Thanks as always to Lee for drafting it — his version and explanation after my draft ballot. As usual, I made some changes which I will note. Still time to point out errors, ommissions or general cluelessness

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	—
2	Michigan	—
3	Louisville	2
4	Texas	2
5	Florida	1
6	California	3
7	Auburn	—
8	West Virginia	5
9	Southern Cal	1
10	Arkansas	2
11	LSU	5
12	Rutgers	2
13	Notre Dame	2
14	Tennessee	6
15	Boise State	2
16	Wisconsin	1
17	Wake Forest	2
18	Oklahoma	—
19	Georgia Tech	2
20	Boston College	5
21	Maryland	5
22	Nebraska	4
23	Texas A&M	1
24	Virginia Tech	—
25	Tulsa	2

Here’s what Lee originally submitted:

1. Ohio State: No, the close win over Illinois wasn’t simply a case of the Buckeyes looking past the 2-8 Illini. Ron Zook and his defense did a skillful job, in the second half, of exploiting what has been Ohio State’s weakness all year – a large, talented offensive line that can’t adjust to a single stunt or loop. The penetration that the Illini got on Troy Smith and Antonio Pittman had better be a wake-up call, because the best front seven in college football is now less than two weeks away. Of course, Tressel’s unimaginative play-calling didn’t help things either, but I tend to believe that he just doesn’t want to show the Wolverines too much. On a side note, Ron Zook has done a tremendous job at Illinois this year, nearly beating not only Ohio State, but Penn State, Wisconsin, and Indiana as well. Really, the only teams that have really been able to physically dominate the Illini are, well, Rutgers and Syracuse. Y’all pardon me while I let my Big East bias shine… Speaking of which, I disagree with Pitt TE Darrell Strong’s assertion that the Panthers are, indeed, number one.

2. Michigan: No, the close win over Ball State wasn’t simply a case of the Wolverines looking past the 3-7 Cardinals. Ball State exploited what has been Michigan’s weakness most of the year – an inability to score enough points to put an opponent away. The dropped catches and putting the reserves in too early didn’t help either. Of course, Carr’s unimaginative play-calling didn’t help, but I tend to believe that he just doesn’t want to show the Buckeyes too much. And yes, the repetition between how I described #1 and #2 is intentional.

3. Louisville: To me, the gap between the first two teams and #3 has narrowed this week. Louisville’s offense looked balanced and great Thursday night, admittedly against a porous WVU defense and pitiful Mountaineer secondary. The Cardinals’ run defense was suspect, admittedly against the most explosive ground attack in the country. So yeah, there were some weaknesses here. But not much worse than the weaknesses that Ohio State and Michigan showcased yesterday. 354 yards through the air and 114 on the ground is nothing to laugh at against anybody, let alone WVU. Yeah, I think that the Cardinals would have a chance against the top two, so long as they decide once and for all how they want to pronounce the name of their city (even Pitino calls it Loo-ee-ville, you hicks).

4. Texas: Everybody keeps talking about an Ohio State-Michigan rematch in the title game, but nobody talks about an Ohio State-Texas rematch there. If Louisville loses to Rutgers and Ohio State is fortunate enough to make it past Michigan (and it will take some fortune), it very well could happen. This is not the same team that lost to the Buckeyes back on Septbember 9th. Colt McCoy has come of age a lot faster than Juice Williams has, with career-high 346 yards on 23-of-29 passing against the Cowpokes. Perhaps the most offensively explosive team in the top five. Perhaps even better than Louisville. But, alas, Louisville is undefeated.

5. Florida: Yeah, Vandy challenged them (especially on defense), but the Commodores challenged the Wolverines in the Big House too. And a win on special teams is still a win. A legitimate top-five team and national championship contender (if Louisville falls).

6. Auburn: (Yawn) A typically unimpressive win, this team against Arkansas Freakin’ State (it’s in Jonesboro, and you bet your @$$ I had to look that up). OK defense. Struggling offense. Can’t put them above Florida.
[And I couldn’t actually move them up for whacking on a 1-AA team, but with the big demotion to WVU, that meant a little something extra for Cal.]

7. California: A good win against a game UCLA squad. Nate Longshore and his offense continued to shine, completing 20 of 24 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns. Their offense is probably better than Auburn’s or Florida’s. I ranked them just behind these two, though, because of their defense and because Cal plays in the PAC-10 (perhaps unfair). That being said, I won’t argue with anybody who puts Cal as high as #5. The Bears are clearly the class of the PAC-10.

8. West Virginia: Why this high? Because if Slaton had held on to the ball a little better, the Mountaineers would be in the top three. Really, that’s all it might have taken. Yeah, the secondary sucked, and we all knew it would. But what an offense! And how much of a stud is Pat White for being able to run it all by himself for a successful drive without Slaton? On a neutral site, WVU could realistically beat any of the seven teams ranked above them.

9. USC: The second best team in the PAC-10 took out its frustrations on hapless Stanford (how’s the new gig going, Walt?). I am not impressed, nor have I been since they clocked Arkansas in the first week of the season… which, incidentally, is the only reason I have them ranked ahead of…

[You know, that Nov. 18 against Cal is looking mighty big right now. Going to be a great day/night of football.]

10. Arkansas: Nice win in Columbia. The Hogs just keep perking along, winning the SEC West. Big tests in the next three weeks against Tennessee and LSU will tell us how good they really are, though.

11. LSU: Great win in Neyland Stadium. Doucet and Russell looked the way I expected them to look when the season started.

[I thought Les Miles was going to slug the sideline reporter after halftime when she reminded him that his teams have sucked on the road against ranked teams in the second half.]

12. Rutgers: I struggle with where to put Rutgers just as much as everybody else does, whether they’ll admit it or not. Rutgers is a tough, physical team that belongs more with Wisconsin in the Big Ten than with Pitt in the Big East. Ray Rice and the o-line he runs behind are as good as any in the country. They had a bye this week. We’ll see how good they really are Thursday night against the Cardinals. But for now, this is honestly where I think the undefeated Scarlet Knights belong: I think the 11 teams in front of them are better, and the 12 behind them are worse. Of course, my opinion is fluid, though. If Rutgers beats Louisville, I’ll have no problem vaulting them above a few one-loss SEC teams because, at that point, they will have proven themselves to be better than I think they are right now.

13. Notre Dame: Wow. Brady Quinn connects on 23 of 35 passes for 349 yards and four touchdowns against 1-8 North Carolina, and the media starts handing him the Heisman again. What were his stats against Michigan again?

