some use their Power Poll as an evaluation of who would win on a neutral field given the teams’ recent performances while their poll ballots are a combination of where the teams started, how they’ve done, all balanced with preseason expectations. Our Power Poll ballot is a nice hybrid of the two, as is our Blogpoll Ballot. Off we go with this week’s ballot…

We didn’t actually get it in on time because of some real life issues, but this is what it would be:

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. LSU
4. Auburn
5. Ole Miss
6. Tennessee
7. South Carolina
8. Georgia
9. Arkansas
10. Kentucky
11. Mississippi State
12. Vandy

Filed under: Blogpoll, SEC Power Poll |