Here’s the draft ballot. Dennis did the heavy lifting. I tweaked initially. Feedback will be considered for the final ballot due Wednesday morning.
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern Cal | — |
| 2 | LSU | — |
| 3 | Oklahoma | — |
| 4 | Florida |  3 |
| 5 | West Virginia |  1 |
| 6 | California | — |
| 7 | Texas | 2 |
| 8 | Wisconsin | 1 |
| 9 | Rutgers | 1 |
| 10 | Ohio State | 1 |
| 11 | Penn State | 1 |
| 12 | Boston College | 6 |
| 13 | Georgia | 1 |
| 14 | South Florida | 2 |
| 15 | Texas A&M | 5 |
| 16 | Clemson | 3 |
| 17 | Oregon | 6 |
| 18 | South Carolina | 3 |
| 19 | Louisville | 11 |
| 20 | Hawaii | 2 |
| 21 | Missouri | 3 |
| 22 | Georgia Tech | 5 |
| 23 | Nebraska | 8 |
| 24 | Alabama | 2 |
| 25 | Cincinnati | 1 |
Considered/Waiting for an opening: Kentucky, Purdue, Texas Tech, Air Force
I can already tell you that Texas A&M will have to go down. Again, the problem isn’t finding teams that are too high. It’s finding teams that are better/should/deserve to be ranked ahead of them. Clemson is a team I can’t buy into, but don’t know what to do with them.
WVU ended up dropping a spot on the strength of a dominating Florida team that looks damn impressive. Yeah, I think it’s safe to say that more than a few ND fans are wondering “what if” with Urban Meyer.
Have to admit, that BC looks damn good this season with a more opened up offense.
Can’t help but think that Kentucky should be ranked.
Or – “what if Charlie Weiss would have just brought the Pats video guy to ND with him.”
Guess he’s not such an offensive genius after all.