Not to be confused with the last week of the season, here is another questionable blog poll.
I wanted badly for Cinci to make the top 25, but I couldn't justify adding them.
Other than bumping Saturday's winners there isn't too much new blood in my ballot. I just might get the swing award again this week by virtue of Oregon making their way back on the ballot - and the fact that I bumped OK State all the way up to #2. You can call them a champion, and you can call me impressed.
Regarding dropping Alabama down to fit Oklahoma State in at #2 may be questionable to some, but I saw what I needed to see this past weekend to jump not just Bama, but also idle Stanford. 3-6 played themselves out of contention and OK State gets the #2 nod in my book.
I'm vaulting Oklahoma State over Alabama not only on the back of their Big XII Championship run, but by virtue of the BCS system itself.
OK State is good enough to compete in the BCS title game, and they deserve the shot: Big 12 champion vs SEC champion. Alabama's season has been nothing short of remarkable, but they had their shot - at home, and they lost.
I don't want to hear about how close of a game it was - this is 2011, ties were abolished in 1996. The BCS is a system that has placed so much importance on winning that they have again and again changed the time tested rules of the sport to cater to the institution of overtime. So why are we going to pretend that Alabama did something special by losing to LSU? Under the BCS a loss is a loss, OT or regulation. Personally I think that way of thinking is BS, but that's the situation the BCS put us in.
Alabama didn't win a championship this year, they sat on their couch and watched OSU and LSU go out and achieve their goals. Oklahoma State and LSU earned their way into the title picture while Alabama just kind of hung around.
I don't want to predicate BCS champion with league champion for a couple of reasons. Neither the Big Ten champion nor the Big East champ had a whiff of the BCS title game. Conference champion does not equal BCS championship bid.
My whole point is that if Alabama tied LSU in regulation we would have two undefeated teams prepared to rematch for the title. It wouldn't even be a question 12-0-1 LSU vs 11-0-1 Bama... brilliant.
Who wouldn't want to see that? As it is one of those teams remained undefeated while the other dropped to second place. Why? Because they were tied at the end of 60 minutes? THEN WHY DO WE EVEN HAVE TIES? Every overtime game in history has been a meaningless exhibition, a transplanted inflamed appendix and each OT in turn has been a novel waste of time.
Why do we even have OT? I thought OT was concocted to provide a clear winner for these new-fangled national championship games. Well it's not hard to recall a number of recent seasons that ended in a championship game, yet still gave no clarity to the question of who is #1. And I can live with that. I don't need a clear-cut #1 every single New Year. I appreciate the discussion, debate and argument that follows NCAA football deep into the NFL's January postseason. That is what makes it fun.
Why are we, as fans, so in need of instant Win or Lose gratification that we accept a more muddled overall rankings picture just to see who *would have* won.
Your team ties? fine. Move on and finish your season. Two teams undefeated after bowl season? Split the title, that is great - you can guarantee that college football fans will be talking about who was really better for years.
Anyway, here's my ballot.
The Unbalanced Line Ballot - Week 15
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LSU Tigers | -- |
| 2 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys |  5 |
| 3 | Alabama Crimson Tide |  -1 |
| 4 | Stanford Cardinal | -1 |
| 5 | USC Trojans | 3 |
| 6 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
| 7 | Arkansas Razorbacks | 3 |
| 8 | Wisconsin Badgers | 1 |
| 9 | Boise St. Broncos | 2 |
| 10 | Virginia Tech Hokies | -6 |
| 11 | Michigan St. Spartans | -5 |
| 12 | Michigan Wolverines | 3 |
| 13 | Clemson Tigers | 7 |
| 14 | Kansas St. Wildcats | 3 |
| 15 | Houston Cougars | -10 |
| 16 | South Carolina Gamecocks | -3 |
| 17 | Baylor Bears | -1 |
| 18 | Southern Miss. Golden Eagles | 4 |
| 19 | Oklahoma Sooners | -5 |
| 20 | Georgia Bulldogs | -8 |
| 21 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | -3 |
| 22 | TCU Horned Frogs | -1 |
| 23 | West Virginia Mountaineers | -4 |
| 24 | Penn St. Nittany Lions | -- |
| 25 | Florida St. Seminoles | -2 |
| Dropouts: Temple Owls | ||
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