Would Boise's stirring win over Virginia Tech be enough to keep the Broncos at #1 in our ballot? You better believe it.

Week one, as it always seems to do, left us with more questions than answers.  But for most of us, we’re just glad to have football back.  Even watching Penn State beat up on a hapless D-1 opponent is a welcome release from the Saturdays of our springs and summers.

Yet it is with that disclaimer that I submit to you my week 2 Blogpoll.  I warn you now, there will be very little consistency from week to week.  I didn’t even bother looking at last week’s ballot when I set out to make this one, because, especially at this point in the season, there’s no point in clinging to your previously held misconceptions.

It’ll be that way for at least the first month or so, while we’re still learning the true mettle of teams–beating up on some directional A&M doesn’t really tell you much–and, for that matter, neither does struggling to put one away.  It’s not until you see these teams in a real game, a tight one, against a conference rival, that you really know how good they are.  So take these rankings with a great deal of skepticism, because I’m pretty much admitting to you that they’re all bullshit.

As you’ll soon see, there’s no real formula to how I do this.  No set measurement of how I rank teams, at least in the early going.  It’s part results, part style points, part “look test,” and part predictions that I really hope come true.  So I’d rather you didn’t gripe about where I ranked these teams, because that’s going to be a great deal of upheaval from week to week.  But if I’m missing a team that’s in the consensus top 10, that is probably an oversight. So let me know.

quebecpenspinning Ballot – Week 2

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Boise St. Broncos	–
2	Ohio St. Buckeyes	–
3	Alabama Crimson Tide	1
4	Oregon Ducks	14
5	TCU Horned Frogs	5
6	Virginia Tech Hokies	-3
7	Nebraska Cornhuskers	1
8	Iowa Hawkeyes	1
9	Texas Longhorns	-4
10	Miami Hurricanes	7
11	Arkansas Razorbacks	–
12	Utah Utes	11
13	Florida Gators	-6
14	Oklahoma Sooners	-8
15	Penn St. Nittany Lions	-1
16	Auburn Tigers	–
17	Wisconsin Badgers	-5
18	Georgia Bulldogs	–
19	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	-4
20	Florida St. Seminoles	-1
21	Oregon St. Beavers	4
22	BYU Cougars	–
23	Pittsburgh Panthers	-10
24	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	–
25	Michigan Wolverines	–
Dropouts: LSU Tigers, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, North Carolina Tar Heels, Texas A&M Aggies

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

Now, I have a few days before this gets locked in as my final submission, so I’ll open this up to the masses for some input.  I admit that it’s overly reactionary, but for now, that’s all I have to go by.  Unlike others, I’m not one to punish too hard for a close loss to a bad team, and that’s why Virginia Tech is still there at #6–they were Boise’s equals on the field last night, and one play or one call could’ve sent the game in the opposite direction.  I don’t see how that translates to ranking one in the top 3 and the other around 15.  I’m a little harsher on Pitt, since they were so sloppy, and because Tino Sunseri looked so bad, but they’re unranked in the AP and Coaches Poll.

I know, Oregon at 4 seems illogical, but they were the most impressive team last week, beating up 72-0 not on a 1-AA opponent, but a legitimate D-1 school, even if New Mexico did go 1-11 last year.  And yes, I’m probably too kind on Auburn and Arkansas, and could extend a similar courtesy ranking to a dozen schools that rolled up the score on nobodies, but that’s where my biased opinions comes into play.

Florida and Oklahoma looked awful last week. Texas didn’t look much better. I know they’re better than how they played, but I’m certainly not wont to do those guys any favors.  They’ll slide back up when they prove that they can move the ball against Miami of Ohio, not struggle to put away Utah State, or take care of business against Rice.

I’m still not ranking USC, even though I’m pretty sure they’re one of the 15 best teams in the country.  But I just hate USC and Lane Kiffin enough that I’ll scrutinize a performance like they had against Hawai’i and use it as indisputable proof that they can’t play defense.

Notre Dame and Michigan sneak in at #24 and #25, and those who were with us last year remember how fondly I looked on those two teams a season ago after week 1 drubbings of far worse teams.  I’m trying to remain a little more tempered in my excitement, but I expect one of those teams to find themselves in the top 15 next week. (Here’s to hoping it’s Notre Dame.)

Again, there’s not much science behind any of this, and I don’t take this so seriously.