14. Wisconsin: It’s easy to overlook this juggernaut with a huge offensive line, huge tailback (P.J. Hill), and tough defense. Like most Wisconsin teams, they don’t have the flash that gets you noticed. Stucco is a good quarterback who doesn’t make mistakes, but no Troy Smith or Colt McCoy. The wideouts are OK. Still, nobody wants to play this punishing, blue collar team. Lord knows Joe Paterno didn’t (incidentally, that made my 35 year-old knee ache… yeeouch!).

[They are good, but I couldn’t move them this far up.]

15. Wake Forest: Great win on the road on Chestnut Hill. Currently, the class of the ACC. And yes, that’s at least the fifth team that I’ve said that about over the past two months (Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Virginia Tech being others). Either my rankings are a train wreck, or the ACC is. You decide.

[Clearly Lee didn’t watch the game, or was just drunk. It was a home game for Wake. I would love to move them up this high, but I just couldn’t do it. They have one of the best damn coaches out there — now he knows how to gameplan and use personnel — but the injuries are really mounting.]

16. Tennessee: A good team that just has trouble playing big games at home. The opposite of, well, LSU (a good team that couldn’t win big games on the road… until yesterday). Nice defense on LSU’s last drive, by the way.

[As much fun as it would be to put them this far down, they lost by only 3 to a damn good team, and with their back-up QB playing the entire second half.]

17. Boise State: Crushed Fresneck State on Wednesday (Wednesday?) night. Just keep on winning against, well, nobody in particular, and you may get into a BCS game… not that anyone outside of Idaho will care…

[This would be a 4 spot drop for still winning. Even putting them where I did was a slight drop. Can’t let them go this far. Oh, no, lots will care if BSU goes bowling. The ACC will be humiliated and the Big East rule of evaluating questionable conferences rankings will tick against the ACC for a second straight year.]

18. Oklahoma: Good, close win in one of my favorite tough environments, based on yet another gutsy call by Bob Stoops (still a great sideline general). Oh, what this season could have been…

19. Oregon: Impressive win against Ty Willingham’s scrappy Washington squad. The Ducks may beat USC, but they’re obviously not in the same class as Cal this year.

[I swear, Lee is doing this to piss me off. I said Oregon was out of the top-25 until they actually beat a ranked team. Beat the Trojans this week and we’ll talk.]

20. Georgia Tech: Heck, even Akron can beat N.C. State at home. Still, the Wreck is 7-2 and Reggie Ball and Calvin Johnson are for real. Clearly the class of the ACC’s weaker division (the “Coastal,” and incidentally, non-geographical divisions suck… what’s so hard about ACC North and ACC South? It works for the Big XII. And I don’t have to look up which division Nebraska or Texas are in).

21. Virginia Tech: Beating Miami is even less impressive than beating N.C. State these days, and Tech had to work to do even that much. Should easily finish in second place in the ACC’s pitiful “Coastal” division.

[And that’s why I won’t put them this high. I definitely won’t put them above a BC team that smacked them around a few weeks ago. I watched that Miami game, VT has a good running back and little else on offense.]

22. Boston College: Losing to Wake Forest at home puts them in the also-ran category of the ACC’s tougher division (the “Atlantic”). Still, a solid squad. Fortunately, they no longer have to compete against powerhouses like WVU and Rutgers.

23. Maryland: Terps QB Sam Hallenbach played out of his mind in a stunning upset over Clemson at Clemson. I never saw the Turtles’ resurgence coming. I hate to credit Ralph Friedgen, but I guess I’ll have to (must be the Under Armor “protecting his house”). They’re in the thick of the chase in the ACC’s tougher division. And to think I wasn’t impressed by WVU’s crushing these guys at the time.

24. Nebraska: Thumped Missouri, my one-time Big XII North favorite. Still, it didn’t impress many people now. Big game in College Station this Saturday will tell us more about the Blackshirts.

25. Texas A&M: Tough loss against Missouri. But they were in it to the end. As an Aggie would say, they just ran out of time.

Thanks to Lee coming back this week to give his top-25. I tweaked and will respond to what I changed below in Lee’s explanation. As always, there is until Wednesday to make changes so make the case in the comments.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	—
2	Michigan	—
3	West Virginia	1
4	Florida	4
5	Louisville	1
6	Texas	3
7	Auburn	—
8	Tennessee	3
9	California	1
10	Southern Cal	5
11	Notre Dame	2
12	Arkansas	—
13	Boise State	6
14	Rutgers	1
15	Boston College	1
16	LSU	2
17	Wisconsin	1
18	Oklahoma	3
19	Wake Forest	3
20	Clemson	11
21	Georgia Tech	4
22	Texas A&M	2
23	Washington State	3
24	Virginia Tech	2
25	Oklahoma State	1

