BlogPoll Draft Ballot, Post Week 3

After a tremendous weekend of college football, some clarity final exists with regards to the best teams in the country. A week ago I really wanted to be including Texas A&M in this ballot, but Army made sure that it wasn't to be. As always, first the rankings then some thoughts:

Power 16
1. Auburn
2. Ohio State
3. Michigan
4. USC
5. Florida
6. West Virginia
7. Georgia
8. Oregon
9. LSU
10. Virginia Tech
11. Texas
12. Louisville
13. Tennessee
14. Nebraska
15. Notre Dame
16. Iowa

Next 9
17. Cal
18. TCU
19. Boston College
20. Georgia Tech
21. Rutgers
22. Clemson
23. Arizona State
24. Michigan State
25. Missouri

Some Thoughts:
1. Auburn - I was only able to watch bits and pieces of the LSU-Auburn game, but whenever I flipped over Auburn looked pretty good.

2. Ohio State - Struggled a bit early against Cincinnati.

3. Michigan - It's a good day to be a Michigan alumnus. The defense looked great and I don't think that very many Michigan fans are still worried about the deep ball.

4. USC - Solid win against Nebraska. If the Bush situation grows, will it be a distraction?

5. Florida - Big win against Tennessee. They travel to Auburn on Oct. 14th. Think that will be big game?

6. West Virginia - I finally had an opportunity to watch West Virginia this week and Steve Slaton is really good. What he really excels at is setting up blocks downfield. The Maryland DBs would try to cut back with Slaton only to find WRs ready to deliver blind side hits. I almost felt bad for them.

7. Georgia - I'm not really sure about Georgia, but playing in the SEC, I'm sure that there will plenty of opportunities to judge them against quality opposition.

8. Oregon - Probably shouldn't have beaten Oklahoma, but they survive and move on.

9. LSU - 3 or so more yards on the final play of the game and I have these guys about 8 spots higher.

10. Virginia Tech - Another team that I'm not really sure about yet.

11. Texas - Dominated Rice. Probably the favorite in a down year for the Big XII

12. Louisville - Injuries piling up, but what a win.

13. Tennessee - The fifth best team in the SEC? What a loaded conference.

14. Nebraska - Not a great loss at USC, but should do well in the Big XII North.

15. Notre Dame - WOW.

16. Iowa - Could have done better at home against ISU. I'm not sold.

17. Cal - Functional DNP.

18. TCU - Great defensive outing. I like TCU's chances to finish unbeaten.

19. Boston College - Never pretty, but 3-0. Both BYU and CMU are underrated teams and the Clemson win looks better today.

20. Georgia Tech - The close loss to ND doesn't look great anymore, but I still think that GT is a decent team.

21. Rutgers - Good win over an underrated Ohio team.

22. Clemson - One of those teams that I wouldn't bet on, ever.

23. Arizona State - Well somebody has to go down here and they are 3-0.

24. Michigan State - Strong showing against a pretty good Pitt team. Things don't get any easier for ND this week.

25. Missouri - The Big XII sleeper of the year.