Without any further ado, here are the first results of the season. (Don’t forget that the top vote only comes into play as a tiebreaker at #1.)
Rank Team Votes (Top pick) 1 LSU 162 (109) 2 Alabama 162 (41) 2 Oklahoma 162 (10) 4 Clemson 151 (0) 5 Wisconsin 147 (1) 6 Boise State 145 (1) 7 Oklahoma State 143 (0) 8 Stanford 127 (0) 9 Oregon 111 (0) 10 Arkansas 106 (0) 11 Michigan 63 (0) 12 Georgia Tech 52 (0) 13 Kansas State 25 (0) 13 Illinois 25 (0) 15 West Virginia 8 (0) 16 Nebraska 6 (0) 16 Georgia 6 (0) 18 Arizona State 5 (0) 19 South Carolina 4 (0) 20 Texas 2 (0) 20 Virginia Tech 2 (0) 20 Texas A&M 2 (0) 23 Baylor 1 (0) 23 Michigan State 1 (0) 23 Florida 1 (0) 23 Washington 1 (0)
——————————————————————————————————-
COMMENTS
- Are you a little surprised to see the top vote break so strongly for LSU? I am.
- Bias alert: despite having a worse record than South Carolina and losing the head-to-head match up, Georgia received two more votes.
- We like Kansas State (#13) a lot more than the coaches (#18) do. Conversely, the coaches gave South Carolina (#13) more love than we (#19) did.
- Conference distribution: SEC – 6; Big 12 – 6; Big 10 – 5; Pac-12 – 4; ACC – 3; Mountain West – 1; Big East – 1.
- We’re not impressed with Houston, which puts us in a minority. UH is ranked in the Coaches, AP and Harris Polls.
- Overall, there’s a clear consensus for the top ten… top twelve, really.
Get The Picture 
Very surprised about LSU. Does anyone here think Bama’s defense would’ve let WVU roll them for 500 plus? I never get an answer on that one. Just chirping crickets.
LikeLike
No I don’t think Bama would give up the 500…but watching that game, it seemed to me that LSU was toying with or almost bored with WVU. They took a nap, WVU gets within 7, then they just amped it up again. I know what the stats said, but man, it never looked in question and I think that’s the main thing.
I just think, right or wrong, they pass the eyeball test better or are sexier or whatever, and that’s what gets them there. Not saying it’s right, but I put them slightly ahead of Bama.
LikeLike
LSU also got outgained by Oregon and gave up two long time consuming drives. It wasn’t just WVU.
LikeLike
You could never convince WVU that the game was not in question. I really don’t get it . I’ve seen too many failed LSU D plays to be able to give their D the nod over Bama. But then again I think that our O can give both of them a good game. Maybe I’m smokin’ too much Devil Weed. Anyway, when LSU and Bama meet, maybe we can place a few gentlemen’s bets (name your poison) on the outcome. Any takers?
LikeLike
LSU is very, very good. Bama may be as good – maybe even slightly better – but no one is as lucky as LSU and the Hat. Call it Bayou Voodoo if you want, but if combine talent with luck and imagination, you are hard to beat. The LSU resume this season is more impressive to me.
LikeLike
Right. I think LSU shows offensive creativity and a tough enough defense that I’d take them in what is likely a “pick’em” game.
LikeLike
“-but no one is as lucky as LSU and the Hat”. You got dat right!!
LikeLike
I love our Dawgs as much as anyone but we are not deserving of that T16. That’s like Notre Dame being ranked every year by AP.
LikeLike
Agree
LikeLike
Agreed, also UF gets it harsh relative to our position. Yeah they stunk up the field but look who they lost to. I believe they’ve been downgraded due to future expectations based on an injured Brantley. I don’t think they’d be 23 if he were coming back today.
LikeLike
I assumed that one Florida vote was from Chris Rainey.
Seriously, how does Florida or Georgia even make this poll right now? There are actually people out there that honestly feel they are one of the ten best teams in the country? If we were ranking the Top 20 or 25 teams I could understand them getting ranked but I really surprised at the amount of teams that received votes. I am also surprised to see teams like Baylor, Washington, South Carolina, and Texas getting consideration. It is almost as if people are gaming the system in an attempt to create a Top 20.
LikeLike
I had the exact same thought.
LikeLike
Agreed. Would like to read the justifications supplied for both. How about it, Senator?
LikeLike
If you’re a registered voter, you can go to the site, place your cursor over a team receiving votes, click and the list of voters who cast ballots for that team will appear. If you click on a particular handle, that person’s entire ballot will pop up, along with any explanation that person may have provided.