1. Ohio State: The offensive line remains weak, and allowed too much penetration against Minnesota. Fortunately, Troy Smith easily outran most of the pressure (we’ll see if he can continue this against the best front seven in college football on November 18th). Beyond that, there are few glaring weaknesses on this team. Explosive offense, aggressive defense, clearly the best team in the country this week.
2. Michigan: Struggled a little against Northwestern, although the weather clearly played a major role in this (as it did for the Ohio State/Penn State outcome). Best defense in college football. The offense seems to be doing just enough to win, and that’s why I have them at #2 this week. But maybe they’re just saving the big offensive explosion up for November 18th.
3. West Virginia: On a bye week, I’ll just reiterate that it was reassuring to see Pat White throw so well against UConn last weekend. If WVU develops a reliable passing game for when defenses throw eight men in the box, look out world. All this being said, the Mountaineers are 2.5-to-1 point underdogs Thursday night. If they crush Louisville while Michigan struggles at home against Ball State, damn straight I’ll move the Mountaineers up to #2.
4. Florida: Looked a little less than overwhelming in edging out Georgia 21-14 in the World’s Largest Source of Jokes About Banning Alcohol. But who else could I put in front of Louisville? Everybody else in the SEC looked even more underwhelming.
5. Louisville: Bye week. The last time I saw them, they weren’t exactly dominating Syracuse. So, I’m picking them to lose at home Thursday night. WVU has too much on offense, especially if White throws well again. Tiny little Papa Johns Stadium won’t offer that much of a homefield advantage (half of it will be Mountaineer fans anyways), and Brian Brohm has been off since he came back. So, yeah, I think the Cardinals will be dropping next week. But, I still think that they’re better than…
6. Texas: Pulled one out of the fire in Lubbock. I know that Tech is tougher than they’re ranked, and I know that Tech always plays the Longhorns tough. But still, a one-loss team has to do better than that against an unranked opponent to stay in the top five.
7. Auburn: Underwhelming win in Oxford. I know that the SEC is allegedly the toughest conference in the country, but come on. This is freakin’ Ole Miss. War Eagle has to grow an offense before they can move ahead of Texas.
8. Tennessee: OK win, when you consider that it was against the Old Ballcoach. Yeah, California has been looking better than Tennessee lately, but I just can’t forget what the Vols did to them in Knoxville earlier this year.
9. California: On a bye week, what still sticks in my mind is the struggle against the admittedly-well-coached-but-still-unranked Huskies. Yeah, Cal has looked better than Tennessee, Auburn, or Texas at times this year. But, once again, I can’t put them ahead of a Vols team that humiliated them.
10. Notre Dame: Beating up Navy impresses nobody, especially after UCLA should have had your season last week. Plus, you’re not going to get any sympathy from me after “60 Minutes” drooled all over you last night (In the national championship race? Quinn is among the Heisman Trophy favorites? Did ANYBODY at CBS bother getting a perspective on ND from outside of South Bend!?). Incidentally, I’m the last guy that can complain about language. But being from New Jersey is no excuse for shouting that crap on the sidelines when you’re representing one of the most visible symbols of Catholicism in America. I can’t believe that I’m about to say this, but clean it up… now I’m going to Hypocrisy Hell for sure… [Get a grip, Lee.]
11. USC: You suck. You’ve sucked ever since that Arkansas game. Your demise has been imminent for weeks now. Thank God somebody finally put this lame horse out of its misery. I love that this screws Notre Dame’s strength-of-schedule too. [I’m willing to keep them above ND at this point.]
12. Arkansas: Yawner against Louisiana-Monroe (and somebody’s gonna have to explain the Louisiana state higher educational system to me sometime… are ULL and ULM just branch campuses of LSU?). Think that they’d lose to USC again?
13. Rutgers: Underwhelming against Connecticut, who just put eight men in the box and ran all over the Knights. WVU and Louisville are both way better than Rutgers. [Which is why I couldn’t put them this high.]
14. Boise State: Suddenly, that dominating win over Oregon State back on September 7th is starting to look impressive all of the sudden… The computers will LOVE the Broncos now. [Funny thing, Boise State winning out may really mess with the ACC thanks to one of several BCS “Big East” rules (I’ll have more about that later).]
15. Wisconsin: Go ahead and accuse me of having a Big Ten bias again, Chas (while everybody around here accuses me of having a Big East bias – which, hey, I won’t dispute). But the Badgers just keep on winning with a physical offensive line and power running game – the way they have ever since Barry Alverez left South Bend. Yeah, they didn’t exactly dominate Illinois on Saturday, and that’s why I can’t list them any higher than #15. But the Zooker is starting to build something at Illinois (look out Buckeyes), so this isn’t entirely a surprise. Watch Wisconsin line up against Penn State’s defense this Saturday. This will be the game where Wisconsin proves whether or not it belongs in the top 20. [Let me get this straight. At home, against Illinois — improving or not — and having to come back 24-7 to win 31-24 are grounds for this team to get this high? If it weren’t for the dearth of teams, I’d want to drop them. Big 11 Bias!!!]
16. Boston College: Best team in the ACC? For the moment, it sure looks so. Once again, its nice to see all those former Big East teams do so well in the ACC.
17. LSU: Bye week.
18. Oklahoma: Surviving without Peterson. Beating Missouri so soundly was impressive. [I’m debating putting them ahead of LSU. LSU has the talent, but I trust Oklahoma to actually win games.]
19. Wake Forest: The Deacons still haven’t really beaten anybody, but I can’t put a 7-1 team behind…
20. Virginia Tech: Second best team in the ACC? Well, after that Thursday night performance, I certainly can’t put them behind… [A nice recovery after two prior conference stinkers, but not worthiy of top-20.]
21. Clemson: CHOKE!!! And that, is why you’re Clemson. But at least you beat… [And ACC dreams of two BCS bids in one season go down the drain once more.]
22. Georgia Tech: Nice come-from-behind win. Too bad it was only against Miami.
23. Texas A&M: Sneaking back into my top 25 after beating a bowl-bound Baylor team (hey, that’s a big deal in Waco). [This one feels like a house of cards, but I will leave it alone.]
24. Washington State: The Cougars only losses are to USC, Cal, and Auburn. They beat Oregon and did a lot better against UCLA than Notre Dame did. A phoenix is rising from its ashes up on the Paloose.
25. Oregon: OK, but lost to Wazzou. So you can’t pass them in my rankings. [For beating Portland State? I said Oregon was dead to me last week and I meant it. So now Lee actually ranks them. OK State is more deserving this time. Or maybe Tulsa.]

Like I said, use the comments to let me know what should change and why.

I feel completely behind on the basketball stuff at the moment.

It’s year 2 of the New Big East, but thankfully the final year of the TV pandering schedule.

I hope everyone has been clicking over to Big East Basketball Blog for much of the link goodiness. Among the stuff mentioned is bit more about the JUCO verbal Cassin Diggs. Plenty of links to stories about and after media day. As you would expect for the team picked to win the conference, plenty of talk of Pitt in the various stories.

This is a kind of fun bit, asking questions of the various players at media day and just listing them. Some may not matter much like “If you could invite three people, past or present, to dinner, who would they be?” invite aren’t that interesting (though, Aaron Gray showing a lot of comfort in the media glare put Maria Sharapova on his list).

What’s the toughest place to play in the Big East?

Juan Palacios, Louisville: “Carrier Dome. With that depth perception, you need at least a day or so of just shooting before you’re ready to play a game there.”

Dan Fitzgerald, Marquette: “The RAC at Rutgers. The locker room is real small and the fans are loud and non-stop.”

Aaron Gray, Pitt: “West Virginia. Before my first game there no one told us about their Mountaineer mascot shooting that musket. I’m standing ready to sing the national anthem. And the gun goes off. Shocked? That’s an understatement.”

Terrence Williams, Louisville: “UConn’s Gampel Pavilion. Usually on the road we have some of our fans. But at UConn everybody’s for UConn. When they’re screaming it seems the floor is moving and the rim is shaking.”

Terrence Roberts, Syracuse: “Pittsburgh. The fans, oh my goodness, they’re just on you. At every point in the game, I feel like they’re going to just rush the floor.”

Frank Young, West Virginia: “Villanova. The students are right on top of you and they chant, `Pittsburgh,’ which is our big rival.”

Wesley Matthews, Marquette: “Louisville. It was so hot. When I left the locker room, I was sweating. It was the hottest place I’ve played, indoors or outdoors.”

Anthony Mason Jr., St. John’s: “UConn is crazy. A big arena. It’s loud. The fans are crazy.”

Jeff Green, Georgetown: “Pittsburgh. I’ve never experienced anything like that. The stadium was actually rocking.”

