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Though there are games still to be played today and tomorrow before Week 1 is officially in the books, Sunday is the time to put up our vote (read: my vote) for the weekly BlogPoll. For those who don't know, BlogPoll is a weekly Top 25, as voted by over 100 of the most knowledgeable college football bloggers (both SB Nation and outside of SBN), plus me. I'll try to remain diligent on posting the preliminary ballots on Sunday, and you'll have about 36 hours to debate and yell at me for all the stupid things I've done, before I have to submit a final ballot late Monday night.
A couple things to remember: there are no "rules" to this ballot. Meaning, we as a community can take whatever approach we want. In today's trend of flavor-of-the-week uniforms, we could vote the Top 25 based on the best-looking uniforms, if we want to. The only real rule is that we give a little explanation either way.
With that said, here is my preliminary ballot for this week:
Streaking the Lawn Ballot - Week 1
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -- |
| 2 | USC Trojans | -- |
| 3 | LSU Tigers | -- |
| 4 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
| 5 | Oklahoma Sooners | -- |
| 6 | Florida St. Seminoles | -- |
| 7 | Georgia Bulldogs | -- |
| 8 | Arkansas Razorbacks | -- |
| 9 | Michigan St. Spartans | -- |
| 10 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys | -- |
| 11 | South Carolina Gamecocks | -- |
| 12 | Clemson Tigers | -- |
| 13 | Wisconsin Badgers | -- |
| 14 | Texas Longhorns | -- |
| 15 | Michigan Wolverines | -- |
| 16 | Virginia Tech Hokies | -- |
| 17 | Ohio St. Buckeyes | -- |
| 18 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | -- |
| 19 | TCU Horned Frogs | -- |
| 20 | West Virginia Mountaineers | -- |
| 21 | Kansas St. Wildcats | -- |
| 22 | Florida Gators | -- |
| 23 | Louisville Cardinals | -- |
| 24 | North Carolina Tar Heels | -- |
| 25 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | -- |
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
Virginia Watch: This week's performance against Richmond was enough to easily get the job done, but it wasn't enough to convince me that Virginia's a top-25 team. I'll wait until the Hoos get challenged before I'll even really consider the T25.
Unless, that is, there's a blowout. Because if there's one thing you should know about me, it's that I love a good blowout (score, not hair). You want to run the score up? Go right on ahead -- you've earned it. It made the 52-7 USC-UVA game a tough one to endure, but I stand by it.
And that's why Oklahoma State is as high on the rankings as they are. North Carolina and Notre Dame also slide in there for the same reasons. Something feels wrong about rewarding the Irish for demolishing a service academy, but that's on their shoulders to burden, not mine.
Michigan I may still drop a little bit, but it seems unfair to rank Alabama No. 1 and to punish Michigan too much for losing to them.
What are your thoughts on this list? Who have I inflated and who am I undervaluing? Leave your comments...in the comments. Deep thoughts.