The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 5
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LSU Tigers | -- |
| 2 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
 1 |
| 3 | Oklahoma Sooners |
 -1 |
| 4 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys |
2 |
| 5 | Boise St. Broncos |
-1 |
| 6 | Wisconsin Badgers |
-1 |
| 7 | Stanford Cardinal | -- |
| 8 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
| 9 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | -- |
| 10 | South Carolina Gamecocks | -- |
| 11 | Clemson Tigers |
1 |
| 12 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | -- |
| 13 | Baylor Bears |
-2 |
| 14 | Florida Gators |
3 |
| 15 | Texas A&M Aggies |
-2 |
| 16 | Arizona St. Sun Devils | -- |
| 17 | Illinois Fighting Illini |
7 |
| 18 | USC Trojans |
-2 |
| 19 | South Florida Bulls |
-4 |
| 20 | Michigan Wolverines |
-1 |
| 21 | West Virginia Mountaineers |
-7 |
| 22 | Virginia Tech Hokies |
-2 |
| 23 | Florida St. Seminoles |
-5 |
| 24 | TCU Horned Frogs |
-2 |
| 25 | Utah Utes |
-2 |
| Dropouts: Arkansas Razorbacks, Michigan St. Spartans | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
Berkelium97: LSU has a resume that is much, much stronger than any of the rest of the top-5. Unless LSU is upset in the next several weeks, I expect them to top my ballot well into October.
Norcalnick: I really don't see how you can't have LSU at #1. Two wins against solid teams on the road, plus a neutral site win over Oregon. That's three wins against above-average BCS competition when most teams don't have more than one of those.
ragnarok: Agreed. LSU is an obvious #1 for anyone not weighed down by preseason ballot inertia. After the jump, we discuss more divisive parts of our poll.
Norcalnick: Oklahoma falls in part for struggling just a bit at home, but mostly because Florida St. went and lost to Clemson. I still do think FSU is a decent team, which is why they held onto a spot in the poll because their two losses are to top 25 teams, but they're hanging on by a thread.
Clemson skyrockets up with a 2nd big win, but they both came at home. We'll see if they can keep winning to hold on to their spot.
ragnarok: Well, they're Clemson, so I'm guessing "no". Until then, however, they just miss my Top 10.
Berkelium97: Wisconsin should be able to get to the Rose Bowl or NCG. They have a favorable schedule (8 home games, 4 road games) and face their toughest opponent, Nebraska, at home
Norcalnick: Illinois is ahead of Arizona St. is ahead of USC is ahead of Utah. Maintaining internal consistency isn't too difficult yet, but it will likely get hard when Brock Osweiler fumbles the ball 4 times and ASU loses to Utah 34-17.
Berkelium97: Although I ranked ASU, I see no need to rank Illinois. Their resume consists of wins over a bunch of patsies and a victory over an ASU team that threw up all over itself.
ragnarok: Later in the season, I might agree with you, but this early on, I felt like the Illini were still worth ranking. One pretty good win on an unblemished slate is a better record than most teams have right now.
Berkelium97: I’m glad I now have an excuse to drop Texas A&M and Florida State. I was always skeptical of their lofty rankings.
Norcalnick: Michigan and South Florida both fall because the only team they've beaten is Notre Dame, and at this point I just don't think beating Notre Dame means much.
Berkelium97: I am not ranking Texas. There are several other 3-0 teams coming off losing seasons who have wins over questionable opponents: I did not rank them either
ragnarok: Actually, none of us ranked Texas. Frankly, I didn't even consider them.