Levon Kendall, Pittsburgh: “Syracuse. It’s half a football field. It’s a strange feel. And the fans are pretty ruthless. Last year a guy heckled us the entire warmup.”

Mike Nardi, Villanova: “Pittsburgh. Their students are all along the side of the court and they are loud. Plus, you have to play Pittsburgh.”

Pitt being at 5th (tied with UCLA) in the Coaches’ preseason poll seems about right. It isn’t just me, right? Despite the professed non-desire to coach against each other, doesn’t it seem that something is going to make a Pitt-UCLA game happen in the next few years?

As for the Fan Fest and Blue-Gold Scrimmage, big thanks to Omar and Yi for the first-hand reports of what they saw. Going into this season I was a little worried about how the team will feed Gray the ball. That still seems to be something of an issue. Considering I jumped on the Mike Cook bandwagon early, I’m very happy to read that he looked good. As they both agreed, there was a lot of intensity in the scrimmage. Not bad blood or being pissed, just both teams trying to take it to the other. I have to make one of these some time.

Lee, had business that kept him from contributing this week. So, I was on my own.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	—
2	Michigan	—
3	Texas	1
4	West Virginia	1
5	Southern Cal	—
6	Louisville	—
7	Auburn	—
8	Florida	—
9	Clemson	2
10	California	—
11	Tennessee	2
12	Arkansas	2
13	Notre Dame	1
14	LSU	1
15	Rutgers	2
16	Boston College	3
17	Georgia Tech	4
18	Wisconsin	2
19	Boise State	2
20	Texas A&M	2
21	Oklahoma	2
22	Wake Forest	2
23	Nebraska	5
24	Tulsa	2
25	Missouri	1

Oregon is dead to me at this point. They will need to beat USC to get back in the BlogPoll.

I’m trying to decide if teams are really starting to figure out WVU — UConn made it look rough for the Mountaineers in the first half, but they had no offense to do anything. The other possibility, and this would also apply to Louisville, is that the coaches are holding things back. Trying not to show too much before the big game next Thursday. Otherwise, I am really starting to wonder about both.

A lot of teams did not exactly impress me this weekend, but no other teams did much to justify moving into the polls or moving much higher.

I have until Wednesday morning to revise my ballot. Make the case for some changes.

The bloggers have spoken and Pitt comes in at #24. You can see individual ballots here. By this standard, I actually underranked Pitt by putting them at #25. Apparently, the number of voters down on their school more then others has dwindled to this point, because that small deviation actually got me on the “straight bangin'” list.

I just can’t believe VT still got votes after the way they were undressed by BC on the field and Kirk Herbstreit in the booth last Thursday.

Here’s my draft ballot. I have until Wednesday morning to make changes so start arguing. Thanks as always to Lee, who has his rankings below, with my comments where appropriate for the changes I made.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	—
2	Michigan	1
3	West Virginia	1
4	Texas	2
5	Southern Cal	—
6	Louisville	1
7	Auburn	5
8	Florida	6
9	Tennessee	1
10	California	1
11	Clemson	1
12	Notre Dame	1
13	Georgia Tech	—
14	Arkansas	2
15	LSU	—
16	Oregon	9
17	Rutgers	2
18	Nebraska	5
19	Boston College	2
20	Wisconsin	6
21	Boise State	1
22	Texas A&M	4
23	Oklahoma	5
24	Wake Forest	2
25	Pittsburgh	1

After I got over my initial self-righteous annoyance at seeing Luke Winn rank Pitt 8th behind Wisconsin and G-town, no less, I had to admit the write-up made me laugh.

One of the weirdest moments of the summer was center Aaron Gray‘s noon-hour workout for NBA scouts during the pre-draft camp in Orlando. A crowd of nearly 60 scouts showed up to see a legit 7-footer who was a force in the Big East last season … and the crowd dwindled to less than 20 by the time it was over. It was a boring, 45-minute session, and there was no free lunch served, but it was a little awkward to watch. Every time a scout hit the door, though, I imagined a Pitt cheering section erupting with chants of “One More Year” and “Big East Champs.”

Well… yeah.

Gary Parrish at Sportsline poses questions for various teams, and in a roundabout way responds to Seth Davis’ question about Pitt.

15. Can Mike Cook be the go-to scorer Pittsburgh needs? There will come a time when Pitt has to throw the ball to the wing, isolate a guy and let him try to get a bucket to win a game. If Jamie Dixon is fortunate, Cook will develop into that guy for the Panthers. Prior to transferring from East Carolina, he scored 15.0 points per game and always showed the ability to get into the lane and create shots. If that attribute transferred with Cook to the Big East, Pittsburgh will be a legit Final Four contender.

I guess I don’t worry overmuch about that, since I also have confidence in Ramon taking the shot and even Fields. I also like the idea of Sam Young driving to the hoop. I just think this whole “you need that one key guy to get the rock” is a tad overrated.

On the positive, this ESPN Chat with Aaron Gray (hat tip to Matt).

Ryan Jefferson Hills, PA: Whats up Aaron. How does transfer Mike Cook fit into the lineup? I am guessing he may start at the 3 or be the first guy off the bench?

Aaron Gray: He’s the man. I love playing with Mike Cook. He’s a fierce competitor and understands the game. As far as who plays and how much they play, that’s the difficult decision that Coach Dixon will have to make. I have confidence that he’ll make all the good decisions.

Paul (San Diego): Aaron, how are you going to avoid falling into the trap of listening to the hype and looking ahead to the NBA vice focusing on the season ahead?

Aaron Gray: Two things. No. 1, I understand there’s a lot of things I need to improve upon. By no means do I think I’m as good as I’m going to be. The second thing, just in coming back, my main goal is winning. I’m not interested in if a game improves my stock or not. Just in winning.

Will, Pitt: Being on Pitt’s campus I’ve seen the basketball team out in the public a lot as a TEAM. Do you think the commemoratory of this year?s team is the best since you’ve been here? Over the past few years there’s been discussion over the lack of chemistry. How has that changed?

Aaron Gray: I think by far this is the best year we’ve had for team chemistry. We’re like a family. When we’re on the court, we push each other. We’re so competitive that sometimes practices end in fights. But when we leave the court, we’re a family. It’s always hard to find just one of us on campus. When we’re out, there’s at least two of us or three or eight of us.

Stacy (Pitt Alum!): Who will step up to replace Krauser this year?

Aaron Gray: There’s so many things that Krauser did. Team leader, toughness. He seemed to always put us over the edge when facing adversity. But this year we have so much talent and experience that hopefully we can pick it up just fine, without too much of a dropoff.

Looking forward to November and the opening tip.