LikeLike
Yes, thought LSU-Bama would be a lot closer. As for USCe, hopefully those that voted Georgia higher see that logic pan out in the end. Right now it just appears as hopeful thinking.
More importantly, is it just me or are there a LOT more voters this season? Hopefully that holds as the season progresses (ie. registered voters keep coming to the polls each week).
LikeLike
I don’t have an exact number, but I think we wound up with about 200 registrations. That’s a little less than what we started with last season, but a lot more than where we finished.
Hopefully we can keep everyone in better engaged this year.
LikeLike
By all means. Let’s keep those chads hanging around.
LikeLike
I’m not surprised to see the relative disrespect for South Carolina. The beat Georgia fair and square, and no matter how you feel about the outcome of the game you really have to give them credit for that. However, with that said, I don’t think anyone, Gamecock fans included, walked out of Sanford Stadium impressed by South Carolina. I didn’t speak to a single Gamecock who didn’t volunteer that they felt fortunate to get that win, as they felt like they weren’t the better team on the field that night. But, credit where credit’s due, they’re only carrying the one loss, and with the exception of Arkansas, there aren’t any other SEC games on their schedule that look like likely losses. That’s why I cringe every time some writer identifies Georgia as the favorite to win the SEC East. I’m concerned that we’ll be in the same situation as 2007 where I basically didn’t watch about two hours of the Tech game because I was watching Kentucky blow it against the Vols.
LikeLike
Illinois may be the worst 6-0 team in history. I wouldn’t put them in my top 40.
LikeLike
LSU and Bama seem pretty even, but LSU dominated two strong opponents away from Tiger Stadium (one in WVU’s field). They just seem a tad stronger to me. We’ll find out Nov 5.
No way should Georgia or Florida be ranked given that we only rank 10 teams. I could maybe see either one around 25.
LikeLike
Let me just throw it out there that I did not have Georgia on my ballot.
LikeLike
I didn’t have UGA or SC onmy ballot, not did I consider them in a Top 10, but if I had to go further, I would definitiely have UGA above SC at this point. UGA dominated that game and lost it on 4-5 unusual plays (the off sides on the onsides kick, the fake punt for 70 yards, the Murray Pick 6, and the Murray fumble toss to the goaline. None of those showed much talent from SC, but they made the difference on the scoreboard. They won, but best team doesn’t always win games. The body of work at this point, and the unsettled nature of SC this week clearly points to UGA being the better team…to me.
I voted Bama over LSU only because I could vote both #1. There is simply no right or wrong answer on this issue, and it doesn’t matter. they will face each other soon and give us more to make a decision on. I liked LSU as the best team until I saw Richardson’s performance against Florida, he may be the difference maker between these two teams.
My bigger concern is how Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, Clemson, Boise, and Stanford could be left off so many ballots. Not saying they should be in everyone’s Top 5,, or get votes for #1, but come on, not in the Top 10 with what they have done all season?
LikeLike
Like I said, I can’t vote a team with as defense as bad as Okie State’s into the top ten. Maybe they’ll prove to be the exception that makes the rule, but I don’t see how a team with the nation’s 103rd ranked defense is destined for greatness.
LikeLike
Could you do it in reverse, what if Alabama/LSU had a defense so strong that they made it undefeated with an offense that ranked at that level (or close) in several, or all, categories? Not saying OSU is that good offensively to overcome a porous defense, but I think they beat OU. If they do, decisively, not 49-48 wouldn’t you have to re-think if you see the Sooners in the Top 5? I know we have a strong defensive bias as SEC fans, but I cannot think of anyone I would bet on anyone, other than Bama and LSU, against Ok State in a Pick’em game. We will see, these things usually play themselves out. I do see this as one of those years where there could be 3-4 unbeatens with a legit claim as the best, and I xpect the winner of Bedlam to be one of those.
LikeLike
Yeah, no doubt I could change my mind if that happened.
But my position isn’t based on SEC bias, just on historical facts – teams as bad on defense as OSU don’t wind up among the elites when the season is over.
LikeLike
I really didn’t use Ws as an only means of ranking. I ranked’em the way Georgia would faire with them. There are teams in my top 10 that we possibly could beat. My inability to fairly rank the conferences(compared to the SEC, of course) gave me the most trouble with some teams. Individually, Big 10 teams were hardest to assess, but Wisconsin stands out better than Mich and Ill from the games I’ve seen on tv. Plus they got my vote for being such an Alvarez-motivated bunch for years. They flat can play and have a decent O line, but my faith in the strength of the Big 10 hasn’t been there for years.
Macallanlover- agree with your thinking. You don’t get tied up in the horseshit. Want to team up vs a couple of hotshots on here?
LikeLike