Simply put, LSU and Mississippi have flexed their muscle
against inferior opponents. Penn State has not.

Monday means it is time to cast my ballot in the Examiner Top 25 and the CBS Sports Blogpoll.

I decided to shake things up a bit in the aftermath of the USC loss to Washington. The SEC is well represented in my top five and I have moved Penn State down a notch despite having won three straight home games to start the season.

Why move Penn State down a spot?

When you look at the schedules you will notice that LSU has been more tested than Penn State, winning on the road in the season opener against Washington. All of a sudden the road victory looks better now that the Huskies knocked down USC this past weekend. The Tigers have also shown more dominance over their inferior opponents to start than Penn State has against Akron, Syracuse and Temple.

The same holds true for Mississippi. The Rebels have played on the road and won, something Penn State has not done to this point. Mississippi has been slow out of the gate a couple times but has shown the ability to pull away from their opponent more so than the Nittany Lions have done.

Now, Penn State may have the better defense than either LSU or Mississippi, but the offense continues to have some questions surrounding it. Should Penn State win Saturday night against Iowa then things could change quickly in my weekly ballot.

Here is a look at my top five…

Boxes shaded in green represent a team moving up in my ballot. There should be no question that Florida and Texas remain at the op positions. As it stands now those two teams are set up to meet in the BCS Championship game, but can they escape their conferences unscathed, or if not, just simply bruised? Each team picked up a critical conference victory this past weekend, both coming at home.

Alabama slides into my third spot as USC tumbles out of my top five. LSU and Mississippi fill the last couple spots in my top five, but as I mentioned above, Penn State is ready to pounce with a victory against Iowa on Saturday.

Here is the rest of my top 25, from six to 25.

Dropped out: Utah (2-1), Oregon State (2-1), Nebraska (2-1)

New additions: UCLA (3-0), Missouri (3-0), Kansas (3-0)

Previous ballots: Pre-season | 1 | 2

Boxes marked in red symbolize a drop in my personal ballot. Light yellow shaded boxes represent teams new to appear on my ballot.

Welcome to the Group!

My ballot sees three new teams in the fold. UCLA has won on the road at Tennessee and at Kansas State and they have looked solid in doing so. The Bruins appear to have some defense on their side and they could be a threat in the PAC 10 this season. Can they take down USC or California? Only time will tell, but I am on the UCLA band wagon.

Missouri and Kansas have been floating on my radar in the past couple weeks, and now they have left their mark. Both teams have offense but we’ll see if they have defense when they play their toughest games.

Get Outta Here!

Utah had a nice run to start the season but a loss to Oregon deflated their BCS busting abilities in week three. I previously had them at 14 and felt they may be the weakest potential BCS buster. It seems now that #14 was indeed too high. They will have to really impress me to get back on my ballot.

I also say au revoir to Oregon State, who lost at home to Cincinnati from the Big East. I have been somewhat favorable to the Bearcats recently and they have shown that they should be the favorite in the Big East. Still, Oregon State once again showed an inability to perform up to expectations, much like they did last season against rival Oregon. The Beavers will not have as hard a time getting back on my ballot as Utah, but there a few teams I have grouped together at the bottom of my ballot, and some teams on the radar that are waiting to get included.

Nebraska was a team that I had a tough time dropping from my ballot. They lead on the road at Virginia Tech with under a minute left, but lost on a nice play by the Hokies. I’m putting Nebraska on my radar for now.

Surprise, Shockers, Let-Downs

Don’t look now but the Miami Hurricanes are on the rise. The Hurricanes disposed of Georgia Tech in Miami and now enter this weekend’s game against Virginia Tech with a 2-0 record, and a 2-0 ACC record. Miami is in prime position to set themselves up nicely for a top ten ranking in a matter of weeks. After dismantling Georgia Tech a week after outlasting Florida State, the ACC totem pole now sees Miami at the top. Look for a statement game this weekend at long time rival carried over from the Big East Virginia Tech.

I was stunned by BYU losing to Florida State. Perhaps I jumped on their BCS busting band wagon too early because they lost a wheel after being crushed at home to a Florida State team that has been next to awful to watch. The Seminoles lacked clutch defense against Miami and struggled to a win at home against FCS Jacksonville State. So it seemed as though BYU was set up for a nice win at home against their second BCS opponent. I am keeping the Cougars on my top 25 but a number of teams can leap them in the next week or so.

My let-down of the week goes to USC. The Trojans showed for a second straight week that they can not show up wherever they want and expect to win without playing a single down. After escaping Columbus, Ohio with a victory against Ohio State the Trojans failed to get their offense in the end-zone against Washington. The USC defense also came up short on the final drive, allowing the home team Washington Huskies drive right down the field to set up a winning field goal.

The Trojans remain in my top ten, but mostly because they beat Ohio State. I am not prepared to go back and rank Ohio State ahead of USC at this point.

On the Radar
Houston, Auburn, Pittsburgh, Nebraska, Iowa