I’m mildly surprised Pitt didn’t make either poll. Not a big deal, but with the total domination on a game that everyone saw — no competition is the bright side to the Friday night game — with all the upsets. It was more surprising that Georgia and Iowa stayed in the polls with 2nd straight losses to teams that don’t exactly have football heavyweight reputations. Just more incentive for the team to take care of business against Rutgers on Saturday.

It is confirmed, that the game will be played at 5:45 and shown on ESPN2. Rutgers is ranked, so this will be big. Imagine that, a homecoming with big implications. Those class reunion dinners will be cancelled or changed to brunch.

Not to be overlooked, basketball practice can start this evening.

There will be no Midnight Madness — Pitt will hold a Media Day this afternoon before its first official practice Saturday. Instead, the illumination comes from a national spotlight.

Pitt is ranked as high as No. 3 in the preseason polls and is virtually certain of being a top-10 team in next month’s AP preseason poll for only the third time in the program’s history.

Seven-footer Aaron Gray, who pulled his name from the NBA draft to return for his senior year, is a consensus All-American and popular pick for Big East Player of the Year.

Sophomore Sam Young, an All-Big East Rookie selection last season, joins Gray and senior forward Levon Kendall to form one of the nation’s top frontcourts, according to Lindy’s and the Sporting News.

Kendall, one of eight returning players from last season’s 25-8 team, said no one’s complacent because of the October polls.

“I think the guys are taking it the right way,” Kendall said. “We realize we haven’t proven too much.”

To that end came the nightly summer pick-up games — and running and weightlifting and conditioning.

“It was a little different than in the previous years,” Kendall said. “We went after it earlier than normal, and it’s carried over through the summer. That hasn’t happened in the past. Guys are in better shape and ready to go.”

Instead of a Midnight Madness, which would have been awkward with the football game this evening, they will be doing another fan fest. It’s scheduled for Saturday, October 28 from 2:30 to 6 (the football team has a bye that weekend).

Sponsored by Pontiac and US Army, Fan Fest offers basketball fans their first glimpse of the 2006-07 Pitt men’s and women’s basketball teams. The event begins at 2:30 p.m. with an autograph session featuring head coaches Agnus Berenato and Jamie Dixon and the women’s and men’s basketball players in the Petersen Events Center lobby and concourse areas.

Following the combined autograph session, the Pitt women’s team will play an intrasquad scrimmage. The Panthers men’s team will then take the floor for a scrimmage.

Fan Fest will also feature performances by the Pitt Pep Band, Pitt Cheerleaders and Pitt Dance Team, along with various family oriented activities, including face painting and a Halloween costume parade.

There was a big piece on Dixon and everything he personally went through over the spring and summer.

Finally, Seth Davis at SI.com asks questions about 20 different teams. I have to admit the premise of his to Pitt has me confused.

Pittsburgh: Who will emerge as the committee of one?

The Panthers are entering the season with unprecedented expectations, thanks largely to their perimeter quintet of senior Antonio Graves, juniors Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin, sophomore Levance Fields and junior transfer Mike Cook. The problem is, none of those is a proven crunch-time player like departed point guard Carl Krauser. Krauser took some boneheaded risks, but at least everyone knew where to go when the game was on the line. The point guard position is too important to be manned by a committee of five. Someone here needs to step up and fill the leadership void created by Krauser’s graduation.

Beg pardon? I thought the expectations are a result of Aaron Gray coming back, and a strong frontcourt with Gray, Kendall and Young? His question about the PG is somewhat legit, though, everyone already knows/expects to see Fields running the show most of the time.

If I was feeling snarky and defensive I’d just assume Davis is looking for something to rip Pitt for now that his annual, stock complaints about the non-con is not applaicable any longer. Thankfully, I’m not feeling that way.

Well the blogpoll is compiled. I made a few minor changes from the draft to my final ballot. Switching GT and Missouri at 13 and 14; switching LSU and Arkansas at 15 and 16; and Nebraska and VT at 23 and 24.

I’m kind of surprised that OSU isn’t a unanimous #1, have to love open bias. Rutgers and VT both lost ground during the bye week.

As usual, Lee drafted the ballot, I made a couple tweaks. Lee’s explanation below, along with some occasional commentary from me in italics especially where I made changes. Give reasons to make changes in the comments and I have time to make changes if found meritorious by tomorrow morning.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	—
2	Florida	—
3	Michigan	—
4	West Virginia	3
5	Southern Cal	1
6	Texas	2
7	Louisville	3
8	Tennessee	8
9	California	8
10	Clemson	5
11	Notre Dame	1
12	Auburn	7
13	Missouri	11
14	Georgia Tech	4
15	Arkansas	11
16	LSU	7
17	Georgia	6
18	Oklahoma	4
19	Rutgers	2
20	Iowa	1
21	Boston College	5
22	Boise State	2
23	Virginia Tech	2
24	Nebraska	2
25	Oregon	12

1. Ohio State: Just keeps on rolling towards November 18th. This Saturday’s matchup against the schizophrenic Spartans isn’t scary anymore, as this is not the same MSU that crushed Pitt in the second half. Fire John L. Smith now.

2. Florida: The quality of the Gators’ wins puts them slightly ahead of Michigan. Now admittedly, Auburn was sorely overrated. But still, who has Michigan really beaten besides Notre Dame? Leak and Tebow are scary-good as a combo.

3. Michigan: Probably the most well rounded team in the country. This Saturday will be dangerous, and the crowd will be loud. But Michigan just matches up too well against Penn State on paper, even without Manningham. Penn State can’t cover tight ends, and Michigan loves isolating and throwing to its TE’s. Incidentally, it’s nice to see Penn State shut down Paternoville, one of the few unique, excitement-generating traditions of Beaver Stadium, right before the big home game against Michigan. Couldn’t that have waited a few weeks? Idiots.

4. WVU: Beyond beating Louisville, all the Hoopies have to do is root for Florida to lose somehow. Ohio State and Michigan won’t both win out, obviously. The secondary looked very suspect again against Mississippi State, and teams like Florida, Ohio State, or Michigan could easily throw on the Mountaineers. But they’d have to keep up with that offense…

5. USC: I am SO not impressed by the Trojans right now. In fact, I’d rank Texas ahead of these slackers if I thought Chas would let me get away with it. Last Saturday, the best team in the PAC-10 was California, by far.

[I actually wouldn’t have much of a problem with it. USC has not looked good the last couple of weeks.]

6. Texas: Big win, in a big way. Still hanging around the national championship race. Nice to see Mack Brown get that Sooner monkey off of his back. Colt McCoy is a year or two away from becoming a force to reckon with.

