Week 7 Blogpoll: Mass Hysteria

By Trev Alberts
formerly of ESPN.com

Just more damn chaos in the ranks this week. Let's just get on with this before I change my mind. I have no freaking clue how to sort this out. Look at this. I mean....just look at this. This is what I stay sober for? The hell with it!

1. LSU
2. California
3. Ohio State
   
4. South Florida
5. South Carolina
6. Boston College
7. Southern Cal
   
8. Oklahoma
9. Virginia Tech
   
10. Oregon
    
11. Hawaii
12. Florida
    
13. West Virginia
14. Kentucky
    
15. Wisconsin
    
16. Missouri
    
17. Arizona State
18. Cincinnati
    
19. Kansas
20. Georgia
    
21. Illinois
22. Auburn
    
23. Florida State
24. Tennessee
25. Texas A&M
    

The breakdown:

The top 5: LSU, California, Ohio State, South Florida, South Carolina-
Ladies and gentleman, the undisputed number 1 with a chainsaw. On all fronts, resume, record, and the ability to devour any lesser ranked opponent with big sharp, pointy teeth, the Tigers are the best team in the country. Cal and Ohio State follow on the strength of their records with South Floridas and Carolinas tumbling their ways upwards with good wins and just plain survival. However, no one is safe from the next unknown kittening. It's coming

The next 5: Boston College, Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, Oregon-
I don't know how the hell they're doing it, but BC is ranked ahead of Southern Cal. Maybe if they'd played Stanford, they'd lose too, there's really no way of knowing, but I'm sure if they did, they'd drop further than 7th. Southern Cal's lofty pedigree keeps them this high, just as it does for Oklahoma, but Colorado at least has a mascot. The Hokies, I admit, are still a bit overrated for now, as I just don't know what the hell they are up to in Blacksburg. They are maybe the most confusing team on this list. Oregon takes the end with the the only 1 loss better than VTs.

The middle 10: Hawaii, Florida, West Virginia, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Missouri, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Kansas, Georgia-
The middle ten is just a jumbled mess of tangled resumes. Hawaii deserves something for being undefeated, and considering Florida's main weakness is their secondary, Colt gets the nod. West Virginia should probably switch places with Virginia Tech, and they will as soon as the Big East stop sucking, or Virginia Tech cobbles a consistent offense, or both. Kentucky and Wisconsin are both having great seasons, save for some stumbles, with Kentucky's being more respectable like. They lost to the Visor, not the redacted. Missouri, Arizona State, and Cincinnati are stuck down here on lack of name recognition, and the fact that I just don't plain trust them. Kansas and Georgia get the same treatment, but without the nice resumes...or something....

The last 5: Illinois, Auburn, Florida State, Tennessee, Texas A&M-
The logjam has to end somewhere, and here it do. The Fighting Redacted make quite a statement with their win over Wisconsin, not to mention the crazy state of the Big Ten at the moment. Auburn is prepared to take their role of spoiler as far as it will go, as will Tennessee. Florida State and the Aggies fill out the rest with their potential to also rock the boat.

The mysterious remains:
Purdue, Rutgers, Virginia, Texas-
The first teams out all show the ability to work their way into the top 25...except Texas....because I am still hating on them. However, everyone else has them on this list somewhere, but when you can barely beat UCF and Arkansas State, while your not living up to the potential, I'm not ready to put them into anything just yet. However, they have the kind of upward mobility reserved for a talented team in a top-heavy conference.

Trev Alberts is not a recognized Blogpoller. He likes to recreate Civil War battles with kitties.