2010 BlogPoll: Week 3

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	PR	SOS	NEXT GAME
1	Alabama	2-0	1	67	at Duke
2	Ohio State	2-0	2	59	v. Ohio
3	Oklahoma	2-0	5	62	v. (25) Air Force
4	Oregon	2-0	4	84	v. Portland State
5	Boise State	1-0	3	37	at Wyoming
6	Florida	2-0	6	86	at Tennessee
7	Texas	2-0	7	90	at Texas Tech
8	Wisconsin	2-0	8	108	v. Arizona State
9	TCU	2-0	9	111	v. Baylor
10	Iowa	2-0	14	170	at Arizona
11	Nebraska	2-0	17	134	at Washington
12	South Carolina	2-0	NR	53	v. Furman
13	LSU	2-0	18	45	v. Mississippi State
14	Auburn	2-0	19	93	v. Clemson
15	Arkansas	2-0	16	174	at (21) Georgia
16	Miami	1-1	10	56	IDLE
17	Texas A&M	2-0	21	149	v. Florida Intl
18	Michigan	2-0	NR	49	v. Massachusetts
19	Michigan State	2-0	22	120	v. Notre Dame
20	Penn State	1-1	20	30	v. Kent State
21	Georgia	1-1	11	35	v. (15) Arkansas
22	USC	2-0	15	31	at Minnesota
23	Florida State	1-1	12	51	v. BYU
24	Utah	2-0	24	69	at New Mexico
25	Air Force	2-0	NR	160	at (3) Oklahoma

Lots of movement in this week’s poll. The Top 5 gets some reshuffling and we introduce some new teams to the countdown.

Up and down: Perhaps the most notable drop is not a long one; Boise State falls to the edge of the Top 5.  This is less the result  of Virginia Tech’s meltdown and more because the OUs - Oklahoma and Oregon - look more impressive.

Despite remaining undefeated, USC does a bit of a freefall to #22.  Barely beating UVA at home does not make a good impression. And, there is little opportunity for the Trojans to move back up while playing a terrible Minnesota team this coming weekend.

Newbies: Say hello to South Carolina, Michigan, and Air Force.  Their inclusion comes at the expense of Virginia Tech, Boston College, and North Carolina.  UNC did not play this past weekend but the scandal is not going away and a lot of their success against LSU is most likely attributable to emotion.  They cannot ride that wave all season.  BC disappears because they limped past a terrible opponent for the second straight week.

Bunching: For reasons unknown, there are a couple of consecutive groupings of conference teams in this week’s poll (SEC 12-15, and Big Ten 18-20).  I am generally uncomfortable with the grouping of SEC teams in the middle as it feels a little too high for all four, but where else to put them?

Is Michigan really worthy of their ranking?  Am I going to get burned again like last year?  Is a defense that surrendered 500+ yards to Notre Dame one that can hold up for the entire season?  The Spartans have looked good while playing no one and we will find out more about them this weekend.  Defending the pass has been a problem for them and ND will certainly test that secondary.

Strength of schedule: The inclusion of SOS at this stage seems pretty pointless but it is part of my format and becomes more and more illustrating every week.  Interestingly, the median SOS in this poll is 69, with an average of 85.