7. Louisville: For the second week in a row, a Big East power played a Friday night game and looked less than impressive (RU was last). Last week, I put Louisville ahead of WVU. But not now. Not after a school that I never heard of before (and why not Central Tennessee State instead of Middle Tennessee State?) gave the Cardinals all they wanted for a half. This team maybe misses Brian Brohm more than I had thought. Unless he gets healthy, back, and back into a rhythm again before the Hoopies come calling, WVU wins the Big East.

8. Tennessee: Boy, that one-point loss to Florida is looking bigger and bigger these days, huh? Coulda been a contender… Either way, huge win against Georgia.

9. California: Chas, Chas, Chas… Hey, don’t worry about it. All self-appointed prognosticators are wrong sometimes, especially regarding Cal. Just ask Corso. Although I may have been correct in thinking that Oregon was sorely overrated, at least I didn’t pick the Bears to win it all. Berkeley looked like PAC-10 champions on Saturday. It’s too bad they don’t play USC sooner.

[For the record, I don’t believe I picked Oregon to win the nationial championship. I just thought they were the likely/darkhorse BCS bid from the PAC-10. Suffice to say, I was wrong.

I’m kind of surprised Lee put Cal this high. I would have thought the unis they wore — actually making Oregon look conservative — would have cost them a few spots.]

10. Clemson: Phil Fulmer at least has some company in regretting a one-point loss to an inferior opponent that’s keeping someone out of the national championship hunt. OK, so they weren’t that impressive against I-don’t-care-if-you’re-undefeated-you’re-still-Wake-Freakin’-Forest. But I can’t put Notre Dame in the top ten with their defense, and this was the best alternative.

11. Notre Dame: Grow a defense. Now. The Irish should easily win the rest of their games, but then, just as guaranteed as the changing of the seasons, they’ll get blown out in their bowl game. Why? Yeah. No defense.

12. Auburn: (CHOKE!)

No, Arkansas was not that good. You were that bad. Nice tackling. You know who really needs a playoff system, Tuberville? Teams with one loss.

13. Missouri: Sneaking into my top 15. And they should stay there for at least two more weeks, with only Texas A&M and Kansas State on the schedule. Beating Oklahoma and Nebraska, the only two real teams left on their schedule, is well within reach — as is the Big XII North championship.

[Um, okay.]

14. Georgia Tech: Dropped out of my top ten after struggling mightily against hapless Maryland. Now, the Wreck has two weeks to prepare for a Clemson game that could decide the ACC.

15. Arkansas: I just can’t convince myself that these guys are all that good — hey, I saw that USC massacre. But they sure looked good against Auburn on Saturday.

16. LSU: Nice defense. Whatever happened to that once-genius Bo Pelini? Thank God Pitt didn’t hire him.

[I have to say I’m leaning towards flipping 15 and 16. If Florida is the #2 team, how hard do you ding a team that lost to them on the road? Plus, I think that’s just too high for Arkansas for one win, albeit a really big win.]

17. Iowa: Can’t get past third place in the Big Ten no matter how hard they try. Too much talent in Columbus and Ann Arbor. Maybe too much talent here in State College too.

[I dropped Iowa a few more spots. They just weren’t that impressive to me this year.]

18. Georgia: (HACK!)

19. Rutgers: I moved the Knights up mostly because other teams lost. That near-loss to USF last Friday night still haunts me. But a great rushing attach still makes RU a legitimate top 25 team. Don’t look past Navy to Pitt. Of course, does anybody look past anybody else for Pitt?

20. Oklahoma: Physically dominated. But Peterson still looked good.
[Oklahoma is a little better then this.]

21. Boston College: A solid team… for the ACC…

22. Boise State: Only because they’re 6-0. Not because they’ve played anybody or impressed me all that much.

23. Virginia Tech: Coming off a bye after an ass-kicking by Georgia Tech, what else can I do but still think you suck?

24. Nebraska: Putting along. The November 4th game against my Tigers will decide who gets mauled by Texas in the Big XII Championship game.

25. Pitt: OK, who else could I realistically put here? Penn State? (Overtime against Minnesota? And I never want to hear about the Lions getting screwed by the Big Ten officials again.) Oregon? (Chas?) FSU? (HACK!) Maybe Wisconsin, but hey, I’m allowed to be a homer occasionally. Hey, the team looked great on the road… admittedly against mere Syracuse…

[Yes, I put Oregon here in place of Pitt. I would love to leave Pitt in, but I also can’t get that showing against MSU out of my head. Too big a question on defense against the option. Besides if you are going to shoot Cal up that high for a home win, then presumably it’s for beating a quality opponent. ]

Here’s the initial ballot I am thinking of submitting for this week. I have until Wednesday morning to change it, so make good arguments. As usual, Lee worked it up, but this time I made some changes that I will note below from Lee’s comments.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	25
2	Florida	24
3	Michigan	23
4	Louisville	22
5	Auburn	21
6	Southern Cal	20
7	West Virginia	19
8	Texas	18
9	Louisiana State	17
10	Georgia Tech	16
11	Georgia	15
12	Notre Dame	14
13	Oregon	13
14	Oklahoma	12
15	Clemson	11
16	Tennessee	10
17	Cal	9
18	Florida State	8
19	Iowa	7
20	Boise State	6
21	Rutgers	5
22	Wake Forest	4
23	Texas Tech	3
24	Missouri	2
25	Virginia Tech	1

1. Ohio State: Still suspect on run defense. But beyond that, a stellar performance against a completely over-hyped Iowa. I have to hand it the security at Kinnick Stadium for apparently turning away absolutely any Hawkeye fan not wearing yellow. But still, home field advantage can only take you so far. The highlight? A couple hundred Buckeye fans surrounding the College Gameday set after the game chanting, very loudly, “NICE PICK CORSO! NEXT PICK MICHIGAN!”

2. Michigan: Hitting on all cylinders, although against inferior competition. Provided that they don’t underestimate Penn State’s defense, the true national championship game could be played in Columbus on November 18th

[Sorry, no. There is no way in hell, I am putting two Big 11 schools at 1 & 2 on the ballot. Especially, just because they beat Minnesota.]

3. Florida: The Gators are beating good competition convincingly. If these guys win out, they’re in the national championship game no matter what anybody else does. Unfortunately, they’re in the SEC where winning out is practically impossible.

4. Louisville: I was going to put WVU here, of course. But I just can’t convince myself that Louisville isn’t the better team. Especially after the Hoopies’s lackluster performance against East Carolina last week. In any case, look how good the Cardinals are on offense now, and then imagine how much better they’ll be when Brohn gets back. And their defense is clearly better than WVU’s. Oh, if only Michael Bush hadn’t broken that leg, we could be talking about a Big East national champion.

