Red Cup Rebellion is a proud voter in the illustrious and innovative BlogPoll. Huzzah! All hail the blogpoll! Real voters, whose votes matter, are dumb (or else too busy with deadlines to actually watch the football games). These are the people that hyped Ole Miss to the Top 5 and ruined Bradley Sowell's life. How inhuman of them.
The BlogPoll, on the other hand, evaluates teams based solely on what they've done on the field. Every Sunday, we proofread the resumes of the nation's top teams. This week, I started from scratch and considered the 36 FBS football teams with three or fewer losses. And, finally, after eleven weeks, I might end up with a ballot that doesn't seem filled with undeserving silly nannies.
Applicants grouped into fairly concrete categories, after the jump.
Destiny awaits thee ... ALABAMA, FLORIDA, and TEXAS.
Win out; win it all. Rinse and repeat.
One loss away ... CINCINNATI and TCU.
I may yet be among the minority, but I am prepared to say that both TCU and Cincinnati deserve a shot at the national championship over a 1-loss team in the "destiny" category. In different ways, they have made the point arguable, and an undefeated team with an argument should get the benefit over any one-loss team.
I'm not buying it ... BOISE STATE.
The Broncos keep winning against poor competition, arguing that they should not be held accountable for the patsies in their non-conference schedule. Can't find anyone to play them, they say. Nevertheless, their schedule is what it is.
The fire-tested ... GEORGIA TECH, OHIO STATE, OKLAHOMA STATE, OREGON, and PITT.
These teams have proven themselves as the best of the rest. Their losses are against, generally, top competition. And their wins are memorable. For all but Oklahoma State, conference titles are still a real possibility, and for all of them, football in January is all but assured.
The efficient office clerks ... IOWA, LSU, PENN STATE, and WISCONSIN.
Gaudy records are for these a consequence of efficiently completing menial tasks. In much the way that LSU beat Louisiana Tech last night or Iowa beat Northern Iowa in September, these teams have simply completed their assignments - just not in a way that seems worthy of a promotion.
The talented, but puzzling ... BYU, CLEMSON, MIAMI, NEBRASKA, STANFORD, USC, and VIRGINIA TECH.
Despite their sometimes puzzling losses, these teams belong in the Top 25 because they have played and beaten great competition. They fall prey, however, to the waxing and waning of football life.
The untalented, but praiseworthy ... HOUSTON, NAVY, RUTGERS, and UTAH.
It's actually inaccurate to call them untalented, and wins are, in the end, wins.
Coming back into fashion .... BOSTON COLLEGE, CALIFORNIA, NORTH CAROLINA, OLE MISS, and OREGON STATE.
Welcome back to the party, friends. You may be on a roll, now.
Everybody else ... ARIZONA, CENTRAL MICHIGAN, SOUTH FLORIDA, TEMPLE, and WEST VIRGINIA.