5. Auburn: Eeking one out against South Carolina means vacating the number two spot in my book. Yeah, Spurrier is a hell of a coach. But he ain’t that good. And neither are the Gamecocks.

6. USC: Way to take advantage of Auburn’s stumble, Trojans. Wazzou sucks even worse than South Carolina. Until you start beating good competition convincingly, say goodbye to the top five.

7. WVU: Enjoy the top ten while you can, Hoopies. Unless Rodriguez picks it up a notch, you won’t come out of Papa John’s Stadium alive.

8. Texas: Sam Houston State? Where the hell is that? And don’t just answer “Texas” either. It’s nice to see a Big XII team following the WVU school of out-of-conference scheduling. But still, Texas is probably better than WVU, USC, or Auburn right now. I just have to give those particular unbeatens the benefit of the doubt.

9. LSU: Right where they should be. Clearly a top ten team.

10. Georgia Tech: So far, they’re beating better competition more convincingly than the Bulldogs are. So this is the best team in Georgia in my book. Nice win against Virginia Tech, by the way. So much for the Hokies’ national championship dreams. Maybe VT should join an easier conference, like the Mountain West or something. But back to the Wreck. I really like this team to win the ACC outright. Hence, they’re being in my top ten.

11. Georgia: I just can’t get that escape at home to Colorado out of my head.

12. Notre Dame: Yeah, I know. I put the Rambling Wreck ahead of a team that beat them in Altanta. Still, I just can’t put Notre Dame in the top ten with that porous defense. And what’s so impressive about the Irish’s wins so far? Penn State self-destructed with Morelli. Michigan State self-destructed the way only they can (incidentally, that video of John L. “Dead man walking the Green Mile” Smith slapping himself is the highlight of my season so far). The only impressive win was against Georgia Tech, who has dramatically improved since then (hence my logic-defying ranking).

13. Oregon: Nice win against the Michigan State of the West. Still, if Oklahoma beats Texas next week (a big if), I’ve gotta beat the team that should have beaten the Ducks ahead of the Ducks.

14. Oklahoma: Just beat Texas by putting the ball in Adrian’s hands. And good luck. Have Adrian call Antonio Pittman before the game to ask how it’s done.

[Oh, for f**k’s sake, Lee. Enough with the tOSU love.]

15. Clemson: Nice win… if Terry Bradshaw still played for La. Tech…

16. Tennnessee: Nice win. Against freakin’ Memphis. Beat ’em in hoops and I’ll be impressed.

17. Calfornia: Nice win against the wrong school from Oregon. This weekend, just beat Chas’s overrated Ducks with those gawdawful unis (Pitt, not< Oregon, should be wearing that steel plate pattern. How much steel was ever made in Oregon?). [Go Ducks!]

18. FSU: Thank God these losers aren’t in a tougher conference… like the Big East. Same goes for Miami.

19. Iowa: Well, what good things can we say… your fans did the all-yellow thing well, and your corn-fed coeds were moderately presentable when they weren’t crying… Drew Tate looked good occasionally, as did your tailbacks… but overall, what else could I say other than the Hawkeyes just aren’t a national power yet. Sorry.

20. Boise State: I never know where to rank these guys. But since the AP Poll put them here, I’ll just go along…

21. Rutgers: For the good of the Big East, I wish that you guys had a better showing on Friday night against USF. But even I wasn’t particularly impressed.

22. Missouri: If it were anybody else, I’d put this 5-0 team higher. But you just know that they’re going to drop an easy one soon.

[Hence why I dropped them a couple notches lower, and inserted the oft overlooked Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Hell, if Rutgers can get ranked after the teams they beat, then it’s only fair to give some love to the school with the smallest stadium amongst BCS teams.]

23. Penn State: No, this didn’t come from drinking too much of the local water. Their defense looked great against everybody but Notre Dame. The real weak spot of this team is Anthony “Thank-God-you-didn’t-come-to-Pitt” Morelli. If he has a good game, they could conceivably upset Michigan here in State College in two weeks. But probably not.

[No. Not here, not now. They don’t get to make the cut.]

24. Texas Tech: Fight Farmers, Fight! Now fight a little harder. Or fire Franchione. Your choice.

25. Virginia Tech: Snicker.

[And as I pointed out in my ACC week in review, they will probably win a couple games again to make everyone think they just had a hiccup. Start moving higher in the rankings. Then, the big game will come and — unfortunately it won’t be Pitt to insert reality into the Hokies’ lives.]

Big thanks to Lee for stepping up and doing the ballot draft. I am putting this out here now for comments and arguments about the order. I know I’ll be changing some of the order before the Wednesday voting deadline — I’m backing the Oregon darkhorse BCS bid for the PAC-10 afterall. For now, here’s the draft ballot.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	25
2	Auburn	24
3	Southern Cal	23
4	West Virginia	22
5	Florida	21
6	Texas	20
7	Louisville	19
8	Michigan	18
9	Georgia	17
10	Louisiana State	16
11	Virginia Tech	15
12	Notre Dame	14
13	Iowa	13
14	TCU	12
15	Tennessee	11
16	Oregon	10
17	Oklahoma	9
18	Clemson	8
19	Florida State	7
20	Boston College	6
21	Nebraska	5
22	Arizona State	4
23	Cal	3
24	Michigan State	2
25	Boise State	1

Now, here are Lee’s explanations:

1. Ohio State: Unlike previous games with sloppy starts in the Jim Tresselera, the Bucks still managed to blow out the Bearcats in the end. And they still have the biggest win of the year (sorry Michigan… didn’t EVERYBODY know the Irish were overrated before Saturday?). But as for Mark Dantonio, jeez, what a coach. Thank God he’s stuck at Cincinnati rather than somewhere he could actually do some damage.

2. Auburn: Big win. Tough, tough defense.

3. USC: I go back and forth as to whether or not the Trojans or WVU should be here. But I’ll put the Trojans here only because Nebraska was a slightly more respectable opponent than Maryland… slightly… and USC was hardly crisp…

4. WVU: …but Jeezus did the Hoopies look good on Thursday night. Yeah, Maryland sucked (a nickel defense against West Virginia!?), and their ends couldn’t stay at home if they were stapled there. Still that was impressive speed. Slaton is the fastest player in college football period.

5. Florida: Good, tough win on the road. It’s nice to see Urban Meyer settling in.

6. Texas: Sure, it was only Rice. But they beat the holy hell out of them. Given the pathetic state of the Big XII (I’ll bet they wish they had the Big East’s out-of-conference win/loss record), the Longhorns should run the table easily (and don’t it feel good, as a Big East fan, to belittle somebody else’s conference for a change?).

7. Louisville: So much for the allegedly long-gone days of Miami doing crap like stomping on other team’s logos. Yeah, Miami is in a hole this year. But they’re still loaded with talent. So this was a big win and still an upset in my book.

8. Michigan: OK, hear me out here… We knew before Saturday that Notre Dame was overrated, and that they couldn’t keep up with speedy receivers (see Ted Ginn Jr. and Santonio Holmes in the Fiesta Bowl). We knew before Saturday that Michigan had talent out the wazoo, and that Llllloyd Carr was on the hot seat (and thus unlikely to undercoach again this year). So really, the only surprise of the ND/Michigan game was the extent to which the Irish self-destructed. I mean, the Irish gift-wrapped at least 21 points for the Wolverines… who would have won even without those 21 points, but at least it wouldn’t have been a blowout then. Still, don’t get me wrong. Michigan is for real this year, and somebody in Columbus had better take notice. It’s just that this win didn’t impress me as much as Louisville’s win.

9. Georgia: UAB? Yawn.

10. LSU: Like they said on Gameday Final, you could have played the LSU/Auburn game ten times — five in Auburn and five in Baton Rouge — and each time would wind up 5 and 5. Colossal battle. Really, the best game on Separation Saturday. LSU doesn’t deserve to fall far at all for this loss, especially since, they should have won (SEC refs suck).

11. VT: Quietly moving on up. It’s nice to see the class of the ACC still not able to crack the top ten.

12. Notre Dame: This is about where they should have been all along. Really, I’d like to put them a little further back, but even I couldn’t put them behind Oregon and Iowa. Thanks for gift-wrapping 21 points for the Wolverines. And Brady, pick up your Heisman on the way out the door.

13. Iowa: The Cyhawk game is always tough. Still, the Hawks haven’t done anything too awfully impressive yet (beating up Montana, then squeaking by Syracuse and ISU). Maybe they’re just saving everything up for Ohio State on September 30.

14. Tennessee: Nothing too embarrassing about losing to Florida.

15. TCU: Actually looked good in their win against, admittedly, only Texas Tech (does the Big XII really deserve an automatic BCS bid?).

16. Oregon: The Ducks so deserved to lose that game. PAC-10 refs sucks worse than SEC refs. Oklahoma was the better team…

17. Oklahoma: …so I’m not going to drop the Sooners too far…

18. Clemson: You always have to root for the Bowden Boys. They had to grow up with…

19. FSU: This hypocritical lunatic as a father… Noles suck.

20. Boston College: Nice win. Not.

21. Nebraska: Surprisingly game against USC, although that had more to do with USC than Nebraska.

22. ASU:

23. California: sucks.

24. Michigan State: If John L. Smith actually tries to coach this year, the Spartans could be for real. Look out, Wolverines and Buckeyes. A big offensive line and a great quarterback.

25. Boise State: Just keeps rolling along.

The House Rock Built is hosting the first blogpoll roundtable of the season. I hate having to think this much. Especially coming out of the weekend.
1. What’s the biggest ripoff in this preseason poll? Either pick a team that’s offensively over or underrated, or you can rag on a particular voter’s bad pick (hey, we’re all adults here, we can handle it).

Florida State is definitely still coasting on its rep the way Nebraska did in the past. What is it about their team or their recent performance that justifies them being any higher than #20?

Honestly, I’m not going to bother ripping on a particular ballot because I just don’t have the energy to look through individual ballots to find egregious bias (other than to point out that 2 of the most self-servingly biased voters were PSU bloggers. Stunning, I know.

2. What shold a preseason poll measure? Specifically, should it be a predictor of end-of-season standing (meaning that a team’s schedule should be taken into account when determining a ranking), or should it merely be a barometer of talent/hype/expectations?

I don’t know. I suspect we kind of mix things to fit our perceptions and justify things when in doubt. I think expectations are the best way to put it since it is sufficiently vague to mix expectations with all the tangible measuring points (schedule strength, talent and such).
3. What is your biggest stretch in your preseason ballot? That is to say, which team has the best chance of making you look like an idiot for overrating them?

That’s easy, since everyone has told me the answer. Oregon at #10.

4. What do you see as the biggest flaw in the polling system (both wire service and blogpolling)? Is polling an integral part of the great game of college football, or is it an outdated system that needs to be replaced? If you say the latter, enlighten us with your new plan.

In the “real” polls it’s the pretending by coaches and writers that they are unbiased and fair. They aren’t there are biases based on the teams and conferences they cover or play within. That’s actually secondary to the lack of transparency. Some sports writers are willing to disclose their votes, but most don’t. Coaches hate even disclosing the final poll. Hell, this sort of stuff has been hashed and re-hashed plenty so I’m not going to go back into it. Ultimately the polls should just be a rough measuring tool. Not the determination for who plays for the national championship.

It depends on what you mean. I like polls. We all do to some extent as an estimation and kind of perception thing — to see which teams people think of as being top teams. Power polls of some form or another are popular and easy shorthand. Even in professional sports you see sports media organizations producing polls to judge which teams are believed to be the best by people.
5. You’re Scott Bakula, and you have the opportunity to “Quantum Leap” back in time and change any single moment in your team’s history. It can be a play on the field, a hiring decision, or your school’s founders deciding to build the campus in Northern Indiana, of all godforsaken places. What do you do?

Hmm. An intriguing wish. Hiring decisions seem the most obvious to me. There are a couple decisions I considered. There was the hiring of Paul Hackett full time as head coach. Something I’m sure USC bloggers might agree whole-heartedly for themselves. I also thought about the hiring of J. Dennis O’Connor as Chancellor in 1991. A man who had no interest in athletics and who’s apathy to that aspect nearly destroyed the football and basketball programs.

Actually, though, and this may surprise some who haven’t read me as long. It was Pitt’s decision to stay in the Big East over helping form an Eastern Athletic Conference with Penn State and Joe Paterno in the early ’80s followed by not advocating on behalf of Penn State to join the Big East after that plan failed. Whether we like it or not, the whole Big East-BCS fears and concerns and stability would not be issues if Penn State was a part of the conference.

The preseason blogpoll is out. You can see the individual ballots here. My vote is here. During the season I will make an effort to get a draft version of my ballot posted earlier to get more feedback from everyone before submitting my ballot. I really do want some feedback and help this year. It gets to be a pain in the ass after a while to have to think about this.

Penn State bloggers did their best to push their team high in the polls. That was hardly the shocking thing.

What blew me away was seeing Pitt listed in the “Also Receiving Votes.” Let’s give a thank you to Matt of Statistically Speaking. Matt put Pitt at #15 and tabbed them as one of his sleeper teams. Whatever he’s drinking, I’ll take a double.